A bride and groom were left stunned when their wedding photographer had a sex change between the ceremony and reception.
Newlyweds Laura, 25, and Jeff Badland, 27, from Leicestershire, decided to tie the knot in a secret wedding in front of two witnesses and photographer Martin Neeves.
But when they had their reception four months later the 49-year-old was living as Katie after spending a lifetime struggling with gender dysphoria.
Martin officially became Katie two weeks after the ceremony.
Martin Neeves, 49, came to the secret wedding as Martin but arrived at the reception four months later as Katie
Newlyweds Laura, 25, and Jeff Badland, 27, were left stunned by the sex change
Katie, 49, who grew up in Leicester, said: ‘I photographed their secret wedding at the Glenfield Register Office but came out as trans.
‘I originally planned to photograph their reception as Martin and then start living full-time as Katie the following week.
‘However, they were so supportive of my transition that they encouraged me photograph their reception as Katie.
‘I was keen to do it, but very nervous as it would be the first event that I had photographed as Katie and I was unsure what the reaction would be.
Katie said she started wearing women’s clothes as a child
‘I left it to the last minute before deciding whether I would present as Martin or Katie that day and I nearly chickened out, but in the end I just went for it and I’m so glad I did.
‘Everything went really well. I have now been living as Katie for six months and I haven’t looked back.’
Katie, who has one grown up son and lives in Leicester, started wearing women’s clothing as a child.
She said: ‘Gender dysphoria is something you are born with, I have always had it and some people know they are transgendered from a very early age if it’s strong enough.
‘The doctor or midwife merely looked between my legs and said I was a boy, I was brought up as a boy and I had a very happy childhood.
‘But I always had a need to cross-dress, that was my way of satisfying the dysphoria. It was not strong enough at that stage.
‘I just thought I was a man who had a need to cross dress, I was fine all the way up to October 2017 and for whatever reason it just went through the roof and at that point I did not know what gender I was at all.
The 49-year-old said that the couple were ‘so supportive of my transition that they encouraged me photograph their reception as Katie’
‘I had to go on a journey of discovery and on January 11, 2018, I finally admitted it, I was 48 at the time and it caught me completely unaware, it is something that is very difficult to explain.
‘Now I’m officially a woman, I have a female passport and driving licence, so I suppose I would be officially labelled as a lesbian but it does not feel any different at all.
‘The response has been overwhelmingly positive and people have been so supportive.’
Katie took pictures of Laura and Jeff when they got married in Leicester last April and was hired again for their reception in August.
Pharmaceutical worker Laura said: ‘We were really happy for Katie when we learnt that she was being true to herself and doing the incredibly brave motion of telling the world that she is part of the trans community.
‘Having only met her as Martin before that point, it was clear what a talented, kind and thoughtful individual she is, capturing the most beautiful photos on our wedding day, of which we will cherish forever.
‘The format of our wedding was less than orthodox, we had a tiny ceremony in secret, followed by a big announcement and invitation to come and celebrate with us at our reception four months later.
‘It was quite lovely, it was like having another unique aspect to the wedding.’
Katie is taking hormones and is on an NHS waiting list to undergo surgery for full transition.