From one extreme to another, my last post from Annabel & Robin’s wedding on the hottest day of the year couldn’t have been more different, weather-wise, to Sherrie & Gary’s day, also held at Westerham Golf Club.
Sherrie & Gary got in touch with me a couple of months before their wedding day as they had been let down by a rogue ‘photographer’ who took their hard-earned money and disappeared. I was due to go away for a friend’s 40th that weekend but when I spoke to Sherrie and heard the anguish in her voice, I couldn’t see her lose her money and end up without a wedding photographer for their big day. I met up with them both at their house and was so pleased I could help them out. After all, I can see my mates anytime, but Sherrie & Gary were only getting married once.
Sherrie’s father had passed away not long since, and so her brother was going to be giving her away. It was a poignant moment when he walked her down the aisle, Sherrie clutching her bouquet tied with a charm holding her father’s photo.
The weather wasn’t great. It rained for the most part, except a small window of about half an hour where we took the group photos then grabbed a golf buggy and hurtled down to the lake for a few romantic portraits. I managed to pose them in front of their wedding car in the distance but sheltered under the porch so that they had a few shots with their car behind but weren’t drenched in the process.
Inside however was a different matter. A magician wandered the tables, filling the atmosphere with wonder and hysterical laughter, and the magic bug took hold of some of the guests who tried out a trick or two on the Bride and Groom. Sherrie’s brother kicked off the speeches, speaking from the heart in their father’s stead and soon tears of remembrance turned to those of joy. Sherrie cried with laughter during Gary’s speech after which everyone was treated to a few hilarious tales from Gary’s Best Men.
Just when you thought there couldn’t be any more tears, Gary called Sherrie’s daughter up and asked if she would do him the honour of also taking his name. It was buzzing inside the club. And after Sherrie’s brother stood in for his father’s dance with Sherrie, a couple of confetti bombs blasted through Sherrie & Gary’s first dance and signalled the start of some dancefloor shenanigans.
It’s really quite apt that my last post ended on the fact that it doesn’t matter what the weather’s doing. My last post was about a wedding on a boiling hot day and this one is about a wedding where it poured with rain (nearly) all day. The conclusion is the same. Come rain or shine, the wedding doesn’t stop. The guests still turn up, the vows are still made with conviction, the speeches still cause laughter and the first dance still sheds some tears.
