Sophie and James' Big day at Ye Old Punchbowl, Bridgnorth

It’s shaping up to be a fabulous year for this Shropshire Wedding Photographer, with two absolutely banging weddings already under my belt, with loads more to come – and of course if you follow my Instagram, @alex_ford_wedding_photography you will able to follow me in real time via my posts and stories on there…

But right now I am still looking back on the weekend and Sophie and James’ awesome day near to Bridgnorth…starting at St Peter’s Church in Chelmarsh – a gorgeous little country village church that couldn’t be more ‘Shropshire’ if it tried. Proudly flying the flag of St George – as it was that saint’s and England’s national day, it sat in a traditional churchyard with trees in blossom and well-cut grass all around it. The sun tried to break through, but the clouds held firm until the very moment Sophie stepped out of the pure white Tesla that had brought her to the church with her dad, when the sun rightly burst through directly onto her.

Waiting inside for Sophie was a very nervous James – but very much to his credit he didn’t fluff a line and was perfect throughout the ceremony in front of 50 or so family and friends. In fact, perfect is pretty much how the rest of the day went, not just for him, but also for everyone.

Once the ceremony was done, bell rang to celebrate the marriage and everyone went outside for some fairly sunny, but very windy photographs, before rightly, the wind drove us to run for transport to take us to the reception venue of Ye Old Punch Bowl Inn near to Bridgnorth for the celebrations to continue.

Arrival drinks soon turned into time for speeches, which took everyone through the whole range of emotions, from happy to sad, with comedy provided by THREE best men who rightly walked the fine line between roasting and honouring James. But mostly roasting…

And the day continued – a delicious three course roast carvery followed with an astoundingly good Bailey’s Cream Cheesecake (to which I can personally attest!) and then more time for drinks and chat before the banging evening party (with yet more delicious food) that I knew would go off, rightly went off!

I knew James and Sophie’s day would be brilliant, and it didn’t disappoint in any way, once again I was honoured to have played a small part in their day, and I am now about to dive into the 4500 images I took (plus more to come from my second shooter and assistant on the day, Chantelle) and start the editing of their gallery. I have a feeling it’s going to be a difficult job to get that number down for the couple…