Just before I went away I met up with Helen & Dan at Hazlewood Castle. This is the venue they are getting married at in October. We had some coffee and chatted about how their preparations were coming along before we headed out to do the pre-wedding shoot. As they are getting married here rather than do the usual Hazlewood locations we went for a walk around the bridle paths and into the woods. Not something I had done before but we found some great locations like the old roller. It would be lovely to bring a bride down here and do some shots. Maybe I  can convince Helen as it will be a beautiful autumnal day when they get married!

Check out the shots here and watch the slideshow to see the rest of the images from the day.

Helen + Dan from Barber Photography on Vimeo.

We recently spent a fantastic day at Tory and James’s wedding in the beautiful countryside around Ripon. The ceremony was at the village church in Bishop Monkton and the Marquee reception was on the banks of the river Ure on James’s farm. It was a really stunning spot and gave us loads of fantastic photo opportunities.

As usual I spent the morning with the girls while Lou hung out with the guys at the farm where James was whizzing about on his tractor putting the finishing touches to the marquee site. After a lovely ceremony (and a few drops of rain) everyone made their way back to the reception for drinks ad photos by the river. We were joined by two extra special guests, Tory & James’s dogs Fergus & Millie who managed to sneak into a few photos themselves.

As a surprise to Tory, James had arranged for a fantastic fireworks display to be set off from the opposite bank of the river. It was an amazing end to a great day and we’d like to thank Tory & James for inviting us to be a part of it.

Lou & Phil xxx

What all Groom’s should do on their wedding morning – Drive Tractors! Love it.

We have also just created our own video channel on Vimeo – Were we will be putting up highlight slideshows from the day and also pre-wedding shoots. So keep checking it out for more weddings in the future. In the meantime take a look at Tory & James highlight slideshow of their wedding day below.

Tory & James from Barber Photography on Vimeo.

My first post for a while – I have loads of pre wedding shoots and wedding to blog about going back to April (where is the year going?), but I though I’d start with the wedding I’ve just finished editing – Marissa & Ian’s. It was a great day, and it was nice to meet up again with our friend Mark Lenik who videoed the day for Marissa & Ian.

Marissa & Ian both live and work in London, but chose to get married up in Yorkshire where Marissa’s originally from. I spent the morning with the girls in Halifax at the home of Marissa’s Godparents who were playing host to the beautiful PapaKata Tipi which was set up for the reception later. Lou met the boys in the pub (she always seems to wangle pub trips somehow..) The pub was next door to the church in Ripponden where the ceremony was held, which was also the church where Marissa’s parents had been married too.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen such an excited bride as Marissa when the vicar pronounced them husband and wife, and the smiles never stopped all day after that. Back at the reception the guests mingled in the sunshine while we took photographs, and a highlight for us was Hook a Duck, where the gentlemen guests had to fish a plastic duck from the pond to find out which lady they would be escorting into the wedding breakfast – great fun and another fantastic photo opportunity.

Our friends at Papakata had once again done an amazing job of setting up the tipis. Everything looked amazing with beautifully decorated tables, a chill out area and a fantastic wedding cake as centrepiece with mini-me’s of all everyone one the top table including identical wedding outfits – amazing. The speeches were rounded off with a great best men double act who had everyone in stitches with tales of Ian’s murky past. After that things really got going with the evening reception – Ian & Marissa’s friends and family really knew how to have a great time (I’m not even going to mention sumo suits…). Then as the evening drew to a close everyone stepped outside to set off dozens of chinese lanterns into the sky.

It was such a lovely day to be part of, and we’d like to thank Marissa & Ian for including us.

Phil & Lou xxx

Charlotte & Paul tied the knot on 14th May at the beautiful Oulton Hall Hotel. I was joined for the day by my fellow 3b chum Rob Booker who was helping out in Lou’s absence.

It was another really relaxed day with everything taking place at Oulton Hall. The dress code was Black Tie so all the men looked superb (afterwards Lou was v. perturbed she wasn’t able to be there as she loves a man in a dicky…). The black and white theme ran throughout the day with really stylish decor in the ceremony room and afterwards for the wedding breakfast.

Charlotte, of course, looked amazing and was fantastic to photograph – we love brides who can’t keep the smile from their faces!

