It was my absolute pleasure and delight to help out my very good friend Olivia with some images of her handmade dress for her A-Level Art coursework last night.

Olivia designed, sourced the material and created this masterpiece for her Art course presentation/exhibition (which is today!  Good luck Olivia!) and asked me to shoot some images for her portfolio and display at the exhibition.

The theme is planets/space/solar system – hence the lights in the dress and the crazy make-up effects (which Olivia did herself) so we headed to Blackpool and used the fantastic glitterball on the prom.  We got a little lucky with the beautiful sunset I have to admit!

A bit further down the prom are these weird balls with lights on!  Which were perfect to use as a street prop…

And finally…the sand dunes at dusk – how spectacular are these?!?!

Olivia asked me earlier which image was my favourite – I hadn’t made my mind up, but I have now….check this out!!!

All the best with your exhibition Olivia!  Top modelling as well!

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Here it is! The full story of Livy & Owen’s amazing wedding at the most picturesque church in the world, Norcliffe Chapel in Styal and top new Cheshire venue, the fabulous Styal Lodge.

From the moment I met Livy & Owen I knew we were all meant to be together on their special day! Now that might sound a bit weird (!) but what I mean is that it is so important to me to build a great relationship with my clients so that by the time we get to the wedding day, I don’t feel like I’m intruding on them and their friends and family and they don’t feel that I’m a stranger just turning up for a few hours on their day.

I knew from minute one of meeting them that I we’d have great fun together, that I’d feel nice and relaxed around them and most importantly that they would be relaxed and comfortable around me.

So onto the day itself. I arrived at Livy & Owen’s house where Livy and the girls were getting ready…

Owen and the boys were getting ready at Owen’s Mum and Dad’s house which as luck would have it, was literally round the corner, which meant I had the opportunity to pop over there for half an hour (something I don’t often get the chance to do unless the bride and groom are staying at the same venue)…

Back to Livy & Owen’s house and I just love shots like these two below…Completely unstaged.  Moments that are captured as they happen and tell a story about that part of the day…

Continuing the theme of unstaged shots, this is what reportage/photojournalism is all about…

Could Norcliffe Chapel be any more picture postcard??!?!

I love this!  Owen tells me he was convinced that guests were throwing handfuls of lovely soft confetti over Livy and handfuls of gravel over him!

After the confetti, I spent a couple of minutes with Livy & Owen before we headed off to Styal Lodge…

The amazing Styal Lodge…

Because Styal Lodge is a bespoke wedding venue, basically whatever you want you can have.  Livy and Owen like a drop of real ale, so they put two barrels of Black Sheep on for their guests!

The venue is truly spectacular without any decorations, but when you bring a colour scheme into it, flowers, chair covers, it really comes alive with the bride and groom’s personality.  I love working at Styal Lodge, it’s a family owned and run business which means brides and grooms are getting personal attention from people who genuinely care about their day all the way from booking until after the day.  Something that is so important to me as that is the way I approach working with my brides and grooms as well.  Sarah, Richard and Georgie (especially Georgie on Livy and Owen’s day – she put in a serious shift that day – as did Poppy who I’d best mention as well!) do an amazing job at Styal Lodge and it’s always a genuine pleasure to work with them.

Owen and his very lovely sister, Sarah…

I helped Livy & Owen sort out a framed print (from their pre-wedding shoot) for guests to sign…

After the speeches we sneaked outside for a couple of minutes…

First dance time!  It had to be seen to be believed!!!

Livy & Owen – thank you for inviting me to be a part of your special day.

It was an honour and a pleasure to be a part of it and so great to get to meet so many lovely people (especially you two!) along the way.

Now when are we going for that beer?  The Studio Director is dying to meet you!

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This is the very lovely Lisa & Tom who are getting married at the weekend at Shrigley Hall in Cheshire (great venue!)

We met nice and early at Fletcher Moss Park in Didsbury and made the most of a beautiful spring morning a few weeks back.

Here’s some of my favourites from the shoot…

One of the local residents in the pond in the gardens – see!  The terrapins of Fletcher Moss Park are real!!!

Can’t wait for Saturday now Lisa & Tom!  See you there!

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A little sneak preview on a Monday morning of Arthi & Jon’s amazing Castlefield wedding at The Castlefield Rooms at Dukes92 on Saturday. What a day for it! I’m still sweating now!

