Combine a wonderful English summers day, A fantastic couple and a whole load of Australians and your in for a great wedding and thats exactly what we had last week for Nicole and Marc’s wedding at Rowton castle, Shrewsbury.

I started the day off with Nicole at her house to capture her preparations for the big day. Everything started off nice and calmly, in fact, Nicole was a picture of serenity as her bridesmaids had their makeup applied but the nearer we got to our deadline for leaving the more the excitement and nerves grew. Fortunately, Nicole had arranged for a lot of the guests to leave the house prior to her getting into her dress, partly so they wouldn’t see it until she walked down the isle and partly so the bridal party could return to the state of calm they were in when I arrived.

After collecting the wedding car we made our way to Rowton castle under fabulous blue skies. Nicole looked stunning as she walked down the isle, so stunning she made Marc get all emotional as he saw her for the first time that day. The ceremony was delightful and as soon as it was over the whole wedding party made there way out into the grounds of the castle where they enjoyed their Champagne as I photographed the group shots and Nicole and Marc’s portraits.

After the wedding breakfast and speeches were completed we had just enough time to get a few evening portraits as the sun set over the distant trees and then it was time for the party to get going. Nicole and Marc started of the dancing surrounded by a could of bubbles, I don’t think they could have looked more happy.

The wedding party danced long into the night, enjoying every minute of the party. I also enjoyed myself the whole day as everyone made it a joy for me to take photographs, I really do love my job!

Close up photograph of the Bride Bride after getting into her wedding dress Groom relaxes at Rowton castle prior to his wedding Bride and her parents getting into the wedding car in Shrewsbury Flower girls laughing prior to walking down the isle at Rowton castle Groom sheds a tear as his Bride walks down the isle Bride and Groom during their wedding ceremony at Rowton castle Bride and Groom portrait in Shrewsbury Wedding party relax in the grounds of Rowton castle Grooms men walk outside Rowton castle, Shrewsbury Wedding receiving line at Rowton castle Bride and Groom cut their wedding cake Bride and groom evening portrait with sunset Bride and Groom evening portrait at Rowton castle

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I was at Heath House in Tean, Staffordshire on Saturday to cover Gemma and David wedding and what a lively wedding it was!

I was pretty much given free reign to cover the wedding as I saw it. It is always great to be able to complete the wedding photography in a documentary style as the images are always a true reflection of the day and Saturdays wedding was no exception.

I started at Chantilly in Stone, Staffordshire where the Bride and Bridesmaids we having their makeup done. From the moment I arrived Gemma, her sisters and mother were in great spirits, laughing and joking and really enjoying the build up to the wedding. After a quick stop at Gemma’s Mom’s to get dressed to headed to the church, again in Stone. Even the ceremony with filled with laughter and was thoroughly enjoyed by all of the wedding party.

The reception was held at The Heath house, Tean. A wonderful country house in the Staffordshire countryside just outside Stoke-on-Trent. The great British rain made a brief appearance just to make the few group photographs a little tricky but made a timely exit as we were starting the portraits. Working quickly is a prerequisite of wedding photojournalism but the rain meant we only had around 15 minutes to complete the portraits before the wedding breakfast. That was all we needed to create some stunning portraits of Gemma and David (a few are included below). I always try to reflect the feel of the day in my portraits so I injected a little more fun into the portraits to mirror the upbeat feel of the wedding.

As soon as the speeches were concluded and the bouquet had been thrown we were straight into the 1st dance and from that moment, the dance floor was never far from full as the guests partied the night away. We took a few moments at sunset to capture a couple more portraits with great results.

It is clear to see that Gemma and David are perfectly suited and I am sure they will have a long and very happy marriage together and I was lucky enough to be with them for their wedding, I wish them all the very best for the future.

bride getting ready for wedding in stone bride dressed and ready for wedding, stone, staffordshire groom looks on as bride walks down isle in church bride and groom sign register at church in stone, staffordshire bride and groom relax at heath house tean bride and groom run towards camera at the heath house, tean, staffordshire bride and groom portrait in wooded area surrounded by trees bride portrait in front of orangery at heath house, tean bride and groom kiss as guests throw confetti bride and grooms 1st dance after being married bride and groom evening portrait with remote flash lighting in the countryside

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Gallery is password protected, please obtain password from Bride & Groom

I was fortunate enough to spend most of my weekend with Raman and Parminder in Wolverhampton for their wedding.

I started out with Parminder during her preparations at her parents house in Willenhall. It was an early start (7:30) and the house was a picture of calm as the bride was already dressed with hair and makeup almost complete and the bridesmaids were not far behind.

We then moved on to the Gurdwara Nanaksar temple in Wolverhampton where I was treated to breakfast! (I could get used to this) A wonderful ceremony filled with tradition followed breakfast and the light in the room was about as good as it gets, it really helped me show off the wonderful outfits worn by the Bride and Groom.

