Friday 21 January 2011

Claire and Aidan at Redworth Hall

And so we move into 2011 and what a year I’ve got lined up! Some amazing couples have chosen me to photograph their special day and that makes me feel so honoured and excited. I’ve got some new venues this year too like Wynyard Hall, Bamburgh Castle and Woodhill Hall. I love shooting weddings at new venues but saying that, each wedding is pretty unique so even though I may have shot at that venue before it always feels new to me.

First up in 2011 was Claire and Aidan at Redworth Hall. I loved working with Claire and Aidan as they were really relaxed and that shone though on the wedding day. Both are town planners and loved the architecture at Redworth Hall and details like this are important to me as it helps me create images that I know they will love. At the pre wedding meeting we walked around the venue and found some lovely old books and I knew they would make an interesting background for showing off Aidan’s beloved antique pocket watch. This is why a venue visit, ideally with my clients, is an absolute critical part of the service I offer. It really helps to form a picture of the likes and dislikes of my Bride and Groom and I can also make some suggestions for locations that they might not have thought of.

The other stars of the day were the car Betsy, a 1938 Austin Ten, Alfie the dog and the Candy Buffet, both featured in lots of photographs of course!

Claire and Aidan kept everyone in a festive mood just a little longer with a Christmas themed wedding (with a sprinkling of Disney) and with Redworth Hall’s giant Christmas tree still looking pretty in the window and the room adorned with candles and snowflakes, it seemed a perfect choice. I loved the personalised baubles placed in each glass with the place cards attached. Great idea!

Claire was also ready with the one item no self respecting winter bride should be without…wellies! In her colour theme naturally! She pulled them on without any hesitation and off we trotted across the muddle lawn for some fun Bride and Groom portraits.

Another highlight of the day was the fantastic and very talented Paul Lytton who wowed guests at their table with his tricks and his own style of humour. I’ve photographed Paul lots of times at weddings now and I still love the reaction he gets from the guests, I’ve shot some priceless expressions! Paul also performed a trick on Neil which had us baffled all the way home! How does he do it??

Back to the Candy buffet, which was little special as it had been created by scratch by Claire’s Dad and the whole family were incredibly proud of it. It looked fabulous - with fairy lights no less - and provided a talking point for all the guests.

A Ceildh provided lots of fun in the evening and after ‘procuring’ some cupcakes for Neil and I, we were as saying goodbye and heading off up the A19 happy to have been part of such a lovely day.

http://www.karenmcgowranphotography.co.uk/





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Tuesday 18 January 2011

Alex and Ed at The Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art

Late in 2010, Alex contacted me about shooting her wedding. She had heard about me through the amazing and stylish blog Love My Dress and was really excited to tell me about her day. At our next meeting I met Ed and I could just see straight away how perfect they were for each other. They both have such enthusiasm for life and hold friends and family very close to their heart and their wedding plans reflected this perfectly.

It was a blend of styles as Alex chose a beautiful vintage style Jenny Packham gown and Rachel Simpson shoes to contrast with the ultra modern building of The Baltic. It worked perfectly...set off by miles of handmade paper chains and mini Christmas trees of course!

There were two stand out moments of the day for me, which placed this wedding as one of the best weddings I've ever shot. The first was during the service. I was carefully watching and shooting Alex as she enthusiastically joined in with the singing. Every now and then she would look up and beam widely as someone. I moved to the front of the church to find that it was her three sisters who had matching wide smiles and I've never seen a family look more happy for each other! The second moment was later on that evening, Alex and Ed had organised a good old fashioned sing-song around the piano. After getting some close-ups I took a step back and watched from the balcony. It was just so lovely to see all Alex and Ed's friends and family join in and I could definately feel the love in the room! To me this is what a wedding is all about, love, family and friends.

After the wedding I received a lovely email from Alex ...

I am back at work now and suffering from major back to school blues. I am in mourning for the wedding! I can't believe how much we loved the whole day. The one thing that's keeping me going is being able to keep going back on your website and having a look through the photos again to relive it all! So many people have said to me that they're the best wedding photos they've ever seen - how unusual they are and what a brilliant photographer you are. I work in a TV and film company and yesterday some of the senior members of the film departmnet were saying the photos make it look like we had a cinematic art director setting them up, creating lighting etc. You are just so talented - so glad we found you!

Winter weddings can sometimes be very tricky when you don't have any natural light to play with so I was really pleased!

I would like to thank Alex and Ed for choosing me to be part of their special day. It was an honour and I throughly enjoyed myself.

Huge thanks to my lovely husband Neil McGowran for assisting me.

http://www.karenmcgowranphotography.co.uk/


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Saturday 15 January 2011

A New Year and a New Look!

For a while now I've been wanting to re-brand to keep things new and fresh. My good friend Julie Tinton introduced me to a great designer and together we created my new logo. I've kept it modern and fresh but with a nod to the vintage and I know you Brides are loving that style!

So this is the new me!

I've been busy creating new marketing material and I'm excited about receiving my new business cards next week.

Pop over to my new website too and have a look around !

www.karenmcgowranphotography.co.uk

Thursday 13 January 2011

Wynyard Hall Wedding Photographer








This year, one particular venue seems very popular. The magnificent Wynyard Hall which can be found on the impressive Wynyard estate. A couple of months ago I took the opportunity to meet a few couple at the venue and I had a good look around. It's a beautiful, opulent venue set in magificent grounds with imrepessive lake and inside certainly impresses too. On entering the hall you arrive at the magificent Statue Gallery, with it's 60 foot high ceiling. The rooms are elegant and ornate and it offers many choices for Brides and Groom who choose to get married there. It even boasts its own Chapel!

My first wedding at Wynyard Hall is May (followed by many more!) and I am very much looking forward to spending time at this beautiful venue.

www.karenmcgowranphotography.co.uk



Tuesday 11 January 2011

Jenny and Tom at Matfen Hall

The Ice Age continues!

Neil and I were worried about getting up to Matfen so we took a little trip the day before Jenny and Tom's wedding. We needn't have worried as the roads were clear and Matfen Hall looked simply stunning in a blanket of snow against the blue sky!

24 hours later we were back again and very much looking forward to the day. I was chatting to the staff and they casually mentioned that the previous bride and groom had battled through knee deep snow to get to the little bridge....well we certainly weren't going to be outdone and I knew Jenny had her wellies!

As Jenny was getting ready with her Bridesmaids and Mum, I asked her what she thought about taking a 'stroll' in the snow and I was delighted to find out that she was well and truly up for it!

Matfen Hall is a fantastic venue with the most spectacular entrance in the North East (in my opinion) and Jenny floated down the aisle like a true princess. And after some quick family shots we braved the white stuff for some unique photos. When we returned the staff had hot chocolates ready for us...lovely touch and much needed!

Tom and Jenny are a match made in heaven and a lovely couple to work with. I would like to wish you every success in the future and I cant wait to deliver your album!

www.karenmcgowranphotography.co.uk


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