The full story will be here in a few weeks, once Arthi & Jon are home and have seen their images and I’ll go into all the details of the day then. For now, enjoy this little look…

It’s so important to me to tell the story of the day through my photography.  To give the bride and groom the opportunity to say to their friends and family – ‘this is where we got married and this is what happened on the day’.  Regardless of whether you’re at a country house venue, a hotel, or in the middle of a cool and vibrant city like Manchester.  I spent some time with the bridal party walking through Castlefield, amongst all the afternoon sun worshippers outside Dukes92 and Barca (we got, or I should say, they got, spontaneous rounds of applause, cheering – it was a lovely atmosphere!) to really show off the area that Arthi & Jon chose to get married in.  And we got some fantastic stuff, more of which you’ll see in a few weeks!

This is a ‘behind the scenes’ look at the barge shot that Arthi was so keen to get!  We asked this lovely couple if we could use the front of their barge (they were sat there at the time reading their books!) and they were delighted to let us!  They moved their chairs, they took down the tv aerial off the roof, they even put the little chimney on for us to make it look even more beautiful!  The shot is an absolute killer – but you’ll have to wait to see it!!!

So – Arthi & Jon, enjoy your second wedding in India (you lucky things!) and I’ll see you when you get back!  Congratulations!

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So here’s the full story from Michelle & Nick’s amazing wedding at Our Lady and St John’s Church in Chorlton and then at Manchester Town Hall!

It was a truly spectacular and emotional wedding and a pleasure to be involved in. Every little detail had been considered and Michelle & Nick had worked so hard to ensure that their personality’s as individuals and as a couple came across in everything on the day.

I started out at Michelle’s Mum and Dad’s house in the morning…

Nick had bought Michelle a wedding present – a beautiful diamond necklace that matched her engagement ring!  Lucky girl!!!

It was then over to The Horse and Jockey on Chorlton Green in time to meet Nick and the lads on the short walk round to church.  Nice brolly Nick!

On to the town hall…

How spectacular?!

Before the wedding breakfast, I spent a few minutes with Michelle & Nick wandering the beautiful corridors of Manchester Town Hall…

The big introduction into the room!

The inimitable Cole Page made sure the wedding breakfast was great fun!

Speech time…

Skeletons and closets spring to mind…!!!

What a fabulous day at an amazing venue!

It was also great to work with one of my top wedding pals – Tom Harrington from Silk Wedding Videos.  Tom and I work together a lot, so you’ll see his name mentioned quite a few times!  His work is absolutely spectacular and really shows that wedding video doesn’t have to still be shot like it was 20 years ago.  Similar to my opinion on photography to be honest.  I really do like working with him because our styles are very complimentary and because we know and understand how each other works, it’s a very easy job on the day too!

So finally, congratulations Michelle & Nick – thank you for inviting me to be part of your special day and all the very best for the future.

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A quick glimpse into Maeve & John’s wedding with one of my favourite shots from the day. The full post will be here in a few weeks time, but I have to say – what a venue! It was my first time shooting at The West Tower and I really hope it’s not my last. A beautiful venue, in a beautiful part of the world run by truly excellent and lovely staff. I was looked after like I was a part of their team and that made me feel completely at ease with the venue from minute one. I do also have to say that what a great group of wedding guests Maeve and John’s family and friends are as well! They were all so lovely and friendly and I felt like I was a guest at the wedding there was such a relaxed atmosphere!

Anyway, more stories of people being lovely to me in a few weeks time! In the mean time, check this out….

Have a great time away in one of my favourite places in the world guys – Cornwall!  And one of my favourite places within favourite places – Fowey!  Make sure you get to Pinky Murphy’s!!!

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This is the very lovely and gorgeous Arthi & Jon who get married at the weekend! Their pre-wedding shoot was a couple of weeks ago and we went for a stroll around Dunham Massey near Altrincham and got some great shots of them. We arrived nice and early and even saw some of the local residents before they disappeared once it busied up!

Arthi & Jon are getting married at The Castlefield Rooms at Dukes92 in Castlefield, Manchester – it’s going to be a seriously cool, urban wedding with a couple who are so exciting to work with. Arthi knows what she wants and from the photography point of view is a dream to work with for that reason. She knows that we have the potential to shoot some truly unique wedding imagery and is grabbing that opportunity with both hands – there’s one idea that she has that if we can pull it off, will be amazing, hilarious, unique, totally creative and completely in keeping with the area that they are getting married in. So fingers crossed we can make it happen…but more about that as/if/when we do it…!!!

Here’s some of my favourites from Arthi & Jon’s pre-wedding shoot at Dunham Massey…

Can’t wait for saturday now!!!

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This is my great friend and TOP make-up artist, Gemma Hallowell, her husband Jon and their beautiful daughter, India.

