30 Sep Rachel & Kaler’s Catholic Wedding in Birmingham
Rachel and Kaler held their Catholic wedding at the magnificent St Stephen’s Church in Edgbaston, Birmingham. But before the ceremony, I had to run the gauntlet of the loving, happy chaos of bridal preparations at the family home.
With so many excited people getting ready, it was joyously hilarious. Lots of people, lots of activity and plenty of emotion — exactly the kind of atmosphere I love photographing.
Then it was off to the church, just a short distance from the famous Edgbaston Cricket Ground, for the ceremony.
Rachel and Kaler, along with their Singaporean family, are proud and devout Catholics. I do love a religious ceremony. I think I’ve said that before. There’s something about the way a religious ceremony can ground the occasion and bring the congregation together. It gives the day a real sense of significance.
What I was particularly excited about, though, was what came afterwards.
Following the official ceremony, Rachel and Kaler held a Chinese tea ceremony, a traditional ritual in which the bride and groom serve tea to their parents, grandparents and senior family members as a way of showing respect and gratitude, while formally bringing the two families together.
It was something I hadn’t witnessed in person before, and I loved it.
These are the details that mean so much to a couple and their families. They reflect their heritage, their ancestry and the things that matter to them. For me, they add another layer to the story of a wedding — more depth, colour and meaning than you might get from the ceremony alone.
And then came the group photographs. I’ve never had so much fun photographing a group of people who gave me so much to work with. Energy, laughter, interaction and sheer dynamism made for some seriously memorable photographs.
The best group photographs are almost impossible to manufacture. You can organise people, put them in roughly the right place and give them a little direction, but ultimately the magic happens when the people in front of the camera simply give you something to work with. And this lot absolutely did.
The reception was held at Edgbaston Park Hotel, within the grounds of the University of Birmingham. It’s a lovely venue with beautiful gardens, which we made full use of for some relaxed portraits of Rachel and Kaler.
It also gave them the opportunity to practise something else they had planned for later in the day — their dip-kiss during the confetti.
The rehearsal paid off.
When the time came, I knew the dip was coming, so I positioned everyone accordingly and directed the confetti moment with it in mind. And then… boom. There it was. A perfect combination of confetti, movement, laughter and that brilliantly dramatic dip-kiss. Exactly what Rachel and Kaler had imagined.
Everyone loved the moment, and most importantly, we captured it exactly as they wanted.
That’s one of the things I love about documentary wedding photography. You can plan, anticipate and gently direct when needed, but you also have to be ready when the moment you’ve been waiting for suddenly happens right in front of you.
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