Wedding Photographer Monk Fryston Hall | Gemma and Andy's Wedding

For a mid-November wedding, you'd at least expect freezing temperatures and quite possibly rain or fog but Gemma and Andy really dropped lucky with a beautiful, bright day which wasn't even particularly cold, for their civil ceremony and wedding reception at Monk Fryston Hall.  

First we went to Gemma and Andy's house where Katherine was well underway applying Gemma's make-up.  Then we disappeared upstairs to take some photographs of all those things which are really important to the bride (apart from the groom of course!) - Gemma's stunning dress, shoes, perfume and jewellery.

Gemma was juggling getting herself ready with looking after daughters Lola and Megan and doing a pretty impressive job of multi-tasking!  She'd decided not to get dressed until later so after capturing a few images of the bridesmaids who were ready before we left, we headed off to Monk Fryston Hall to meet Andy and his best man and we wondered around the grounds taking some relaxed photographs of them before they were called inside to see the registrars.

Gemma arrived with her dad in a more unusual mode of transport - a VW camper van - and as they were early, we had a few minutes to take photographs as the remaining guests were seated for the civil ceremony.  

The weather stayed dry, the guests all came outside, we got a big group shot of everyone on the lawn and rattled through the remaining groups leaving plenty of time for Gemma and Andy's photographs together.  As Monk Fryston Hall wedding photographers, we know that there are some great locations for photographs and as Gemma and Andy had allowed a generous amount of time before the wedding breakfast, this meant that we could use some of these locations for relaxed photographs without being rushed.  

The wedding breakfast room looked fabulous with its brown and orange colour scheme which was very appropriate for an autumn wedding.  The guests enjoyed dinner and speeches and afterwards Gemma and Andy joined us outside for some evening photographs.  It was chilly by now but we had no complaints as it was great working outside with the new Mr and Mrs Mather getting some beautiful shots with video light and the ambient light from the building.

Congratulations to Gemma and Andy.  It was a pleasure to photograph your lovely autumn wedding.

New Baby Photography Yorkshire | Jasmine's Newborn Photographs

Jasmine's mum, Gemma, came in a few weeks ago for a baby bump photography session and her favourite images from the session were designed into a beautiful maternity book which she presented to her husband, Paul, for his birthday in October.  

Following this session, we eagerly awaited the news that baby "Peanut", as she has been affectionately nicknamed, had arrived.  Very tiny but absolutely perfect, this baby girl is incredibly special and the road to her birth has been so tough that it's been an absolute privilege to share this family's story.  To be chosen to be the new baby photographers in Yorkshire to capture Jasmine's first year is something we will always be proud of.

Gemma booked us for a three session package in addition to her pregnancy photo shoot.  Usually the bump is the first session in the package but Gemma preferred this to be a stand alone shoot as a special gift for Paul and for the new baby photography session to be the first of the three.

Gemma was determined that the opportunity for newborn photographs wouldn't be allowed to pass and she let us know straight away that Jasmine had arrived, although at that stage a name hadn't been finalised and the baby was still "Peanut".  We had a brilliant time in the studio taking lots of different new baby images, some of which featured Peanut dressed as a peanut!  She was very sleepy throughout the entire session, didn't cry once and didn't demand to be fed.  Very unusual and we suspect that things have changed a lot since then!

What was really nice was the Gemma and Paul had some photographs taken with Jasmine and these images will be treasured as they capture this new family together when Jasmine was at her tiniest.

Looking forward to seeing them all again for session number two and to telling the story of Jasmine's first year in a personally designed Italian storybook album.

Wedding Photography Thorpe Park Hotel, Leeds | Katie and Craig's Wedding

Katie and her mum came to see us at a wedding fair in the spring, only a few months ahead of her wedding, and we were delighted when she booked us on the day. Usually, we have a long time to get to know our couples before their wedding but it seemed that no sooner had Katie secured our services, it had come round to the big day!

Katie was out getting her hair done when we arrived at her house.  Her mum was holding the fort and trying to keep Katie and Craig's children, Alex and Poppy, entertained.  Alex kept popping his head around the bedroom door as we were photographing his mum's accessories as he had a very important accessory of his own which had wanted photographs of - Penguin!  We had to oblige and get this gorgeous little boy the photographs he wanted so we sat him on mum and dad's bed and took a few shots of him and Penguin together.  Lucky Penguin was even invited to the wedding!

Katie's dress was just fabulous and she was our very first bride in a short dress.  She'd told us that she'd decided from the outset that this was what she wanted but had found it difficult to find short dresses.  Understandably, Katie preferred to wait until the last minute to put her dress on but as she wanted some photographs of her mum fastening it, she decided to go ahead and get into it before we left.  The lace detail on it was absolutely lovely.

