Weddings - Best of 2018

Best of 2018 Weddings

So 2018…where did you vanish to so rapidly?! I say it every year, and it is soooo clichéd but time seems to fly faster every single year! If I could buy time I would be a very very poor man…or very rich depending on how you look at it I guess.

Weddings are still such a huge part of my life and my love for documenting them is now so much stronger than it was for my very first one back in 2008! Yes 2018 saw me celebrate 10 years since photographing my very first wedding, and how things have changed. Before that first wedding, back in 2008, I dreaded the thought of weddings becoming the main focus of my business. Fast forward 10 years and I genuinely couldn’t be happier. They have certainly changed a lot in those 10 years but definitely for the better! They have certainly changed me and how I approach my art. Weddings are awesome, they are filled with happy, loved up (and more often than not very drunk) people. What’s not to love?!

This year has seen me visit some of my favourite wedding venues and discover many new ones. I have met some incredibly wonderful people and captured some timeless and precious memories for them. This job (if we can call it that) has a tendency to be very solitary at times however being around such fascinating characters and lovely people week in week out makes those long stints behind our monitors worth the while.

I am lucky enough to have some awesome weddings lined up for this year and I cannot wait for them. The thought of creating many more memories for people excites me. My main aim for this year is to continue to master the art of work-life balance. I love working from home where I can nip downstairs for half an hour, if I choose, to be the crazy idiot of a Dad I really am. My family is everything to me and I honestly can’t wrap my head around just how I’ve lucked out with them!

This is a wedding blog post, featuring some of my fave images from 2018, so I wont touch too much on my other work. I am still (slowly) growing the family side of my business and have a very exciting new venture on the horizon with some brilliantly talented individuals which is due to launch very soon.

2019 all I ask of you is to keep my family healthy and happy and provide me with shit loads more amazing moments to document.

Ribby Hall Village Winter Wedding - Ste and Mel

Ste and Mel’s Winter Wedding at Ribby Hall Village

Ste and Mel were married on a fresh winters day at Ribby Hall Village in Lancashire. Their Military themed wedding was loaded with laughter and and packed with moments to remember.

It was an action packed day at Ribby Hall starting with Ste and his Groomsmen getting themselves looking ready for action. Mel and the girls were thoroughly enjoying the pampering (and shots) and after just a few minutes with them all I knew we were in for a good day!

Dancing, drinking, swords and a reindeer. These are just the tip of the iceberg for this brilliant winter wedding at Ribby Hall Village.

Great catching up with the awesome Darren Robinson Magician on the day, who kept the guests entertained throughout the day.

Singleton Lodge Winter Wedding - Sally and Euan

Sally and Euan’s Singleton Lodge Winter Wedding

Sally and Euan got married at one of the Fylde Coasts most stunning venues, Singleton Lodge, on a crisp and calm winters day.

Singleton Lodge is an intimate country house hotel, situated on the Fylde coast and is set in 5 acres of beautiful park land. It’s one of my more local venues and I always love coming back here to document weddings.

Sally and Euan certainly got lucky with the weather for their winter wedding at Singleton Lodge. The day was surprisingly mild and filled with gorgeous winter light.

My day started, as usual, with the groom. Euan was enjoying a very chilled morning when I arrived with him. He had opted for a very stylish Whitfield and Ward tailored suit for his wedding day. Needless to say he certainly looked the part and was ready for his bride-to-be. Sally was also enjoying a nice relaxing morning over at Singleton Lodge.

The ceremony was carried out at The Lodge as were the rest of the celebrations. It was great spending the day with my good friends and amazing videographers Marriage in Motion. You can check out their incredible film from the day here - Sally & Euan Wedding Film.

On Floral duties were the amazing Flower Design and rocking the party at night were the fantastic Jammy Devils!

As far as Winter Weddings go this was a cracker! It was intimate yet fun and filled with lots of smiling faces and beautiful people. The winter sun made Singleton Lodge look as stunning as always.

Merewood Wedding Photography - John and Rachel

John and Rachel’s Wedding at The Merewood

 John and Rachel were married in the back end of summer at the insanely gorgeous Merewood Country House Hotel in The Lake District. Their wedding jam packed with fun and action from the start.