They’d booked me for a family session and we decided to use fab hotel and wedding venue, Mottram Hall (Gemma’s got some contacts there, so we didn’t get thrown out!) as our location.

We got very lucky and had a beautiful spring morning to play out in. I approached the shoot as I always do when it comes to shooting people. Trying not to over complicate things with excessive posing and just allowing them to interact as a family and capture some genuine, loving moments between them.

Here’s some of my favourites from the day…

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My lovely friends at Flower Design, Dreamcatcher Bridal and I were commissioned by Rebecca Clarke from Browsholme Hall to shoot some images to be used on their new website (coming soon!) in advance of the barn conversions opening in September.  Let me tell you, this is going to be THE place to get married in 2011!!!  The barn conversions are still being finished, but the first one was ready to be dressed so that we could get some great images that help to give people an idea of just how amazing Browsholme Hall and the Tithe Barn are going to be.

Rebecca was in charge of all things wedding and events over at The Inn at Whitewell before coming to be involved in Browsholme Hall and with her she brings a wealth of experience and ideas.  The barn conversion is being personally supervised by Rebecca and she has had a hand in every little detail along the way.  It’s going to be a fabulous venue.

Which brings us to the images….

We started off in Browsholme Hall itself, as you’re actually able to hold small civil ceremonies in the hall before moving to the barn for the reception.

The spectacular entrance hall….(you may recognise my favourite model, who’s not a model – the very lovely & gorgeous Ella)

Jane from Flower Design had created some stunning bouquets to use on the day…

This is the room you can actually get married in – how amazing is it?!?!

Jane made this ‘wild’ door wreath on the day!  She wandered the grounds, foraging and then just seemingly knocked the wreath together – the girl’s a genius!!!

After a change of dress for Ella, we went for little walk & shot some great images around the grounds of Browsholme Hall…

I love these – proof that you don’t need the sun out and clear blue skies to produce stunning imagery – in fact, the exact opposite works wonders!  There’s nothing better than a moody sky…

Then we headed into the Tithe Barn.  This room would be set as you see it.  Tables dressed for the wedding reception.  The other side of the barn conversion which isn’t yet complete, is where civil ceremonies will be held and it’s a stunning space.  The ceiling is unbelievably high and it’s already got an amazing atmosphere.  You can really see already how the venue will work.

Our friends at Creative Cover hire looked after the chairs – immaculate as always…

Flower Design’s table creations are just magnificent…

I really can’t get over what an amazing venue Browsholme Hall is and how fantastic the Tithe Barn conversion is going to be – can’t wait for the grand opening in September!!!

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So here it is! The full post all about Steph & James’s amazing wedding at Lytham Hall and The Grand Hotel in Lytham St Annes.

I was lucky enough to be working on the day with some of my absolute best wedding friends, including the fantastic Flower Design and the guys from Rowley’s Catering over at Lytham Hall.  When you work closely with other top wedding professionals on a regular basis you really do feel reassured that nothing can go wrong on the day.  You all know each other well, you know how everybody works and you can watch out for each other and help each other out throughout the course of the day as well – it’s a great feeling and you know that everybody around you desperately wants the bride and groom to have the best day ever and will do anything to make sure that happens.

So back to the wedding!  I started off in the morning at The Grand where everyone was staying (I was nervous Steph & James would be bumping into each other but they were in rooms at complete opposite ends of the hotel!) and met the girls in Steph’s room…

Jason and Sarah from the amazing Flower Design arrived to present Steph with her bouquet…

I met the lads in the bar (surprise, surprise!)

Back upstairs where Steph was being helped by her gorgeous bridesmaids, Sarah and Anna and her very gorgeous Mum, Jean…

Steph’s Dad John arrived once Steph was ready…

Sarah & Anna were the picture of discretion when trying to spy on the boys from the bedroom window without being seen!

Arriving at Lytham Hall…

Showtime!

The ceremony really was fantastic, so full of emotion…

Champagne time!

Lytham Hall is one of my favourite venues to shoot weddings at.  Everywhere looks beautiful, the interiors are amazing and the grounds are endless…

A true spring wedding…

Back to The Grand in Lytham for the wedding breakfast – how amazing are Flower Design’s creations?!

I put this image on the sneak preview a few weeks ago, but it’s so beautiful I had to show it again!

The speeches were truly brilliant….!!!

And before it was time for me to leave, the first dance…beautiful….

So a final congratulations to Steph & James and both their families who made me feel so welcome on the day – it was a genuine pleasure being a part of your special day!

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