Wedding Photographer Hazlewood Castle | Helen and Kevin's Wedding

Helen and Kevin's wedding was our last of 2019, taking us right up to Christmas, and our third consecutive wedding at Hazlewood Castle Hotel.  An enormous amount of planning went into the couple's celebrations and at our final meeting a few weeks before they told us about everything that had gone into making their big day amazing, calling for a very long and detailed set of notes to follow to make sure we didn't miss anything important. Usually when it's a civil ceremony the bride gets ready at the venue but as Helen had planned a spectacular arrival the bridal preparations took place at a hotel a distance away where, after some difficulty getting past security, we enjoyed a lovely, calm and relaxed couple of hours with Helen and Sophie, her incredibly helpful best friend and bridesmaid. Often the bridal preparations are hectic and things run late so it was really nice that this time everything ran so perfectly and we were able to capture some special moments as Sophie helped Helen into her dress, before we left to start phase two, Kevin and his party at the venue. During this time Helen was  collected and driven to the bottom of the lane by Kevin's dad and then she arrived in style in a carriage drawn by four spectacular horses wearing red plumes to match the couple's colour scheme. Before her arrival we had some fun with the lads until we spotted Kevin's dad's car arriving, signally time for the groom to make himself scarce.  His strutting entrance to into the Old Dining Room for the ceremony made everyone laugh but then emotion got the better of Kevin as he saw his bride for the first time.  She looked stunning!  We'd talked to Kevin about how to pack photographs of everything they had planned before dinner into the daylight available on a late December wedding day but he had it all covered and we have to commend him for his organisational skills, his and Helen's cooperation and for arranging a longer than usual drinks reception to give us the best chance to get what we needed before we lost the light. There is a first time for everything and this was the first time we'd had a groom communicate with his best man by walkie talkie, and with Gavin, the two of them did an awesome job.  It was really funny though when Kevin radioed Gavin to ask him to get Helen a cup of tea, as she was feeling the cold! What a fabulous day with so much to capture - the spectacular horse drawn carriage, a falconry display, a casino, the Great Hall exquisitely dressed for the wedding breakfast in a completely different style to anything we've seen before, a choreographed quick step, a live band, fireworks and a wonderful couple who really did put everything into helping us to do a great job for them.  It was full on but we loved every minute and we left our last wedding of 2019 on a massive high.  Thanks a million Mr and Mrs Wright for inviting us to be your Hazlewood Castle wedding photographers.            

   

  

Hazlewood Castle Wedding Photographer | Olivia and Harvey's Wedding

It's always a joy to spend the day as Hazlewood Castle wedding photographers and after a lovely couple of hours spent with Olivia and Harvey on their engagement session earlier in the year and finding them to be so easy to get along with, we knew they would be fabulous to work with on their wedding day.  Theirs smashes our current record for the earliest church wedding ceremony we've photographed, as Olivia wanted their day to be as long as possible and booked the ceremony and wedding photography at St Mary's Church in Gomersal for 10.30am, making the girls' preparation photographs at our bride's parents' home extremely early, but we did spare a thought for the hair stylist and make-up artist who must have been up and ready for action in the middle of the night!  Olivia had chosen a dress which was "different" and it was truly spectacular.  She looked incredible; absolutely stunning!  The weather forecast for their day was depressing to say the least and we honestly thought we'd be forced to work indoors for the whole of it.  We always feel a pang of disappointment for our couples when the weather forecast is awful, especially for a summer wedding, and we did have almost gale force wind and the rain tormented us a couple of times, but fortunately it held off for Harvey's arrival at the church in his dad's Porsche and photos outside before the ceremony, including Olivia's arrival with her incredibly proud dad.  The ceremony was beautiful and afterwards the couple greeted their guests at the door with rain clouds looming large.  The wet stuff reared its head as they made their way down the path to the gate to be showered with confetti, as well as drizzle which got faster as we travelled to Hazlewood Castle, but thankfully it cleared before we arrived and much better weather greeted the guests for the drinks reception and allowed for photos outside for a while at least, and when it rained again we took ourselves into the Victoria room and made the most of the beautiful subdued lighting in there. The Great Hall looked spectacular dressed in soft pink, the speeches were both funny and emotional, as great speeches should be, and afterwards, although the wind was challenging, the couple didn't let it stop them from getting outside and around the castle grounds.  We loved spending time with this wonderful couple and their lovely families at their fabulous venue, which offers so many opportunities for wedding photographs.  We were so happy to be able to make the most of it before the first dance and evening celebrations started and the icing on the cake was a set of twilight pictures in the castle's courtyard, the final chapter of an amazing day spent in such great company.  Even the wind gave us a break for those last few shots.  Congratulations Mr and Mrs Craig, we wish you a very long and happy marriage and we appreciate so much that you chose us to share your big day.  Thanks a million!

Images are copyright Alex & Janet Durasow.  We would be over the moon to see our work shared on social media as long as our details remain on the images.  Thank you :)