I first meet Mina and Daryl a year and a half ago at Micheal and Andrays wedding in May 2008 when they were attending as guests and what a stunning couple they are! Soon after Mina contacted me to do pregnancy shots, which she loved and later booked me to do her wedding photography.
I was over the moon that I would get to meet little Ethan finally and shoot their beautiful wedding with its central London Backdrop,
I arrived at the Chancery Court Hotel to get some shots of Mina and her bridesmaids getting ready and of course of little Ethan who was adorable, the look of joy on Mina's face when he arrived was priceless.
The wedding ceremony was lovely and after some shots outside we all went to Middle Temple Hall which was particularly spectacular. Being Asian Mina decorated the tables with chopsticks which was fantastic.
For a year and a half I have been working on my masters degree and truly believe my work has progressed so much in this time.
I have spent the last 6 months working on my final project which I am due to hand in in a couple of weeks. I am excited that not only has it already secured its place on the front cover of a magazine, images have also been shortlisted for Professional Photographer Magazines Professional Photographer of the Year 2009.
Each shoot I have had the opportunity to work with amazing teams of people, especially kim Roy who has done hair for me on every single one of the 5 shoots I have done.
The title of the project is Edenias www.edenias.com and it follows the progression of a soul through life, death, heaven, hell, purgatory and heaven and is inspired by various poetry and writings by Emily Dickinson, William Blake, Dante and Milton.
I am so happy with the final series of 25 images and am looking forward to getting them into magazines and my final exhibition in January in the Mall Gallery in London.
Life
Photographer: Rebecca Litchfield Model: Sian Makeup: Tamara Ramsey Crockett Hair: Kim Roy Designer: Kambriel Set Designer: Howard Parkes Assistant: Danny Litchfield
Death Photographer: Rebecca Litchfield Model: Rebecca Actor: Filippos Makeup: Sandra Birmingham Designer: Arisa Fukumoto Designer: Lara Jenson Hair: Kim Roy Location: Edenbridge Assistant: Howard Parkes Assitant: Richard Roy
Hell Photographer: Rebecca Litchfield Model: Skye Victoria Hair: Kim Roy Makeup: Keiko Designer: Rachel Freire Assistant: Howard Parkes Location: My Studio East Croydon Loaction: Westpark Asylum
Purgatory Photographer: Rebecca Litchfield Model: Rosanne Performers: Suka Off Hair: Kim Roy Makeup: Tamara Ramsey Crockett Designer: Rachel Freire Location: Adrian Pini Studio
Heaven Photographer: Rebecca Litchfield Model: Elli G Makeup Artist: Keiko Nakamura Hair: Kim Roy Assistant: Howard Parkes Location: French House Doves: Ray Pegasus: Mike Sheen
Danny proposed on the Saturday 10th November 2007, in my studio, he set up all the lights and my camera on self timer so that he could capture a photo of him pulling out the stunning diamond ring. Of course knowing how much photography meant to me. The final photo is so incredibly funny he looks so pleased with himself.
We then went for a beautiful dinner at our favourite restaurant Tinkers. We plan to go back there soon as husband and wife. It was also one of the first posh restaurants Danny took me to when we first started dating.
A full year later my nan after meeting Danny gave us money in order to be able to get married, which was the best gift anyone could ever give to us as we most probably would have stayed engaged forever as we are always so poor.
It was funny as my nan has never liked any of my boyfriends, until she meet Danny and actually gave me money to get married to him!
Our Venue
Choosing the venue was the first thing we did. I looked on the Internet for a good few hours trying to find wedding venue in the London/ Surrey area that could host our ceremony, meal and reception all in on place as we didn't really want a religious ceremony as we think it is very fake having to attend church months before the wedding when you aren't particularly religious so you can get married there.
Of course we were looking for somewhere stunning with friendly staff and affordable. When I found Oaks Farm it looked like the perfect place, it had glowing reports and looked so pretty from the photos on the website.
We went to see it in January with my dad and just knew it was perfect for our day and with thumbs up from all there we decided it was the one. What was the point in looking at any others when it was perfect in every way and everything we wanted.
Oaks Farm has an Orangery which is bright and light and faces the pond outside, which is where we decided we would have our ceremony.
Next to the Orangery is a barn, which is where we decided to have our wedding meal and evening party.
There are also beautiful grounds, a pond and an outdoor covered area with heating. To the side of the lawn it also has it's very own cottage which me and Danny stayed in after the wedding for our first night together as husband and wife.
Setting The Date
After visiting Oaks Farm (which was fully booked for all weekends in 2009) we decided to choose a date in the summer and with very few dates left we decided on Thursday 10th September. As it would give us a full 9 months to plan the wedding.
After setting the date me and Danny became very excited, realising we were actually getting married made us so so happy indeed, there was lots of loved up moments in the 9 months leading up to our special day.
I bought a wedding planner which was absolutely invaluable! I would recommend it to anyone, it had section to keep things as well, which has made it something I will keep forever with the rest of my wedding things. Mine is completely bursting with stuff now, but I love looking though it as a true memento of all the planning.
I think the colour theme came after choosing the flowers, red roses being my favourite flower in the world, it was clear dark red would be one colour. I spent a lot of time on a wedding website getting great advise from other bride to be's and after chatting with the girls decided black and white would create a stunning impactful look to the wedding with a touch of red. Black and red are also my two favourite colours.
It was great, I wrote that this was the colour theme for the wedding on the invite and nearly all of our guests wore these colours, which looked fantastic! Some of my friends even had red highlights in their hair.
Invites
With the colour scheme chosen, the next thing to do was invite all our guests. We decided to invite a nice number of 70 which was not to many and not too few. It actually ended up including 4 children guests as well in the end.
It wasn't hard choosing who we wanted to invite, as we have both got close family and a small group of friends whom we particularly love. Everybody else, including work friends we invited to the evening reception.
