One of the things I love most about shooting weddings is getting an insight into how different cultures celebrate the marriage of two people. When I met Sandra and David the bride-to-be warned me “this probably won’t be like the kind of wedding you normally shoot” which was all I needed to hear – I was all in!
They got married in a traditional ceremony at St Anthony’s Greek Orthodox church. The building itself sits innocuously in a Prospect back street and is largely uninspiring from the outside, but once you’re in the front door you realise just how ornate and beautiful the interior is. Vlad, the videographer summed it up perfectly when he described it as rich. And it wasn’t just the scenery that was rich, the ceremony itself was mostly sung rather than spoken and the placing of crowns on heads and rings on fingers was custom made for interesting photography.
We headed to the uni footbridge followed by the East End of the city for some photos before heading down the Grand for the reception. This part of the day is generally pretty flexible, photos are largely dependant on weather and light, so with the winter solstice just a few weeks away there wasn’t much light left by the time we made it to the Bay. As an almost last minute decision we decided to head to Mosely Square for a few quick photos before the darkness took hold. Good decision us.
The Greeks sure like to dance. Most weddings I shoot don’t normally start dancing will towards the end of the evening, but by the time speeches rolled around we’d already had at least 90 minutes of dance time! The Bridal Walz (followed by a packed dance floor) took place before the main course, then once energy reserves were fuelled there was an epic session of Greek dancing, capped off by a pretty special Zorba. Again, this was all a photographer’s delight.
Sandra and David, I hope you guys are loving your honeymoon in the States, I can’t wait to show you all the photos when you get back!
