Anna and Mark got married at St Peters church in Kinver, and held their wedding reception at Deer Park Hall in Eckington, Worcestershire.
For the morning of her wedding, Anna hired a large suite at the Copthorne Hotel in Brierly Hill for her bridal party to get ready in.
If you've read my article on planning your wedding day around photos, you'll know I'm an advocate for hiring accommodation for the night before your wedding for a number of reasons. If you live far away from your wedding venue, getting ready at a location much closer to your church or ceremony venue means that that's less travel time in the morning, which will likely cut out a lot of stress from your day. You also get the benefit of room service and someone to tidy up after you once you've left! Hotels often have bridal suites which are ideally suited for getting ready on the morning of your wedding, with plenty of light and space, as well as all the other things it's easy to overlook, like having enough mirrors for all of your bridesmaids and enough power sockets for hair and makeup to be done.
I really like this photo of Anna getting ready with her bridesmaids. There's a look of concentration on the face of all of the people in this photo, and Anna has a really focused look, probably making sure her maid of honour is doing her wedding dress lace up correctly!
St Peters Church in Kinver is a delightful church with tonnes of character. After I'd spent most of the morning with the bridal party, I made my way to the church to await the arrival of the bride and her father, who looked so happy to be the one to give his daughter away. You couldn't keep the man from smiling!
After a wonderful church service, we took a fairly decent drive into the next county, to Deer Park Hall where the wedding reception was being held. The weather was perfect throughout the day, and we were blessed with a bright but cloudy sky - the perfect combination for wedding photos. The brightness brings out all of the colours in the flowers and grass, and the fact it's overcast means you get a lovely smooth light which is both easy to work with, and very flattering at the same time.
Location: Brierley Hill.
Keywords: Documentary wedding photography (99).