Matt + Emily | The Maynard Hotel

Matt + Emily’s wedding at The Maynard Hotel in Grindleford was just lovely. It seems like an absolute age ago since I first spoke with this lovely couple about their plans for the day, and roll forward in time, here it was! When I spoke with Matt + Emily, they told me how they wanted the photography to be really laid back and not with loads of pressure to have photos and smile for the camera every two minutes. As most of you may know who follow my work, that is right up my street and exactly how I work; I’m there to document the wedding day and capture the moments as they unfold in a view to telling the story of your wedding day.

Well, the story of Matt + Emily’s wedding day was lovely, I arrived in the morning to document the bridal prep and it was great to see and work with the fabulous Ruby McCrudden MUA. All the girls were very chilled and enjoying a nice relaxed morning getting ready in the lovely large bridal suite at The Maynard Hotel, plenty of ‘Good Times’ fans being used to keep Emily cool and distract any onset of nerves that might creep in. I spent the morning and up to the ceremony nipping between bridal prep, the groomsmen and capturing any details of the ceremony room, which looked absolutely gorgeous, as did the cake from Peak Patisserie.

It was so lovely to see Emily’s dads first look at his beautiful daughter in all her finery for the wedding day, it’s a moment in the day that I particularly love to document, and I’m not entirely sure where it comes from, but my guess is that it’s because I am also a proud dad to a daughter. Oh boy, could you see the pride on Emily’s dad’s face though, a man who has built a career in the British Army walking into the room with such love and admiration on his face, although the tears came from Emily, you could tell dad was extremely proud to see her and remained the calming influence he was to be for the whole day.

There’s an Army theme tightly engrained throughout this whole wedding, with Matt also being ex-forces along with many of the guests and family too, and that shone through much of the day with plenty of banter and fun to be had, but more of that later. Emily and her dad’s walk down the aisle made sure that Matt was pleased to see her, and boy did his reaction show that it was a lovely ceremony conducted wonderfully by one of my favourite Derbyshire registrars.

After the ceremony, we managed to grab a few of the formal family portraits that Matt + Emily wanted along with a group photo of everyone, thankfully just before we had a few small showers. Then it was time for chauffer service from Smudge, one of the groomsmen, to get us all over to Padley Gorge for Matt + Emily’s couples portraits. I love using Padley Gorge for portraits, especially when the wedding is at The Maynard Hotel since it’s only a short drive up the road, and it offers so much in terms of location and gorgeous light too. A short visit for some nice relaxed, stress-free photos, and we whizzed back to The Maynard in time for canapes and drinks before everyone sat down for the wedding breakfast.

The speeches followed the meal and were lovely, with plenty of original content and very much to the point without being too short or too laboured. It was lovely to hear the stories and the fondness that this tight nit group clearly have for each other. After a quick turnaround of the ceremony room, it was time to cut the cake and head into the first dance. Matt + Emily cut the cake with a sword presented to Emily’s dad in the Army; pretty impressive to see and, funnily enough, the second time I have seen this at The Maynard. Their first dance was beautiful and fabulous to see everyone watching them, including a few emotional bridesmaids watching on.

The first dance opened the floodgates for the dancing, and as you’ll know from following me, I love covering the dancefloor, it’s so much fun documenting everyone enjoying themselves, and these guys did not disappoint. Plenty of moves going on, and of course never disappointed by Shane Gosling on the decks from WDC, making sure he paved the way for people to get up on that dancefloor. The groom and his men had some nice tailored suits on and it was evident that the downfall of the tighter-fit trousers was to be a moment of comedy during the dancing with Matt’s best man doing a lift with Matt. The ensuing rip and splitting of the trousers is a great moment of comedy to capture and in true military spirit, not really letting it phase him one bit. Hands up to that man for being a good laugh and carrying on regardless! After capturing some more of the dancefloor and Matt doing the worm along with some dance battles, it was time for me to pack up my gear and let these guys have some more fun.

Anyway, enough from me, have a watch of their photo highlights video below, or you can always scroll through the images underneath. Enjoy.

Suppliers…

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