James & Jennah

Forrest Gump is a film that will always mean a lot to me for a range of reasons. So I was obviously overjoyed when I was asked to shoot a wedding on the farmland of the bride’s childhood home. She would be marrying her sweetheart under ‘the big tree’ in their back garden, surrounded by their family and closest friends. It was the closest I would ever get to being on the set of the film.

James and Jennah’s wedding day was wrapped in love and sunshine. We were blessed with glorious Sussex weather and, despite unadulterated sunshine notoriously dubbed as a photographer’s worst nightmare, such a beautiful occasion didn’t deserve a single drop of rain in the air. Rather fortuitously, we did have an hour’s downpour prior to the service. The rain only seemed to gently awaken every colour around us just in time for Jennah to walk down the aisle and along a corridor of hay bales.

Though the weather played a major role in the day, the event itself was lovingly put together by an unrivalled star cast of family members, the dedication of which I was blown away by; everything from the cow barn being overhauled and converted to accommodate a crowd of 150 people plus a live band to the couple being married by two of their best friends - this was a celebration of the joining of two families made by the families - everything a wedding should be.

A heartfelt thank you to James and Jennah, for feeding me cake and, most importantly, allowing me to capture their special day. Hopefully there’s an image or two that will hang on a wall of their home for the rest of their lives.

I’m just slightly saddened by the fact I didn’t see Lieutenant Dan! It was a perfect day for ice cream…