The Undercover Waiters

The Undercover Waiters:

My Experience

Faye & Mark {or as Mark prefers, Mark & Faye} told me at their initial consultation that they would be booking The Undercover Waiters. I have to admit I had absolutely NO IDEA who the Undercover Waiters were! Faye sent me a link to their YouTube channel and I was in fits of laughter.

What an amazing idea I thought, but could it be proper cringe?!

Absolutely not, it would seem!

When it came down to it, I was bricking it. I’m a documentary wedding photographer, I mill, I meander, I wander about, snapping at little moments and watching the day unfold. Now I was faced with a very real, VERY FAST, moment in which to capture a waiter take a dive bomb in front of the top table; there were no second chances.

I’d sought out Jack prior to this moment of course, on the sly, as only myself and the Bride & Groom knew that the room would soon be in deadpan silence. He’d promised not to start the dreaded walk before I was in position at the back of the top table, and as promised, I was in situ - pretending to take candid shots of the Bridesmaids & the guests who were conversing with the newlyweds. He was getting closer and closer, but the guests weren’t sitting back down, I had a tiny window between four people to capture where I could only guess Jack would fall and they were constantly bobbing up and down with that amazing post-ceremony glow you get only at a best friends wedding!

*HEART GOING TO COMBUST*

And then, like a slow-motion scene in a Die Hard Movie, down he went, with the most ALMIGHTY CRASH.

Yes. Almighty. A shit-tonne of cutlery in a metal champagne bucket will do that!

& as previously predicted…

the world stopped!

RADIO SILENCE.

The shock, the titters, the worried or appalled {you know who you are} faces ensued.

Then, with a strike of pure comic timing, a microphone was in hand and…

ALLLLL NIIIGHHHTTT LONNGGG!!!

I have to say, I am a little gutted that I couldn’t view the rooms reaction at large, it was a powerful moment; even just through the barrel of my lens.

The best part was, this was placed after the third course; you know, at the boring bit. You know what I mean right? After dinner, the plates are cleared but it’s so definitely not dancy-dance time yet. It feels early, you’re not pissed yet, you’ve said hello to the other guests that you actually like, but you’re not really sure what to do with yourself.

Yes, now you remember; that moment.

So it was BLOODY FANTASTIC.

This is also the part when I have the least to do at a wedding. I still mill, I still wander, but it’s often not very fruitful.

Now never, NEVER-HAVE-I-EVER seen a room react the way it did.

It just kind of EXPLODED??!

I’m not sure whether it was Jack’s talent or the pure shock, but there was not a single bum on a chair within about 90 seconds, and as soon as Andy joined, that was it.

Have you ever been in a room with 100 white cotton napkins flinging and flighting, along with 200 arms swooshing?

It was a sea of white, like a snow storm! At one point I just had to fire the shutter and hope for the best, as I couldn’t see a damn thing; but boy what an atmosphere; ELECTRIFYING.

The set lasted quite a while I think, I’d say a good 45 minutes at least. They performed BELTERS ONLY, and the party continued for its entirety. Remember the film, ‘About a Boy’ the guests were, and I quote, “singing with their eyes closed’. All dancing. Some even standing on chairs.

Andy & Jack took it one step further too, they were flirting with the ladies, embarrassing the chaps {see above} and created the longest conga you ever did see…

It was absolutely gutting when the set was up, as everyone was having an absolute blast, but it completely set the tone for the entire evening.

I HONESTLY CANNOT RECOMMEND THEM ENOUGH.

{Disclaimer: I took 1000 images during their set}

The Undercover Waiters; my new favourite Singing Waiters…

Let’s watch that first moment unfold…

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