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/

Terri and Rik Get Married at The Bolholt, Bury

Last month I covered the wedding of Terri and Rik over at the Bolholt Hotel in Bury. I’ve worked this venue a few times now and have enjoyed every single event covered here. The venue seems tailor made for weddings and the highly professional coordinators work tirelessly to make sure everything on the day runs smoothly.

I started off at the madhouse that was the bride’s mothers to capture the preparations. Loads of people crammed into a terraced house, loads of noise, kids fighting, champagne flowing – ACE! Terri seemed cool as the proverbial cucumber as I followed her and the bridesmaids about whilst they sorted themselves out. I had to capture the bride making the final adjustments to her dress in the smallest space imaginable. All good fun.

I headed off to the venue around the same time as the bridesmaids and met up with Rik and the lads, struggling to find an open bar at the venue to sneak a cheeky pint in before the ceremony (unsuccessfully I might add). The venue was dressed up in spectacular fashion by Organza Occasions. The room truly was breathtaking. If you want to see anymore of their work check out www.organzaoccasions.co.uk

Anyway, I’ve known Rik for years from working together in the past, and he is generally a cool customer. But seemed to be bricking it a bit before the service (haha, sorry lad). Rik and the groomsmen pre-warned me about a trick that they were to play on Terri during the exchanging of the rings (switching his wedding ring for the one you’ll see below).

The trick was played and taken in great humour, setting up what was to be a great day. Weather was a bit windy, but the rain held off. We had a free reign of the entire venue as no other weddings were due to arrive until later on so took full advantage. Highlights below…

































The photos probably tell the story of the day better than I can, great venue, great people and a great laugh. Thanks to the pair of you for allowing me to be a part of your special day. As Rik said in his speech, PARTY ON DUDES!

So it begins....

OK, it's finally come around! This coming friday I'll be dusting off my equipment, unzipping the suit bag and polishing up my shoes in preparation for my first wedding of the year. It's been two whole months since I have covered an event so i'm really excited to be getting back to work on capturing those special moments. I went down to visit the venue yesterday, which is one I haven't covered as yet, and met the wedding co-ordinator who showed me around. The venue was gearing up for a wedding fayre that was being held the following day which got me stirred up for pushing me on this year and to start showing off my work this way.

I'm also looking forward to the Focus On Imaging event at the Birmingham NEC at the beginning of March. I'm hoping to attend a couple of seminars by some of the other professionals I respect, to get some inspiration, plus some hints and tips for moving forward both in my photography and my business. Exciting stuff.

So keep your eyes on the blog over the next few weeks to check out the preview pics from my latest wedding plus details of my new website and upcoming offers!

Ant

PS, this is a photo taken of me at a christening recently by Hipstamatic Fanatic Inga! I'm quite impressed at how handsome and charismatic I look haha (joke). Goes to show that the camera sometimes does lie!

Beccy and Ste at Clough Manor, Denshaw

So rolling on through these October weddings, my next job was to cover the marriage of Beccy and Ste. I’ve known Beccy for a while now so was very pleased when she asked me to photograph her wedding and knowing what she is like, I knew it would be something special.

As ever, I started my day off with the bride and bridesmaids preparing themselves for the day ahead. I instantly knew how good this day was going to be as soon as I got there as there was a great atmosphere right from the off. All the girls were on top form laughing and joking whilst preening themselves. From there I headed off to the church in Rochdale to meet a nervous looking Ste with his groomsmen. After a lovely church service, we went outside to get some group shots done at the church doors. What had started as a beautifully sunny day was soon becoming a bit windy, which by the time we hit the reception venue had eventually escalated to what felt like a hurricane!

Not that anyone let this spoil what was turning out to be an amazing event anyway. The venue was dressed very impressively, tying up the purple colour scheme beautifully. The 2-piece jazz band that Beccy and Ste chose to play during the meal were some smooooth mothers, who later became a 5-piece for the evening do to set the dance floor alight. The speeches were some of the best I’ve heard all year. The couple had some friends out in Australia who sent a video message to the couple which featured them on the set of Neighbours and had messages from the stars (Harold Bishop – Legend!).





























All in all, everyone there seemed to have a fantastic day, including myself! Congratulations to you both and once again, thanks for letting me be a part of your special day!

Sarah and Ste

Phew! This last 4 weeks has been hectic, busy busy busy! Time to catch up with some bloggage and share some of the work I’ve been doing.

What a great day this was! Starting off with the service in Bury followed by the reception in Haslingden (or Rawtenstall, I never quite got to the bottom of that one?), my good friends Sarah and Ste tied the knot and gave me the honour of capturing their amazing day. These are two of the nicest and most fun people I know and was really looking forward to the day, especially when I found out the theme of the party – mad hats! Guests were invited to bring along some funky headwear for the reception, the madder the better! And they didn’t disappoint. The best man had the duty of making the groom's hat and unveiled it on the day - his idea was quite literally PANTS! See below for details!

























I had a fantastic time here, definitely a wedding day to remember! Congratulations guys! x