David and Sue

The final wedding of the year for me was Sue and David at Wentbridge House Hotel.

Set in a beautiful little village in South Yorkshire, the hotel allowed them the house and grounds to themselves in which to entertain their guests and celebrate their wedding in style.

I got there in time to catch Sue's preparations with her bridesmaids and family, and I was there to follow the ceremony right through to the start of their meal.

Elegance and smartness were the order of the day, but David is rarely one to be too serious for a long time, and there were giggles and roars of laughter throughout the ceremony. Following the golden rule of weddings, they made the day reflect them as a couple, welcoming everyone along for the celebration.


We devoted some time to getting family photos with Sue's father Bill, and I'm very glad to have been able to photograph him walking his daughter down the aisle, as sadly he passed away a few days after the wedding.

This has made me realise how important the apparently simple act of capturing memories with a camera can be. It's an honour to be able to do this for such lovely people.

The Subterranian Edinburgh Wedding

When Fiona asked me to photograph her wedding, she was in South Korea teaching English, and her husband-to-be had not even officially popped the question. She knew they were going to get married, but not when or where, and for a while, it could have been anywhere

I've known Fiona for about 10 years, and I've photographed her family a few times. I knew her wedding would be an amazing event, full of family and friends all as loud, chatty and funny as her. When she finally returned to the UK and I met the man she's chosen to spend the rest of her life with, I could see Steve was perfect for her, and that they are totally devoted to each other.

Our planning sessions were held in the pub round the corner, and Steve demonstrated his expert organisational skills, pulling out a thick folder of paperwork and spreadsheets. He's the most well organised groom I've ever met, and it was important, because they had chosen a place as interesting, and unique as themselves to get married in. It was in Edinburgh. And it was underground.

The Edinburgh Caves is a venue occupying 2 of the vaults underneath the bridge. The lighting is all LED, candles and stage spots, which might create a great intimate atmosphere for the guests, but it's a photographer's nightmare. Never one to let a challenge get the best of me, I set about covering the proceedings from all angles, and enjoyed myself almost as much as the bride and groom.

The ceremony was beautiful, reflecting the values of the two very different individuals coming together, and the following celebration ceilidh was as bouncy and joyous as it should've been. Another cracking wedding that reminded me why I love my job!

Thanks guys, here's to many years of happiness.

Debbie and Viv at Leeds Town Hall

When Debbie and Viv first asked me to photograph their wedding, all they knew was that they were going to get married at the Brodrick Suite at the Town Hall, and then move on to the Adelphi (the finest pub in Leeds, if you ask me). 

As we began planning the event, I gave them the advice I give to all of my couples, and recommended they look at the traditions and patterns of weddings, and take their guests on the same emotional adventure whilst discarding anything they didn't feel was relevant to them. Although civil partnerships are a brand new thing with no historical traditions, people expect certain things from a ceremony, and there are some symbols which are just too meaningful to pass over. Take what you want, lose what you don't, but make sure everyone knows you are married.

It was clear from the moment guests began arriving in 1920s outfits that something special was going to happen. What they created for themselves was a totally original, warm and fun celebration of their relationship with the full participation of friends and family.

Out of all the weddings I've experienced, this was only the second I've been at where the crowd spontaneously cheered when the couple entered the room, and again when they were declared married. Absolutely lovely, and although I feel this way about all of the ceremonies I attend, I have to say that it was a true honour to be there.

A little bit extra...

Now that I've done a few weddings, and have established the way I like to work with my couples, a pattern has emerged, and recent feedback has made me take it a little more seriously.

Speaking to Sarah the other weekend when I handed over the disk of images from her wedding to Paul, and then whilst having an initial chat (via Skype - it's all new technology here at CSP Towers!) with Jo and Claire, who are due to tie the knot in 4 months time, it's been brought to my attention that the questions I ask during my planning sessions also help my brides and grooms think more realistically about the wedding.

Where it's quite normal for the lucky couple to think about their happiest day in terms of isolated events with certain features that need to be organised, I need to know who will be where at what time, what they will be doing, and how they will be getting there and leaving. It's all about moving people, and moving around them.

So, where the couple's list is about choosing the venue, flowers, cake, cars, suits and all those elements, my list is a more cohesive plan of how the day will run. What will be happening immediately before you get married? How and where will your guests arrive and gather? How will you first see each other? What will happen during the ceremony? And so on for the everything else that will happen whilst I'm there.

What I tend to recommend, to get people thinking the way I need them to, is to imagine the day is all over. What do you want to remember? What do you need to do to make those things happen? And how can I be in the right place at the right time to photograph those things, and all the extra little moments that you might miss because you're too busy enjoying yourselves?  If you want certain things to be in the images, like confetti falling gently over you whilst you walk through an avenue of your smiling friends outstretched arms, then we have to make sure those things happen the way you want them to so that I can photograph them.

The one thing that's almost certain is that I've had more weddings than you have (unless you are a registrar, a cleric or related service professional).  I have seen lots of beautiful and individual variations on the theme of two people who love each other standing up in front of their friends and families and telling the world that they want to be together for the rest of their lives.

While you are moving from one matrimonial state to another; moving from the door of the vintage car/bus/campervan through the church/hotel suite/town hall state room; out onto the lawn/barnyard/balcony; off to wedding breakfasts/banquets with or without speeches and on to the first dance and a totally awesome celebration knees-up, the emotional pitch of the day moves from nerves and anticipation, through excitement to relaxed enjoyment, and ends in total celebration. How best can we create those moments and capture them?

Feel free to use my experience! Pick my brains, talk me through the plans you already have to identify the things you may have overlooked and help you come up with ways to make your day exactly what you wanted.

Plus, I'm a big soppy wet hen when it comes down to it. I love a good wedding, and have been caught with a lump in my throat on more than one occasion. Even though I might not know my brides and grooms quite as well as the guests do, my emotions move with theirs, and it's an awareness of this that informs my planning for the photographic opportunities.

I want to get the best photographs I can for you, and the happier and more relaxed you are, the easier that makes my job.