They’d only just started planning their wedding, but we hit it off and Lucy said she’d be in touch when she had a date and venue booked.  A few months later, she duly contacted me with news that they were marrying this March, at St Mary’s Church in Bowdon, followed by a reception at Davenport Green Hall in Hale Barns.  St Mary’s is a lovely church – one I’ve worked at before and I know the vicar well.  Davenport Green Hall is a relatively new venue, but one at which I’ve shot weddings and also corporate lunches and events.  Fortunately, I was still available so we met again and they decided they wanted me to be their wedding photographer.

An important part of nearly all my wedding photography packages is the engagement, or pre-wedding, shoot.  Ideally I like to have this two or three months before the wedding date; not only is it a chance to make some great portraits of the couple, but it’s also an opportunity to begin to talk about and plan the photography for the actual wedding day.

Lucy and Oliver’s shoot was scheduled for a couple of Sundays ago.  And it says a lot about them that, while the rest of the country decided to climb back under the duvet, or snuggle down in front of the fire, they braved the icy roads and bitter conditions to visit my studio.  It was a misty, icy day alright!  But despite the cold, we had a great time.  And the weather gave the photographs real atmosphere.

 Whatever the weather decides to do on the real wedding day, I know that I’ll be making photographs of a couple who will cope with anything.

It’s a fantastic venue; one that I’ve worked at many times before.   There are so many different places to create great images: some of the previous weddings I’ve photographed there can be seen here and here on my old blog.

Jennifer and Mike recently visited me at my studio for their pre-wedding shoot and to discuss the photography for their wedding day.

Engagement, or pre-wedding, shoots are an important ingredient of all of the wedding packages, bar one, that I offer.  I’ve written about them and their importance in a previous post.  Jennifer and Mike visited me on a cold January day for their shoot.  But despite the weather, we had a great time and created some fantastic images.

There is something beautiful about winter light, as you can see in the last image shown here.  I’d deliberately timed the shoot for late afternoon, in the hope there might be a good sunset that we could use.  And we got lucky!  We had actually finished the shoot, and were returning to my studio, when the sky and dropping sun caught my eye.   A quick pose from the couple, a burst of flash to add to the mood and the image was done.  A lovely, colourful ending to a fun shoot.  And perhaps something we’ll repeat during the wedding day in a couple of weeks’ time.

Another important aspect of all the wedding packages I offer is the planning meeting I have with couples a few weeks before the wedding day.  This is when we go through the timetable for the wedding and I find out about any ‘must have’ shots they’d like on the day.  But it’s actually during the engagement shoot that we start to talk in detail about the wedding, and I use the shoot to illustrate some of the images I could make on the actual wedding day.   It’s another reason, apart from the experience of being photographed by a professional and the pleasure of receiving some of the images, that the engagement shoot is worth its weight in gold!

Kerry and Paul asked me to photograph their wedding at Nunsmere Hall at the end of January, and told me that it was going to be a very small wedding – only 22 guests, including them.  I’ve shot small weddings there before (including one a year ago that had 17 people in total), so knew that they’d chosen absolutely the right venue to give them the intimacy and friendliness they were looking for.

Here is just one image from the day – a portrait of Kerry and Paul late in the afternoon posing in the dining room of the Hall.

The full post will follow on shortly.

Designing their album reminded me of what a lovely day it was, what a lovely couple they are and how great old VW Beetles are. Here is a small selection of their wedding photographs. Enjoy!

]]> http://www.hambletonweddingphotography.co.uk/cheshire-wedding-venue/rachel-and-tonys-wedding-at-the-heathercliffe-hotel.html/feed 1 http://www.hambletonweddingphotography.co.uk/cheshire-wedding-venue/arley-hall-new-years-eve-wedding-of-sarah-and-nick-2.html http://www.hambletonweddingphotography.co.uk/cheshire-wedding-venue/arley-hall-new-years-eve-wedding-of-sarah-and-nick-2.html#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:07:23 +0000 admin http://www.hambletonweddingphotography.co.uk/?p=1151 Sarah and Nick have now seen the photographs from their wedding on New Year’s Eve and so I can share a few with you.

Although there was no snow, there was pretty much everything else you could ask for at a superb and memorable winter wedding.

For starters, Sarah and Nick had chosen to marry at Arley Hall.  Arley is a lovely venue for a wedding and it’s where my studio is.

As the wedding was to take place in the depths of winter, the chances of getting out into the gardens was slim, so we’d taken the opportunity to explore them on the pre-wedding shoot earlier in the year.