After Parminder’s sisters returned Raman’s shoes (another tradition) we headed to the Ramada Park Hall hotel and the partying and dancing started as soon as we arrived as all of the guests were set on enjoying themselves. Once again we were all treated to some traditional ceremonies before heading outside to make the most of the gardens where I captured some wonderful portraits of the Bride and Groom.

Finally we returned to Parminder’s parents house for final farewells as Raman and Parminder departed for London. I had a fantastic day and while very tiring, I enjoyed every minute. I wish both Raman and Parminder all the best for their married life and want to thank them for their and their families hospitality.

bride checks her dress before her wedding bride arrives at the gurdwara nanaksar temple in wolverhampton bride portrait prior to her wedding groom is dressed prior to his wedding bride is led into the gurdwara nanaksar temple, wolverhampton bride and groom during their wedding flowers decorating the top table at the ramada park hall, wolverhampton guests dancing at wedding reception brides bother chatting to guests bride and grooms first dance at the ramada park hall, wolverhampton bride and groom listen and smile during speeches bride and groom portrait at ramada park hall, wolverhampton bride and groom portrait at ramada park hall, wolverhampton bride and groom leave after their wedding

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I recently covered Becky and Edward’s wedding at All Saints Church, Sandon in Staffordshire followed by a reception at Chillington Hall.

The wedding got off to a great start when I started the day with Becky at the Moat house, Acton Trussell. The hotel is a great wedding venue in its own right but it is also very often the accommodation of choice for guests attending events at Chillington Hall. When I arrived it was clear to see that the bride was very excited about her wedding day, in fact the whole wedding party (a lot of which popped in during the preparations) were a bundle of excitement and nerves! The preparations went swimmingly and we were soon on our way to the church.

All Saints Church is a truly beautiful and wonderfully atmospheric place but it’s also one of the darkest churches I have worked in for a long time meaning Bryn and I had to work very hard to catch the natural light, which although challenging is always a pleasure to work with as I find it can enhance emotional scenes so well.

Dodging rain showers we all arrived safely at Chillington Hall but soon after our arrival the Heavens opened causing all of the guests and the group photos to remain inside. We did manage to find a long enough dry spell to venture down to the lake though. For anyone who knows Chillington but has not been down to the lake you have missed a treat. It does take a while to get there but once you arrive you are treated to some great views and buildings with plenty of photograph opportunities.

We stayed with Becky and Edward right into the evening and we were treated to a first dance lit by sparklers!

I hope you enjoy the selection of images below which were some of my favourites from the day.

groom and best man chat before the wedding during their preperations all saints church in sandon staffordshire bride and father of the bride walk towards all saints church just before the ceremony bride, groom, vicar and wedding party talk during the signing of the register bride and grooms confetti shot as the leave all saints church sandon horse and cartridge bring the bride and groom down chillington halls drive bride with bridesmaids table decorations at the wedding at chillington hall table decorations in the marquee at chillington hall bride and groom look out over the lake and chillington hall bride and groom kiss by the ruins at chillington hall

Two weeks ago I got to cover a wedding at a great local venue, Himley Hall. It’s a great, imposing venue surrounded by park land to the west of Dudley. I have covered weddings there before but not since it has been renovated. If you’re considering a wedding venue in this area it’s well worth a look.

I was the photographer for Rachel and Andrew; I had shot the wedding of Rachel’s best friend last year (images here) and after they saw our slideshow that we display on a large projector in the evening, Rachel cancelled the photographer she had already booked in favour of us, a compliment indeed! Its always great working from a referral as it reflects not only that my past clients were more than happy with their photographs but also how we conduct ourselves on the day. This was actually the third wedding from this friend group and we have another already booked for next year!

As with a lot of weddings in the UK, the threat of rain was never far away but the few spots that we did have timed themselves very nicely and never caused a problem; in fact they seemed to make the entire group enjoy the sunny spells even more. I would also like to mention the church where the ceremony was conducted, I had never been inside the church at Burntwood before but both the layout, lighting and indeed the Vicar were a joy to work with. It seems almost unusual these days to be given a free rein as far as photographs inside the church are concerned but its always a nice surprise. I can see why some Vicars are restrictive with photographs as the few who take advantage spoil it for the rest of us but I don’t think it would hurt to at least ask us what we would like to do and then make a judgment from there. Even with free rein we want to be as unnoticed as possible so we always use long lenses and never use flash, this way we do not draw attention to ourselves and let the ceremony progress naturally.

