The Marriage Celebration of James and Heidi

Wedding photographer: Andrew 

Locations: Coventry: the Bride’s home and
Kenilworth: The Chesford Grange Hotel

Every wedding is different – every wedding is a wedding with a difference. This one just had more differences than most. In the first place, it wasn’t actually a  wedding at all. The bride and groom had already been married – twice! Due to Covid, there had been a small scale (5 persons) marriage ceremony in 2020, and then a 30 person wedding (with vows repeated, as I understand it) in 2021. I had been booked for both, but under the circumstances, the BIG reception was thrown forward each time. Finally here it was – and it was decided not to repeat the actual wedding bit again, but just do photos and PARTY!

It was also a wedding with a difference because both James and Heidi have Down’s syndrome. What difference that made is both easy and hard to describe. At one level, no difference at all… but then again…  I have written at length about what an amazing day it was in my blog.

From a wedding photographer’s point of view, though, it was just like any other wedding. I was possibly a little more nervous (James and Heidi have a fair media following, and there were some high profile guests too) but once things started, the day just flowed, as they always do. Two wonderful families joined together, a tremendous number of friends, including many DS activists, and just a brilliant party!

All images shared here are also publicly visible elsewhere on the net. I want to get this wedding seen in support of Don’t Screen us Out! and other bodies or movements in support of the rights and dignity of people with Down’s syndrome. If there are any issues with any images shown, please contact me and I will remove them. And yes, that is Sally Phillips in the photo!

Thank you, Heidi and James, for asking me to photograph your marriage celebration!