Kelly and Luke’s wedding at St Annes, Crumpsall, reception at the Marriott, Worsley

With wedding season in full flow now, it’s busy busy busy right now! I’m doing quite well at keeping on top of this blog for a change. Well, for now at least….

Kelly and Luke tied the knot the other week and I had the pleasure of covering their special day. This wedding capped off a fantastic weekend for me as the previous day I was down at Wembley for the FA cup final. I sped back up the M1 after the match and got an early night to prepare myself for the early start I had the following day. I arrived at the bride’s mother’s house at 9.30am to catch all the bride and bridesmaids’ preparations. There was a great buzz around the dining room of the house with all the girls chatting and joking whilst having their hair and make up done in splendid fashion. My heart went out to the bride’s younger brother looking bemused at being stuck in the house with 8 women.

I left the bride’s house to get to St Anne’s Church in Crumpsall, Manchester to meet the groom and his groomsmen. This was quite a big wedding party, even before the guests arrived. 14 groomsmen in total, including the groom and the dads. That’s a lot of suits! The lads were doing a sterling job of greeting all the guests as they arrived at the venue and handing out carnations to everyone.

Anyway, the bridesmaids showed up and everyone was quickly ushered inside to await the bride’s arrival. Kelly arrived with her dad and looked absolutely stunning in her dress. The wedding was a traditional catholic ceremony with full mass, giving me plenty of time to get lots of photos. The service was broken up with an amazing performance by a classical singer called Bethany who left everyone gobsmacked with a fantastic rendition of Ave Maria. Over an hours worth of church time practically flew by.

From the church we left for the Marriott in Worsley. A venue I’ve photographed before, perfect for a wedding party. Unfortunately the Manchester weather was true to form and in rained from after the church until about 6pm. But it didn’t dampen any spirits, which was proven during the speeches. The best man double act was a relentless, two pronged verbal assault on the groom, which had a grand finale of a rap to the ‘The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air’ theme tune. Ingenious and hilarious! After the meal the rain had stopped for a short while, allowing me to take the bride and groom out for a quick lap of the grounds for some portrait shots. A former member of One True Voice from the TV show ‘Pop Stars, The Rivals’, provided the evening’s entertainment Djing and singing. A fantastic day for the perfect couple, highlights below!





























Congratulations to Kelly and Luke! All the best for the future from me.

Oh, and I’ll give Luke’s shop a quick plug. Luke runs Styxx Menswear in Cheetham Hill, check out his shop on Bury Old Road if you’re in the area or look online http://www.styxonline.co.uk/

Leanne and Dave at The Worsley Marriott, Worsley, Salford

So after leaving Hilary and Carl's fantastic bash (see previous post), I had to head home, download the images taken to my computer and back them up, clear the memory cards, charge the camera batteries and get to bed so I was bright and fresh for Leanne and Dave’s wedding the very next day. So up I got and headed over to the Marriott Hotel in Worsley. It was a beautiful day, sun shining all day long. Leanne and her bridesmaids looked amazing and were amazingly calm and serene as they made their preparations for the event. Dave is a top lad and his best man and ushers were all round good blokes on the day. The couple wrote and read their own vows on the day, which made the service itself really personal to them. The Marriott at Worley is a great venue for a wedding with lovely rooms and grounds, which were great for getting some special shots.

























I must give a special thanks to the Toastmaster, Stephen, who was simply a legend on the day. He organised everyone throughout the whole event, which aided me no end in being able to just concentrate on getting some great photos for the couple. I cannot recommend this man highly enough. He comes as part of the wedding package at the Marriott but if you want him at your wedding then get in touch and I’ll pass his details to you.

Congratulations to Leanne and Dave!

Tracy and Glenn at Buile Hill Park Hall, Salford

Ok, time for more catchy uppy!

Tracy and Glenn tied the knot at Buile Hill Park Hall in Salford. I arrived at the bride's house to the scene of Tracy’s army of bridesmaids helping her prepare for this great day. The park hall was a belting venue for the service and the reception with the staff working effortlessly to make the day run smoothly. The couple chose an outdoor barbeque for their wedding breakfast, which was served just in time to miss the typical Manchester shower. For evening reception the DJ made countless costume changes and had a team of dancers to help get the party started! Highlights below:























Congratulations the pair of you. What a great day I had at your wedding, thanks for letting me be a part of it!

FACES OF ECCLES

Last week I held an open photoshoot at Eccles Community Gallery. The idea was to photograph as many people as possible in one day, then display the photographs in the gallery for everyone to see.

I realise I didn't post any information about this on this blog and there were 3 very good reasons:

1) I have been busy wedding wise recently and have lots of work to do (photos to appear soon)

2) I don't even know if anyone actually reads this blog - 2 followers? LAME!

3) I forgot

Now I'm under no illusions about this... Rankin Live it definately wasn't! To prove it, take a look at my state of the art studio set-up below...



A sheet of black fabric from Dunelm nailed to a wall. I forgot an attachment to my light stand so the flash and brolly were strapped on using masking tape! The brolley was actually broke. In the room, I had the choice of either bright flourescent strip lighting or pitch black darkness, no natural light at all so I chose pitch black darkness and a 60 watt lightbulb in a desk lamp for a model light.

Despite all this I had a really good day and met & photographed many wonderful and weird people. Some photos below.










Took photos of over a hundred people on the day, all of which will be displayed from tomorrow (Satuday 19th Sep) for 4 weeks. If you can get yourself down there please come down and have a gander. The art gallery itself is a great little place, made from an empty shop front in Eccles precinct. It is the personal passion of a lovely lady named Karen Illingworth who runs it on her own with no funding, relying on donations and the help of volunteers. I've made her a little website to help with promoting the place, check it out if you get time at www.ecclesgallery.moonfruit.com

Thanks to Salford Online for running numerous articles promoting the events, the most recent one can be seen by clicking here.

Oh and special thanks goes out to Roxanne, Sharon and Charlotte! My glamourous assistants on the day worked wonders - fluttering eyelids, flashing pretty smiles, handing out flyers and frog-marching people to the gallery. The event wouldn't have been what it was without yous!

Jo and Mike

So my second wedding in May was with Jo and Mike. The service was held in Salford Cathedral, an absolutely breathtaking church. I've wanted to photograph a wedding here since I first visited it a few years back. The reception was at Lancashire Health and Racquet Club in Middleton. After a shaky start to the day, the weather came good just at the right time and we got some quality snaps.













Congratulations the pair of you, I had a really good day and had some fun shooting you two.