The absolutely gorgeous Stapleford Park hosted this beautiful couples big big BIG day!

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Stapleford Park Wedding

First things first, if reading ain’t your thing then scroll down to their wedding photos, you won’t want to miss these and I’m about to waffle on a bit!

Working alongside me was the incredible Hamish Myers, so some of the shots here are his too, and he unreservedly deserves credit.

Man, where do I start? So they chose the awe strikingly beautiful venue of Stapleford Park, this place is stunning and has class by the boatload and the little touches give it a real sense of luxury. Everywhere you look there’s a stunning backdrop for your wedding photography.

Let’s talk about the bridal prep, that went from snort laughing hilarious to oh-my-god-I’m-getting-married in a few short hours. Having met Mrs Wileman a couple of times I knew she wasn’t going to be choosing any dull bridesmaids but I’m still not sure I was ready! Seeing Mrs Wileman open her surprise trip to Dublin was beautiful and her ‘how to get through your wedding day’ box from her bridesmaids was fantastic! As the morning progressed it was time for Felicity to head off and become Mrs Wileman, but first her father needed to see his daughter in her bridal gown for the first time and wow, what a moment, I almost felt like putting the camera down and just watching!

Heading off to the ceremony I was greeted by a some-how still laid back groom… and he remained that way until he caught site of his bride approaching down the aisle. His face says it all and you can feel the love through the photo on that one! Their ceremony was lovely and they had two brilliant readings. After their ceremony the now Mr and Mrs Wileman took a slight detour on their way back to Stapleford Park to visit Felicity’s nan in her care home, the sentiment alone is a tearjerker but having been there it was a beautiful experience I will never forget, I was amazed to see such selflessness from a couple on their own wedding day.

It would be fair to say that by the time we got back to the venue we were a little strapped for time for the photos, so whilst their amazing magician amazed everyone with his amazing amazement we engaged full ninja group shot mode and got them finished just in time for their wedding breakfast. The pipers doing their rendition of ‘in the jungle’ was amazing and was enjoyed by everyone, they followed this into ‘we will rock you’ and showed their true talent. After their breakfast they had a pair of singing waitresses, who put on an incredible show and sang a stage worthy version of Nessun Dorma. It then came to the speeches and Mrs Wileman’s father had a story or two to tell, much to the amusement to the guests and perhaps a little embarrassment to the bride, whom I’m sure was fully expecting it! The groom and his best man gave a heartfelt speech and really showed their appreciation and gratitude to their guests.

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After chopping up a bit of cake and lobbing a bunch of flowers we went for a walk around the grounds under the nights sky to get a few shots of the pair of them in all their splendour, to me, this time was one of my favourite moments of the day, partly because I got to do my thing and I had two willing participants (I’m aware of how this sounds) but also because I got to see the real relationship of Mr and Mrs Wileman, as they chatted about the happenings of the day and how much they were looking forward to the reception. Seeing them just be them and allowing themselves to enjoy the moments together was beautiful, they may have thought I was concentrating on getting that perfect shot but in reality (pun intended) I was enjoying them having their moment, and of course getting that perfect shot!

Next up on the to-do list of their big day was to have a small and romantic mini boogie to a song of their choice… their first dance as husband and wife. This type of shenanigans makes my job easy, the way they’re laughing together and being all blooming happy means I can just snap and it looks awesome. Straight after their first dance was nothing short of an incredible fireworks display. Fellow photographers will know that shooting a couple in a barely lit area whilst trying to capture bright fireworks can prove quite tricky, but man did I get lucky, they didn’t move once, not once, boom! The band started and their guests got up on their feet to what I must say is one of the best sounding bands I’ve heard in a long time, they had the dance floor packed!

These are the fellow suppliers/vendors/venues that made their day;
Stapleford Park
St Mary’s Church, Barkby – The Vicar Tim held a lovely service and was very much admired by Mr and Mrs Wileman
Laura Firth of Victory Rolls Hair Parlour – Laura did a fantastic job with the whole bridal crew, she then went above and beyond helping Mrs Wileman with her last minute preparations. Highly recommended!
Kerry Astill from Beautiful You was on makeup duties and alongside Laura she truly did an amazing job and I wouldn’t hesitate recommending her
Ever Thine Videography – Carl and Dawn were courteous, thoughtful and dedicated throughout the whole day, having worked with many videographers before I’m well versed in the dynamics of the day and it was nice to see the same professionalism repaid. Plus we did have a good laugh throughout the day!
Cupid Carriages provided the Rolls Royce that delivered Mrs Wileman to the Church
JR Centre Pieces supplied the gorgeous chandeliers
Princess Occasions were on chair covers, top table twinkle swag (I’ll take their word for that!), fairy lights, bay trees and the Sweetie Cart
Ceram Entertainments were used for their sparkly dance floor
Sweetheart Stationery did as their name implies
Mulberry Flowers provided the simply stunning floral arrangements and Mrs Wileman was so impressed with the quality from Vikki Marriot
Melody Cakes did their erm, well, cake! And cupcakes!
Geoff Harris of Class in a Coat was their toastmaster and from my point of view was an incredible asset to their big day and was helpful to no end, Mrs Wileman professes him to be her saviour!
Mrs Wilemans stunning Ronald Joyce dress was from The Dressing Rooms Bridal
Harrison Richards was their Perceptionist and Mind reader, whilst I was kept quite busy with group shots during the bulk of his time there I did however manage to capture a few of the guests having their minds blown by this very clever man! After Harrison left it was Joseph Francis (Mrs Wileman’s Godfather) time to shine, as a member of the magic circle he went round entertaining everyone with his truly unique form of entertainment and a presence created by his wonderful personality.
Propstar booths provided their photo booth
Route 2 Hire provided an awesome example of a London bus to get the guests to and from the church
Seaforth Highlanders as mentioned above are truly skilled pipers and were thoroughly entertaining for all
Celestrial Displays lit up the sky with colour and awe through their fantastic fireworks display
Hartley Voices were their singing waitresses and man can they sing!
Mansfield Avenue were the awesomely chosen band for the evening!

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What was completely different to what you expected?
How hard it is to keep to a timeline on the day! I had everything planned to an absolute tee – I even printed a moment to moment timeline of the weekend from Thursday through Sunday, with suppliers and contact numbers, for all of the bridal and groom’s party! – but you still cannot stop things from over running.

What advice would you give to future bride and grooms?
If your budget can allow, always pay a little bit more for a highly recommended and well established supplier. My advice on the day is to try to enjoy every single second and you can only do this if you can leave the planning and stress up to other people; it is so much easier when you have absolute experts around you!

Do you have any cost saving ideas for future bride and grooms?
I originally wanted to avoid any form of DIY because of time, but I also did not want to suffer on quality. However, if the big things are professionally provided, mixing and matching with different bits and bobs that you can dress up and save some money on will make a world of difference (i.e place names through our stationary provider were going to cost £100. I purchased the various pieces from Amazon for £17 and put them together myself in an hour!).
It is also important to remember that the best suppliers are NOT always the most expensive on the market. Consider some that are newly established or have just recently set up – everyone has to start somewhere! – and they will often be competitively priced.

How did you meet?
We met at work in London and Dan offered Flick a cup of tea.

How did you/they propose?
Also over tea! Dan brought Flick breakfast in bed – a bacon sandwich, a cup of tea and a rose. Flick didn’t see the ring box until she’d bitten in to the bacon sandwich.