Frankie & Matt 

"Mr Marc Bates!
The best wedding photographer there is!
You have two very happy people here. Love the photos so so much!
You truly are an amazing man and photographer!' 

because that is what they are! They met at school and even though Matt teased Frankie and made her cry, they obviously managed to work it out! This was a real life fairy tale! A classic and beautiful love story.
I met them while I was exhibiting at the National Wedding Show in London. They only stopped by for a minute but apparently I made a big impression. The story goes that after they left Frankie turned to Matt and said 
"I want Marc as our wedding photographer!" 
The venue they chose was Sennowe Park in Norfolk. This venue has to be seen to be believed. It is on another level.
Although they now live in London this is the area they grew up in and it was the perfect backdrop for their wedding day.
It is so lovely as a photographer to see the history that exists, not only between the Bride and Groom, but also between their families. 

Frankie wore a dress from Pronovias, Matt was dressed in a tailor made dinner suit. Black tie again, seriously, you just can't beat it. 

For this wedding day we had two photographers, I was with the Bride and my second was with the guys. 
Once the Bridal party was ready to go we set up the reveal photo for Dad. He was waiting at the bottom of a long
staircase and when he saw his little girl he was very emotional. 

It was a church wedding and again the venue they chose was just beautiful! The longest aisle I have ever seen! 
We finished up here and made our way back to Sennowe for photos and the drinks reception. This venue really is stunning and the wedding portraits we captured in the grounds were beautiful. Scroll down and there is a great photo of the happy couple coming to join their guests. I was laying on the floor to get the best angle. Of all the images I have captured that is one of my favourites. 

The wedding breakfast began of course followed by the speeches, but please make sure you have a look at these images below because it was one of the funniest Father of the Bride speeches I have ever heard! Honestly the reactions of Frankie's Mum and her two Sisters on the top table are just brilliant! 

There was more to come though and after they turned the room around we had cake cutting and the first dance. 
Ed Sheeran "perfect" was the perfect choice for them. With the lyrics "we were just kids when we fell in love" not a dry eye in the room including this photographer! 

The biggest surprise of all was that the band were waiting to play behind a curtain which dropped towards the end of the song and they played and sang the end of the first dance. Then the band did their big intro and as they began playing the fuse popped and all the lights went out! 
Completely un phased the band went acoustic and just sang with one guitar! Absolutely brilliant. Again if you scroll down you can see some photos of Matt and Frankie dancing while people hold up their phone torches to provide illumination. It just added to the magic of the day. Eventually the lights came on and the party went off! The night was brought to a finish with a huge fireworks display we we captured for them. It was far later than I normally stay, but for these two it was a pleasure. 

The things I will remember from this day is how beautiful Frankie looked and how dashing Matt was. I will remember the reveal photo that we did for the Father of the Bride. He took one look at his daughter and just dissolved into tears!
I will remember the beautiful Church that they chose to get married in and how emotional Frankie was walking down the aisle. I loved the way they love each other. Matt towers above his wife but seeing how gentle and affectionate he is towards her is just so touching. It was of course a pleasure to see these two marry, because being with them, you realise that you are in the presence of something classic and timeless. 

Francesca & Matthew   

If you want to see a real life fairytale, then let me introduce you to