I decided to make all the stationary for the wedding to save money. My grandad Tom gave us some money for this as he was unable to come to the wedding as he lives in Spain as is quite ill at the moment and couldn't get over.
And went arms full of red and black card, spray mount, stamps and diamantes to my dads house where me, my mum, step dad and dad spent the day assembling the invites! It took absolutely ages but was worth it as I think they are beautiful and over half the price we would have paid to buy them ready made.
The hardest part was getting hold of everyone addresses, and this took a good few weeks of pestering my parents, Danny's parents and various other emails back an forth. It felt like such an accomplishment when i had them all written down in my wedding planner.
I stupidly wrote mine and Danny's own postcode on the invite which was very similar to the venues as it was very close to us. So luckily I had every ones addresses in one place so I could send out a quick amendment. I've always been great at the creative stuff but never good with the stuff that needs brain matter d'oh!But that's OK we got lots of comments on how great they looked which was the main thing.
The invites had various sections which pulled out giving details of the wedding, on accommodation, getting there, gifts and the dress code, all adorned with diamantes.
The RSVP cards were great and I'm so glad I put them in as everyone returned them, which saved a lot of chasing up, it is also another nice reminder of who came and even what they ate!
Our Evening Reception I bought from Next, I printed out details and stuck them in the inside so everyone had the same information as the day time guests.
Flowers
It soon became clear to me that wedding planning was a huge enjoyment for me, it passed lots of boring days, going on websites and searching for things for the wedding. Of course it is always enjoyable for most woman to have a sum of money to spend and spending it was a lot of fun. For a lot of things I had to do a lot of saving, but it was worth it as these small details that I had so much fun planning really made the day what it was.
It also became clear to me that I am not an indecisive person, which made the whole process really easy. I'm not one of these people that have to go and meet people and discuss for hours the small details. Once I have found someone that I like and like what I see on their website, Most of the details I planned over email.
I contacted Kim from Passions flowers back in January and her website was gorgeous with a whole array of roses to choose from, and all priced very reasonably. She also said that I could make changes to the order right up till a few days before the wedding. Which was just as well because I kept adding things all the time.
In the end I choose a beautiful red rose bouquet with a black satin tie and diamante pins inside the roses.
I also bought on Etsy an American site for buying and selling handmade items, two small charms which I attached to my bouquet with photos of my great grandma who has Alzheimer's and couldn't come to the wedding and also my grandma who died a few years back. I later got my dad to put my bouquet on my grandma's grave.
In January when we set our date I immediately went to the shop in Spitalfield market to go try it on.
It turns out I didn't like it as much as I thought, but saw another corset that looked so beautiful on a rail and soon after found the perfect skirt to match.
After trying it on I just knew it was the one. A week after me and my mum had a wonderful girly day in London and I tried it on again and she said it was beautiful and said that she would buy it for me. (Thank you loads mum) I will cherish it forever and when me and Danny in 10 years time re new our vowls, I hope I can fit into it again to wear.
The week after I went with my dad to pick it up and then it was mine, I cant believe how easy it was to find my perfect dress, but I didn't want to do the whole wedding dress shop blitz as I wasn't after a typical wedding dress. So when I saw this one in my favourite shop I knew nothing would match it.
This is me round my dads trying it on, my mum was telling me to pose as I needed practise for the wedding lol.
Accessories
I got my shoes from Oasis, I decieded that all accessories would be black satin including my shoes, they had pretty ribbon details on the back and side.. and I sewed ribbons onto the inside so that I could do them up around my ankles.
My mum bought me this black satin bag which was great for keeping my speech out of sight out of mind and also my glasses case.
My mum also bought me this pretty garter from Fairy Goth Mother while I was trying on my dress
When I ordered some knickers from the Fairy Goth Mother site unfortunatly they were delayed in delivery, so as an appology they sent me this beautiful satin Kimono which I wore while getting ready in the morning of the wedding.
I loved the smell of Chloe but unfortunatly cant wear perfume as it gives me head aches, I did however want a scent that would remind me of the wedding, so I sprayed my skirt and bridesmaid dresses in it and it was nice sometimes getting a waft of it as it is so fresh and flowery.
Jewellery
I wore a bracelet that was designed for me on etsy, made of pearls and a diamote brooch.
My necklace I won on the wedding path website and was designed by Yarwood White
My head bridesmaid was my best friend from universtity Axelle, we have known each other over 6 years now and she really is the sweetest girl in the world.
Also Dannys younger sister Jenny. who I just love to pieces, she just so fantastic in every way
My cousin Natasha, who I loved having as my bridesmaid, I grew up with Natasha and have so many fond memories, many of which were brought up in my brothers rather entertaing speech about how we flooded my nans beday when we were little and blamed it on him. Also how we knocked his tooth out on a sledge and spent the whole rest of the day looking for it in the snow.
And Danny's two adorable little nieces Jodie Leigh and Cristina, I loved having the girls as bridesmaids, they loved it and were just so so cute through out the whole day. I got them a picnic set to play with.
Cristina came up to me wanting me to put water in the tea pot and food on the plates. The thing I regret about the whole day was not having time for everyone or the ability to speck properly with all my wonderful guests and the day just went so incredibly fast.
Bridesmaids Dresses
I decieded to dress the older brides maids in scarlet fairy goth mother corstetted dresses to match my corset. All my bridesmaids were beautiful and skinny and all just looked so stunning on the day.
I got diamamte head bands from Debenhams for the two little bridesmaids.
These are the shoes and cute little socks I got for the little bridesmaids, I bought on ebay And I got black necklaces for the older bridesmaids, to add a slightly gothic look to their corsetted dresses. Grooms Men Outfits
Danny, my dad Philip, Dannys brother (and best man) John Ed, Danny's dad John and my brother (and usher) Howard all got their suits from Moss Bros.
