Took a leisurely stroll with Sarah Jane & Gary down onto the north beach in Donabate for a few pre-wedding shots. Their wedding is on 27th August this year and the idea is that one of the shots from last weeks shoot will be printed big and mounted behind a large board for wedding guests to sign on the day. We were slightly restricted as there were a number of jcbs and dredges on the beach, but the weather was perfect. Am lucky to live so close to a number of beautiful beaches & coves, and I am actually thinking of offering pre-wedding, engagement, anniversary shoots – and maybe even trash the dress shoots – on location around the peninsula.  Find a few draft pics below.

Rarely do I have the luxury of a wedding ceremony & reception within 20 mins of my home. But that was the case on Wednesday when Lorraine & Keith tied the knot in Aughrim Street Church and had the ceremony in the Regency Airport Hotel (via a quick stop-off in the Botanic Gardens). The weather Gods smiled on us  and the happy couple were delighted with the hotel and how they laid things out for them. See below for a few draft shots.

As happy as two pigs in **** if the cake topper was anything to go by !! No ordinary cake topper – but then again, no ordinary wedding. I rarely have firsts at this stage, but with the ceremony being held in the local theatre, this was a first for me.  This was, in the words of my daughter & bag carrier,  a way cool wedding, from the early Van Morrison soundtrack, through to Mark driving Emma to the reception marquee in an ancient Morris complete with cans. Not a couple for traditional posing, most of my photos from the day will be smiles, laughs & interactions between guests, but I did manage to get them to stay still for a couple of shots !! Even the rain stayed away for long enough to get a few family shots down by the royal canal.

Yes, I know that overall the weather should not have a bearing on a wedding day, its having close family & friends along sharing the days events & celebrating with the happy couple – but – from a purely selfish point of view its one of the major headaches for me !! Too sunny and everyone squints, too cold and people appear to be a shade of blue, too wet and everything has to be shot indoors. Saturdays wedding was no exception – raining in the morning (damn !) but dried up nicely for the ceremony (yippee!) – then, just 10 mins from the hotel the skies darkened & heavens opened (damn!). Luckily, the reception was in the beautiful Tulfarris Hotel and Lynne & Joe had the full use of the stunning Manor House for photos. However, on arrival at the hotel the clouds parted & the sun shone down, everyone enjoyed themselves at the drinks reception in the open courtyard, for a couple of hours the summer made an overdue reappearance. See below for a few draft shots from the day.

Was really looking forward to my first wedding shoot in the beautiful Ballymagarvey Village this week – unfortunately I discovered that Meath not only has a dodgy Leinster title, but also dodgy weather ! Leaving the church on Iona road in bright sunshine we were greeted with torrential downpours & thunder & lightening once in the Royal County. The rain didn’t dampen the spirits of Louise & Colm however, and we even got a quick break in the rain to get a few outdoor shots. As I left, Colm was warming up the keyboard in preparation for what looked like was going to be a great evening.

This is my first attempt at my blog and am using Fridays wedding of Samantha & Robert to start. There are very few firsts for me at this stage, but when we heard that the limo carrying the bridesmaids had crashed, and they were not allowed to leave the scene, I chalked it up. Luckily no-one has hurt, and Samantha was as cool as anything, just sitting in the car chatting to the guests. The ceremony was nearly an hour late starting, but, just to confirm that good can come from anything,  when the ceremony finished there was a very quick break in the rain which enabled us to get a few photos in nearby Ardgillan Park