Wedding Photography at Oulton Hall - Melissa and Gareth

Almost exactly two years ago, we were the Leeds wedding photographers for Claire and Neil when they married at the Woodlands Hotel in Gildersome.  Today it was such a pleasure to be at the stunning location of Oulton Hall to capture Melissa and Gareth's celebrations.  Melissa is Neil's sister and we always feel very privileged when a brother or sister of a previous client asks us to photograph their wedding too and it was so nice to see a few familiar faces - Melissa's mum and dad, Mandy and Brian, brother Neil and sister in law Claire, plus a new addition to the family - Neil and Claire's cute baby son Alex.  We joined Melissa and the girls in the Knaresborough Castle suite and as we arrived, Melissa was in the make-up chair.  After photographing Melissa's gorgeous Sophia Tolli gown and all the other girly bits and pieces, including her bouquet of cabbages - ornamental cabbages that is - we left the girls to finish getting ready and went to find Gareth, Craig and David for their photographs.  The weather forecaster got it right and we enjoyed a lovely, dry day with no wind - perfect.  The boys' shots were soon in the can and we were back with Melissa who by now was almost ready for the ceremony.  The Leeds registrars were fantastic, allowing us to capture the civil ceremony as Melissa and Gareth tied the knot.  With a fairly short drinks reception, we worked quickly through the group shots which left time to get some photographs of the newly married couple around the spectacular grounds of Oulton Hall before we went indoors to photograph them on the staircase and the Repton Room all set up for the wedding breakfast.  With dinner and speeches over, including a very touching one from Melissa's dad, the sky was almost at that perfect dark blue colour, so the couple joined us outside for some evening shots.  As artistic wedding photographers, we just love it when the bride and groom are happy to spend some time with us between the end of the wedding breakfast and the start of the evening party.  This is when we create some of our most beautiful images.  After capturing Melissa and Gareth's first dance as husband and wife and a father and daughter dance too, we left everyone to party.  We have to say thank you to attendants Kirsty, Sarah, Craig and David for all their help in making everything run so smoothly.  Their help was invaluable and much appreciated.  Thank you so much Melissa and Gareth for asking us to share your wedding day.  Have a fabulous honeymoon!

If you were a guest a Melissa and Gareth's wedding, please feel free to leave a comment below - thank you.    

Wedding Photography Leeds

Wedding photography All Saints' Church, Sherburn in Elmet and Steeton Hall, South Milford - Helen and Paul - 25 September 2010 

Today there was a much hoped for improvement in the weather for the wedding celebrations of Helen and Paul and our first stop of the day was at the couple's home for a few pictures of Paul and the boys before we left to join Helen and the girls at her mum, Alison and step-dad, Chris's beautiful home in South Milford.  As wedding photographers in West Yorkshire, we've often driven past the gatehouse of Steeton Hall and wondered what was behind it.  Now we know! Steeton Hall - affectionately known by the family has Hassle Castle - is a gorgeous English Heritage property which has been converted into these amazing homes and this is where Helen was being pampered by her make-up artist when we arrived.  Shortly after our arrival, Alan Macmillan of MacMillan Films arrived to begin capturing the day on video.  We always enjoy working with Alan.  After documenting the girls' preparations, we left for the church to meet up with the boys.  Now we know from having been the wedding photographers at this beautiful church several times before that Rev Chris Wilton has very strict rules regarding ceremony photography but as always, we respect the wishes of whoever is conducting the marriage service and he kindly allowed us to photograph the wedding from the rear of the church.  Helen, looking amazing, arrived with her proud grandad Edward in a classic Rolls Royce.  Following the wedding ceremony, Mr and Mrs Airey mingled for a while, had a few group photographs taken, were showered with confetti at the church gate and then enjoyed champagne before leaving for Steeton Hall, which allowed us to drive to the wedding reception and wait for the couple's arrival.  Steeton Hall has the most beautiful backdrops for wedding photographs and the fact that this is Helen's mum and step-dad's home made it all the more personal and very special indeed.  We knew that Helen and Paul wanted a photograph of the marquee all set up and this proved a challenge as by the time we got there, the majority of the guests were inside it!  However, the big group shot provided a way around this, involving keeping everyone outside for just a big longer until we'd got the shots the couple wanted.  Leaving everyone to enjoy the wedding breakfast, we returned later to cover the speeches.  We've noticed how much the nights are drawing in now but this does have an advantage - we can get some spectacular evening shots much earlier.  When we had met up with Helen and Paul a few weeks before their wedding, we'd planned for some evening photographs around the gatehouse and we were hoping that everything would come together to enable us to do this - dry weather and the couple being available at just the perfect time when the sky goes a dark blue.  We timed it so that we could set up a few minutes early and we have Alan to thank for helping us to make it happen, including running back to the marquee at just the right time to ask Helen and Paul to come and join us.  We're really happy with the result and we hope you guys are too!  A brilliant day - thank you Mr and Mrs Airey! 