As it was New Year’s Eve, the guests were asked to wear black tie: after all, the wedding celebration was going to turn into a New Year’s Eve party! Sarah and Nick live in London, and many of their guests had travelled up for the wedding, so transport was needed to fetch them from the nearby Park Royal Hotel: cue a red double decker bus.

The great thing about photographing a wedding in the heart of winter is the contrast between the early part of the day, when it’s still light, and later on when it gets dark (and at Arley it gets really dark as there are no street lights on the Estate).  As well as shooting the bridal preparation and the build-up to the ceremony in the afternoon light, Sarah and Nick had chosen to marry at 3pm, which is about perfect for this time of year, giving us the chance to dash outside for some twilight portraits.  Then later, when the wedding moved from the Hall to Olympia for the evening reception, we could use the darkness to create portraits with a different feel.

Sarah and Nick, thank you for asking me to be your wedding photographer.  It was a great pleasure to be part of your day.

It’s that time of year again.  The biggest Wedding Show in the North West is about to begin – tomorrow in fact.

On Saturday 28th January at 10am the tenth Tatton Park Wedding Show will open its doors to thousands of eager brides, mother-of-brides, bridesmaids, and some (not quite so willing, especially once the football starts) fathers-of-brides and grooms.

As a Cheshire-based wedding photographer I know how important the Show is.  That’s why I shall be exhibiting for the fifth year in a row.

Not only is it the biggest, it is contains some of the best wedding-based companies in the region, if not the country.

This year I’ll be on stand 415, showcasing some beautiful albums featuring some of my favourite recent weddings.  And I’ve got a special show-only offer that will amaze you.

So, if you’re coming along to the show and have wedding photography as one of things on your ‘to do’ list, please drop by for a chat.

“Hi Martin

I just had to write to say thank you so so much for the beautiful photographs you took at Sarah and Nick’s Wedding on New Years Eve. I have been eagerly waiting for them to be uploaded onto your website and now I can’t stop looking at them!

They capture so perfectly what was a wonderful day for us all.

You helped the day run smoothly and were so unobtrusive, making the photo sessions so seamless and easy for everyone – you have produced these wonderful photographs without anyone really realising you were there!

Thank you once again for providing us with these very special memories of a very special day.

Janet”

Winter wedding photography isn’t easy, and some wedding photographers avoid shooting in winter, but I love it because the light can be just as beautiful as a sunny summer wedding day.  And getting a review like this makes the challenge all worth while!

It’s being held in a week’s time, on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th January.

It’s the opportunity to meet and talk to some of the region’s best wedding suppliers, all under one roof.

Wouldn’t you be mad to miss it?

2012 also marks the tenth anniversary of the show, so it will be rather special this year.  If you’re getting married this year, next or even in 2014 it’ll be well worth a visit.

If you want to talk wedding photography I’ll be on stand 415.  Come along to meet, talk and look at some beautiful wedding albums. There’s also a special show-only offer, details of which will only be available on the stand.

Hope to see some of you there.

Today I’m just posting one image from this great occasion, but a full post will follow soon, once Sarah and Nick have returned from honeymoon and have viewed the wedding images.

As a wedding photographer, one of the best compliments you can have is when a bride and groom recommend you to their friends or family. It really says everything you could hope to say about the beautiful wedding photographs and quality of service you have given them before, on and after their wedding day.

So I am really, really chuffed that I have been booked to shoot the wedding of not one but two sisters of two brides whose weddings I also photographed.

The wedding of Georgina and Shea at Capesthorne Hall was a wonderful day. The venue is fabulous, the weather was glorious and the guests were a brilliant mix of fun friends and family.

I met Jessica at the pre-wedding shoot, which turned into a full family photo shoot, and then again on the wedding day at Capesthorne Hall, where she was looking stunning in her full length bridesmaid’s gown. I am really looking forward to shooting her wedding at Thornton Manor.

Last year I also shot the wedding of Sarah and Andy at Mitton Hall. That was also a great day: another brilliant venue and another group of fantastic people celebrating the marriage of a lovely couple.

Here’s a photograph of Sarah inside Mitton Hall:

And here, in the background, are the bridesmaids and groom’s men, showing what Lancashire wedding photography ought to be like! Somewhere in there are Debbie and Rick, who have booked me to shoot their wedding next year.

By strange coincidence, the weddings will also take place on consecutive Saturdays next October. I’m already counting the days!