Back at Abbey Road again but this time not in the studio but at a synagogue for Hannah & Nick's (and my first) Jewish wedding. All wedding photographers should be  obliged to do at least one of these before they hang up their cameras… it is an unforgettable experience. It was a loooooong long day... 13 hours long to be exact. It began at 11:00 am Hendon Hall Hotel for the bridal prep then on to The New London Synagogue for the ceremony and ended just after midnight on the dance floor in the Pemeberton Suite of Hendon Hall Hotel where the bride had the last word.

 

At that point my flat aching feet had just about given up the ghost and all I wanted to do was fall into the bed but of course that wasn’t going to happen as Nick & Hannah insisted I have a few drinks with them.

 

But let me back up a little. If this was a typical Jewish wedding then Jewish weddings rooool! This is a proper celebration of marriage with singing and dancing at breakbeat intervals starting in the synagogue and continuing through to breakfast the following morning. You really needed to have your wits about you with good technique and not a little bravery to capture the amazing, sometimes intricate, sometimes violent dance routines. In fact Rahul my second shooter who also shoots live bands remarked that it was crazier than the mosh-pit at a Prodigy concert - but he was quite at home being point blank range from a groom being propelled towards him by enthusiastic groomsmen. Me I preferred the serenity of the parachute dance but then again I’ve always been a bit of a wimp.

 

I’m still editing the images and hope to show some others soon but for now I’ve chosen this one to post because... I don’t know, it’s Abbey Road innit.