A joyful wedding at The Assembly House, Norwich

Lucy and Joe booked me over a year ago for their wedding consultation. We met up at St Andrews Tap house in Norwich after work for a drink and to chat through their wedding plans at The Assembly House. I loved finding out more about them, how they met and what brought them to Norwich. Joe and Lucy were full of energy, totally in love and so much fun. I knew I was going to really love capturing their wedding for them.

Arriving at The Assembly House’s bridal suite on the morning of the wedding I was greeted by the air of electric excitement. Whilst Lucy and her two bridesmaids were having their hair and make-up done by the extremely talented Flamingo Amy, Lucy was able to see from her bedroom window behind the cover of the curtains, Joe and his groomsmen and their guests slowly arriving. Lucy blew a kiss to Joe her soon-to-be husband and waved to her friends with a little bounce of joy as all the months of planning were finally about to happen.

The Assembly House bridal suite bathroom makes for excellent photos

The rooms in the bridal suite at The Assembly House are perfect for photography as they are covered in gorgeous details, colours and lots of natural light pouring in. Lucy and I had discussed the idea of having some photos in the bathroom of all places, with her bridesmaids and parents as it was so gorgeous and stylish. With unique artwork on the wall and a cool footed bath in the background Lucy’s dad saw Lucy in her wedding dress by Camilla Brides for the first time. I love those shots as the emotion and feeling is so natural and real.

The ceremony took place in the Music Room between two epic flower arrangements by Olive et Fleur. The ceremony was conducted by Katie the Celebrant. I hadn’t worked with Katie before but she was amazing, I would thoroughly recommend her! Stylishly dressed in a leather coat, bright colours and a splash of leopard print she read her personalised speech to a room packed with Lucy’s and Joe’s loved ones. It was packed with so much detail and humour it felt like she had known Lucy and Joe for years. She added so much of ‘them’ to the ceremony it felt particularly unique and touching.

How to style out your walk back down the aisle

Choosing not to have confetti but to ask their guests to let off tens of party poppers as they walked down the aisle it made for perfect opportunities to capture unique photos that showed expression, drama and their biggest smiles.

I can’t write this blog without mentioning Lucy’s and Joe’s good friend and Usher Matt who brought his annual New Years Eve quiz to the wedding. I’ve been told that what started as a small NYE quiz held in his flat many years ago has grown to a much looked forward to and vital part of NYE celebrations and so it had to be an element of their wedding day too. I was blown away by the effort, detail, humour and creativity that Matt had put in to it. To tally points with every correct question guests had to collect a chocolate M&M. The person with the most M&Ms, who also had managed to avoid scoffing them, won a marvellous inflatable crown and the cheers of the crowd.

Jamie and The Assembly House team did an incredible job making Lucy’s and Joe’s wedding day exactly as they had dreamed of. The food was delicious, the service was awesome and the setting was as elegant as always. Watch out for the humongous scotched egg that was their ‘wedding cake’ – yum!

New Year Eve weddings, yes please

I’d never shot a wedding on New Years Eve before and after this experience I would most definitely do it again. All of their wedding guests were full of the joys of Lucy’s and Joe’s love but also ready to party hard to welcome in 2019! The first dance was punctuated by numerous confetti canons (I love confetti so much!), before guests ran on to join them. Robot dancing, epic waltzes and dance-offs to the wedding band The Walks ensued as I packed my camera full of gorgeous shots and later walked home to rest my weary feet.

Thank you to Katherine Mager Photography for second shooting for me and photographing Joe and his groomsmen getting ready with a trim and a wet shave at Trumans of Norwich on Elm Hill. And thank you to Lucy and Joe for asking me to be their photographer on such an important day in their lives.