Laura & Phil’s Wirral Wedding - Birkenhead Priory & Bloom Building
Scroll down for the photos and nerdy camera bits.
It happened! After 7 months of waiting with baited breath, I finally got to shoot my second wedding of 2020.
Laura & Phil had originally planned to be wed back in May, but things happen and they rescheduled the date to August. This has been an anxious summer for couples all over the UK, never knowing how the next week’s government guidelines may affect their big day. But as fate would have it, the date came around and everything was good to go!
Ceremony
The ceremony took place at Birkenhead Priory. I’d first met up with the couple at the Priory back in February to get to know each other a bit and to check the place out. The Priory is a really interesting venue - the church itself is the oldest standing building in Merseyside with a Grade 2 listing, which even survived the bombings of WWII, and sits within the Grade 1 listed Priory ruins. A dream wedding setting of mine is in a part-ruined castle - this is the closest I’ve got so far!
Despite Covid-19 guidelines and regulations, the ceremony was a delight. I had a good chat with the pastor, Paul, going through proceedings and seeing how the juggling act of the 2m rule would be implemented with people moving around throughout. We were well below the limit of 30 people inside the church, and I helped Phil live stream the whole thing for those who couldn’t attend. It’s a gorgeous little church to photograph inside, and despite seeming dark compared to the sunny day outside, the stained-glass windows deceptively allow in a great deal of natural light to brighten the altar.
The gents were in attendance ahead of time, all looking dapper but none so much as Phil himself. The bridesmaids were looking fabulous in their boldly modern, colourful dresses (no two the same!) and could barely contain themselves waiting for Laura to arrive. We all explored the grounds a little while waiting on Laura’s arrival and grabbed a few shots before heading into the church. Laura arrived with her clearly excited dad, and her soon-to-be brother-in-law as acting chauffeur - she looked stunning! Her classic white dress from Wed2B, gorgeous Leaf Flowers bouquet & fresh hairdo from AM One for Hair all suited her perfectly.
After the ceremony we were all back outside. The wind wasn’t playing ball in terms of confetti, nor the lovely hairdos, but after some celebratory mingling shots we cracked on with the more formal shots. I try do get these done as quickly as possible - nobody likes waiting around to be called to action, and I’m a firm believer that the photographer is the person a couple should be spending the least amount of time with on their wedding day. It’s their day and they should be enjoying it with those they’ve invited!
Group shots ticked off, I whisked Laura & Phil around to the other end of the priory grounds for a few quick couple shots before they hopped in the car to head to the reception.
Reception
The evening’s events were catered for at Bloom Building - a charity-lead community hub just around the corner on Abbey Close. As soon as I saw the place I knew I was in for a great night of shooting. Inside was decked out with an impressive balloon array from the Crosby Balloon Company and tables dressed by the bride herself, along with tipis and catering outside from Hardy’s Catering - food served from their Big Dub of Love, a gorgeous deep yellow ‘69 Transporter!
The Hardy’s team were dishing up pulled harissa lamb on Lebanese flatbreads (or a cauliflower veggie alternative) and sweet potato fries for dinner, as well as Asian snack boxes later in the evening. As a chef of 10 years myself, I have to say bravo - great quality and flavours, exactly the kind of street-style grub I’d want at my own wedding!
The speeches were heart-felt and full of laughter - the wine was flowing and it wasn’t long until we were soon gathering on the outside decking-come-dancefloor ready for the first dance. Spoiler alert - Laura & Phil are both big fans of Prince (though I think it’s safe to say Laura’s the slightly bigger fan), and who should turn up on stage? You guessed it - Prince! At least you’d be forgiven for thinking so - Mark Anthony is probably the closest you’ll get to the real thing here in the UK, and he put on a terrific show for everyone.
I always stick around a bit after the first dance, probably a good half hour to an hour. This is usually the most lively time on the dancefloor with everyone getting stuck in, especially when Prince is in the house! I managed a good mix of party shots before congratulating the couple and making myself scarce - once you’ve got 100 dancing photos the next 1000 dancing photos will look exactly the same! There’s no point in me shooting just to look busy, so I left the party and headed home to start editing their next-morning preview images.
Massive congratulations to Laura & Phil - they’d been waiting long enough for this day and managed to pull off quite an event despite all the hurdles thrown at them. I’m hoping they’ve managed to recuperate ready for Laura’s sister, Andrea’s wedding this weekend - she’ll have quite a job following on from this one, but I’m sure they’ll manage!
Gallery
Trying to sum up such a great wedding in under 40 images wasn’t easy! Check them out below:
For Photographers:
If you get the chance to shoot at either the Priory or Bloom Building - DO IT. They’re such great venues for a photographer, I couldn’t be happier with the shots I came away with and the couple love them!
Gear:
Bodies: a pair of Sony a7iii’s
Lenses: I probably shot 85% of the day between two lenses - the Sony 24mm f/1.4 GM and the Zeiss 55mm f/1.8. I’m really enjoying this combination along with the Sony 85mm f/1.8 for the slightly longer shots. I also made use of the Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8 on the dancefloor as well as some birds-eye view shots inside Bloom Building.
Flash: I use Godox speedlights. I currently have the V860iis and TT685s - they’re practically identical lights, but the V860ii has a built-in battery pack which lasts longer than the 4x AA’s required by the TT685s. They’re both great lights and their built-in wireless systems are superb for studio/remote work.
Above product links are Amazon UK affiliate links - if you make a purchase using any of these links, I may get a very small commission from the sale. Every penny goes back into producing more content for this blog and my YouTube channel, so thank you in advance!
