Iglesia de Santo Domingo de Guzmán, Benalmádena Pueblo – Villa Los Arcos, Mijas-Costa

Sally and Thomas´s Wedding Day

Santo Domingo de Guzmán Church, in the beautiful Benalmádena Pueblo was the setting for the ceremony of Sally and Thomas followed by celebrations at a private Villa not too far away in Mijas.Costa. Sally was getting ready before the ceremony at the villa so I set off first to the villa. The atmosphere was already buzzing as we entered the property and there were children (and adults) running around having fun and getting ready.

Below are just a few of my personal favourite images and the story of their day…

Sally & Thomas’s day
Preparation
As I entered Sally’s room at Villa Los Arcos, the talented Lorraine from Princess Bride was doing her magic as always and prepared Sally’s hair and make-up beautifully. Although it was calm in the room I could feel the excitement building as everyone spoke about the day to come. I always like to pop my head in to see what the boys are doing and check the venue grounds on regular intervals to ensure that there isn’t anything going on that I don’t know about, so I went down to see what Tom and his groomsman were up to and could see that all was good as Tom handed me a note that he had written, asking me to give it to Sally. As I handed it to Sally she had tears in her eyes, it was now all becoming real and that this was her wedding Day!
The boys and a few others gathered at the bar in the reception area of the villa for some sandwiches and to find out where the coach to take the guests to the Benalmádena church was… well the answer was “stuck” the coach was simply not able to access the last few roads to the villa as they were so narrow.
Therefore the guests all piled down the hill outside villa to their transport. I captured the guests laughing and joking as the strolled down the road and then ran back unto my car to make my way to the church in Benalmadena. I really wanted to ensure that I was ahead of the coach so that I could get to the church and be ready for the arrival of everyone.
Ceremony
I captured a few shots of Tom and his guests arriving and then as everyone settled in their seats inside the church I waited outside for the arrival of Sally. 
A nice Mercedes rolled up to the front doors of the church, Sally who was accompanied by her father was greeted by her bridesmaids, flower girls and page boys who were all assembled outside the church.
I checked to see if we were all running on time as I know too well that punctuality is a must for ceremonies taking place in a Spanish churches and as I walked up the aisle to ensure that everything was in place ready for Sally’s entrance I noticed that Thomas had decided to keep to the tradition of facing the altar and not turn around while Sally approaches, I love to see this and as I took one of my favourite ceremony shots (where the groom is facing me and his bride is walking down the aisle) I could see his nervousness and excitement as he could feel her getting nearer.
After Tom was given Sally’s hand by her Dad, the ceremony began with the traditional lighting of the candles to represent the joining of two families and followed by a not so traditional occurrence but certainly a really nice one to see, whereby father Zambrana “Padre Juan Manuel Baez Zambrana” asked Thomas to come forward and say a few words about his bride to be, and what nice words they were too.
Sally and Tom´s daughter approached them at the altar for some comfort and made herself comfortable on their pew, this looked so cute and of course a great photo opportunity. They signed the register and made they way back up the aisle as husband and wife!
They wanted some group shots outside the church which I don’t usually recommend at this time of day as the sun is pointing straight at the doors to the church and them, creating a sun trap. They were getting very hot as they got themselves into place but luckily, Sally, Thomas and their family and friends were all quite organised so we could do the shot very quickly. As the guests headed back to the villa I took Sally and Thomas around the grounds of the church and down some steps to a nice spot for a couple of romantic portraits, keeping them in the shade at all times as by now the temperatures were soaring.
We headed back up to the entrance and to the lifesaving cool aircon of their Mercedes and they headed back to Benalmádena and the villa for some drinks.

Reception
Sally and Thomas were greeted by their friends and family at the entrance to the villa whilst Mike Jingle played some Spanish guitar and the kids ran round having a great time. The bouncy castle, footballs and a bubble machine for the younger ones, also helped keep them all amused, and helped my photographs of course.
Champagne was sipped on the cooler terrace at the front entrance to the villa but it was barely cooler at all as even in the shade now it was getting unbelievably hot.
Everyone sat for dinner by the pool, accompanied by the dolsic tones of singer Aaron Harding, there were big cheers as the married couple came down to the pool patio to join them and a fabulous barbeque buffet and traditional Spanish paella was served together with lots of nibbles, salsas and fresh salad. A lovely wedding all round thanks to Joan of Spanish Wedding Planner and everyone else involved in the success of this lovely wedding.