BEN & LEANNE’S THE FLINT ROOM NORWICH WEDDING – NORFOLK WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER

I’m going to kick off a bit of a push to update my website with a few images from a selection of wonderful 2019 Norfolk Weddings with one of the last of the year, the utterly brilliant ‘alternative’ wedding of Ben and Leanne at The Flint Room and Cinema City in Norwich.  While I do love so many of the rural and quite traditional wedding venues in Norfolk, it’s always hugely exciting to be asked to capture an alternative wedding in the city of Norwich.

It seems that every year I get such an opportunity at least once and I have to say that they so often prove to be my absolute favourite days.  Couples who want to take their own route on their wedding day are so often fabulous fun to work with from a creative point of view and they so often seem to bring a real sense of fun and spontaneity to their special day.  Of course, being away from a traditional venue means far greater flexibility with styling, timings and wedding suppliers leaving couples to really plan a day unique to them and completely reflecting their own personality and passions.

When Ben and Leanne first got in touch and mentioned The Flint Room, I was immediately excited having seen what a quirky and utterly unique place to be married that Lesley and Trish had created.  My only reservation was the time of year (late November), pointing out to Leanne at our first meeting that, without preparation photos (which they didn’t want), I would in fact be photographing their whole day after sunset!  This is always a challenge as a photographer and I wanted Leanne and Ben to fully understand the limitations this might place on capturing their day.  As it happened, they were well up for the challenge and understood that I’d have to work slightly differently to a standard summer wedding day.

After a visit to look around The Flint Room a week prior and with a clear plan in my mind as to how I was to approach the lighting challenge, the wedding day was superb.  The Flint Rooms looked absolutely magical and Ben and Leanne completely stunning.  We even managed to set up an indoor confetti walk, with Trish and Lesley’s kind permission! After a couple of hours with the Prosecco flowing and a few family photographs we relocated to Cinema City for the evening. I absolutely love Cinema City too, having photographed an incredible wedding there a couple of years ago.  With the bar completely packed, Leanne and Ben made their entrance to huge cheers and proceeded to give a lovely joint speech in amongst their guests.  I’ve only seen it a couple of times but seeing a couple so clearly loved speaking so closely and surrounded by their guests in a much less formal way than from a top table feels very special.

After speeches their choreographed first dance went so well, Ben even lifting Leanne successfully much to the pleasure of their fans! Food of delicious curry and fish and chips followed and a brief trip across the road to grab a couple of flash lit portraits. Ben and Leanne even came out into the cold with their food to bag these shots before returning to a packed dance-floor and one of the best parties that I’ve had the pleasure of capturing.  We did manage one final quick trip out into the cold night air for one final goodnight portrait before saying our goodbyes as they headed back to join the throng.

This was one of the most challenging weddings that I’ve shot in terms of lighting but also one of the most fun and most rewarding.  I absolutely love alternative weddings and city weddings and this was both in spades.  Ben and Leanne absolutely nailed this wedding but so too did The Flint Room and Cinema City who provided the canvas for this so lovely couple to plan and deliver a day that completely reflected them and gave them and their friends and family the day/evening of their lives.  Special times.

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