This morning I met Chris (Sophie was busy at work) at the church where they are going to get married in three weeks’ time: St Michael & All Angels church in Southwick, East Sussex. I usually attend the wedding rehearsal if I can, but I will be in Finland photographing another wedding at the time of Chris and Sophie’s wedding rehearsal, so I wanted to go and scout the church for photography before I leave.

I arrived early so that I could walk around the churchyard and see the best spots for the formal photos that I will take after the ceremony. I realised soon that the whole churchyard is covered in tombstones. There were a few small clear spots, but it really didn’t look that pretty…

I thought, maybe I could take them at the very back of the churchyard next to big trees (hide the tombstone in the middle by placing people in front of it), but then I realised the sun would be in the wrong position at the time of the wedding in relation to the spot and it’d be too dark, so I won’t be able to use that one, either.

Then I spotted a few trees to the side, with a small patch clear of tombstones. And here it is, the best spot for formal shots: (imagine people standing in front of the trees – hopefully not having any trees growing out of their heads)

I will have my stepladder so that I will be on the same level with the people I’m photographing, and they will have the church in the background and no tombstones blocking the view. Great!

I went inside the church and saw that it is pretty and not too dark. Not terribly light (old churches never are), but not too bad, either. There are beautiful stained glass windows…

The colourful altar, and the whole church.

Quite cute, really!

So there it is, the church scouted for the wedding photography! I also discussed with Chris what we will do in case it’s pouring down with rain on the day – which is: we will have to take the formal shots inside the church. We decided on the best spot for that. Of course we don’t want it to rain on the wedding day, but it’s good to be prepared for the possibility and have a plan B, so that in case it does rain, we all know what plan B is, and we will be fine with it, carry on and take great photos regardless.

After that we sat down and went through the plan for the wedding day in detail with Chris again, double-checked all timings, I asked Chris and Sophie to write a list of the formal photos they wish to have after the ceremony so that we can shoot them swiftly and efficiently on the day without taking too much time from their celebrations.

So, are you looking forward to this wedding already? I know I am!