Lauren and James were recently married at Bushy Park Church in Galway City and I had the pleasure of being their wedding photographer.

Both the bridal and groom prep were taking place at the stunning Glenlo Abbey Hotel & Estate just a few minutes from the church. Bridal hair and makeup was taking place in one of the elegant bedrooms which had an abundance of natural light courtesy of two large windows, the light was soft and diffuse, it was brilliant to work with. A little furniture removal and I had the perfect setting for stunning bridal portraits. In fact I captured an enormous amount of both natural and posed images from this location, so easy to work with the photographs just flowed.

James and his groomsmen along with his parents were staying in one of the guest houses on the grounds of the hotel I could hear the laughter as I approached I knew it was going to be easy going and it was.

Similar to the approach I would take with the bridal prep (minus the makeup however there have been occasions but not at this wedding) I like to capture both posed and unposed images. The natural moments that happen which are all about emotion and connection between people, a wedding day is a very important day in a person’s life. You share it with the one’s you love and from a photographers point of view it’s super important that those special moments are captured and documented.

At our pre-wedding consultation both Lauren & James suggested not doing a greeting line after they walked down the aisle as husband and wife. They wanted to concentrate on getting the best out of their photo-shoot as their wedding pictures were one of the most important part of the day. This was music to my ears, the greeting line is a wedding tradition in Ireland, but a lot of time can be lost chatting to guest in a line coming from the church door. More than likely most of your guests will be able to chat to you at the drinks reception and through dinner. If you read between the lines I think the greeting line is a waste of valuable time.

The photoshoot was super relaxed we headed straight to the hotel and took advantage of the stunning location on the banks of the River Corrib, The Pullman Restaurant which is a series of train carriages formally part of The Orient Express and the stunning manicured grounds of The Glenlo Abbey Hotel & Estate. I also took advantage of these locations with creative night time photography, as you can tell I love working at this wedding venue in Galway.

Michael.