Phil & Lauren

Two personal trainers who ply their trade in the Dubai heat returned home to celebrate their marriage surrounded by their friends and family and I was lucky enough to be chosen to photograph this special day.

Phil and Lauren are hugely impressive people; dedicated to their profession and to each other, admirably close to their families and I’m pretty sure they could both bench-press my dad. Despite our long distance communications in the run-up to the big day, it all felt so natural and comfortable when we reached that point in the calendar.

From the planning stage where, due to the time difference, I would wake up to a raft of WhatsApp messages with ideas for poses, to the week before the wedding where the two flew home to get the last plans finalised before the big day, their excitement and anticipation to become ‘man and wife’ was tangible and I was determined to capture that.

I love how wedding days bring out the rawest emotions in people, especially those who are due to tie the knot…

When you see Phil you can’t help but notice he’s in good nick! With strong guys you automatically assign them iron nerve but (and I hope he doesn’t mind me saying) Phil’s nerves were palpable whilst he waited patiently for his beautiful bride, plus, it didn’t help to reduce the temperature the fact that Lauren was twenty minutes late! Traffic…

Eventually, Phil and Lauren became Mr. and Mrs. James at the wonderful Styal Lodge in Cheshire, a warm and spectacular family-run venue where nothing is too much trouble and every aspect of the day is lovingly overseen by the owners. It was a gorgeous day filled with people overjoyed to witness the joining of two remarkable people.

A huge thank you to newlyweds for giving me the honour of capturing their special day. It’s one I won’t forget.