When you start a blog, the first thing you ought really to bear in mind is to not make it be about yourself, right? Well I’m gonna fall at the first hurdle, because while all weddings and all couples get you in the feels, some really do feel like people you’ve always known in a place you’ve always loved.
So first up – Clevedon. What’s so special about some little satellite town south of Bristol? Antique shops, a bit of beach, a view across the Severn Estuary. And? Well Clevedon Pier for a start is one of the loveliest old piers in the country. Or arguably, according to the poet Sir John Betjeman, "the most beautiful pier in England" and was designated a Grade I listed building in 2001. I’ve visited a few times in the hope of getting a great landscape photography sunset, and it’s remarkably tricky, though always a pleasure. And the town itself? Charm personified. It is just lovely.
So when Adele and Paul said they wanted to get shots on the pier, I was already hooked. I had no chance. I was in.
I hit the road, the night before, coming down from North London – erstwhile home also to my lovely couple, who had spent a big chunk of their six years together in Highgate – and did a recce. I knew we probably wouldn’t be blessed with a sunset like this one which I did manage to capture, but at least I knew the sun would in any case be on the wrong side of the pier for us to get it into sunset wedding portrait photography. Like a good boy scout, always be prepared.
But that’s enough about me. Well probably not, but I’ll try. Let’s talk about the wonderful wedding of Adele and Paul, two excellent young people with adorable friends and family. So. The venue. Two minutes up the road from pier and sea front and you find yourself at the wedding venue, the striking Clevedon Hall. Only Grade II listing this time, but hey, pier, it’s not a competition.
Clevedon Hall, originally named Frankfort Hall, was designed and built in 1852 in a loosely Jacobean Revival style with a symmetrical seven-bay range to the front and, like many grand houses, has the kind of rich dramatic history you might find in a DuMaurier novel. Turbulent finances meant it was bought and sold, functioning as a hospital, a school, a luxury private home, until now, when it is a sumptuous, fabulous and incredibly successful wedding venue.
More importantly, Lara, the venue manager has the kind of outstanding soft-touch efficiency that is rare in the wedding industry; the day itself ran like clockwork. Confetti canon, smoke bombs, singing police, fireworks, a trip to the pier, a ceilidh band and more, all ran smoothly and on time.
More practically, with family coming from Ireland, London and the South of France, the venue was a perfect practical location. As Adele put it:
“Clevedon took a long time to find but it was the only venue that tied everything together for us. We were engaged for 6 years and wanted somewhere where our friends and family could stay with us, enjoy a whole weekend and that was accessible. It’s 2h30 from London/Milton Keynes, close to the airport for people coming from abroad. “
And so onto prep, which included some adorable wedding favours, the cutest dog, some cigars for the boys, and a lovely theme of green. As we were shooting wedding videography as well, and as the schedule was tight, there wasn’t really time for much by way of posed wedding portrait photography before the ceremony, though I did grab a few shots of Adele in her fantastic Oleg Cassini dress and Charlotte Mills shoes,with the beautiful window light.
“Green is my favourite colour hence the emerald but the ring itself was handmade in America as it was the only style I found that I liked. The green also ties into Paul’s Irish roots and we accidentally made an Irish flag with his green suit, orange bow tie and white shirt.”
Just to bring the conversation back to Adam, I did mention that Green had originally been the colour of the French Revolution, you know, Adele’s family being French, I thought that might be amusing. This is why photographers should not be allowed to speak. Or write. Just click that shutter and capture the story, ok?
The ceremony was short, sweet and touching, with two lovely readings and of course, the best ring bearer anyone could hope for, Juniper!
After the wedding ceremony, we bundled into the car and down to the pier for a whistle stop wedding portrait photography session. I tried to mix natural light reportage style photography with some more posed off-camera flash portrait photography. I know OCF is quite old school, but I had a vision of trying to make Adele and Paul look like they were in a painting, and maybe I think we might just have managed it.
Back at Clevedon Hall, we sped through the group shots, thanks mainly to awesome best man Dave, who rounded up the guests with awesome efficiency. Then we had still a few minutes for smoke bombs and some portraits down by the lake as the light fell.
Prior to the speeches, the police appeared. For a moment I wondered if my chequered past was catching up with me; was this that speeding ticket I didn’t pay from 2004? No Adam, do we have to keep saying it isn’t about you? They were of course wedding singers, and brought the house down with a medly of all the usual favourites.
While there were a lot of speeches, each was small and perfectly formed, making what can sometimes be the part of the day that is a little long and dry, instead entertaining, moving, funny, with – yes, corny to say it but true – tears and laughter, particularly when Adele’s father, a Frenchman, offered a toast, adding “But not French Toast.”
Finally it was time for cake and first dance with possibly the biggest blizzard of confetti ever fired from a canon, followed by a wild knees up with a rollicking Ceilidh band.
Meanwhile, these two gave a whole new meaning to hitting the dance floor.
“Don’t mind us”, they said. “We’re the crazy Irish contingent.”
And to round things off, fireworks !! Many historians believe that fireworks originally were developed in the second century B.C. in ancient Liuyang, China…. Stop it, Adam…. And of course the phrase “hoist on your own petard” comes from the dangers of firing rockets during that French Revolution I mentioned… really Adam stop it now.
Where were we? Oh yes, fireworks. Who doesn’t love fireworks? Well the answer might be a recovering pyromaniac, but that was just a rumour about me, nothing was ever proved… Oh my God, someone stop him. So, yes, fireworks! Amazing! A blaze of colour on the night sky to mark the end to a truly awesome day and the beginning of a wonderful lifetime together for this fantastic couple
Adele and Paul, thank you for a brilliant day, I hope you enjoy your photos and film, x Adam
THE FILM