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.

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