Welcome

Thanks for dropping by and welcome to our shiny new blog! Phil Barber Photography is actually

Phil & Louise Barber, a husband and wife team based in Leeds. We're passionate about creating

beautiful images of people at the most special times of their lives. We'll be sharing some of our

work here on our blog, along with any interesting happenings in our lives. If you're interested in

seeing what we could do for you, or if you just want to say 'hi' then please get in touch - we'd love

to hear from you!

Phil & Lou xx





Up and coming Wedding Fairs

Hazlewood Castle 5th October 2008

Great Victoria Hotel 19th October 2008

Woodlands Hotel 9th November 2008

Anna & Craig: Wedding 16th August 2008

After we arrived back from holiday all refreshed and raring to go, our first wedding was Anna & Craig’s on Saturday. It was an early start for both of us. As usual I spent the morning with the girls and Lou started out with the boys. Anna looked amazing in her stunning princess dress and hot pink shoes. We all got together for the ceremony at the beautiful village church in Esholt, then it was down to Woodlands hotel for the reception.

Putting in an appearance when we got there was Anna & Craig’s dog Alfie (and some of his friends). He was very keen to be involved in the pictures. It’s a good job he’s a photogenic little chap!

Here are a few pictures from the day. Lots of love and best wishes to Anna and Craig for their future together!!

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Holiday Time: 5 countries in 11 days

Well after finishing Mel & Sam’s wedding the very next day we hopped onto a ferry at Hull and started a short summer break. Our destination was a place  just north of Lucca in Italy. The journey down involved passing through several countries. Belgium, Luxembourg ( for a total of 25 mins ), Switzerland and France. 

The kids were great in the car - No ‘are we there yet?’ They had a great time trying to spot Norbert Dentressangle lorries. Big bright red lorries with white writing. It is usually the simplest of things that can keep them occupied for hours.

The weather was fab once we got the other side of Alps - ( 30 degrees + everyday ) Big blue skies and stunning sunsets. On the way back we spent several nights in France stopping off in Paris because the kids wanted to see the Eiffel Tower.

I scared Lou a bit when we drove around the Arc de Triomphe. It is all a bit mad with all these roads converging on one spot that is 7 lanes wide and no road markings!

Anyway below are a small selection of images from the trip. Enjoy!

 

Melanie & Sam: Wedding 2nd August 2008

Just before we went on holiday I had the honour of photographing Mel & Sam’s wedding. Mel and Sam are a great couple - they live in London but as Mel is a Yorkshire lass the wedding was up here. Lou wasn’t able to join me so my good friend Barnaby Aldrick stepped in again. As before he did an ace job and between us I think we did justice to what was a wonderful and emotional day. The ceremony and reception were both at Cedar Court Hotel in Wakefield. I love covering weddings where the ceremony & reception are in the same place. No travelling between venues generally means more photo time which of course is fab from my point of view!!

Mel looked absolutely stunning as you can see from the photos below. She has such amazing eyes which are fantastic to photograph. Sam looked like the cat that got the cream!!!

Mel & Sam, we wish you every happiness for a wonderful future together. Thank you so much for inviting us to be part of your day.

Haylie & Andy: Wedding 17th July 2008

We had a great day on Thursday at Haylie and Andy’s wedding at Woodlands Hotel. I’ve known Haylie for a few years, and so it was a real privilege to be able to photograph her wedding. She’s originally from New Zealand, so her family had flown all the way over here for the wedding - it was great to meet them all.

In the morning Andy took himself and the men in the wedding party off to Dandy Browns in Leeds for a traditional wet shave. Lou was there to record it all, paying particular care not to click while the razor was too close!! I spent the morning with Haylie and the girls at the hairdressers, then it was all back to Woodlands for a beautiful intimate ceremony and wedding breakfast.Guest of honour was Haylie & Andy’s beautiful little girl Bella.

In the evening they were joined by lots more of their friends and family for a fantastic party. It was a really fantastic day and we were honoured to be there!

Fun time with the kids

Well this is the first weekend that we haven’t done a wedding or pre-wedding shoot. So Lou & I have had some great fun playing with the kids. As always this is an opportunity to get some great shots of them at play. They seem to grow up very quickly so I am always keen to record moments like these. If you have kids you should always get out the cameras and capture them. Before you know it they will be all grown up and will have left home!

Al these were taken using my favourite lens the 85mm f1.2  - All these were taken with the aperture set at f1.2 - I love the way it just softens the background.