It was a bit of a task getting them all measured up, esp as Danny's dad lives in Portugal, but we got there in the end and the suits were great.
We got Mourning Suit packages and Danny even got his for free with the others. They wore frock coats, scarlet cravats, grey pinstripe trousers and black tophats
This is Danny trying on his suit the first time we went to the shop
Grooms Men Accessories
Bless them all for wearing their strippy and spotty socks :)
Catering
Our three course meal was created by Tierneys. In March Danny, my mum, my dad and I went for a tasting evening at Oaks Farm and decieded on our food choices for our sit down meal.
The food was just absolutly gorgeous and Aidan was so friendly and helpful. It was funny on our last meeting with Aidan when we were choosing our final detaisl I had my one and only bridezilla moment when chatting about napkins! Can you believe I was in tears over napkins! Lukily there werent any other dramas during the preparation on the lead up to the wedding.
The table settings looked amazing, I think Aidan even went out of his way to fold the exquisite napkins so that our menus could stand up inside them. We choose simple black and white plates with contemporary cutlery, which looked really striking on the tables.
My wonderful dad paid for the catering, to which I cant even find the words to thank him, he is just the most amazing father anyone could ever wish for.
The staff were amazing and very friendly on the day, pouring drinks and serving vegetables.
Canapes
Served with Champagne and Soft Drinks
Mini Sausage and Mash
Mini Spring Rolls with Chilli Sauce
Smoked Salmon Balinis
Prawns Wrapped in Filo Pastry
Mini Vegetable Quiches
Chicken Sate with Peanut Sauce
♥
Wedding Dinner
♥
Starter
Smoked Salmon & North Atlantic Prawn Panache
A duet of Smoked Salmon & Prawns placed on a mixed bed of Frisse, Lollo Rosso & Machè Leaves With a Cucumber & Lemon Garnish, drizzled with a Dill Vinaigrette
Selection of Assorted Breads with Butter to Include:
A filled Supreme with Breadcrumbs, Sage & Dried Apricots,
Wrapped in Pancetta, roasted & served with a Piquant Tomato Sauce
Mash, New Potatoes and a Medley of Vegetables
Or
Fillet of Steak with Jus Roti Sauce
Mash, New Potatoes and a Medley of Vegetables
To Conclude
Wedding Cupcake, Chocolate
Fresh Cream, Coulis and Berries
♥
Evening Buffet
A Selection of Mixed Sandwiches:
Prawns, Lettuce and Mayonnaise
Cheese and Chutney
Egg, Mayonnaise and Cress
Ham and Tomato
Turkey, Lettuce and Mayonnaise
Cheese and Pineapple Kebabs
Honey Coated Sausages with Mustard Dip
Indian Range of Pakora, Onion Bargees and Samosas
Table Settings
For each table setting I got frames with pictures of the guests inside
I also bought these frames from Paperchase one for each table and put some of mine and Dannys favourite love song lyrics, ones which were played during our ceremony, meal music and for our first dance. We have now given these frames as gifts to loved ones with prints of our wedding inside.
As an alternative to favours I gave everyone an envelope with a scratch card inside, I think the most anyone won was £2.. doh!
The words inside read: Rebecca & Danny are the luckiest people in the world to have each other, we would like you to be lucky yourselves, good luck and hope you win something. Thank you again for coming to our wedding, we love you all very much. x
Candles
On each table there was a damask pattern pilar candle and on the top table a big black candelabra.
Seating Plan
Apart from the top table, I had a table for my main family, Danny had one for his, we had a table for my friends, one for Dannys friends, one for my dads freinds, one for aunts and uncles and one last one for Dannys dads family and a few extras. So 8 tables in total
Danny's Family
My Family
Aunt's, Uncles, Cousins
My Friends
Danny's Friends
My Dads Friends
I created a table plan using the colour scheme and lots of diamantes.
Balloons
We had black and white balloons by Balloonease, which looked great.
I was planning on doing some kind of realeasing the balloon thing after the ceremony while doing the group shot and my wonderful friend from primary school came out with all of them lol ( I was expecting one or two) slightly overwhelmed by the amount of balloons and fear of taking off if i held them all, I think they got left looking pretty on the lawn.
My Cow!!!
It was a joke for a long time with me and Danny about me having a cow for the wedding, whats the point in getting married on a farm if you cant have you favourite grass eating friend there.Of course I realised this could have never have been a reality, but even i could never have expected to have just finished being married to Danny only to walk out onto the lawn to see a huge life size cut out of a cow on the lawn.
My brilliant and wonderful friend Christina from primary school (which also made her my longest friend at the wedding) had arranged and set her up before the wedding. It was the sweetest and most brilliant surprise of the whole day, thank you Christina x
Singer
My friend Stace is an amazing singer and when she agreed to sing as I walked down the aisle I was happy beyond words, her voice is like an angel.
Me and the bridesmaids were going to wait until the end of the song to walk down the aisle, but because I couldnt hear her, we walked in quicker and Im so glad we did, as she sung the song so perfectly for when me and Danny first saw each other it was like a dream and very emotional, everyone clapped at the end which was well desearved.
She sung Close to You by the Carpenters, a song which me and Danny love because there was a very strange version of it in a film called Mirror Mask that we love. Of course if we had got Stace to sing that version everyone would have thought it very weired so she sung the original, which still has very beautiful words.
Why do birds suddenly appear
Every time you are near?
Just like me, they long to be
Close to you.
Why do stars fall down from the sky
Every time you walk by?
Just like me, they long to be
Close to you.
On the day that you were born
The angels got together
And decided to create a dream come true
So they sprinkled moon dust in your hair of gold
And starlight in your eyes of blue.
That is why all the girls in town
Follow you all around.
Just like me, they long to be
Close to you.
