The Glade at Rosliston Forestry Centre Wedding Videographer

Melissa was getting ready at home rather than at the venue.

Home preparations can sometimes be unpredictable. You're trying to find clean backgrounds for the dress and details while hair, makeup, family, a photographer and a videographer are all working in the same space.

Melissa's house was the complete opposite.

Everything was organised, there was loads of room to move around and the dress was already beautifully hung by the bedroom window.

It was a really unusual dress too — not a traditional bright white, but with a very soft pale-green tone and delicate floral embroidery. I genuinely hadn't filmed one quite like it before.

The morning was relaxed. Melissa was there with Nikki, her granddaughters and the girls, with the flower girls arriving later. Melissa's son also popped in with the flowers, so I ended up meeting a big part of the family before we'd even reached the venue.

This was also where I met photographer Paul Spencer.

Paul brought a lot of energy to the day. He knew what he wanted, was up for trying things and was equally supportive whenever I had an idea, so working alongside him was very easy.

I spent roughly an hour and a half to two hours at the house before we finished with Melissa ready, the girls dressed and a first-look moment before everyone left for Rosliston.

Before leaving we grabbed a few shots with the beautiful vintage wedding car, then headed over to The Glade.

One of the first things I noticed when I arrived was how compact the whole venue is.

The parking is only a very short walk from the wedding space and once you're there, the ceremony area, marquee and drinks reception all sit very close together.

That might sound like a small thing, but when you're moving cameras, audio equipment, a gimbal and sometimes a drone around a wedding all day, it makes a real difference.

It also means the couple and their guests aren't disappearing from one part of a large estate to another every twenty minutes. The day feels connected.

The ceremony took place outside, immediately beside the marquee, with roughly sixty guests.

It was a bright, sunny September afternoon — lovely for everyone sitting there, although direct sun isn't always the most forgiving light for cameras when it falls straight across people's faces.

That's part of filming real weddings though. You can't move the sun and you shouldn't be trying to turn a wedding ceremony into a film set. You work with what's there and adapt.

Before Melissa arrived I spent a little time with Mark and the groomsmen. They were a very easy group to work with — smart, relaxed and clearly up for a laugh.

Then came the bridesmaids, flower girl and finally Melissa, walking down the aisle with her brother while Mark waited at the other end.

The ceremony itself was simple, warm and fairly short. After the signing they were announced as husband and wife and walked back through their guests under a shower of confetti.

Straight after the ceremony I always like to give couples a little space.

They've just got married. Everyone wants to hug them, congratulate them, grab a drink and actually speak to them.

Once things had settled, Paul and I started working through the family photographs and group shots.

There was a lovely mix of generations there — grandparents, children, bridesmaids, groomsmen and plenty of people willing to have a laugh rather than stand perfectly still for every photograph.

Paul did the big group photograph by climbing onto a table.

I deliberately saved my own big group shot until the end because I wanted to try something different.

I asked everyone to arrange themselves into a large heart shape, put Melissa and Mark in the middle, then took the drone up above them.

It took a bit of organising, but the finished aerial shot was absolutely worth it.

One of the strongest things about The Glade from a filming point of view is what sits around it.

You're surrounded by woodland, trees, leaves and little pockets of soft natural scenery without having to take the couple miles away from their guests.

That gave us plenty to work with for Melissa and Mark's couple session.

I don't like turning this part of a wedding into a long photoshoot. A few guided movements, a walk, somewhere with good depth and light, and then let the couple be themselves.

The woodland around The Glade makes that very easy.

Even if the weather changes, there are lots of ways to use the trees and surroundings creatively without needing a huge formal garden or long drive somewhere else.

Weddings don't always run exactly to schedule.

At one point I went to collect one of my microphones and the speeches suddenly started earlier than expected.

By the time I was back in position, the best man was already around a minute and a half into his speech.

I caught everything from that point onwards, including the rest of his speech and the other speeches, but I wasn't happy leaving that opening missing.

So afterwards I asked him to repeat the first section directly into my microphone.

When I edited the wedding, I rebuilt the opening using that clean recording alongside the footage I already had.

The finished speech still played as a complete piece.

It's one of those little wedding-day problems that nobody plans for, but experience is mostly about knowing how to recover when something unexpected happens rather than pretending unexpected things never happen.

There were three speeches in total — the best man, maid of honour and Mark.

After the speeches the day loosened up again.

There were cigars, whisky, an ice-cream van, evening guests arriving and plenty happening around the venue.

Then came one of my favourite parts of the evening.

There was a brilliant live singer performing with a deep soul-and-blues style voice and an old-fashioned microphone that gave the whole performance a slightly 1950s feel.

After Melissa and Mark's first dance, we found out Mark could sing too.

He joined the singer and performed Nat King Cole's L-O-V-E with him.

It was completely different from a normal first-dance ending and one of those unexpected moments that immediately becomes part of the story of the wedding.