Marco Pierre White Wedding Photographer: Elle and Iain in Donnybrook

Elle & Iain, Marco Pierre Whites, Donnybrook

Elle and Iain told me there would be no first dance. Five minutes later I walked back into the room and they were in the middle of one.

They had decided on the spot. Somebody put a song on, the two of them went for it and I came in on the hop with a camera that was not ready. That tells you most of what you need to know about this pair. Spontaneous, relaxed and great fun from the first hour of the day to the last.

Elle and Iain are both doctors. They moved to Australia together to finish their training and work, then came home to Dublin to get married. They asked me to be their Marco Pierre White wedding photographer for a Saturday in June, with the whole day under one roof at the Courtyard Bar and Grill in Donnybrook. Ceremony, drinks, dinner and dancing for 130 people in the same building. The sun was out from morning to night.

The first gallery I ever sent them was a small wedding I had photographed at Smock Alley Theatre. They wrote back asking for candid photographs of people laughing and having a good time. They got plenty.

Iain and the lads on Sundrive Road

I started with Iain at his family home in Dublin 12. I have photographed most of his friends' weddings at this stage, so walking into that kitchen felt like walking into a room full of people I already knew. Nobody was nervous. There was bubbly in the back garden, a fair bit of slagging and a bottle of Taylor's 1992 vintage port that arrived as a present. I am fairly sure 1992 is the year Iain was born.

Elle at The Alex

Then across the city to The Alex on Fenian Street, where Elle had been up since seven with her bridesmaids Meg, Shannon, Mia, Mairead and Sharon and her bridesman Luke. Sarah McGuinness did makeup and Aideen Monaghan did hair. The room was all floral pyjamas, prosecco and people talking over each other. Her mum Anne arrived in turquoise and the noise went up another notch.

Before the ceremony

I met Iain and his family back at Marco Pierre White before the ceremony. The front of the Courtyard is one of my favourite entrances in Dublin. Greenery spilling over the door, warm lamps and behind it a bar that looks like it has been pouring drinks for a hundred years. On a bright June afternoon the courtyard filled with light and the bridesmaids gathered there with bouquets nearly as big as themselves.

The ceremony

The Vltava String Quartet played as guests found their seats. Elle's brother walked her in. Niamh Davis, their humanist celebrant, kept it warm and loose and the whole room was in great form from the first minute. You can see it in the crowd shots. People laughing, nudging each other, leaning in to catch every word. Both mums lit the candles together.

Then came the kiss. Iain threw his fist in the air and 130 people roared. I have heard a lot of cheers at the end of a ceremony and that one is still near the top.

Drinks in the courtyard

MPW's is at its best when the guests all gather in the courtyard after the ceremony. On a day like this it was buzzing. Everyone spilled out into the sun under the plants and the strings of lights. Elle had made the wedding cake herself and the two of them cut it out there in the open air, with prosecco on the tables and the hugs coming one after another.

This is the part of the day where I do most of my work and none of it is directed. I wander, I wait and I watch who is laughing at what. I have written about how that works in my guide to candid wedding photography.

Out on the street

We did the bridal party photographs on the street outside, which turned into the whole gang strolling down the middle of the road like they owned it. I love working on the street. It is where I learned to watch people. I have written about what street photography taught me about weddings.

Then I took Elle and Iain to a quiet spot I know a couple of minutes from the restaurant. I am keeping that one to myself. Ten minutes under the trees and they were back before anyone missed them.

Dinner and speeches

What impresses me most as a Marco Pierre White wedding photographer is how fast the team turns the room. An hour earlier it had been a ceremony space with rows of chairs. By the time the guests came back in it was a restaurant with round tables, candles and flowers. The food was what you would expect with that name over the door.

Speeches came in two sets, before the starters and before dessert. It keeps the energy up and nobody spends the whole meal dreading their turn. The room laughed from start to finish.

SoulPower and the tequila

Then the tables went and a dance floor appeared. SoulPower took over and the party went off. I photograph a lot of weddings and I am not sure I have ever seen a higher tequila shots per capita ratio.

Somewhere in the middle of all that came the first dance they were never going to have. I was caught slightly off guard and I am glad I was. It summed the two of them up.

Why Marco Pierre White works for a wedding

For a smallish wedding in Dublin, the Courtyard in Donnybrook is hard to beat. You get a ceremony, a drinks reception in a sunny courtyard, a proper restaurant dinner and a dance floor without anybody getting on a bus. The main dining room holds up to 160. If you are weighing up your options, my guide to small intimate weddings in Dublin and my photographer's guide to Dublin wedding venues are good places to start. My packages page has the rest.

Elle and Iain, thank you for having me. You asked for people laughing and having the craic and your friends and family made that the easiest brief I have ever had.

If you are planning a day like this and you need a Marco Pierre White wedding photographer, get in touch.