The New Mr and Mrs Goodge

Towards the end of last week, Yol and I hit the dusty trail (i.e. M6) and headed up to Scotland for a few days to attend the wedding of two of our good friends, Jon Goodge and Sam Bloor. I've known Sam and Jon through ice hockey for a number of years now, and Sam and Jon were our 'travel buddies' when we all went over to Maine last year. They're a lovely couple, great fun, and well liked - the latter demonstrated by the number of people who travelled from a wide range of global destinations to attend their nuptials.

The happy couple had hired an official photographer, who did a cracking job of capturing their big day, but Sam had also asked several photographer friends (including myself) if we'd bring our cameras along and get some shots of the celebrations as well, so I was more than happy to oblige! As a specific task, Sam had asked me to shoot the groom's party getting ready, and so armed with my trusty D40 and the light from the hotel room window, I set to work. I'm more of a candid photo shooter than a posed photo shooter, which is why I was able to capture some of the more off-the-cuff moments. Moments such as the groom utilising modern technology to aid his attire: watching a YouTube video entitled "How to tie a cravat" being one of them...



But sometimes a posed photo, or even semi-posed, can work wonders, especially when it comes to weddings. There are some wedding photos that are a tradition, all photographers are supposed to shoot them, and so with this in mind, Jon was happy to pause and pose at various points to assist in my shooting:



The wedding itself was beautiful. Taking place at the Anvil Hall in Gretna, Scotland, the setting completely belied its position. The venue is on the edge of a housing estate, residential properties overlook the building and its grounds, but once you're at the venue it takes on a world of its own. A beautiful hall, lovely grounds, and a cracking setting for the marriage of two lovely people!





One of the other traditions that we held dearly to during the course of the celebrations is that of having some 'jokey tat' making an appearance at an ice hockey related wedding. When I was first married, rubber chickens were the order of the day; last year in Maine at the wedding of Jean Whitney and Joe Royle it was rubber lobsters, and this year for Sam and Jon it was rubber ducks. So throughout the wedding photographs, these little fellows put in quite a few appearances!






A full set of photos from the wedding day itself can be seen on Flickr here.

Many thanks for reading, and I'm sure you will join me in wishing the happy couple all the best for the future! Here's to Sam and Jon, cheers!