Friday 29 July 2011

Kings Croft Wedding: Donna & Stephen

Ceremony: St Mary's Church, Garforth, Leeds
Reception: King's Croft, Pontefract

Stephen was, it has to be said, very, very nervous when I arrived at his parents' house in Garforth. After a few quick family group shots and the usual details, we were off to his local, The Podger (apparently, it's a type of large spanner - I had to look that up!), for a swift pint to settle his nerves before the short walk to the church.
Donna arrived in a white Rolls Royce with a huge grin on her face (it stayed there all day - the grin, not the Roller!). A fair number of her side of the family, including her Dad & several kids, had dug their kilts out for the occasion - always a bonus from the Photographer's point of view!
After the ceremony it was off to Kings Croft in Ponte for the wedding breakfast, loads of photos etc.
Immediately after the first dance, Donna & her parents launched into a mad dance 'routine' to Bat Out Of Hell, a family tradition, apparently!

Congratulations to Donna & Stephen and thanks for an enjoyable day!































Monday 18 July 2011

Carr Hall Castle Photographs

Nicola at Carr Hall Castle has kindly arranged a news article about my work on the Castle's website. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you are probably sick to death of me banging on about what a great place Carr Hall Castle is but I'm afraid you'll just have to put up with it! The fact is that it has that indefinable magical, fairy tale quality that most other wedding venues lack and it really is a very special place.
I hope I can go back there soon to photograph some more weddings!

Visit Carr Hall Castle website here >>

Click here for wedding package prices

Tuesday 5 July 2011

Barley Hall Wedding: Emma & Adam

Ceremony & Reception: Barley Hall, York City Centre

Emma & Adam's wedding turned out to be quite an experience, one way or another! I arrived at the hotel to meet Adam slightly early so as it was right next to York Minster I went for a bit of a wander round to take a few "scene-setters" and soak up the atmosphere of the city. As it was, Adam didn't turn up until about 10 mins before he was due to leave for the venue so we knocked off a few quick "prep" shots and set off for Barley Hall. We had to take the long route round the back of the Minster through the Minster Gardens to avoid passing Emma's hotel, where Gav was busy photographing the girls' getting ready, so this gave me the chance to take some nice walking-through-York shots with Adam and his best man.

Barley Hall, for those of you who don't know, is a mediaeval townhouse situated right in the centre of York in a small secluded courtyard, accessible only by a narrow alleyway (or ginnell, as they call them round here). It is basically a small museum of mediaeval life, full of costumes and artefacts.
The wedding ceremony and mediaeval themed reception meal were held in the magnificent Great Hall. The caterers were complimented on the quality of the food by one guest with a very strong Bolton accent, who said, "Your lemon mousse with the biscuitty base were second to none!". Very Peter Kay!

After some very emotional speeches and a bit of down time, everyone joined in with some mediaeval style dancing to round the day off. Not your typical wedding in many ways but an enjoyable day nonetheless. Let's face it, York is a fantastic place (it's just been voted the place most people would like to live in and it's not hard to see why).

We are back in York again at the Hospitium later in the year, so I'm looking forward to that!

Congratulations to Emma & Adam who were great sports and were happy to walk miles in the name of a good photo!