Everything was happening at the Talbot Hotel Cork, so I started the morning there with Shan and the girls.

There was no shortage of laughter.

At one stage the girls somehow ended up piled into the bath together.

Fully dressed, thankfully.

That’s generally a fairly reliable indication of the kind of day you’re about to have.

But there was one moment that morning that slowed everything down.

Once Shan was in her wedding dress, we brought her mam Fiona up to see her.

And Fiona’s reaction was beautiful.

Nothing staged. Nothing needed to be said.

Just a mam seeing her daughter standing there in her wedding dress.

Those are the photographs that matter.

When Brandon and the boys arrived at the hotel, I went over to the room where he was getting ready with his three brothers.

And it was pure slagging.

The best kind.

Four brothers getting ready for something pretty important, a few nerves floating around the room, and every one of them taking the piss out of the other.

Because we’re Irish.

We don’t always tell our brothers we love them.

Sometimes we just slag the absolute shite out of them instead.

And there is love in that too.

Watching the four of them actually reminded me of my own family. Brandon has three brothers. I have three brothers. And if the four of us were in a room getting ready for something important, we’d be exactly the same.

Someone would be nervous.

The other three would spot it.

And God help him after that.

It was just four brothers being brothers. The same jokes, the same piss-taking and the same bond they’ve probably had their whole lives.

And when I met their dad later, a proper joker himself, I could see fairly quickly where they’d all got it from.

That’s the stuff I love photographing.

Not asking four lads to stand shoulder to shoulder and smile at me.

The moments in between, when they’ve forgotten about the camera and gone straight back to being brothers.

Then it was Brandon’s turn.

We called him up to the room for a first look.

He opened the door.

Looked at Shan.

“Phewwww.”

And down went the head.

He tried desperately to keep himself together, but you could see the tears weren’t far away.

Then came the smile.

His reaction was golden.

Simply love.

You can pose people all day long, but you can’t manufacture that.

Just before Shan made her entrance, two friends of the couple decided the aisle needed a little warming up.

Enter the Flower Dudes.

Bags on.

Petals ready.

And off they went down the aisle throwing flowers everywhere.

The whole room erupted.

People laughing, phones coming out and petals flying in every direction.

Absolutely ridiculous.

Absolutely brilliant.

And the perfect entrance for the kind of wedding this was turning into.

Then Shan arrived.

Her smile walking up the aisle was enormous.

Somehow, walking back down it married to Brandon, it was even bigger.

That’s probably the image I’ll remember most from their Talbot Hotel Cork wedding.

Not a pose.

Not a big creative photograph.

Just pure happiness.

Shan looked like she was floating through the day.

And Brandon wasn’t much better.

The way those two looked at each other said everything.

For an October wedding in Ireland, we absolutely landed on our feet.

We had autumn sunshine.

The Talbot Hotel Cork doesn’t have a huge wedding garden, so for the couple photographs I brought Shannon and Brandon around to the walkway at the side of the hotel.

And this is where I love what I do.

I don’t need a massive garden, a castle or a mountain behind every couple.

Give me a bit of light, a wall, a walkway and two people willing to have a laugh with me and we’ll make something out of it.

That’s exactly what we did.

A few relaxed photographs of the two of them.

A few quieter moments.

Then their friends got involved.

And all sense of normality disappeared fairly quickly.

Which suited me perfectly.

Brandon has three brothers and a sister, and after spending a little time with the family it became fairly obvious where the sense of humour comes from.

His dad is a gas man.

A proper joker.

And apparently it has rubbed off on the sons.

Trying to create a serious family photograph with this crew was always going to be ambitious.

So I didn’t fight it.

That’s the thing about wedding photography.

Sometimes the best thing I can do is give people permission to be themselves.

Get them laughing. Get them interacting. Give them something stupid to do.

Then photograph what happens.

Those photographs will tell you far more about a family than twenty perfectly lined-up people staring at a camera ever could.

Later in the day, David Peace had everyone completely baffled.

People watching his hands, trying to work out what he’d done, looking at each other for answers and generally getting nowhere.

A brilliant magician and fantastic entertainment for a wedding crowd.

Then came the speeches.

Brandon had already survived the first look without completely losing it.

Now he had to talk about Shan.

Again, he did his absolute best to hold himself together.

Nearly.

There is only so much a man can take in one day.

Once darkness fell, I brought Shannon and Brandon back outside the front of the Talbot Hotel Cork.

The hotel lit behind them.

Red carpet underneath.

Everyone else inside enjoying themselves.

Just the two of them for a few minutes.

And we finished with one last photograph.

A completely different image from all the laughter and madness we’d photographed during the day.

Because that’s what I want a wedding gallery to be.

Not one style repeated hundreds of times.

The madness.

The quiet bits.

The people.

The laughter.

The photographs you never knew were being taken.

And then, when the opportunity is there, something a little special for the wall.

I’ve photographed hundreds of weddings over the years.

But every now and again there’s one where the happiness of the couple is what stays with you.

This was one of those.

Shan smiled all day.

Every single time she looked at Brandon, she smiled.

She looked like somebody who couldn’t quite believe the day she’d been waiting for was actually happening.

And because I’d photographed her mam’s wedding four years earlier, this one felt a little different for me too.

Shan, you’re a fantastic woman and I couldn’t be happier for you, Brandon and your little family.

Brandon, look after her.

Although judging by the way you looked at her all day, I don’t think I need to tell you that.

Thank you both for having me back to photograph another chapter in the family.

What a day.