Ben & Stevie…. Gay Wedding Documentary Photography

Before we start I would like to apologise for titling this blog Gay Wedding Documentary Photography.  Describing it as a gay wedding is a bit reductive.  It was an amazingly beautiful wedding, period.  The gay or straight doesn’t really come into it.  Except, let’s face it, gay weddings do tend to be more stylish.  We don’t have panache factored into our genetic code in quite the same way.  The only reason I pitched this blog as a gay wedding was for SEO purposes.  Because I’d like to shoot more of them.  Certainly more like this one please.  Because this wedding rocked.  The whole day was warm and heartfelt and achingly full of love and the dancefloor was maybe the happiest of any dancefloor I’ve shot.  And I’ve shot a lot of great dancefloors.  Ben and Stevie are friends of friends so I already had a loose connection to the day, but everyone was so friendly and inclusive that it was hard not to feel part guest there as well.  That was certainly true come midnight when I’d been made to put down my camera and join in the dancing myself.  I realise I’m bouncing around describing this wedding a little.  That could partly be the second cup of coffee I’ve just had or just part of my warm impressionistic memories of the day.  But that’s okay, the photos tell the chronological story of the day.  From the start of the day when the rain tipped down and the wind blew most of the place settings across the marquee to the end where the dancefloor stayed packed and full of joy for the entire night.  Another thing I loved about this wedding was that it was on a farm.  Now you might think, okay, so what, lots of weddings are on farms.  And you’d be right.  But usually those people getting married on a farm are from London.  Well this was on Ben’s farm.  Because he’s a farmer.  Making a honeymoon impossible because cows don’t milk themselves you know.  So the American Gothic portrait shot, which could otherwise be a bit of an old wedding trope, was actually perfect, because Ben is holding his own pitchfork — I’m not entirely sure what Stevie is holding, and being a doctor I’m hoping he’s not sure he is either, because that would be a terrifying medical implement.  Anyway I’ve banged on long enough.  You came here for the photos so here they are.  ENJOY….

NB.  For the photography geeks among you, 100% of the photos up to the speeches was shot on the Leica Q.  An insanely great compact camera with a fixed 28mm lens.

Suits by Tweed Addict, Hackney…