Oakwell Hall Wedding

For the second wedding of the week-end we were at Oakwell Hall in Birstall. This is one of my favourite venues as there are so many great locations to take photographs, both inside the hall and in the gardens. As we are one of their recommended photographers we do seem to spend a lot time there, so I like to think that we know all the best locations. Kathryn and Jamie had seen us at the wedding fair at Oakwell Hall and had booked us after chatting to us there. Kathryn hails from the north-east and Jamie is from London, so they chose Oakwell as a venue part-way between the two. The day started with bridal preps at the lovely Bronte Cottage, before moving onto Oakwell to catch the guys arriving. Kathryn and Jamie also booked us for the wedding video, so our whole team was out for the day. Kathryn and Jamie are lovely couple who were super to work with. They had really put a lot of thought into the planning of the wedding, and they had provided a caricaturist and various games to entertain their guests between the speeches and the evening reception, which went down very well with all the guests. To round off the day, they had booked a 70's band who turned up really looking the part complete with flares and afro wigs. It was a great night and we were almost sorry when it came time for us to leave.

Cedar Court Hotel, Wakefield

Sadie e-mailed me a few weeks before her wedding with a problem that, surprisingly, is not too uncommon. She had booked her wedding photographer many months ago, but now as the wedding approached she found that she was unable to contact him. He did not return her telephone calls nor did he reply to her e-mails and she was getting very worried. In the many years that we have been in the wedding industry a year never goes by without us being contacted by a bride or groom in a panic who have been let down by their photographer or videographer. This, unfortunately, happens all too frequently and is one of the reasons why it is imperative to book a full-time, established and qualified person. So many people have set up in the last few years who meet non of these criteria, but all of whom have one thing in common - they are cheap. The old adage of "you only get what you pay for" is certainly true when it comes to wedding photography and videography. Anyway fortunately we were free and were able to make Sadie's day! As a surprise for Rob Sadie had arranged for a few cars from the TVR owner's club to turn up. My first challenge was to find a location where they could all park up for a photo! After the ceremony we took the couple off to Thornes Park in Wakefield before moving onto the Cedar Court Hotel for the reception.

Portraits in Manchester

Now that the wedding photography season has gone quiet it gives me the opportunity to indulge myself in some training. This is a chance to work alongside some of the most talented and skilled photographers in the country, to try new ideas and to work in different photographic genres. This training day required just a short hop across the Pennines to Manchester to spend the day with Damien McGillicuddy, one of the accomplished photographers in the country, with a string of celebrity weddings to his credit. Here is a selection of photographs from the day.

Woolley Hall Wedding

Our third wedding in September took us first to Sheffield for the bridal preps and ceremony before driving up the M1 to the lovely village of Woolley near Wakefield. Brenda and Shingai had grown up in the same village in Zimbabwe, but only met each other here in England. Their ceremony was the longest that we have ever know, being over one and a half hours long! We really like Woolley Hall and have never seen it with so many guests. This was a really bright and colourful wedding, with the dancing starting in the church and continuing all day and was in full swing when we finally had to leave and drive home. Besides taking their wedding photographs Brenda and Shingai had also booked us for their wedding video, and I don't think that we have ever used as much tape! A great day and quite an experience for us as well!

Gomersal Park Wedding

Joanne and David were married in September at East Ardsley Church before travelling to their reception in a rather splendid Alvis vintage car. We had arranged with Sandra, the wedding co-ordinator at Oakwell Hall who we know well, to have 20 minutes there to take some couple shots in their grounds, before taking the group photos at Gomersal Park. Fortunately the rain held off, so we didn't require the white umbrellas that we always carry with us. It was also nice to catch up with Jodie and Anthony, who had recommended us after we had covered their wedding at Woolley Hall in 2008.