On the day that you were born
The angels got together
And decided to create a dream come true
So they sprinkled moon dust in your hair of gold
And starlight in your eyes of blue.
Cup Cake Tower
Our stunning black, white and red cup cake tower was designed by the lovely Rachel Hill from Planet Cake.
I visted her the first time with Danny to try out different yummy cakes and choose what we wanted and she was just so nice, I would recommend her to anyone, simply because she goes out of her way to do for you what you want and being a perfectionist like myself she wants her cakes to look truely stunning. She went on a search for black cupcake holders just because I requested them, what a star!
I visited here a second time to pick up some extra cakes for photos on the day and she introduced me to her cute new hens! one which was called Mable! Bless, no wonder her cakes taste so yummy with fresh eggs from out of her very own garden!
Photography
Natasha is an amazing photographer, words cant even explain how thankful I am for the beautiful images she created of our day, ones which tell THE perfect story of the day.
Ive know her for a few years from working at Venture, she was awarded photographer of the year there in 2006 and ever since I have been a huge fan of her work.
Of course being a wedding photographer it is something I had to get truely right and really the only person I could think of that could make my dream photos a reality was the best wedding photographer I have ever come across.
Being a friend I know she put in 100% effort and more and it really shows in the final photos, Im normally quite unphotogenic so I was worried how they would all turned out, bu she even made me look good.
We meet up a couple of times before the day, once we went to the venue and waked around looking for cool places to shoot, we found a nice barn and a beautiful pond, which we did a lot of the arty shots by.
We also discussed props, both having worked for Venture Portraits for over three years we both have a contempory fun approach to photography and I was defeintly up for sotmething very different. So we decieded on parasols, a cupcake tea party for the bridesmaids and to have the grooms men as gangstars, with cigars, guns and sunglasses.
I'm so happy with the way they all turned out, and particually love the grooms men shots, especially my dad, who made a brilliant gangster. My dad also paid for my wedding photos and I could hug him to pieces for that, because everytime I look at them all it brings tears of joy that I can re live our magical day over and over again.
We created a CD of all the best shots to send to our guests and thank you's for their cards and gifts.
Wedding Car
I got driven to the venue by my cousin Anthony in my nans Jaguar and what a lovely car it was, I sat in it for 5 minutes when we reached the venue while our wonderful registra Ricahrd got everyone sat down and ready for my arrival. It was nice sitting in such a nice car.
Birdcage
To put our wedding cards I got a wedding bircage, I also gave paper and crayons to the little ones and asked them to draw pictures for us and post them in the bircage, the ones they drew were so sweet.
The bircage now has all our wedding cards and momentos along with the wedding planner inside.
Rings
We got our rings from Beaver Brooks, we wanted just simple white gold wedding bands that match. I think Danny loved going to get the rings as he has never worn a ring before and it also made it hit home that he was getting married in a months time and he didnt stop grinning, I was so happy to see a ring on his finger.
The day we tried them on, exactly one month before the wedding, it was really hot and Danny ended up getting his 4 sizes too big (still cant work out how he managed that, so throughout our honeymoon he had to wear it on his middle finger which was rather amusing)
He now has it sorted lol. The day we went to pick up the rings was so close to the day we were all smiles when we walked in, they said let me guess your both here to pick up wedding rings, were we really that predictable.
Hair
Mine and the bridemaids hair was done by the amazing Kim Roy. As a fashion photographer I have worked with many hair stylists in the past, so I had my pick and it wasnt hard choosing Kim, she is one of the most lovely smily people you will ever meet.
I'd had hair extentions a week before at Josh's hair salon and she transformed them in to long lushus ringlets half up with a rose comb. I'd never seen my hair look so nice.
Having Kim at the wedding also meant my hair would never look bad as I had a hair dresser close to hand.
Makeup
I also knew Jo from a shoot I did last year (was infact the same one I did with Kim) and she did an absolutly wonderful job on our makeup, she even painted all the bridesmaids and my mums nails
It was definatly very strange having my makeup done by someone else, but also quite relaxing, although half way through everyone kept arriving and I ket having to get up to answer the door every 5 minutes (poor Jo) I also opened my eyes while having my false eyelashes done, its very hard to keep your eyes shut when so much is going on around you.
Pamering
A couple of days before the wedding I had my first professionla massage a Rush Beauty, it was bliss I also got all sorts of things waxed off, which was painful to say the least, had my eyebrows and eyelashes darkened and had gel nail extentions.
Apart from the waxing bit, it was very nice to be pamered, everyone was surprised at how calm I was with only a week to go, but really planning the wedding just wasnt stressful at all, it was just fun. In the last week I was actually quite bored with everything done, and just wetting myslef with excitement
Polaroid Guestbook
My wonderful brother Howard took on the job of doing the polaroid guestbook.. armed with a list and picture of all the guests he managed to get a polaroid picture of everyone!
It was so nice after the wedding going through it, each page has a polaroid photo and everyone signed by their pictures.
It wasnt an easy job, he really is the best brother/ usher, thanks Howard, you created something that me and Danny will look back on in years to come and smile.
It's also quite a special thing to have now that polaroid film is now discontinued, so these really are one of the last to be taken with the last available polaroid film.
Gifts to People
For the grooms men we gave Jack Daniels sets (poker sets and hip flasks)
And as gifts for the special women in our lives we got them sunflower boquets.
These were all given out during Danny's great speech.
Toast Master
Glen Grant was our friendly and very organised toaster master. he played our music, organised guests as they arrived and had the horrible job of grabbing all our family and friends for the photographs, he went far beyond the call of duty and our wedding just wouldnt have been so organised with out him, so thank you Glen (Shrek tee hee)
I did get told off for being outside smoking a pink cigarette when I was meant to be in the recieving line. opps, Im so glad he was telling us where to be at what times though as I just would have never known otherwise.
