Bailey and Joe started their reception with class: sipping champagne upstairs in their room at the Hope Club.  It was a really nice time for them to share alone before the craziness of the party that followed, and after a few photos we left them in peace to enjoy the moment.

The Hope Club is a very cool and quite unusual venue.  It reminds me a little of being on a large wooden ship, with its wood paneling and many nooks and crannies.  It’s also an insanely tough venue to photograph – it has very little ambient light, and the dark walls and ceilings mean no place to bounce flash … so you can imagine my terror when I realized that the father of the bride speech was starting mid-dinner … earlier than scheduled, and before we had set up the external lights!  Thank goodness for my Nikon D3S, a camera that can pretty much see in the dark!  🙂

We were a little more prepared for the rest of the speeches!  I love how the cross light I set up created a shadow of Bailey’s sister on the wall next to her:

While the guests were finishing up dinner, I grabbed a few shots of the reception details.  My fab assistant Charlotte added a video light in for these shots, and I love the effect:

After dinner we moved to another space for the first dances.  There were some wonderful expressions …

And to end, some fun party shots.  Thank you all for a wonderful evening, and for filling a gray day with such warmth and joy.