When it comes to unusual weddings that I’ve photographed over the years I can’t think any that have been more quirky, personal and unusual in every way than the wedding I was asked to photograph just recently at St Mark’s church in Horsham.
Caleb and Leanne got married in what should have been one of the driest times of the year, but you guessed it, it chucked it down for pretty much the whole day. Fortunately for me St Mark’s church in North Horsham is a fantastic venue to take photos in, with big windows surrounding the sanctuary giving plenty of light to capture beautiful photos with, despite the lack of sunshine.
The joy of it all was that Leanne and Caleb took everything in their stride, they simply wouldn’t let anything spoil their special day.
The wedding ceremony lasted a grand total of 1hr 45mins; much longer than the standard 45min to 1hr that most church weddings take. But the time flew by, with songs, poems, readings, stories and lots of little personal touches that the happy couple had spent weeks planning and preparing in the run up to their wedding. The vicar even built in several photo opportunities so that everyone could capture the lovely couple at various great photo opportunity moments during the wedding ceremony.
With moments to go before the ceremony ended, the rain stopped, allowing everyone to come outside for confetti (which would have been a bit of a mess inside the church!) and a whole group shot, before the rain came back with a vengeance and we all hurried back into the church for shelter.
Caleb and Leanne had chosen several very specific locations around Horsham to have their couple photos taken, each location to remember special moments of their relationship together. The first stop was at Collyers sixth form college where the couple had first met.
Followed by Horsham Station, where when Leanne’s family moved to Wales shortly after they got together they spent much time travelling to and fro across the country to see each other.
And then Caleb’s parent’s front room, where their relationship first started…
…and finally a stop in Horsham town centre to commemorate their first kiss!
With all the formalities taken care of it was time to get back to their guests and their reception dinner, which their friends and family had catered and provided a fantastic barbecue spread for everyone. With the speeches taken care of it was time for some more entertainment, with a Caleb vs Leanne game of giant Jenga, followed by cake and plenty of dancing and even a few dance off’s. Leaving the final parting touch of the evening to Caleb, to present his new wife with a beautifully upholstered wheelbarrow to leave the reception in.
There’s nothing like making a wedding your own, and what a fantastic unique day it was, and I’m sure everyone there will remember it for many years to come.