He introduced the speeches very well and let me bang his hammer, which was fun.. what everyone didnt count on was I liked the hammer so much I wanted to bang it lots, at the begging of my speech I stood up before I was introduced, so I sat back down with a sulk face and then he introduced me and I banged the hammer really loud before standing up again, made everyone laugh.
Registra/ Vowls
Richard was our registra, I just couldnt have wished for a better person to marry me and Danny, from first contact with Croydon registry office he sounded so wonderful. It wasnt before long I had my heart set on him to do our ceremony and seriously I was holding my breathe as to whether he would or not adn when he said he was going to I was just so happy!
This was even beofre we meet him, you know when you just get a good feeling from talking to a person, well i had this 10 fold with richard. The way he complimented me on my website photography and emailed me often to say hi was far and beyond the call of duty.
After meeting up a couple of time it wasnt long before me and danny realised he was a wonderful man and invited him not only to marry us but to be apart of our day as well. After meeting u again one last time to finalise all the details of the ceremony it was clear we would be seeing Riocahdr not only at our wedding but in the future as well.
When me and Danny re new our vowls (hopefully in Fiji in ten years time) as long as we arent completly broke I am totally up for flying Ricahrd out with us so he can renew them for us.
He performed such a beautiful ceremony adn so many people have comented on how great he was and how loving it all was. Im normally a very shy person especially standing up in front of so many people but he put my mind at ease right up until the day and any nerves I had disappeared.
We feel so blessed to have had such an array of friends and amazing people to be apart of our special day.
Stag Weekend - Fri 10th - Monday 14th July
I know its not tradition for the bride to go to the stag weekend, but our wedding isnt about tradition and Danny let me come because he loves me and wanted me to have a good time as well and not because I didnt trust him in Amsterdam lol.
We had sooo much fun, went with Daryl, CJ, Martin, Lee, Axelle (my chief bridesmaid) and her boyfriend Vincent.
Didnt get much sleep for the three nights, we were waaay to busy having a good time.
We left Friday morning and after arriving we head straight for the coffee shops ;)
On Saturday we went to Dancevalley, followed by a fun night in our wicked trippy apartment (it was a pent house with a view over the canals and red light district)
Sunday we hit Amsterdam town again, followed by a very late night at or incredibly trippy apartment
I have never laughed so hard in all my life. Me, Danny and Martin stayed up till 4 in the morning laughing our heads off over zombie hands, gingerbread houses, flying mobile phones and millions of other crazy things
Hen Party- 22nd August
11 of us went to Tiger Tiger in Croydon on Saturday, I had so much fun!!! I am so lucky to have such wonderful and beautiful friends.
My oldest friend Christina from primary school, Sarah from High school. My bestest buddy Axelle and chief bridesmaid who came all the way from Paris for the night. My gorgeous model friend Tristi, my amazing work friend Lucy, lovely lovely Sophie, Annaliese and her friend Louise from when I worked at Venture full time and my wonderful In Laws to be.. Debbie (mummy in law to be) and Zoe (my sister in law to be).
The night was fab, we had our own table in the restaurant with balloons and a yummy three course meal, followed by champayne and cocktails. Lucy bought s all a giant cocktail in a melon, it was lush! thanks Lucy love you loads.
After dinner we went to our private booth in the Groovy Wonderland where we danced to cheesy 80's music (lots of micheal Jackson lol)
The funniest moment was downing the aftershock shot Lucy bought me to find a fly in the glass!! Ha ha I had it in my mouth, was so drunk by then it was hilarious.. did get a free sambuka from the shocked bar woman though!! Woo hoo.
It was the most perfect and fun night I could have ever wished for for my hen party.
Bride and Chief Bridesmaid Break in Paris - 9th - 10th August
Had a wonderful two days in Paris with Axelle, my bestest buddy and chief bridesmaid.
I got up at 6am to get there nice and early Sunday morning and Axelle meet me at the station in Paris. had a really yummy lunch near where she lived, sat out in the beautiful sun, but did get attacked by a wasp lol.
She took me round Paris, Notre Dam, La Louvre, sat on Paris beach by the river Seine. Was bliss and so nice to catch up, I hate the fact she now lives so far away.
Monday was hoping to go to the Catacombes, but it seems everything is shit in Paris on Mondays so went for a coffee instead but accidently ordered an expresso, which was gross, but I've never had one before and what better place to try my first yucky coffee drink that I just cant understand how anyone would enjoy! Its a great excuse to go back and visit Axelle again, just so I can go to the scary dead tunnels and Disney Land, which we couldnt be arsed in the end.
Explored paris some more, went to Luxembourg park which was beautiful,walked up the Seine again and sat outside the Pompidu centre in the sun. God I did so much walking.Ended the day drinking wine at Axelles apartment, then went to the Eiffel tower followed by cocktails :) was in bed by 2 and up again at 5 eekkkkk
The Wedding Day - Getting Ready
On the morning of the wedding I woke up at 7.30 after sleeping a maximum of 4 hours. Me and Axelle went to bed at about 1am but I was so excited I couldn't sleep. I didnt want to wake Axelle as she had flown frome Paris so instead at 3am I text my mum to say I couldn't sleep, she suggested I drink some milk so I did.
But then it was 4am and feeling like I was going to burst with excitment I rang my poor dad who promised me I would sleep even for a couple of hours and not to worry as the adreniline of the day would get me through. That calmed me down and eventually I fell aslepp.
At 7.30 my alarm went off and I opened the curtain and as the interent promised for the last 10 days, the weather was sunny and perfect.
I smiled while hanging up the bridesmaids dresses, I had a bath and then went running into Axelle's room screaming and running around insane 'I'm getting married!' I giggled for a while and then didnt know what to do with myself. I found myself following Axelle around the house like a headless chicken. We ate cornflakes and drank a cup of tea.
