Cherolyn & Gianni | St Ives Wedding

When you photograph a wedding and you know a lot of the family, it feels like coming home. This Italian family wedding was the second time I got to be a part of the wonderful ceremony at their local Peterborough Church. Gianni’s face as he stood at the altar waiting for Cherolyn to appear and then again when he saw her down the aisle was wonderful.  He grinned throughout the whole ceremony.

Time and the weather were against us as we headed to the reception venue The Dolphin Hotel in St Ives. The Bride and Groom left the church in a beautiful old Jaguar car but arrived at the venue on a riverboat to the delight of their guests. Such a wonderful thing to do and the guests spent some time in the afternoon viewing the sites of the old river port.

Embracing the weather we headed out with some umbrellas and made the most of the surrounding scenery, only to visit the gardens later to illuminate the rain at night. It’s always great to have attentive Bridesmaids and Best men at weddings at these two got gold stars, they were brilliant, helping with dresses and veils! Carrying drinks and helping run the day smoothly.

Cherolyn & Gianni ahd been taking dance lessons and had choreographed a routine for their first dance. They looked majestic waltzing around the dance floor. Just perfect.

In their own words

Where did you first meet

At school in 6th form, we met through Nick, the Best Man

Who asked who and how

Gianni asked me to marry him on a boat on a lake in Rome, with a guitarist playing classical music on the shore of the lake

Wedding planning, good, bad and fabulous

We were a little too relaxed about this! We both just wanted to get married and ensure that everyone enjoyed the day. Finding a cake was pretty good, with the easiest thing being choosing the photographer ;) The bad – we had to change the church quite late in the organisation after the invites were sent out so that was tough as we had to find a wedding car and change plans, but everything comes together on the day. The venue we picked meant that we were able to get access to the little chapel on the bridge which was beautiful.

How was day through your eyes?

Amazing! However, it went past so fast.

What was your favourite part of the day

The actual Nuptial Mass itself. It was fantastic to have everyone there to celebrate the moment of our marriage with us.

Any tips you learnt along the way which may be useful for other brides

Ensure on the day you put some time aside for you and the Groom, we both really enjoyed this time we had together! Also DELEGATE! Make the most of the Best Man/Bridesmaids, they have agreed to help you on your big day so make the most of it, it’s not every day someone will run around after you getting drinks or holding your dress etc. Plus, don’t be afraid to get your dress dirty if it rains, the photos are definitely worth it!

Who were your suppliers?

Florist – Bouquets & flowers on tables – Flower Bar in St Ives, Dress – Heart Brides, Hair – Elisa, Hairdressing Make-up – Finishing Touches by Krissma, Car – Yaxley Wedding Car Hire,  Suit – Vow Bridal, Wedding Cake – Toms,  DJ – Sparkarama Chair covers/fuseball table/popcorn/candy floss – Carly Adams Event Management, 

Please click here if you would like any more information about wedding photography or how to embrace the rain on your wedding day.