Paul and Sarah got married at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel at Leeds Canal Basin on 30th of March, although by my reckoning, this was the 3rd name his hotel's had since we've been planning this wedding! It's been City Inn and Mint in recent years, but what it's always had is an astonishing 13th Floor bar, the Skylounge, which looks out across practically the whole of Leeds. The hotel sits at the corner where the Leeds and Liverpool canal meets the River Aire as it comes out from under the city centre. There's been a lot of building here over the last 10years, creating lots of city flats, shopping areas and offices. I tell you all of this in explanation - the tallest building in Yorkshire sits on the other side of the water, and it's created a lethal (no exaggeration) wind tunnel which whips around that corner in it's own little circle. When we went for our walk-through to scout out the location together at the end of February, we watched a man falling through the ice on the canal, and struggling to get out of the frozen water - no doubt blown in.
Thankfully by their big day the snow had gone and we were blessed with a bright sunny day, but it was inevitable that the wind would be a feature of the wedding photos, and we had lots of fun trying to cope with it. We shot all the group photos down at ground level, and then went up to the bar, above everything in the city including the wind, for the wedding breakfast. I left them to enjoy their meal and drinks with their guests for the afternoon, and then rejoined them at the Royal Armouries for a proper evening knees-up in the Wellington Suite.
This was my first wedding of the year, and it was beautiful. And, judging by the message I got back from Sarah, it would seem that they enjoyed their day too:
"Thank you for the pictures they are absolutely brilliant brings back such beautiful memories, would love to do it all again, you made us feel so relaxed about the whole day and I think that shows in the pictures you have taken. I will defo recommend you to anyone. Thanks again for making our day so special. Sarah and Paul."
I love being a photographer!