Jo arrived at about 9 and started on Axelles makeup and then mine. This was when the excitement started as we started to chat about the details of the wedding. It was so nice to get my makeup done by a professional and really quite calming to be in the hands of someone to do it all for me.
This is when everyone else started to arrive, first Kim the flower lady she brought all the gorgeous roses and then left to take the button holes and vases to the venue, she later called to say it looked really stunning at Oaks Farm. Next my other bridesmaids arrived, Jenny, Natasha, Jodie Leigh and Cristina. It was great all getting ready together, it was very chaotic, but fun while we all had our makeup, hair and nails done.
Kim arrived and started to put ringlets in everyone's hair, it looked so nice and by the time my mum, dad and photographer arrived at 11.30 we had almost finsihed beautifying oursleves.
I had a couple of moments of nervers but I was surpised how calm I felt, I had butterflies in my stomach but was getting so excited about getting to the venue and seeing Danny.
Natasha took some saucy photo of Axelle helping me get into my dress and a few shots of me and my dad and my bridesmaids.
Waiting outside was my nans jaguar with white ribbons, driving to Oaks Farm was so surreal. I felt a mixture of nerves, excitement and the unablity to breathe while sitting down in my corset. I couldnt get my head around the fact in minutes I would see Danny and we would be getting married, it felt so unreal. As we turned the corner to the long drive, some girls sitting on a bench cheered as we drove past and waved, which made me feel really special.
Ceremony
As tiny specks turned into people as we drove closer. I could see them all move into the Orangery. Once the car parked Richard our registra and Glen the toastmaster came over to explain what was going to happen, I waited a couple of miutes in the car and thenwe all walked over to the room.
Before I knew it, me and my beautiful bridesmaids were at the door and Stace was sisnging Close to You, we were going to walk down the aisle at the end of the song, but firstly I couldnt hear Stace singing when I wanted to and second I just couldnt wait any longer to see Danny so I sent the girls in.
Walking down the aisle was such an amazing feeling, the room was bright and sunny and suddenly all the poeple I love the most's head were turning to look at me, it was like ridding a wave of happiness, I couldnt stop smiling and there Danny was at the front grinning his head of, Stace later said his eyes popped out when he saw me.
The Brides Escort
Philip you have escorted Rebecca here today for her marriage to Daniel. Do you now give her hand in marriage to this man?
Reply “I do”
The Introduction
Marriage joins two people in the circle of love. It’s a commitment to life, the best that two people can find and bring out in each other. It offers opportunities for sharing and growth that no other relationships can equal. Its is both a physical and emotional joining that is promised for a lifetime.
Happiness is fuller, memories are fresher and commitment is deeper. When two people pledge their love and care for each other within a marriage they create a spirit which binds them far closer than any spoken written word. Marriage is a promise, written in the hearts of two people who love one another and it takes a lifetime to fulfil.
While we waited at the front holding hands we waited at the front for Stace to finish the song, after a round of applause I gave Danny a kiss, I know your not meant to but I couldnt help myself, he just looked so handsome with non scruffy hair and in his smart suit.
Looking round I saw my mum, my nan and everyone else, it was a whole room of smailey faces and they were all there for us, which made me feel so content.
Soon Richard was speaking and before I knew it we were both staring into each others eyes making our vowls and it seemd like the asiest thing in the world, I seemed to have a confidnec I have never had before. I couldnt stop smiling and I was fighting back happy tears , I said my vows with so much truth and love for Danny, staring into his gorgeous eyes swearing to his soul that I would love him till the day I died.
The Declarations
This place in which we are now met has been duly sanctioned according to law for the celebration of marriage. You are here today to witness the joining of matrimony of Daniel John Godfrey Litchfield and Rebecca Jane Parkes.
If any person present knows of any lawful impediment to this marriage, they must declare it now.
Before you are joined in matrimony, it is my duty to remind you of the solemn and binding character of the vows that you are about to make. Marriage, according to the law of this country, is the union of one man with one woman, voluntarily entered into for life, to the exclusion of all others.
Now I am going to ask each of you in turn to declare that you do not know of any lawful reason why you may not be married to each other
Groom
I do solemnly declare that I know not of any lawful impediment why I, Daniel John Godfrey Litchfield may not be joined in matrimony to Rebecca Jane Parkes.
Bride
I do solemnly declare that I know not of any lawful impediment why I, Rebecca Jane Parkes may not be joined in matrimony to Daniel John Godfrey Litchfield.
The Traditional I do
Daniel do you take Rebecca to be your wife, to rejoice with her in the good times, to comfort her to be your wife, to rejoice with her in good times, to comfort her in times of sorrow, and to be true to her, all days of your life?
Reply: “I do”
Rebecca do you take Daniel to be your husband, to rejoice with him in good times, to comfort him in times of sorrow, and to be true to him, all the day of your life?
Reply: “I do”
My mum gave a lovely reading, she was fighting back tears as well, it was really special to hear her loving words.
Reading for Becci and Danny’s wedding – Read by Fiona Peaty Rebecca’s Mum
I AM LOVE
Some say I can fly on the wind, yet I haven’t any wings.
Some have found me floating on the open sea, yet I cannot swim.
Some have felt my warmth on a cold night, yet I have no flame.
And though you cannot see me, I lay between two lovers at the hearth of fireplaces.
I am the twinkle in your child’s eye.
I am hidden in the lines of your mothers face.
I am your fathers shield as he guards your home.
And yet, some say I am stronger than steel, yet I am fragile as a tear.
Some have never searched for me, yet I am around them always.
Some say I die with loss, yet I am endless.
And though you cannot hear me, I dance on the laughter of children.
I am woven into the whispers of passion.
I am the blessings of grandmothers.
I embrace the cries of newborn babies.
Some say I am a flower, yet I am also the seed.
Some have little faith in me, yet I will always believe in them.
Some say I cannot cure the ill, yet I nourish the soul.
