To kick off what was to be the beginning of a wonderful bank holiday weekend was the Wedding of Dave and Kirsten. On Saturday I had been booked to document their special day at the absolutely stunning Macdonald Kilhey Court Hotel in Standish. It all stared however at Kirsten’s parent’s home in Hindley, Wigan.
As I arrived around 10am it suddenly dawned on me that I was on the same street of a couple whose wedding I had previously photographed back in 2016. Tony and Lisa were married at Brookfield Hall in Westhoughton and lived only doors down, unfortunately I didn’t get time to knock on to say hello! The Bridal party were in full flow of getting ready as I headed inside and after a short period of documenting those moments I headed upstairs to capture photos of the smaller details which included the wedding dress, wedding shoes, wedding jewellery, wedding flowers, bridesmaid dresses, flower girl dresses, mother of the bride’s dress etc. After about 45 minutes I headed back downstairs to finish off with the hair and make-up shots. Kirsten’s Dad had made an appearance by this point and was soon getting laughs out of everyone including myself 🙂
Time swiftly moved on and I soon found myself packing my kit away as I documented the remaining part of the morning which is to some, the biggest moment where ‘Father sees Daughter’ in her wedding dress.
I arrived at Macdonald Kilhey Court in Standish, Wigan where I met up with Wendy (the wedding coordinator) as we briefly caught up with one another before heading directly down to the lakeside Suite to meet for the first time, the Groom. Dave seemed a little nervous but I let him know the plan of action and gave him a heads up of the way I do things. The registrars had arrived already and so I introduced myself and set up my kit whilst the wonderful sounds were being created by Elinor Nicholson – Harpist.
Everyone was invited inside to take their seats ready for the arrival of the Bridal party. I waited up top outside the reception and near the iconic fountain where the bridesmaids, flower girls and mother of the bride arrived in a modern white limousine whilst Kirsten arrived in a beautiful classic car with her Dad by her side. The ceremony ran smoothly with some really funny moments, a couple of readings, the exchange of rings and finally onto the signing of the register before they headed back down the aisle as Husband and Wife. They looked very happy and as they exited the room they were welcomed with nice cold drinks which I expect they were grateful for especially after enduring quite warm temperatures during the ceremony 🙂
We cracked on with the formal group shots outside as we had quite a number to get through. We started with the smaller ones and built up to the larger groups before getting all 100 guests together for the ultimate wedding photo! It was good fun with one of the Ushers requesting a little stand up in between shots…… erm, I declined, haha!
With the groups eventually complete I quickly headed inside to take photos of the reception room dressed up before guests started taking their seats. Sadly I missed the action of Mike’s Magic who was the entertainment during the interval between the ceremony and speeches but I have seen him in action before and I heard he made a positive impression on the day. Someone else who was to keep the happy couple’s family and friends amused during the meal was someone who actually was part of my Wedding day back in 2015 and I had also caught up with him in 2016 at a Wedding I was working at. Sean of ‘Cartoon Magic Sean Blackpool’ was around for a couple of hours creating hilarious portraits in quick time and as always was very professional.
The speeches were before the meal which included the Father of the Bride, the main man himself and Dave’s Best man. They were all great which included funny and heart touching stories from all. Afterwards I invited the newlyweds to have a walk around the venue with me whilst we captured the more intimate shots of them together. The sun was shining and with it being a little later in the day it was perfect for some low light shots! We even headed inside to the iconic stairway which is just past reception and shows off just how grand it is!
The time had soon come for the first dance and I set up my gear ready for the official introduction of the new Mr & Mrs Jarrett as the DJ announced them onto the dance floor. Unfortunately with timings quite tight earlier in the day we didn’t get to arrange a confetti shot in the usual format but I put across the idea of having guests throw it during their first dance which they loved 🙂
It was a fantastic day which I thoroughly enjoyed and I can’t wait to begin the editing of their wedding day photographs. For now please enjoy these sneak peek images,
Thanks…
