Wedding photograph by Martin Hemsley, wedding photographerWedding photograph by Martin Hemsley, wedding photographer
Wedding photograph by Martin Hemsley, wedding photographerWedding photograph by Martin Hemsley, wedding photographer
Wedding photograph by Martin Hemsley, wedding photographerWedding photograph by Martin Hemsley, wedding photographer
Wedding photograph by Martin Hemsley, wedding photographerWedding photograph by Martin Hemsley, wedding photographer
Wedding photograph by Martin Hemsley, wedding photographerWedding photograph by Martin Hemsley, wedding photographer

Photographs you will treasure, from a day like no other

Dorothée & Dimitris Greek Wedding - West Midlands Photography

See older blogs in my
Blog Archive>

Tuesday
,
11
November 2014

Way back in August I was invited to second shoot for another West Midlands based wedding photographer, Steven Gerrard. If you are a sports fan reading this blog post can I quickly point out that he is not a footballer, but an incredible photographer. The wedding of Dorothée and Dimitris was a fantastic event and being a Greek wedding there were all sorts of rituals. The wedding took place at the Greek Orthodox Church near Birmingham City Centre, with the celebrations hosted in The Great Hall at the University of Birmingham.

Steve covered the Bridal preparations of Dorothée and her bridesmaids, whilst I was responsible for the Groom preparations. However these had a twist, with certain rituals or protocol if you like. With a Greek wedding, the groom is prepared and helped into his attire by various members of the family and groomsmen following certain routines and rules. This is all performed in front of an audience and accompanied by music and singing. Here are just a few images of Dimitris during this process.

Greek-Wedding-1
Greek-Wedding-2
Greek-Wedding-3
Greek-Wedding-4
Greek-Wedding-5
Greek-Wedding-6

At the end of the Groom preparations we had to leave the house swiftly, because the Bride was due to arrive ten minutes later to go through the same routine, with Steve in tow. It was still a little too early to arrive at the Church, so the Groom and his Groomsmen went to the Great Hall at the University of Birmingham to make the final checks for the celebrations. I tagged along which enabled me to grab some location and details photos, followed by a couple of formal group shots outside.

Greek-Wedding-8
Greek-Wedding-7
Greek-Wedding-9
Greek-Wedding-10
Greek-Wedding-11
Greek-Wedding-13
Greek-Wedding-14

Next stop, church. Steve opted to stand at the front of the church during the service, which meant I started at the back and then I moved around to the sides to get as much variety as possible. It is an awesome church, with a high ceiling, colourful brick work and interesting lighting. Don't forget it was a Greek wedding, which meant several rituals were followed. Here are a few more images.

Greek-Wedding-15
Greek-Wedding-16
Greek-Wedding-17
Greek-Wedding-18
Greek-Wedding-19
Greek-Wedding-20
Greek-Wedding-21
Greek-Wedding-22
Greek-Wedding-23
Greek-Wedding-24
Greek-Wedding-25
Greek-Wedding-26
Greek-Wedding-27
Greek-Wedding-28
Greek-Wedding-29
Greek-Wedding-30
Greek-Wedding-31
Greek-Wedding-32
Greek-Wedding-33
Greek-Wedding-34

After the wedding service everyone re-grouped at the Great Hall. It's not unusual for a wedding day's timetable to slip a bit, and this was no different. The list of group formals was short, which enabled a few Bride and Groom opportunities before heading inside for more rituals and then the speeches. Notice how we were able to use the incredible Great Hall as a backdrop for the large formal photo, with Steve improvising with a higher viewpoint, standing on the roof of his car.

Greek-Wedding-35
Greek-Wedding-36
Greek-Wedding-37
Greek-Wedding-38
Greek-Wedding-39
Greek-Wedding-40
Greek-Wedding-41
Greek-Wedding-42
Greek-Wedding-43
Greek-Wedding-44

When the wedding breakfast was complete we were able to catch a few more minutes for the Bride and Groom photos before it became dark.

Greek-Wedding-45
Greek-Wedding-46
Greek-Wedding-47

Next up was the first dance, more Greek wedding rituals and cake cutting.

Greek-Wedding-48
Greek-Wedding-49
Greek-Wedding-50
Greek-Wedding-51
Greek-Wedding-52
Greek-Wedding-53
Greek-Wedding-54
Greek-Wedding-55
Greek-Wedding-56
Greek-Wedding-57
Greek-Wedding-58
Greek-Wedding-59

And finally it was time to get the DJ set started, and officially start the party.

Greek-Wedding-65
Greek-Wedding-60
Greek-Wedding-61
Greek-Wedding-62
Greek-Wedding-63
Greek-Wedding-64

It was an amazing experience being able to be a wedding photographer at a Greek wedding, and also being able to shoot at new venues. If you enjoyed this article you might like to see another recent wedding, click here for the link. Feel free to share away on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and Google+ by using the social media buttons. Or leave a comment below. Have a great week everybody, will be back with another report very soon. Martin.

Read previous/next blog article: