Marriott Hotel York Wedding Photography | Olivia and Elliott's Wedding

We've been Marriott Hotel York wedding photographers on a few occasions but it's been a while since our last visit, so it was great to be invited there to photograph Olivia and Elliott's celebrations.  Olivia chose a gorgeous ivory satin dress, so classy.  It was the perfect dress for her and she looked stunning.  She has a natural elegance and is incredibly photogenic. Enough about Olivia for now, Elliott scrubbed up pretty well too, making for a very handsome couple, and after we left the girls to their preparations we kept him occupied for a while before the serious stuff got underway.  The couple had planned for an outdoor marriage ceremony in the pavilion but because the only predictable thing about our weather is it's unpredictable, we've seen many a plan for an outdoor ceremony scuppered by the rain.  It often becomes less of a definite plan and more a case of being hopeful.  This time, however, we got lucky and Olivia and Elliott tied the knot in the grounds surrounded by family and friends, some of Olivia's having travelled from Spain.  The couple's son, Lance, was an excellent ring bearer and their daughter, Darcey, one of three very cute flower girls. Olivia's photographs were really important to her, so she arranged a generous timeline for her and Elliott's Marriott Hotel York wedding photography and factored in a couple of hours for us to do our stuff before the wedding breakfast, which made a massive difference and also allowed the guests to relax, have a few drinks and enjoy the surroundings. We were accompanied by Lee Call, who the couple chose to create a film of their special day, and he was great fun to work with.  After the wedding breakfast we took advantage of the longer daylight to photograph Olivia and Elliott with their bridal party and capture some fun shots which Olivia had told us she particularly wanted.  During this time the heavy, dark rain clouds were gathering and we knew we were on borrowed time with the weather, which held until after the first dance, complete with a confetti canon.  Shortly afterwards we had a look outside and the rain was absolutely torrential, resulting in two soaked to the skin wedding photographers and a soggy drive home!  Our sincere congratulations Mr and Mrs King.  We are so happy that the rain stayed away when it mattered and you got your wish to marry outdoors.

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Wedding Photographer The Parsonage, Escrick | Kim and Stephen's Wedding

As Yorkshire wedding photographers, we often have to contend with adverse weather, including strong wind, but we weren't expecting the absolute howler of a gale which was blowing for our first time as wedding photographers at The Parsonage, Escrick. Standing at the front of this lovely wedding venue was like being at the centre of a sandstorm with the wind whipping up soil and grit from surrounding fields and throwing it everywhere.  It was hard to stand upright let alone take photographs!

It was calmer, albeit it very crowded, in the bridal suite where Kim was getting ready, along with her bridesmaids and pageboys.  However, Kim definitely ruled the roost and her instructions to the children, including daughters Megan and Abbie and son Alfie, made it easy for us to work efficiently and made us laugh in the process.  We were soon joined by Dean and Denise from Day To Remember Videos who were a pleasure to work with.  

We'd been let into a secret that Kim had booked a classic Rolls Royce from Sheergold Wedding Cars, Yorkshire, to transport Steve from home to his wedding at The Parsonage.  There had been a cloak and dagger operation going on between Kim, us and Jean and Andy from Sheergold for months and at our pre-wedding meeting, we had to remember not to mention the car.  Apparently Steve thought that he was arriving by taxi so traveling in this gorgeous Rolls Royce must have been amazing.  Naturally, we wanted to capture him arriving and this is where we were caught up in the biggest gale we've ever known on a wedding day.  The boys put on brave faces for a few minutes to have some photographs with the car before we sent them inside to recover.  It was bad enough having sandblasted, windswept photographers but we certainly didn't want this for the groom!  However, the rear garden is sheltered by buildings and trees and the boys were happy to go outside for long enough to have a few more shots.

When we went back upstairs, Kim was ready and in her dress, waiting to be escorted into the ceremony by her proud dad and step-dad, both of them sharing the privilege of giving her away.  The registrars made our job really easy, imposing no restrictions on us, meaning we could capture all the important moments as the couple exchanged vows and rings.

