Catherine and Richard at Aylesford Priory Barn

So, last week I started with a picture of an amazing dress. There’s a gorgeous dress to follow (by Sassi Holford since you ask – yes the designer who made the dress for Autumn Kelly). But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s start with shoes. Or “Jimmy’s” as the cockneys would call them.

Catherine actually warned me that her dress was so beautiful (and Catherine is so organised) that she just wanted to wear it as long as possible. So it was no surprise when I arrived at her parents’ house a full 3 hours before the wedding that two of her bridesmaids were already ready and Catherine was just itching to step into her dress.

This gave me little time for the real “getting ready” shots and meant that I can rush on straight to the “reveal”….

Yep, when your client looks this good you know it’s going to be a pretty easy day.

Anyway we had time for a couple of shots around the house before heading to the church.

People often ask me how I get some of the beautifully lit fashion style pictures you see on the site. Of course it’s all down to painstaking arrangement of high tech lighting systems, teams of trained assistants and creating a studio on location. Nah, that’s not even close to being true. I just chuck one flashgun to a bridesmaid, a zebra reflector to another and yell “hey, look at me”. Seems to work.

By the way, you might recognise the lady holding the flashgun. She’s normally at home in front of cameras – that’s Sarah Moore from GMTV – or “lighting fairy” as she became known .

Anyway, back to the wedding. Here are two very proud parents ready to send their daughter off to be married.

Down at the church of St Thomas More in West Malling, all was well. Rob (or Bob – it depends) the best man was testing the bubbles to make sure everything would be perfect. What is it with guys in suits and bubbles? Still at least they weren’t as complicated as last week .

While the groom was looking surprisingly relaxed. Though not as relaxed as his father in the background.

But after the laughter comes tears. But only happy tears. Very happy tears. As Richard Mason and Catherine Hosking were married.

And then we were off! To Aylesford Priory Barn. A beautiful venue with absolutely stunning grounds. Still with Catherine and Richard to photograph pretty much anywhere would have looked fabulous.

Here’s Catherine risking her gorgeous dress in the name of art.

And the happy couple with their bridesmaids Helen, Mashala and Sarah (yes, her off the telly).

But my favourite picture of the day came a few minutes later. Just Richard and Catherine and a stone arch that has been there for a good few hundred years. Sometimes simplicity is the best.

I happen to know that the guys were pretty nervous about their speeches. But as always they needn’t have worried. Everyone seemed to enjoy Richard’s speech.

Of course anybody can make a dress that looks fantastic on a peg. And if you just want to walk around carefully in it then lots of dresses will do. But when you have a dress this fabulous and the man of your dreams beside you it seems only right to show off a little by dancing. Lots of dancing.

Loads more pictures to come. In the meantime if you’d like to leave any comments for Richard and Catherine, there’s a box below for your messages.

You may also like:

1. Catherine & Richard
2. Naomi and Richard – Ratsbury Barn
3. Andrea and James – wedding pictures from Cooling Castle Barn
4. Katherine and Ben at Cooling Catle Barn
5. Richard and Clare – a wizard wedding