When photographing a wedding at the Tower Hotel in Waterford, it’s hard not to be impressed by the stunning stone tower that looms over the property. This made for some lovely couples portraits, with the bride and groom looking out over the River Suir.
The brides dress was perfect, and she looked amazing in it. Her veil was the icing on the cake, it was a cape type, clipped to the straps of the dress, and was wonderfully long, making for some great photos during the couples portraits.
The girls all got ready in the board room of the hotel while I photographed away with the dress, shoes, jewelery, bridesmaids’ dresses, and hair and makeup while they were doing their thing. After a quick reveal of Leeann in her dress, I headed down to the grooms’ room. A bridesmaid came along with me to give Ryan a gift from the bride. The gift box was full of little trinkets, including a personalised story book which the groom paused for a minute to read and shed a tear to the words in the book. It’s special moments like this that make me reflect on all the weddings I photographed around the country and how I was able to capture these wonderful memories for my couple to look back on and reflect.
Once I got some photos in the grooms’ room, I headed back up to the boardroom with bridesmaid, who now had a small gift from the groom for the bride. With was also the brides son, who say his mother in her wedding dress for the first time. An emotional moment of happiness like none other.
As we headed downstairs to the hotel lobby myself, Leeann and her son took the stairs for some photos on the way. We took a quick detour onto the balcony that overlooks the lobby, which had these amazing light balls hanging from the ceiling creating a lovely scene for some quick portrait shots of mother and son.
It was time for me to make my way into the ceremony room to get some shots before the bride was called in to walk up the aisle with the flower girl, pageboy, bridesmaids, and groomsmen, but there was a problem, the groom had disappeared! OK, well, he got a bit nervous and made a run for the toilet, but he was back and ready to stand tall at the altar waiting for his bride. Finally, the bridal party were called in pairs, with the flower girl first in line to lay confetti for the others. Leeanns son walked her proudly down the aisle. Ryan was a nervous wreck, but as soon as he saw his bride, all that changed! You could tell straight away, they were made for each other.
The ceremony was truly beautiful, and listening to readings that brought a tear (OK, maybe a few tears!) to my eye. Of course, knowing this couple, this reception was going to be full of laughter too, especially when Ryan knocked over the unity candle, nearly setting fire to the tablecloth! Never a dull moment at this wedding 🙂
With the ceremony out of the way, and the hotel not burnt down, the drinks reception was spot on, with plenty of staff on hand to keep everyone happy and glasses topped up.
We took a walk across the road to the stone tower for the couples portraits, which was so much fun, and this couple was not holding back one bit. They were absolutely loving life, and it showed in their photos.
In addition to the beautiful stone tower opposite the hotel, the hotel lobby is another impressive space that makes for a great group shot. There is a landing above the lobby where I placed myself for the group shot getting the entire wedding party to form a heart shape (at least that’s what I was aiming for, not everything goes according to plan).
When it came to the dinner sitting, the ballroom was beautifully decorated. Each table had a name label. Unfortunately, I was not able to understand a word that was written on them because they were all in Welsh and some at least 30 characters long, but they looked awesome!
With everyone seated and the speaches out of the way, it was time for me to take a break. Well, when I say break, I mean it’s time to run out to the car, fire up the laptop and start backing up the wedding photos, get my gear ready for the first dance, make sure the flashes all have fresh batteries, check emails etc etc, and then go back into the hotel to get something eat too.
It’s not long before I get called in for the traditional cutting of the cake. The cake looked amazing, even if it was just a foam replica of the actual edible cake. Leeann and Ryan were all set to cut the cake, with knife in hand they pushed into the cake. Of course, they pushed a little harder thinking they were cutting into foam, but the piece they cut was a small bit of actual soft cake, and the groom pushed so hard that the knife went right through the cake, hitting the table an almost knocking the cake over! Thankfully these guys have a great sense of humor and found it very funny.
The staff at the Tower Hotel were amazing, providing great service throughout the day. The bride and groom were happy and relaxed, surrounded by their friends and family, making my job easy.
it’s easy to see why this is one of the most popular venues in Waterford. The staff were top-notch and provided great service throughout the day,ensuringt everything ran smoothly.It was an amazing day and I’m already looking forward to returning to the Tower Hotel for another wedding!