We had thought that we might have had to to take the majority of the photographs indoors but there are some which you have no choice but to tackle outside, the obvious ones being those with the car.  Andy was so good to work with, not only acting as chauffeur but repeatedly cleaning the Rolls Royce, re-attaching ribbons when the wind literally tore them off and repositioning the car for us in our attempt to give Kim and Steve at least a little shelter and keep them reasonably comfortable during the photographs.

The couple really wanted a big group photograph with all their guests, followed by confetti, and we were very happy when everyone obliged a request to come outside for a few minutes and to ignore the weather.  The back garden gave so much shelter that previous plans to work indoors were abandoned and we covered all the group shots outside with Kim and Steve smiling and remaining upbeat throughout.

The couple session before the wedding breakfast was short but we knew we'd have some time to work with them after the speeches.  The wind had dropped quite a bit by the evening which meant we could capture some beautiful twilight shots outside The Parsonage without being blown over!

A big thank you to Kim and Steve for inviting us to be your wedding photographers and for being such good fun.  We are very flattered to have been recommended to you and we hope you love your pictures!

If you are getting married at The Parsonage, Escrick, please give us a call on 01977 730159.  If you like our photographs, please Like us on Facebook and if you were a guest at Kim and Steve's lovely wedding, please leave a comment.  Thank you.

Cedar Court Grand Hotel & Spa York Wedding Photographer | Helen and Daniel

We have visited Helen and Daniel's wedding venue in past but this was the first time we'd been wedding photographers at the Cedar Court Grand Hotel and Spa, York. This gorgeous hotel doesn't have any grounds to speak of but the stunning interior is a delight, especially if, like us, you enjoy working with beautiful architecture.

We arrived at Helen's parents' house in Woodthorpe, York where we were greeted by her dad, Stephen.  The girls weren't back from having hair and make-up done yet but whilst we waited it gave us time to get set up in a lovely bright bedroom ready to photograph Helen's dress, jewellery, perfume and a spectacular pair of sparkly Jimmy Choos.  

Helen's dress was perfect for her and perfect for the venue - elegant and sophisticated - and we were lucky because she was as good as her word and in her dress in time for us to take some photographs with her parents, sister and bridesmaids before we left to meet Daniel at the hotel.

We knew that for the majority of the day we would be working indoors, but it was nice to get some photographs of the boys together and Daniel with his close family outside at the hotel entrance and also on the terrace before he was called upstairs to meet with the registrars and kept there to avoid him seeing Helen before he should.

The civil ceremony was conducted in the Boardroom which is a lovely room with tall windows, velvet drapes and spectacular chandeliers made of gold colour glass chain links.  We decided to take the family group photos upstairs immediately after the ceremony before everyone made their way downstairs to enjoy the drinks reception. When everyone is close by it really makes a huge difference to how quickly we can cover the group shots and we had them done faster than we expected, leaving us with Helen and Daniel and their couple photos.  

Such a great couple to spend time with, their wedding photographs were really important to them and they were more than happy to give our ideas a try.  At our meeting a few weeks beforehand, we'd picked out some locations to use before the receiving line started, with a couple more earmarked for after the wedding breakfast.  We like to work this way, dividing the couple and bridal photography into two sessions as it gives the bride and groom some time to spend with their guests and gives us time to get a variety of different images for them, be creative and keep the photography sessions fun, relaxed and interesting.

When we returned to the Boardroom to photograph it set up for the wedding breakfast, it did look amazing in navy blue and a champagne theme.  Because it wasn't quite ready at the scheduled time, everyone sat a little later than planned and because of this we did think that Helen and Daniel might not want a second couple session later, as we knew their evening guests would be starting to arrive by the time the wedding breakfast ended. However, we were delighted when they came out after dinner and were still excited about having photographs taken in the locations we'd discussed - our favourite which was a purple wall and theirs which was a mirrored lift - and we are very pleased with the results.

Once the Boardroom had been turned around for the evening party, we covered the first dance and after capturing some images of the band, we said our goodbyes to Helen and Daniel.

Thank you Mr and Mrs Mackley for being such stars to work with.  Have a fabulous honeymoon and we look forward to seeing you on your return.  

Looking for a Cedar Court Hotel York wedding photographer?  We'd love to hear from you so please call us on 01977 730159 and Like us on Facebook.