Thanks Charlotte & Paul for sharing your day with us – we’ll see you very soon for your viewing!

Phil & Lou xx

Back to the end of April we go and it seems that time is flying this year.  I met up with Hannah and Gavin for their Pre-Wed shoot around Saltaire near Shipley. If you ever get the chance and not made it to this part of the world check out  Salts Mill and the David Hockney gallery 1853. A great place to come and be inspired. So it makes it a great location to take couples and walk along the canal to chat about their wedding plans. Like with all our couples we try and make this process as easy as possible. This usually means starting off with a large coffee or something stronger sometimes! But once we start I find the couples really getting into the pre-wedding shoot and start enjoying it. I have to say with Gavin he was a natural and loved playing up to the camera. We have just covered there wedding last month at the amazing Ripley Castle. It was a great day and made all the more interesting with the guys all wearing black tartan kilts. More of that to follow very soon. But in the meantime enjoy the slideshow below of some more images from their shoot.

Last week saw us back at one of our favourite venues, Allerton Castle, for Bridget & David’s wedding. We love working there and really feel part of the Allerton family. It’s lovely bumping into friends we’ve made within the wedding business -  Bridget & David had chosen our friend Fiona at Firenza to produce their beautiful (and gorgeous smelling) floral displays, and Chris & the guys from the Event Music Company provided the music for the day. Lauren Sally was Bridget’s fab make up artist (got a sneaky pic of here below!). We’ve worked with Lauren before last year at Laura & Jamie’s wedding so it was lovely to see her again.

We met up with Bridget & David at Allerton for their preparations and as usual I joined the girls while they sipped champagne and had their make up done. Lou hung out with the guys in the billiard room until the ceremony started. We managed to get outside for some photos and Bridget & David really entered into things despite the windy conditions so we ended up with some ace shots.

Bridget & David are probably sunning themselves on a tropical beach at the moment, but we wish them both loads of happy times.

Phil & Lou xxx

We ventured over the pennines last week for Tracey & Nick’s wedding. Their wedding was at the stunning Inn at Whitewell which is such a fantastic venue. It’s set in a beautiful part of the world and quite a hidden gem really – it’s an area sandwiched between the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District and I think it tends to get a bit overlooked as a result. Whatever, it’s gorgeous.

Anyway, we arrived at the hotel on a very cold but very bright, beautiful morning. Both Nick & Tracey were getting ready at the Inn – Nick in the main building and Tracey in the coach house, so everything was very relaxed. The hotel was buzzing with locals enjoying lunch after a country walk, but gradually Nick & Tracey’s guests arrived for the celebrations starting at 4pm. Tracey looked amazing as she walked down the aisle in her stunning dress (and purple shoes!) and the ceremony was such a happy occasion.

Tracey and Nick had opted for a purely reportage approach for their photography, although we did manage to sneak in a couple of shots of just the two of them outside before the chill got the better of everybody. After a wedding breakfast and speeches in the marquee a fantastic ceilidh was set up which was a great way of getting everyone up on the dance floor. We got some great shots of everyone, although I would rather have been up dancing with everyone!

Tracey and Nick, you were such a great couple to work with. We hope you had a fantastic wedding day – lots of love and congratultions to you both!

Phil & Lou xx

Our most recent wedding was also our snowiest. In fact it was proper welly-boot deep and crisp and even. Fortunately for us it was just around the corner from our home at Woodlands Hotel so even if we hadn’t managed to get the car out we could have easily walked it. Luckily we didn’t have to.

It was Rebecca & Ian’s big day – I’d spoken to Rebecca earlier in the week and she was a bit nervous to say the least! That hadn’t really changed when we arrived at the hotel (!), but as the day went on they both chilled out and had a great time.

I spent some time up in the penthouse with Rebecca and her little entourage while she had her hair and make up done. She had her dress designed and made specially for her and her dressmakers were on had to put the finishing touches to her outfit. I have to say she looked absolutely stunning in her silver gown – very much the fifties starlet and her final look was very Audrey Hepburn. Meanwhile Lou was capturing details downstairs and awaiting the boys’ arrival.

After the beautiful ceremony Rebecca and Ian were very brave and were happy to venture outside for a while for a few shots. It would have been a shame not to have captured the snow in some pictures, but we stopped short of wading through the deep stuff – I don’t think Rebecca’s stilettos were really up to it!

