West Yorkshire Wedding Photographer | Carolanne and Craig

As West Yorkshire wedding photographers, we've had the pleasure of getting to know Carolanne and Craig over quite a long period of time, as we first met them when Craig was best man for Gareth and Melissa.  We hit it off straight away and we've since photographed their daughter, Emelia, as a baby, and we've met up several times for a chat from when they first started planning their wedding and were looking for the perfect venue.  We were over the moon to be booked as their wedding photographers even before they had finalised a date.  

Carolanne and Craig really deserved better weather than what was thrown at them - rain and wind all day long with no let up.  It was either drizzling, raining or throwing it down! What was great was that they didn't let it spoil their day, saying that they had always wanted an autumn wedding and that they had expected it would rain.  

We arrived at Carolanne's parents' home for bridal prep and we were made so welcome. The house was buzzing as the girls got ready and there were some lovely details to photograph which were very special to our bride.  She wore her grandma's watch and her vintage Gina shoes and instead of a tiara, her hairstyle was completed with her grandma's string of vintage pearls.

This was our very first visit to St Edward the Confessor church in Brotherton. Carolanne had fallen in love with this church as soon as she had seen it and it couldn't have been a better choice, not just because the church has a lovely interior but because of Reverend Woodcock.  We've worked with him a couple of times before at St Andrew's church in Ferrybridge and he was as obliging this time as he was then.  A wonderful man with a great sense of humour and the opinion that wedding ceremony photographs really do matter because they document one of the most important occasions in a couple's lives. As professional Yorkshire wedding photographers, our sincere thanks go to him for helping make Carolanne and Craig's big day even more special and for being so helpful to us. 

We met Craig and his attendants at the church and we managed to stay outside for all their photographs.  Craig is well known for his wicked sense of humour.  He's had us in stitches every time we've met, so there was plenty of laughter during the boys' photo session. Carolanne's mum and the bridesmaids arrived just ahead of our bride who, as she had promised, was a few minutes early, giving us chance to get some photographs of her and her dad before the ceremony started.  Reverend Woodcock conducted a lovely service, helped us co-ordinate a big group photo of everyone inside and allowed us to stay back to photograph the family groups inside the church before we left for the wedding photography at Rogerthorpe Manor Hotel.  

On arrival at the venue, everyone understandably made a run for it and dashed straight inside, but Carolanne and Craig were absolute stars, enthusiastically working with us as we found ways of keeping them under cover for their photographs and when we couldn't, they got a bit damp but kept smiling, and we got soaked but we didn't care.  Couples like them are a joy to photograph and make working in challenging conditions a little easier to deal with.   Carolanne was such a beautiful bride who kept upbeat despite the appalling weather.

The Cawthorne Suite looked stunning and the autumn theme was very much in evidence with toffee apples and conkers for the kids to enjoy, homemade jams and chutneys as favours and a rich, warm colour scheme of reds, rusts and browns.  It really did have the "wow' factor!  We captured the speeches, which were both emotional and funny - the emotional created by Carolanne's proud dad and the funny by best man Gareth.  As the meal and speeches ran quite a bit later than planned, it was completely dark when Carolanne and Craig joined us again but they were raring to go, ignored the drizzle and we had some fun outside before it was first dance and father and daughter dance time.

A huge and sincere thank you to this lovely couple for booking us as their photographers and for taking the challenging weather in your stride.  Despite the rain it was a pleasure to capture your big day and spend time with you, your families and friends.

We hope you enjoy the images which are copyright Alex & Janet Durasow.  If you are looking for a wedding photographer, you can find out more about our photography on our website and you can also follow us on Facebook.