2021 - A Year of JOY in Review - Manchester Wedding Photographer
“
Forever – is composed of Nows –
‘Tis not a different time –
Except for Infiniteness –
And Latitude of Home –
From this – experienced Here –
Remove the Dates – to These –
Let Months dissolve in further Months –
And Years – exhale in Years –
Without Debate – or Pause –
Or Celebrated Days –
No different Our Years would be
From Anno Dominies –”
Because now we only have this one life, our mortality thrust into technicolour by the raging of the past two years. Because ‘all we need is love’ and ‘it’s always darkest before the dawn’ - because what makes us most human is connection and hope and celebration. Because even in the most restrictive days, there was joy to be found. This is why I do this work - why I’m so committed to being your time machine - finite (or infinite) moments strung together like pearls we hold up in wonderment, a story told of a day marking the precipice of an adventure, hands and hearts entwined. I am both bystander and active witness, storyteller and archivist. Beyond the theatre of the day, what remains is YOU - perfectly luminous, deeply connected, feathers plumed and the moment wrapped in giddy, candy-floss glee. Your wedding photographs MUST bottle these moments - they MUST transport you back in time to sense memory.
Forgive my monologueing please - this time of year makes me breathless with nostalgia and your faces flash through my mind like a children’s flipbook - it’s probably the copious wine drunk in the last week, lets be honest! But those faces, those moments, your faces and YOUR moments become etched in my memory after spending many many hours meticulously crafting the raw image files I shot on the day into a cohesive, elegant collection.
I pride myself on shooting just thirty weddings a year regardless of size and whilst 2021 was slightly more condensed in timeframe, that number never wavered. Because I can then give equal love and attention and connection to each and every one of those marvelous wedding days. I am an ally, a sounding board, an expert wedding dress doer-upper and boutonniere-pinner, a playmate for your kiddos when the speeches drone on, the sober hand that adjusts your hair and reapplies your lipstick. I’m a family-wrangler and magpie for good light. I joke that there’s no other job I’m qualified for now with the very wedding-centric skill-set I hold. But in truth, I love every damn chaotic moment of this INCREDIBLE work I get to do.
2021 was a year of stop and start, of back-and-forth - a year of hand-holding and bride-soothing - of intimate family-centric woodland weddings and big raucous city-centre shindigs. I shot more elopements and garden parties than ever before, made a trip down to London to tell the story of an old friend’s wedding day, split my trousers arranging a wedding dress on my birthday in front of a whole wedding party and wept at the endless beautiful raised glasses to absent friends and families. I made dear friends for life and danced to amazing bands and DJs surrounded by strangers in finery. I showed toddlers how to snap mummy and daddy (safely!) and ran around the grounds of wedding venues with puppies. I climbed trees and traipsed through cornfields and trespassed in fields and got soaked or roasting and everything in between. I belly laughed and cried happy tears and argued with toastmasters and ate beautiful feasts and returned to favourite venues and discovered new ones. I fell so so in love with every single one of you: Clare & Bobby, Amber & Andy, Lucy & Matt, Laura & Lewis, Sarah & John, Leanne & Gareth, Sally & Chris, Jacqui & Dave, Abi & Dave, Michelle & Eric, Mika & Kelman, Emma & Dan, Abbie & Rob, Katherine & Ben, Michelle & Joe, Abbie & Robert, Rebecca & Josh, CHarlotte & Jack, Freya & Alex, Sophie & Sam, Hannah & Dan, Becky & Matt, Kirsty & Sam, Laura & Chris, Jen & David, Dave & Vikki, Becky & Greg, Kate & Laurence.
What a gift this work is, what a joy it is to tell your stories. Here is 2021 in review and one favourite frame from every wedding. Happy new year, here’s to 2022!
