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 :)          

Waterton Park Hotel Wedding Photographer | Tori and Matthew's Wedding

We can always rely on a warm welcome when we are Waterton Park Hotel wedding photographers and we recently had the pleasure of sharing Tori and Matthew's big day at this lovely venue, where we are recommended photographers. The whole day's celebrations were at one location, including the girls' preparations in one of the suites, so it was only a quick walk across the bridge to meet the lads once we'd spent some time with Tori, who had chosen a gorgeous, elegant, slim dress, which was absolutely perfect for her. We captured those important bridal details and we've seen many bouquets with lockets with photographs in them attached to the stems; mementos of a much loved person who has passed away, but Tori's addition to her bouquet had us in stitches, a memento of Rolo, the couple's dog, who's very much alive but wasn't allowed at the wedding!  Matthew looked very smart in his blue suit and he and his best man, Tori's brother, were fabulous to work with and there were some funny comments coming from the sidelines suggesting that Matthew was posing like James Bond!  Another advantage to one venue weddings is being able to get back to the bride's room before the ceremony to capture one very proud father getting that first look at his daughter in her wedding dress.  The couple married in the newer building and this meant that after the ceremony it was easy to get the guests gathered round them for confetti throwing before everyone went across the bridge for the drinks reception.  We managed a few couple shots and thankfully, the big group photo before we felt the rain drops and decided it was best to head inside and photograph the families in the library.  As has happened more times than we can count this wedding season, the weather kept us on our toes but it did improve for us to get outside again before dinner.  With a late wedding, days getting shorter and the end of the wedding breakfast leading quickly into the evening party, we knew time was at a premium, but we were really hoping to be able to steal Tori and Matthew away for a short while, as Waterton Park wedding photography gives you so many lovely locations that it's impossible to get round them during the time leading up to the wedding breakfast.  Dinner ran to time, the couple were fantastic and they were really enthusiastic about coming outside so that we could photograph them in the iconic lakeside archway, on the boardwalk and in front of stunning Walton Hall before party time in the Boathouse. Bonus, the first dance time worked perfectly with the time for twilight photos, making two very happy photographers and, we hope, a very happy Mr and Mrs Turton!  Congratulations and thank you so much for choosing us to share such an amazing day!