After spending the morning with John and his groomsmen and then Rachel and her Bridesmaids I set off to find the church they were to be married in. Following a beautiful church ceremony their guests head off to the Merewood to continue the celebrations while John and Rachel took a chilled drive around Lake Windermere. We stopped off for a couple of portraits along the way before meeting up with their guests back at The Merewood.

John and Rachel had chosen the awesome Phil Colbert of PC Roadshows to host their wedding breakfast. I’ve many weddings with Phil and each one has been filled with fun, laughter and many memories. If you’re after a memorable wedding breakfast then you should be sure to check out PC Roadshows for hosting it.

The fun continued into the night with one of the North Wests best wedding bands The Deadbeats!

The Villa Wrea Green Wedding Photographer - Chris and Danielle

CHRIS AND DANIELLE'S WEDDING AT THE VILLA, WREA GREEN

 Chris and Danielle were married at the beautiful St Cuthbert’s Church in Lytham on a gorgeous summers day. After a morning of hanging out with Chris and Groomsmen and Danielle and her Bridesmaids they both met at this stunning old church for their wedding ceremony.

Following the church service we took a short drive to the village of Wrea Green where the celebrations really got under way at The Villa.

With plenty of laughs, awesome guests, a surprise video message from past X-Factor contestant Wagner and some insanely perfect evening light this wedding was an honour to have documented.

Sandhole Oak Barn Summer Wedding Photography - Chris and Leanne

CHRIS AND LEANNE'S SUMMER WEDDING AT SANDHOLE OAK BARN, CHESHIRE.

Chris and Leanne's summer wedding at Sandhole Oak Barn in Cheshire was certainly one to remember. It was a day jam packed with sun, fun and plenty of awesome people! 

They had picked a selection of brilliant wedding suppliers to make their wedding a cracking day. My good friends at Flower Design were responsible for the amazing flowers on show. It was great catching up with and watching Robin Kershaw from DFC who did an amazing job hosting the day. I also had a top day working along side my old friend Mark from Studio54D who was on video duty. 

I had such a great day hanging out with Chris, Leanne and their two little dudes. They picked such a stunning venue in Sandhole Oak Barn. Everything about this venue rocks! 

This wedding had it all, laughter, emotion, beauty and so much more. 

Grab a brew and check out their day below. 

Bartle Hall Wedding Photography - Nick and Steph

Nick and Steph's Bartle Hall Wedding 

Nick and Steph's summer wedding at Bartle Hall was everything a wedding should be and more. It was a pleasure being back at Bartle Hall, one of Lancashire's finest wedding venues, to document the wedding of this lovely couple. 

I met Nick a few years back when I was giving a talk at Lytham Photographic Society. Fast forward a year or so later and a newly engaged Nick was enquiring with me to photograph his up-and-coming wedding at Bartle Hall. I got to know Nick and Steph a little more when we hooked up for their pre-wedding shoot in York, one of my favourite cities in the UK. You can check out their Pre-Wedding Shoot here. 

Nick and Steph's Bartle Hall wedding fell right in the middle of summer here in the UK. We were lucky enough to have some awesome weather. Throw in to the mix lots of brilliant guests, a bouncy castle, ice cream, a random gnome, my first experience of a groomswoman, a guest rabbit and plenty of alcohol and you have one insanely good wedding. 

Great Hall at Mains Wedding - Lee & Katy

Lee and Katy's Great Hall at Mains Wedding 

Lee and Katy are such a chilled couple. I knew from the first time I met them that their wedding would be relaxed yet packed with drunken fun. They picked the stunning Great Hall at Mains for their wedding reception and the beautiful Singleton Church for the ceremony. 

The Great Hall at Mains is one of my local wedding venues and I love shooting there. It's packed with character and is filled with natural light and set in beautiful grounds. 

There were so many amazing moments in Lee and Katy's wedding. They had the excellent Paul Guard entertaining guests throughout the drinks reception and wedding breakfast. 

Here's a selection of my favourite images from Lee and Katy's wedding at The Great Hall at Mains. Enjoy.