Church wedding photography in Kegworth, Derbyshire

Way back in ancient times, marriage was much less formal. Lovers could make a promise to each other in front of a witness at any place or time, and it was realised as a binding arrangement. In fact, it was regarded as enough to call God as a witness; His power was deemed to be sufficient to override His lack of physical presence! This of course led to many a Knight making a proclamation of marriage to a girl, having his wicked way then disappearing, leaving her to suffer from the consequences.

As many marriages were organized to bring money or power into the family, or to sustain status and position in the community, arranged wedding ceremonies between members of the family were common. In the 11th century the Council of Westminster decreed that no man could arrange the marriage of any woman in his family unit with out church approval, and gradually the church began to have an impact, restricting inter family relationships and getting the ceremony into the Church itself.

To start with, weddings generally took place in the church porch, which is why this space is normally so large in many churches. By the 15th century, Trent Council decreed that every wedding that took place with out a priest was nullified, and the Church was now recognized as the only place to get married. The ordinary form of the marriage vows, “To have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, till death do us part” were being incorporated into the Book of Common Prayer in 1552 and have played a fundamental part in church weddings since.

The architecture of many of our churches makes for extremely charming settings, and the grounds of the church have grow to be the traditional place for many of the professional photographs to be taken. Both the signing of the register and the happy family group outside the church door are important pictures for both the professional photographer and the happy family snappers!

If you found this short piece interesting, you could want to view a blog, wedding photographers near Ripley.