loveless // haylor au

chapter one

"take a picture of all my flaws,
or you can take a video on your phone."

~

chapter one
the taylor problem

June 11th

'You may now kiss the bride.'

I lift the camera up to my face, squinting one eye closed and peering into the viewfinder, my finger hovering over the shutter button.

I snap about thirty plus photos of the newlyweds as they kiss, then turn towards their clapping friends and family, making their way down the aisle hand in hand with large, toothy smiles.

The bride is a friend of mine, I met her in uni a few years ago, and I of course had to make an exception for her in my hectic schedule.

I follow close behind, joined by my assistant and close friend, Al.

'Our time to shine!' he says and I side eye him a bit.

'Our?'

'We're a team remember?'

I chuckle a bit. Al never planned on working with me, as he was studying at uni. When business really started picking up a few months ago, I realised a partner would makes things a lot smoother. You know, help me carry my bags and equipment, help reply to emails, keep me on task.
All that shit.

When you googled, "wedding photographer manchester", I was the first to show up. Me!
I still hadn't quite gotten used to it and it'd been a few months now. I was suddenly booked out for the whole year, and it was only just June.

Being a successful freelance wedding photographer had it's good things, but it's bad things too. Mainly being that I was never one for doing things alone.
So when Al graciously offered to help me out, I of course said yes.

We gathered the main party — the bride, the groom, the bridesmaids, groomsmen, etc, and escorted them towards outdoor terrace where most of the pictures were to be taken. James and Leah went first and we got a decent amount of the happy couple; their arms around the other, looking into each other's eyes. It was all very sweet, and with the green of the trees behind them, it was perfect.

The wedding venue was an Inn, basically. Situated not
far from my home in Manchester. It was probably one of my favourite venues that I'd seen. No fuss about running around as the reception was held in one of the outdoor terraces, and guests who wished just stayed in the hotel. It made everything much easier.

We next got the photos of Leah and her bridesmaids, and I couldn't help but catch the wink one of them gave me. She was gorgeous in the dusty pink gown, her dirty blonde hair falling down her back in waves. I'm sure we'd get a chance to chat later.

When the groomsmen photos and the bride and her parents and the groom and his parents were done, Al and I had quick look through the cameras, just to be sure we were happy with everything.

We gave everyone the green light and headed back towards the reception area, stomachs growling.

'I am starved,' I say to Al, climbing the concrete stairs.

'Me too, mate.'

'We'll get a few of them walking in and hugging family members, then we'll sit down and eat quickly.'

'Gotcha.'

It didn't take long for the party to really get into swing. There was dancing and singing, and traditions. Al and I enjoyed taking photos from the side a lot. We had a bit to drink, not too much because technically we were working.