Happy New Year!
It’s been way too long since I posted *anything*, but here’s a quick blast of some twenty twenty two wedding photography highlights.
I hope your year has been kind to you. Mine went by in a blur, but wedding photography continues to be a beautiful, crazy joy-ride and I do love it so.
Click the video for a super-quick peek. For a slower-paced version, you can scroll through the photos one by one underneath.
Best wishes for 2023.
Jonathan
Here’s a photo-by-photo view of those highlights (without the drums and claps) …
Thanks for looking. If you have any questions about my work, take a look at this PAGE – or you can get in touch using the CONTACT page.
After a long covid-enforced break, Hélène and Nathan’s Belfast elopement was the first wedding for me that was allowed to go ahead in 2021. It rained and rained that day, but sometimes, that can really add to a wedding*. That was definitely the case here. Hélène and Nathan’s was a joy to shoot. The rain only seemed to underline their happiness.
Hélène and Nathan started the day with breakfast at home with their two friends, who were their witnesses as well …
So, it turned out that Belfast City Hall had a super-strict policy on numbers at this point during the pandemic. Hélène and Nathan were only allowed two other people in the room with them during the ceremony, apart from the registrar, so I had to wait outside …
(*Rain, add to a wedding day?! I know that the archetypal perfect wedding day is all sun and blue skies, but rain can be good. It can force spontaneity during a portrait shoot, for one thing. Instead of thinking, OK, here comes the camera, perhaps you just have to take everything as it comes, and revel in the moment. So if the forecast for your own wedding turns out to be pants, don’t worry; it might just be the thing that gives your portrait photos something special. Don’t believe me? Here’s another very soggy, but beautiful, wedding: click here.)
Belfast Elopement Photographer – Supplier credits:
Coffee and cake: The Pocket
Hair/styling: Kerry Beck Hair & Blue Meadow
Flowers: The Rosehip & Berry
– Wedding Photographer Small Wedding | Joanne + Francisco –
Joanne got in touch about photography for her wedding to Francisco last summer. By that point, the pandemic had forced most couples I was working with to postpone to 2021. Joanne and Franciso were originally planning to bring their families to Belfast from France, Mexico and the United States. Rather than postpone, they decided to go for a small, intimate ceremony. Their families attended virtually, thanks to a Zoom link that Francisco set up in the ceremony room.
All in all, there were just six people in the room: Joanne, Francisco, Joanne’s sister and brother in-law, their wedding celebrant and myself. It was about as small as it’s possible to go. But no less joyful or special. Quite the reverse, I would say. The room was charged from the outset and I felt immensely privileged to be there. Laura Fitzsimons conducted the ceremony beautifully and it was really emotional from start to finish. It was sunny too, so the Merchant Hotel’s Roof Garden was ideal.
After shooting the prep (with Joanne and her sister looking after each other’s hair and make-up!), the ceremony and some group photos, I took Joanne and Francisco out into the city’s Cathedral Quarter to do some portraits. Joanne was stunning in her catsuit and danced with Francisco at every opportunity. I’ll never look at small weddings in the same way again.
Anyway, enjoy …
Supplier links:
Venue: The Merchant Hotel, Belfast
Humanist wedding celebrant: Laura Fitzsimons
Rebecca and Paolo’s wedding happened against the odds. Most couples I’m working with had been forced to postpone to 2021, but Rebecca and Paolo changed venue and moved to September. It was that lull after the end of the first wave, when no-one knew what was coming. They were able to go ahead without too many restrictions, relatively speaking. After so much uncertainty for these guys, it was lovely to be there with them. I got to be a Magheramorne Estate wedding photographer too, which was really cool. It’s a beautiful spot.
As we move into 2021 with much still up in the air, it’s great to think back to this wet and windy September day. Rebecca and Paolo were so good to work with. I hope you like my pick of the photos …
Wedding supplier credits:
Venue: Magheramorne Estate
Floral design: Victoriana Floral
Bridal gown: The White Gallery Boutique
Make-up artist: Carly Proctor
Hair artist: Kelly White
No-one knows for sure, but 2021 is going to look a lot different for many wedding couples. Personally, I’m expecting weddings to be smaller, and more intimate, with scaled-down receptions even once they are allowed again. I love shooting huge a wedding party, for sure, so it’s going to be different for me too. But I’ve shot smaller celebrations recently that have reminded me just how beautiful they can be. They’ve every bit as joyful and unique. I’m really looking forward to working with those of my 2021 couples who opt for a smaller gig.
My next blog post will feature a really intimate humanist wedding that was a privilege to shoot, right after Rebecca and Paolo’s wedding. In the meantime, if you’d like to see more from my 2020, my previous outing in the Dingle Peninsula is right HERE.
hello@jonathanryderphotography.com
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