same sex marriage photographer

This week I had the honour of photographing Lizzy and Elli’s wedding. It was a lovely intimate occasion and was blown away with the admiration and respect the guests showed to this happy couple. It was a truly moving experience to see such a loving couple joined together in marriage.

The Bride and Bride requested a natural reportage style coverage of their same sex wedding but I could not resist posing them for the intimate wedding photos you see below.  Being very aware that they were in a very public area I had them sit or stand and just to interact with each other.  They were real troopers and the first shot was actually the entrance to the cafe at Clisshold House and we were surrounded by people sitting in the sun enjoying their coffee.  We kept this session very brief and moved from one spot to another as on lookers took photos of us.  But I must say the images are beautiful as I tried to capture the true feelings this pair have for each other.

With this wedding fresh in my mind and the resent news of gay and lesbian marriage I have shared my viewing of Gay, Lesbian, Straight, Same Sex Marriage, Civil Partnerships or what ever the media are calling it this days.  To me a wedding is a marriage between two people to the exclusion of all others.  No out dated law by a judge in the 1800’s that never even had a family should decide otherwise.  According to the church sex is a sin no matter who or what your status is so why make marriage about sex.  If two soul-mates find each other then it is right and just that they should be able to live their lives they way they want to.

Sorry for the rant now please enjoy my photos.

At the time of righting this the government is deciding on the future of same sex marriage and the French are protesting against France’s first gay marriage between Vincent Autin and Bruno Boileau. Civil Partnerships are really just a gesture to this whole debate. Having attended many weddings as a wedding photographer and watching couples tie the knot every week, marriage is a union of two people.

Our out dated law called the Public Worship Regulation Act 1874 states. Marriage, according to the law of this country, is the union of one man with one woman voluntarily entered into for life, to the exclusion of all others. This is the legal definition of marriage set down by Lord Penzance in 1866.

In my view this is the grass routes of the failing of our society and the demise of marriages failing. A wise man once said never mix politics with religion and here we are. The government dictating our beliefs. Before the involvement of the courts in marriage the church would decide on the fait of a couple breaking up. I am not a regular church member but I do see the benefits of someone in your community that personally knows you and everyone else in your community and makes a stand for your marriage working. This should not be a decision of a court to decide who and who gets what.

But back to marriage itself, it really in the union of two people to the exclusion of all others. In this modern world I really don’t see what the problem is but plain old discrimination. The government and media are also guilty and keep referring to gay marriage and hardly ever mention lesbian marriage. Referring to same sex marriage is also contradictory in itself. Do we now mention Same sex and Opposite sex marriage ?

While the UK is some way ahead of other countries in the marriage reform. If you are a modern couple going on honeymoon think about where you are going. Gay and Lesbian couples could face life in prison or event the death penalty in some counties.

About Mark Dolman

Mark Dolman is a wedding photographer in Buckinghamshire for natural journalistic same sex marriage wedding photographing in London, Watford, High Wycombe, Slough, Windsor, Marlow, Iver, Rickmansworth, Amersham, Chesham, Aylesbury, Berkamstead, Hemal Hempsted,