If you are a family member or a friend of the couple, please leave a comment - thank you!

Wedding Photographers Yorkshire

Wedding photography in Yorkshire for Nicola and James at Holy Trinity Church, Rothwell and Aldwark Manor, Alne near Wetherby on 11 September 2010

It was our pleasure to capture Nicola and James's big day and be part of the celebrations as Miss Brown became Mrs Brown - Nicola and James sharing the same surname even before they tied the knot!

Nicola knows us very well, as she has been a bridesmaid at two weddings we have photographed - Claire and Danny's first and then Rachel and Matt's in August last year.  Shortly afterwards, we were delighted to hear the news that Nicola and James had named the day and wanted us to be their wedding photographers.  Nicola joked that she has a wardrobe full of assorted bridesmaid dresses!  Today it was her turn to be the bride and absolutely gorgeous she looked too!

Usually, our first location when photographing a wedding is with the bride as she gets ready for the ceremony, but James had other ideas, so our first stop was at the couple's home where a very important person posed for the camera - Baxter, the Westie.  He did allow James in some of the photographs!  We joked with James that the first chapter of their storybook album was already sorted before we'd even started with Nicola's preparations!  We then left for Linda and David, Nicola's parents' house, where they girls would be getting ready.

We were greeted by Nicola's dad, David, who had been left holding the fort while the girls had their hair done and with the dress and accessory shots in the bag just as Nicola arrived back, we had time to get some portraits of her and capture some great pictures as her mum, Linda, and sister, Caroline fastened her dress.

Driving to the church in Rothwell, it started raining.  We parked up, headed for the pub next door and were welcomed by James's beaming through the window.  He'd managed to secure himself a  glass of Peroni!  A few shots later and the rain had stopped - perfect timing for James's and his attendants' photographs outside.

As Leeds wedding photographers, we have worked at Holy Trinity church a couple of times before and the rule had been that we could only photograph the ceremony from the back, which was what we were expecting today.  However, the ceremony was being conducted by a different vicar and a quick chat with him established that we could capture the marriage service from both the front and the back - fantastic!

Following the ceremony and some enthusiastic throwing of confetti at the church gate, we left for Aldwark Manor so that we could be there for Nicola and James's arrival ready to get photographs of them with their Beauford.  A new venue for us, Aldwark Manor has a very attractive frontage featuring a lovely fountain.

After working through the group photographs we went inside to photograph the wedding breakfast room which was beautifully decorated in a purple and white colour scheme.

Best men Dan and Gaz had worked really hard putting together a hilarious presentation about James which had everyone in hysterics.  Credit must go to you guys for coming up with something very funny and very inventive.  It was difficult to keep the camera steady!

With only a short window of remaining daylight and some ideas for photographs for Nicola and James together before the evening party started, we invited them to spend some time with us outside to make the most of the soft evening light.  It's great when an idea comes together as well as this one did - we just love this image and hope Nicola and James to do!

A band played the couple's first dance, Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong. 





Thank you Mr and Mrs Brown for booking us as your wedding photographers.  It was a privilege to share your day and to photograph Nicola as a beautiful bride this time!

Please leave a comment about the couple's big day or about the photographs - thank you.