And though you cannot touch me, I am the gentle hand of the kind.
I am the fingertips that caress your cheek at night.
I am the hug of a child.
The Marriage Vows
And so we now move on to the formal vows of marriage, and to the promises that Daniel and Rebecca have chosen to make to each other.
Ladies and Gentlemen, will you all please stand. Brides flowers to handed to Axelle
Daniel and Rebecca you have both declared yourselves to be free and willing to marry, will you now turn to face each other, as you call upon your guest to witness your formal vows of marriage.
Groom
I call upon these persons here present to witness that I Daniel John Godfrey Litchfield do take thee Rebecca Jane Parkes to be my lawful, wedded wife to love and to care for you to the end of my days.
Bride
I call upon these persons here present to witness that I Rebecca Jane Parkes do take thee Daniel John Godfrey Litchfield to be my lawful, wedded husband to love and to care for you to the end of my days.
The Commitment of Marriage
Danny and Rebecca the purpose of marriage is that you may always love care for and support each other through both the joys and sorrows of life. Today you will exchange vows of marriage which will unite you as husband and wife. These vows are a promise of lifelong commitment, giving your families and friends the opportunity to meet together in celebration of your happiness, imparting their own message of love and support.
The Exchange of rings
And so we come to the giving and receiving of the wedding rings
The exchange of rings is the traditional way of sealing the vows that you have just made. The wedding ring is the unbroken circle, symbolising unending and everlasting love and is the outward sign of lifelong promise that you have just made to each other
Best man John Edward Litchfield Gives Rings
I give you this ring as a symbol of our love, all that I am, I give to you, all that I have, I share with you. I promise to love you, to cherish and respect you, to be faithful and loyal in good times and bad. I give you my hand, my love and my heart and on this day our souls will be joined as one, I will love you till the day I die.
Before long Richard pronouced us husband and wife and I felt an overwhelming sense of love and completness like it was just meant to be.
Pronouncement of Marriage
Today is a new beginning for you both. May you have many happy years together and in those years may all your hopes and dreams be fulfilled. Above all may you always believe in each other and may the warmth of your love enrich not only your lives but the lives of all those around you.
Daniel and Rebecca
You have made the declarations prescribed by law, and you have made solemn and binding marriage vows with each other in the presence of your witness. You have sealed those vows with the giving an receiving of rings and in the addition you have given to each other a promise of lifelong love and commitment.
It now gives me great pleasure to pronounce you husband and wife
You may now kiss the bride
After signing the register we walked back down the aisle to cheers and claps.
Group Photographs
Walking out of the ceremony room we was greated with glasses of chapayne and my friend Tristi, who was in control of the bubble machine blew bubbles at us, walking out onto the lawn the first thing I saw was the cow, I couldnt believe it, aparently my face was a picture. I cant beleieve Cristina got me my very own cow to have on the farm.
Before long Glen was arranging everyone on the lawn to have some group shots done.
My Family
Danny's Family
Our Friends ( A sea of red )
Bride & Groom Photographs
For the next two hours me and Danny had our group photos, it was definatly strange being on the other side of the camera, but nice at the same time, it was fun being the centre of attention. Throughout the photos it was hard as I wanted to go join all my guests on the lawn to mingle, but at the same time I wanted to get really good photos.
We had so many, ones of us on our own, with family and the bridal party.
Family Photographs
Danny and his Na Na
My beautiful Grandma
My very special Mum
Dannys Mum and Me :)
Dannys mum and step dad Lee
We had our family photos done by the beautiful pond
My brother/ usher Howard
The Litchfields - I'm just so happy to be one of them as well
The Godfreys (Yes all of them have Godfrey in their names) It seems my son will be destined to have the same eekk
Dannys Litchfield Grandparents
My Auntie Diana and Uncle Rex
Dannys family
My loving and wonderful dad
My lovely stepdad Malcom
These are all my uncles, cousins, dad and brother
Bridal Party Photographs - The Bridesmaids
Bridal Party Photographs - The Grooms Men
Recieving Line At 3.30 Glen arranged a recieving line so we could say hi to everyone, there were a couple of people I hadn't seen for a long time and then a whole load of people that I was just so happy to see. Me and Danny were defiantly kissed and hugged out after kissing and hugging 74 people.
Dinner
We both walked into the barn for dinner, it was great everyone cheered and clapped as we walked in, the room looked absolutly amazing. I spent ages planning how the tables would looked and it was just better then I could have ever expected everything was black white and red and looked really striking. The black candelabra on our table looked really cool.
Soon everyone was tucking into prawns and salmon which was delicious and then the main course came out, which was steak and was so yummy. Danny ate his steak and then asked if he could have the chicken as well! The whole room was buzzing with converstaion and everyone kept telling us they were having a nice time, it was so nice seeing everyone mingling together.
I could see Dannys mum, my mum and my grandma in tears from the lettersI had left them thanking them for being so wonderful.
Cutting The Cake
After the main course it was time to cut our cupcake tower, it was so tall it was so hard to reach it without it toppling over. Earlier me and my bridesmaids had had a cupcake tea party with the cupcakes which was dead cute, the two litle bridesamids couldnt wait to eat theirs.
While we waited for the cupcakes to be served as dessert we had the speeches.
Speeches
Glen introduced the speeches, first was my dad, I still cant believe what a good job he did, loads of people in tears including him (and Ive bever seen him cry), which made me feel very emotional. He just said so many things like he was so proud of me and it made me feel like the luckiest person to have him as my dad. He also made everyone laugh with some very funny jokes.
So many people told me after the wedding how nice he is and he really is amazing. He would do anything for me, which makes me feel so so lucky to have him in my life.
Next Danny's Best madn an younger brother's shorts and sweet speech, he's only 18 and he was really nervous about it, so he did a really good job.
