We were introduced to Genni and Colm by old friends of Julian’s who also live in Brighton. They let Genni know that we are wedding photographers and Genni didn’t hang about and contacted us right away. Genni’s originally from South Africa, and Colm is Irish, but both have lived in Brighton for some time. They had been together for 19 years, and have a daughter Layla. The wedding had an ulterior motive: the three of them were preparing to move to Hong Kong. Colm had already moved out there for work and was in the process of setting down roots there so that Genni and Layla could follow after the wedding. So it was also a last hurrah, getting Brighton friends and family together to see them off in style.
Julian joined Colm, his best man Mark, Genni’s dad, and a few others at The Barber Club in Brighton for shaves and haircuts. It truly is a great place to go with a few friends, and certainly makes for some good photographs. I met Genni, Layla, her mum, and maid of honour, at their house in Hove, as they got ready.
The ceremony was at the Band Stand on Brighton sea front. It was WINDY! which put a chill in the air, but we huddled and people got hot chocolates at the cafe below it afterwards. Then we all hopped on an old routemaster and headed up in The Downs for the reception at The Dyke Golf Club.
After dinner we were entertained by The Houndogs. We had been told that there’d be some photo opportunities in their set, but even we were surprised when they set their cymbals on fire!
Overall, it was one of our favourite weddings to date. Genni and Colm are people we can relate to very much, and there’s no better subjects than that. We’ve become friends, and when they were back from Hong Kong to visit we made sure we met up and had a few drinks with them.
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