 

Kathryn & James: Wedding 12th July 2008

We spent last Saturday a Kath & James’s wedding and had a fantastic time. Kath and James are a great couple and their wedding was a really happy occasion for all their friends and family. The ceremony was at the village church in Sherburn in Elmet. It’s a beautiful church in a gorgeous setting overlooking the surrounding countryside. We took advantage of the great location (and sunny weather!) and took most of the group shots in the churchyard. This is something we don’t usually do but it worked brilliantly on Saturday.

After that is was back to Thorpe Park Hotel & Spa on the outskirts of Leeds for the reception. It was a superb venue and the staff at the hotel really looked after everything beautifully.

Thank you Kath & James for involving us in your wedding day - here are a few pictures to keep you going until your slideshow is online. Have a great time in Jamaica!!

Phil & Lou xx

Vicki & Dan: Wedding 5th July

We were with Vicki and Dan on Saturday 5th July for their wedding at Woodlands Hotel. Both the ceremony and reception were held there so it was a lovely relaxed day for everyone. Vicki looked absolutely stunning in her gorgeous wedding dress - I think we did it justice!!

 

We had been a bit concerned about the weather. The forecasts weren’t very good and there were a few showers and lots of grey clouds earlier in the morning, but somehow everything worked out on the day. After the ceremony the sun came out and all the guests were able to mingle and chat outside while we took some group shots. After that it was Vicki and Dan’s turn for some romantic shots of the two of them, and just as we were finishing the last picture we heard a rumble of thunder and felt the first few drops of rain. But by this time it was time for the wedding breakfast anyway, so nobody minded at all.

 

I think Vicki and Dan had a wonderful time - I know we did!! Thanks for inviting us to be part of your day, guys, and we wish you lots of happiness in the future.

 

Phil & Lou xx

Laura & Tom: Wedding 4th July 2008

So the next day I was back together with Lou to shoot Laura & Tom’s wedding at Allerton Castle. As I’ve mentioned before, we love shooting at Allerton Castle. It’s such a great venue that even if the weather is grotty we can get some fantastic shots inside. As it happened the weather was glorious, so we had the best of both worlds. After a beautiful ceremony all the guests were able to enjoy their drinks and canapes outside in the gardens while we took the family photos.

Then it was back inside for the wedding breakfast and some of the best speeches we’ve heard this year - Tom’s best man Greg’s was a corker!

We had a great day with Laura, Tom and their guests. It was a privilege to be there and we’d like to thank Laura & Tom for asking us to be part of it.

 

Phil & Lou xx

 

Jenny & Ari: Wedding 3rd July 2008

I’ve had a really busy few weeks with so much going on I’ve not had much chance to sit down and update my blog. So here’s a bit of a catch up from the last couple of weeks. First off we had Jenny and Ari’s wedding at Hazlewood Castle. As Lou couldn’t be with me that day I enlisted the services of a great local photographer Barnaby Aldrick who helped me out as second shooter on the day. 

Ari is Finnish and a few months before the wedding Jenny moved out to Finland too, so it was another of our long distance weddings where most of the planning is done via e-mail! 

Jenny and Ari had planned everything beautifully and as usual Hazlewood Castle really looked stunning, The ceremony and reception were both held there, so the day was lovely and relaxed. The weather was good too, which is becoming a bit of a rarity. 

Anyway here are a few pictures from the day - a few of them are Barnaby’s (thanks again friend!). 

Jenny and Ari are back in Finland now, so we’ll just say Onneksiolkoon! to them both. We wish you every happiness for your future together.

 

Jenny and Ari had arranged for a close up magician to entertain their guests - he was amazing as you can see by some of the reactions below!!

Allerton Castle - North Yorkshire

Well this is the first of a new series of blog posts. Since we started in wedding photography we’ve come across many different suppliers and worked at lots of venues, so we thought it would be nice to start writing a bit about some of our favourites.

First up is ALLERTON CASTLE. It’s a venue we’ve loved working at - we’re there again this Friday and really looking forward to it. From a photographer’s point of view it’s a dream venue as it’s so hard to take a bad picture there! It was badly damaged in a fire a few years ago, but the owner has had it repaired and refurbished beautifully as you can see, and it’s now back to its former glory! Here’s a bit about it from their website:

“Allerton Castle is a perfect venue for weddings.  It is located on the outskirts of Knaresborough - North Yorkshire and stands in 200 acres of breathtaking parkland and has tranquil formal gardens that surround the magnificent 18th Century gothic castle - the ancestral home of the Lord Mowbray, Segrave and Stourton.”

You can see a highlights slideshow of a wedding we did there back in May by clicking here: WEDDING SLIDESHOW

 

AJAXed with AWP