The images I have chosen for the blog are more stylised than normal, mainly due the the standout image taken at dusk outside of Himley Hall with our remote flash system. This is a technique we have been working on a lot this year and I think the results speak for themselves.

bridesmaids await the arrive of the bride, outside burntwood church bride and groom exchange vows inside burntwood church bride and groom are surrounded with confetti outside burntwood church bride and groom pose with car outside of himley hall, dudley black and white image of the bride and groom beside the lake at himley hall table decorations before the wedding breakfast bride and groom portrait at dusk in the grounds of himley hall bride dances during the evening party

Two weeks ago I covered Bal & Derricks wedding just down the road from me in Codsall. It is always nice to have such a local wedding as very often I am booked by couples several hours drive from my home in Wolverhampton.

We were graced with fantastic weather for the wedding, brilliant sunshine, high temperatures and a nice summers breeze, anyone would have thought I was shooting a wedding in the Med! From beginning to end both Bal and Derrick were great to work with they allowed us a lot of freedom on the day to shoot what we saw instead of covering a long list of images. I don’t mind having ‘must get shots’ from Brides and Grooms but I think the freedom given to us at this wedding will really show in the album.

The reception was held just down the road from Codsall church at Chillington hall, one of the venues that recommend me as their photographer. I have said it before but I really do enjoying working closely with the guys at Chillington Hall its such a friendly atmosphere, I think due in part to it still being a family home.

Images have been processed in Aperture 3 with some extra touches in Photoshop.

bal-derrick-026 bal-derrick-039 bal-derrick-043 bal-derrick-089 bal-derrick-110 bal-derrick-141 bal-derrick-167 bal-derrick-214 bal-derrick-336 bal-derrick-353 bal-derrick-445

A couple of weeks ago I got to cover another wedding up in Leeds. This time we were at the fabulous Oulton Hall in Rothwell. The hall is set in a pristine golf complex and has some of the most amazing rooms that I have photographed in for a long time.

We covered both Bride and Grooms preparations and it would appear that Jess and Durham are perfectly matched as they were both laughing and joking from the moment we got there until we left at midnight. Its wonderful to see a couple so in love and it always seems to be infectious  as the dance floor was covered with happy couples, both young and old.

I have featured more portraits than usual, I always like to include a few from the day but the ones Bryn and Myself captured in the evening were too good not to show here.

I hope you enjoy them.

Once again these images were processed in Apple’s Aperture 3 and I am continually impressed with the colours coming out of this software.

Bridal portrait before wedding Bride walks down the isle Close up bride and groom portrait Groom hold bride close in portrait Confetti shot 1st dance Bride and groom relaxing portrait bride looks into the camera

I got the chance to travel up to Newark 2 weeks ago to cover Maureen & Bill’s wedding at Kelham Hall. I had previously shot Maureen’s brothers wedding in Lichfield.

The wedding was the Saturday before the bank holiday so being unsure how much traffic we would encounter Bryn & myself set off with at 7am to ensure we got there on time. As it turned out there was very little traffic so we ended up having a picnic breakfast out in the country, not a bad start to the day is it?

The day went swimmingly and both Maureen and Bill were on top of the world. It’s been a while since I was at a wedding with such a quantity of laughing and joking, the whole group were great fun. As for Kelham hall itself, its a great venue with stacks of great locations for photographs, I think I could shoot ten weddings there and not have to duplicate any locations.

We stayed well into the night getting some great dancing images, catching up with Paul & Miriam (Maureen’s brother and wife) and giving the guests chance to watch the slideshow.

I have included an extended sample of the pictures below, this is the first full wedding I have processed with Apple’s “Aperture 3″ software, the picture quality is second to none and I am really happy with the colour rendition too. I hope you enjoy the images.

I covered Anna and Stephen’s wedding two weeks ago at one of my regular venues, Chillington Hall in Brewood, Staffordshire. I have more information on Chillington here.

I met Anna and Stephen at one of the venue’s ‘Open days’ and we got on straight away so I was very happy when they booked me for their wedding. Anna got ready in one of the bedrooms of the historic house whereas Stephen got to fly-in via helicopter, he certainly made quite an entrance.

The ceremony was beautiful with the light streaming in from the side windows, I really do enjoy shooting at Chillington as there are so many locations to take wonderful photographs. I was only with Anna and Stephen for a few hours so we had more of a focus on group shots and portraits. We got some fantastic shots on the great staircase.

Both Anna and Stephen were great on the day, both were bubbly and determined to enjoy the day, we left them as they sat down for their wedding breakfast and I’m sure they partied long into the night!

Here are some of my favourite shots from the day.

I had the pleasure of photographing Jackie and Paul’s wedding a couple of weeks ago in Birmingham. The ceremony was held at Birmingham register office and the reception at Jury’s inn on Broad Street.

I met up with Paul and Jackie just before they left for the register office, they were both in great spirits and remained that way all day, even through the rain that came down, fortunately it eased off for the walk down to the ceremony, the group shots and the walk back.

One thing that really stood out were the speeches, Paul and Jackie invited guests to come up and say a few words and it is rare I hear so many heart felt words, everyone that stood up delivered a great speech which are a lot harder than they look!

I hope you enjoy the photographs.