The wedding breakfast took place in the marquee which was looking stunning with gorgeous flowers supplied by our friends at Ivy in Pudsey. Also taking pride of place was a fantastic cupcake tower in some amazing colours. Three yummy courses, many bottles of wine and several speeches later it was set up time for the evening reception. I stayed on to capture some first dances as usual and it was lovely just to have a short drive home again – one reason we love working at Woodlands!!

Rebecca & Ian, we had such a great time with you at your wedding. You can both relax now!!

Phil & Lou xxx

Hannah and Adam’s wedding came at the start of a weekend dominated by snow. The forecast was for plenty of the white stuff, and as Hannah & Adam’s wedding was in rural Staffordshire we were watching the forecasts with keen interest. On the day however, it was perfect. Cold, yes, but a gorgeous day.

Hannah & Adam had chosen Packington Moor Farm for their wedding. We haven’t worked here before but it was a beautiful venue – a gorgeous old cosy barn for the ceremony and a bigger sunny barn for the wedding breakfast.

As always, Lou met up with the boys for their prep. She had her hands full with Adam and his (four!!) best men who kept her entertained with their comedy lunging (you had to be there really…). Meanwhile I was with Hannah and the girls as they got ready in one of the cottages on the farm. Hannah broke with tradition and wore a stunning purple dress which looked amazing and really seemed to fit the Christmassy mood.

It was just a short walk across the courtyard for Hannah to get to the barn for the ceremony. We weren’t able to stand at the front as we usually do during the ceremony, but the barn had a gallery which meant we were able to get some lovely shots of the whole barn from from up high.

The ceremony was at 3.30pm, so afterwards we whisked Hannah and Adam straight outside to make the most of the fast fading winter light for some couple shots around the courtyard. Then it was time for a few group shots. Once again Hannah & Adam’s friends proved they were game for a laugh and provided us with some interesting photo opportunities (see below…)

The wedding breakfast was a magnificent hog roast, bred on the farm. We were invited up to help ourselves too and can vouch for the deliciousness of the local produce! After speeches by five bridesmaids as well as four best men it was straight into the evening reception, DJ’d by another of Hannah and Adam’s guests. The snow had started to come down by this time so we left everyone having a fantastic time.

Hannah and Adam continued the winter theme with a honeymoon skiing in Whistler. We’ll see you soon, guys, for your viewing. Thank you for inviting us along to your beautiful winter wedding. We had an amazing time!

Phil & Lou xxx

Well in all the years we’ve been photographing weddings we’ve ever really had much wintry weather to contend with. Then suddenly down comes the snow and we all go a bit wobbly and we have 4 weddings on the trot with a covering of the white stuff (I realise if you’re reading this in, e.g. Canada, we all sound like the biggest wusses over here).

Anyway, one of those weddings, the last one of 2009, was Louise & Matthews, and what a fantastic day it was. It was our final wedding before Christmas so we were in a jolly mood anyway, and Louise & Matthew were a fantastic couple to work with. Louise told us that way back when she started planning the wedding she’d envisaged a winter wonderland theme, but I don’t think she thought for a moment that the weather would cooperate!

Everything took place at Oulton Hall which looked stunning in its snowy attire, complete with frozen fountain. I spent the morning there with Louise and her party while Lou captured the boys having a pre-nuptial snowball fight in the middle of a blizzard at one of Matthew’s usher’s house. Boys will be boys.

After the ceremony we managed to persuade Louise & Matthew to go outside for some photos. Actually they didn’t take much persuading at all and really entered into it – Louise in particular must have been freezing in her (gorgeous but not really designed for sub-zero temperatures) dress.

The wedding breakfast was held in the Oulton Suite which looked amazing, all decked out with snowflakes to match the ones outside. After we’d captured some of the first dances we left Louise & Matthew and their guests to carry on partying and made our way home where we put the fire on and cracked open the sherry to celebrate another year’s successful weddings completed.

Louise & Matthew were lucky enough to spend Christmas honeymooning on a beach in the Maldives. They’re back home now, so we’d like to thank them for inviting us to be part of their day. It was such a pleasure.

Phil & Lou xxx

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