I have never been asked this before…

A few weeks back one Sunday afternoon in August 2020, I am chilling out watching TV when I get a phone call asking me;  “Can you Film a Wedding tomorrow in Manchester?”  “Tomorrow!”  I replied. “Erm, well erm, yes, I think?  I could move some things about and

possibly do that for you…”  So, after some chat on the phone about their wedding that they had planned and what I offer etc we were all set.  I grabbed my rucksack out of the cupboard with all my camera gear in and got charging the batteries,

checking SD cards etc, I must admit, I felt a bit apprehensive having not filmed a wedding for over 6 months given the COVID19 lockdown and not only did I feel a bit rusty but this was a wedding unlike any I had ever filmed, given

the Governments restrictions and guidelines for wedding during the Pandemic, so there were some unknown’s here,  but hey, I am always up for a challenge.

 

The Hilton Hotel Manchester and the Salon…

I arrived at the Hilton Hotel the next day at 10am and met with the Bride Hailey outside, she, her mum and daughters were off to the Salon to get their Hair done and I jumped in the cab with them and the photographer and got shots of the girls getting their hair

done.  It was a tricky one as I was in a mask as were all the staff working ion the Salon, not just mask but full face shields and obviously I didn’t want to be filming people in masks and Face shields and include that footage in Hailey & Simon’s Wedding video, so some creative composition

was called for here and some editing too, so that everything is frame looked ‘normal.’

 

The Ceremony at the Registry Office

For me the strangest experience of the whole day was the civil ceremony at the Registry Office.  Again, there was the mandatory hand sanitation and mask wearing as we arrived (thankfully no masks for the Bride & Groom) but I found the desk clerk and registrar to be a tad over zealous with regard to the COVID restrictions, and the circles on the floor- 6 in total- represented where the Bridal Party could stand during the ceremony, I was told in no uncertain terms I could not stay in the room to film the ceremony though I could set the camera off recording and hope that the Bride & Groom stay in the same place to maintain focus- thankfully they did and we were able to capture the whole ceremony with me watching through the window from outside while my camera recorded the ceremony unmanned- strange feeling ;)

 

It’s all about attitude and being flexible…

Hailey & Simon were great! Such an easy going couple and not at all demanding, they were happy to be getting married surrounded by their Family and close friends albeit with restrictions imposed, they made sure nothing marred their day.  After the Ceremony we went to Gorton Abbey for some shots of them and their guests, then later onto San Carlo’s in King Street for a meal.  The speeches flowed as did the wine and everyone had an amazing time.  I learned somethings shooting this wedding;  1) You can’t lockdown love, love and life will go on- and it should! 2) You have to be adaptable, it’s does you no good having a pre-conceived notion of how things should be and sometimes you have to just be flexible and just go with it.

 

You might be wondering how their Wedding film came out, well you can see the trailer here: https://youtu.be/8iHGiatwRaE

 

 

 

Julian