4 years!

 

Today we have been married for four years! Almost a third of our relationship and 1/7th of my entire life. And the longer we are married, the more I realise how much of a gamble marriage is.

Everyday two people choose one person over every other, even when they know that the strength of a relationship is no certain thing. We stake our futures on a hope that when we're old and we've lived enough life that we'll still want to be together, still content with a choice we made when we were different people. 

Marriage is not a guarantee of a happily ever after, it's the start of a story, not the grand finale. So I can't say if our marriage will make it when so many others don't, but I do know that no matter how much we've struggled and no matter how many obstacles life has thrown at us, that our relationship has always been a sanctuary, the easiest, most sturdy thing about my life, and if I had nothing but that, I know from experience of having nothing but that, that it would be enough to make me genuinely happy.

My husband has always been the one person I want to share my thoughts and time and triumphs with. He's the first person I want to see and speak to when something momentous or entirely uninteresting happens. He's the person against whom I measure every other person, he's the best one I know. And while I can't know if we'll always make each other happy as we always have, I know that I hope that we will, and if I had to go back and choose again, I'd always choose him.

I'm not a gambling person, but I do like our odds.

Anna & Bryan's Shropshire Summer Wedding

Anna & Bryan were married on a Saturday and after a full week of rain we were greeted with nothing but perfect sunshine from beginning to end of their wonderful day.

 

I spent the first part of the morning with the girls, while they got their hair (by Salon Blue) and make-up (by Beauty Benefits) done, and Stu my assistant for the day popped over to grab a few shots of the guys at a second location. This was the first time I'd ever been able to provide both sets of preparations to a couple and it was really great to be able to show what was happening for both the bride and groom before they met up at the church.

There were so many gorgeous little details and finishing touches that made this wedding such a treat to photograph, from the groom's cufflinks engraved with the date of the wedding to the most unusual shade of roses picked to compliment the bridesmaid's fino lavender dresses.

Anna walked to the church from her Mum's house only a few streets away and while we waited for her arrival, passers-by stopped to catch a glimpse of the bride.

The ceremony took place in the stunning Holy Trinity Church in Much Wenlock, where the priest was kind enough to allow me to shoot the entire service from the very front of the church, which meant I was able to get this perfect shot of Bryan, right as he saw his new bride for the first time.

The reception was at Bridgnorth's Edgar Davies' Rugby Club where Bryan is coach and so we got to shoot all of these quirky, rugby themed formal shots before the bride and groom were announced to their guests in the marquee. It's not often a bride is willing to risk the dust and dirt of a sports pitch to get a cool photograph, and Anna even got herself a pair of wellies worthy of any glamorous rugby bride!

The Marquee was decked out with chandeliers, a checkerboard dance floor, beautiful, vintage teacups placed on top of stacks of books and filled with flowers for table centre pieces. The tables were named for locations important to the couple and they had this amazing seating plan handmade by one of the guests. So much time, effort and love went into this wedding and it made it such a pleasure to be a part of.