Looking at this photo makes me laugh when he said 'I'd like to thank the bridesmaids you all look really nice'
My brothers speech was full of jokes, he brought out a huge piece of paper with all my faults and then a tiny square of paper with my virtues, thanks Howard.
He also shared stories of how me and my cousin flooded my nans beeday and made us confess in front of everyone that it wasn't his fault.
My Speech
Up until this moment I had kept my speech folded away in my bag and hadn't thought about it. But strangely even though my whole life I have never been able to speak in front of people the words came easy, speaking words of love for Danny just came so naturally and it made me feel like with Danny by my side I could do anything.
Firstly I want to tell my fabulous new husband how much I really love you, I couldn’t have wished for a better person to share my life.
Everyday I am thankful that I have you and that I have found someone so perfect for me. I still can’t believe that I get to spend everyday of my life with someone as truly amazing as you.
Danny I have always knew in my heart that we would make it here, right from the moment our eyes first locked together, squished between Axelles bed and her desk on the floor in a space small enough for one person.
I promise to love and respect you from this point forward as your wife, you are my lover, my friend and my soul mate, all I am is yours.
I was afraid that you were too good to be true, and maybe I didn't deserve someone so pure and beautiful and loving as you are.
But here we are surrounded by the people that I love the most and I feel so proud and so blessed to be your wife. Danny, I was born to love you and I always will.
I would now like to take this moment to present to you a true symbol of our love.
For those of you confused as to what this is it is a rusty spoon, many years ago when we first meet we shared a joke about rusty spoons, and then set to create one for each other. Of course actually creating a rusty spoon is a lot harder then what you would first think It has instead taken three years to acquire this spoon and here it is a symbol of how things that can not normally be attainable can be found.
Lastly I want to thank my amazing family and my new family. I have true rocks in my life. I am truly blessed to have you. I truly believe that I have guardian angels looking down on me that have given you to me and I thank you all for making this day happen and for everyone coming to share with us the most happy day of our lives.
Danny's speech was fantastic as well, I'm so glad my uncle filmed them as I was so proud of him, saying such nice things and such wonderful words that I never want to forget. In his speech he gave out all the gifts and he gave me a cow with kisses all over it
By the end of the speeches our cupcakes came out and after 5 months of dieting I enjoyed every mouthful. After the meal we went outside to enjoy the sun. I loved this bit as I got to chat with everyone, drink champayne and smoke pink cigarettes with my nan. It was great mingling with everyone. At this point our eveing guests started to arrive and the bar and music started
First Dance
We danced to Snow Patrol Chasing Cars, followed by Marylin Manson Heart Shapped glasses.
Before I knew it it was 11pm and the music stopped, I couldnt believe it was over, I had had the most perfect day, it was like living in a wonderful dream, we spent the next hour saying goodbye to everyone, before heading off to the cottage to share a bottle of champayne.
I will forever look back on the day as the happiest of our lives, I feel so much love for my family, my new family and Danny and just wish there was a big enough way to thank everyone for making it the day it was. Especially my dad, mum and nan who helped me so much to make it such an amazing day
We would like to thank our family and friends
For celebrating our joy
Supporting us and sharing our love
We sincerely thank you
For being a part of our special day
And making our dreams come true
xxxxxxxxxx
Honey Moon
Our honey moon was complete bliss, me and Danny have never had a proper holiday away together so it was so nice to have a week in the sun totally loved up from the wedding
All Photos taken by either Natasha Wiening or Myself
Last Sunday was the wedding of my uni friend Samantha.. she finally tied the knot to lovely Andrew. Was such a wonderful day and was so nice to be a guest at her wedding as well as the photographer.
Took photos a few weeks ago at the lovely wedding of Alan and Gillian. Alan is my friend Sandra's brother. There wedding was in Upminster Barns, they had a hog roast, what a perfect day, Gillian looked beautiful and the venue was gorgeous.
I cant tell you how excited I am about the wedding, I get days of crazy planning and its so exciting and days where it feels weired thinking about actually being married and butterflies about the day.
We both recently went to Rugby for Dannys mums wedding which was so lovely, I am so lucky to be getting them all as my new family, I couldnt wish for better in laws both his mum and his dads family are just all so nice.
Heres the photos from the wedding and all my new family
My Mum in Law to be Debbie
My niece in law to be Cristina
Zoe's boyfriend Gavin
Me and my gorgeous man
My step dad in law to be (ha ha thats a mouthful) Lee
Cristina, Debbie and Jodie Leigh
Danny with his mummy
Lee
My sister in law to be Jenny, with her boyfriend Evan
Spent the last two days relaxing after Amsterdam, I'm still buzzing from it and wishing I was still there.
Gonna start doing some uni work today, planning my 5 shoots that I am doing in Sept/ Oct/ Nov. I have so much to plan. After December I am going to be so lost with all holidays done, the wedding over and uni finished.. Will have to start of a new thing to start planning and doing :)
I was so happy this morning, I got on the scales and was 10.2, which means I have lost over a stone now, I have one more stone to loose before I am the weight I was 10 years ago! Been going to the gym more. Fingers crossed I can loose it all the healthy way like I am doing in 7 weeks, otherwise I will go on the lemon detox in the last week to loose the last bit.
This is a shoot I did for a uni project a few months ago I got a 85 for it :) I did the shoot in Oxford, which is the most beautiful city! I got to work with a really fantastic team who all travelled to Oxford for the shoot.
Photographer: Rebecca Parkes Model: Vika Kitsune Hair: Sonia R Designer: Bibian Blue Hair Stylist: Sean Butts Makeup Artist: Sarah Terry Model: Blossom Blois Model: Samantha Wilkinson
On Sat 4th July I shot the loving wedding of James and Faye, their love for each other was so touching, but most of all James' speech when he said that he was so glad he meet Faye so young so that he could spent even more years with her.