As this was our second wedding this weekend, we didn't dare to hope that we'd be lucky a second time round with the weather but happily, we were.  In fact, the strong wind we'd had issues with the previous day had completely dropped and Katie and Craig had the most perfect weather you could wish for in October.

On arrival at Thorpe Park, we decided to use a plain stone wall for some portraits of Craig and his best man, Phillip, and it was a good job that we started these straight away as Craig was summoned by the registrar and kept upstairs in the ceremony room just in case Katie arrived early.  The registrars were great though, allowing us to photograph from the front as Katie and Craig made their vows to each other.

Drinks were served to all the guests and a magician captivated the children and kept them entertained whilst we started on the group shots outside in the courtyard.  Katie and Craig had been generous with timings which meant everyone could relax and enjoy the drinks reception and we didn't have to rush to complete the photographs before everyone sat for dinner.  There was a Take That theme going on with the tables named after the band's records, the main table being called Greatest Day.  Not sure if it's Katie who's a fan or Craig and we couldn't seem to find Gary, Robbie, Mark, Howard or Jason anywhere!

Although Katie's taste was for more relaxed and informal images, Craig really wanted a few artistic photographs around the interior of the venue and as Thorpe Park Hotel wedding photographers, we had a couple of locations in mind for these - the staircase and the lift - both fantastic locations but we didn't anticipate the patience that would be needed to get them!  The lift was the biggest challenge.  Every time we tried to set up a shot, someone wanted to use the lift and each time we were almost there and ready to press to the shutter, a recording told us to remove the obstruction stopping the doors from closing, the "obstruction" being beautiful bride Katie and her handsome new hubby Craig!  Anyway, we think it was worth the time, patience and the funny looks we got from passers by!

Our last jobs of the day were presenting an evening slideshow of some of our favourite images before capturing the newlyweds' first dance together, joined by Alex and Poppy.  A real family first dance!

Thank you Mr and Mrs Hall for the pleasure of sharing your wedding day.

Hazlewood Castle Wedding Photography | Sarah and John's Wedding

After summer's mixed bag of weather, for our first of two weddings this October weekend we were greeted with a beautiful blue sky and wall to wall sunshine which lasted all day.  Yes, it was quite windy but this is always preferable to the wet stuff!

Sarah got ready at her mum and dad's home which is just a few minutes away from the church in Boston Spa.  We were made very welcome and we had a great time photographing Sarah having her make-up applied and capturing images of all the little things which would otherwise be forgotten. Sarah had chosen a vintage theme which was evident in her stunning lace dress and her cathedral length veil.  Before we left for church, we managed to document Sarah's mum fastening all those tiny buttons down the back of her daughter's dress.

When we arrived at the church, John was already there to meet us.  The low sun which you get at this time of year created a few issues with big shadows at the church door, so we chose a location along the path down the side of the church which had a nice backdrop of trees in their autumn colour scheme and where the light was a bit less harsh. 

Sarah arrived in a classic Bentley with her proud dad and we love the image of her in the car in which, if you look closely, you can see her dad's reflection.  

After the ceremony and a few photographs with both sets of parents at the church door, Sarah and John walked to the gate, were showered with confetti and then left for their wedding reception at Hazlewood Castle.

Timings were tight on the day so as soon as the couple arrived, we started on photographs of the two of them with their car.  When we knew that everyone had arrived at Hazlewood Castle, we worked through the groups and bridal party photographs which left only a short time for Sarah and John to have some photographs taken around the grounds of this beautiful venue.  However, we knew that we would have an opportunity later on for some photographs in the bridal suite and outside in the courtyard.

Prior to the wedding, we had chatted about evening photographs and the fact that there is a window of only around ten to fifteen minutes when you get that gorgeous dark blue sky.  Miss this and the sky is black.  With daylight hours getting much shorter now, we knew that the ideal time was likely to fall when everyone was inside for the wedding breakfast.  The choice was to wait until after the speeches and then it would be pitch dark or for Sarah and John to come outside between courses. They decided to come out after dessert and before the speeches for some romantic photographs captured with video light and off camera flash and the timing was as close to perfect as we could have hoped for.  Not only this, but the strong wind we'd had all day had disappeared meaning that Sarah's dress stayed put!

After the speeches, we worked with the couple in the Elderflower Suite as this is a gorgeous room with rich colours, before we captured Mr and Mrs Cummin's first dance together.  Our thanks to this fabulous couple for asking us to photograph their lovely autumn wedding and we can't wait to see their images come together in a personally designed Italian storybook album.