HASLINGTON HALL

Cheshire wedding photographer

Bridal Preparations

I was really looking forward to photographing this wedding especially the bridal preparations as the bride’s father was doing the brides hair??? Yes its true! The brides father is a hairdresser with his own salon, “Clive’s Salon” in Newcastle Under Lyme. The salon had lots of natural light and was spacious. The salon had old school hairdryers scattered about the place, giving the salon a slight retro edge. I kept getting the tune “Beauty school dropout” from the film Grease in my head.

I started by taking photographs of the father of the bride styling the brides hair. While photographing the bride I could see all what was going on around the room in the mirrors. This made for great voyeuristic shots. Everyone was in good spirits, so there was lots of laughter in the room.

While at the salon, the bride’s mother rang to say that the car was stuck in the car-wash and she can’t get it out. Everyone thought this was hilarious. Have you ever heard of that happening before? Poor mum on her daughter’s wedding day! These people had such a great sense of humor, to be able to laugh that off.

I love photographing make up and brushes. Makeup artists always look at me a bit funny when I ask them, can I photograph your brushes? There is a real aesthetic feel to them.

The Bridal accessories are a photographed must. Next door to the salon was the bridal shop, were Leonora got changed. How handy is that! I photographed the dress and shoes before she put them on.

Leonora looked absolutely stunning in her wedding dress.

I love this photograph. It has such a story to tell. The bride’s parents were looking out of the window waiting for the wedding cars to arrive. The bridesmaids were looking at themselves in the mirror.  The bride now with her veil on taking a last look at herself before she is picked up to go to the church. Everyone is deep in thought in this photograph.

I had to get a funny shot of the bride with her bridesmaids before we left, especially given that the location we were in was unusual.

Ceremony at whitmore Church-Part 2

As the Bride and her father arrive at the gate of the Church yard. The brides Father puts the veil over the Brides face in preparation.

Whitmore church is in Cheshire and dates back to the Norman times. Through the ages the church has had reconstruction from various eras, making it extremely interesting to look at. The porch which is Victorian was decorated with flowers and looked so pretty.

After the ceremony we gathered people together to take some relaxed formal shots outside Whitmore church.

Most Churches have a rule about confetti. Some just allow biodegradable confetti and others ask for you to throw the confetti just outside the gates.Whitmore Church was so quirky looking we had to have it in the background of the formal group shots.

Haslington Hall Wedding Photography-Part 3

Haslington Hall is a Grade 1 listed Hall set within 25 acres. The venue is designed specifically for weddings. The owners have put much thought into the design as there is not one spot that does not have character and charm. When arriving at Haslington Hall it had started to rain, but the Bride and Groom were not put off by this. They were still extremely happy. 

A Photograph of the wedding car flower decoration.

After the Bride and Groom had settled at Haslington hall and had welcomed their guests, we started to round people up to get a big group shot. This was taken from the upstairs window.

We then proceeded to take more photographs of the Bride and groom. Haslington Hall has so many places that can be used as backdrops for photographs. We first chose to take photographs in front of the water fountain.

The Bride then requested we took some photographs of her on the swing.

Fun wedding photography.

While Leonora and Craig were doing the receiving line, It was time to have a look inside the wedding marquee to take some photographs of the wedding breakfast decorations.

In the garden at the back of the hall is a Marquee, where the wedding breakfast was to be held. The marquee has a chequered dance floor at one end and a seating area on the other. The ceilings have heavily draped fabric and grand chandeliers. Part of the wedding couples theme was white orchids and peacock feathers, which tied in with the various blues around the room. The marquee has glass walls so that you can see the gardens surrounding you.

The speeches by father of the bride and the groom were very touching and emotion spread around the room.

Later after the speeches we took bride and groom to do more couple shots. The couple wanted us to take some photographs of them in the bridal suite which was called the “orchard room” .All the bedrooms in Haslington Hall have different names and have their own character. In the bridal suite the ceilings had wooden beams; the windows were also a beautiful feature so we wanted to get them in. There was also a four poster bed which was a copy of the “Bed of Ware” which belongs to “king Henry the VIII”. This was a fabulous prop as I could use the posts for the bride and groom to lean on. Leonora and Craig posed so naturally together, they didn’t really need any direction.

I also got some gorgeous shots of the bride lying on the bed. She had the poise of a royal and the glamour of a movie star. She was amazing to photograph!

This photograph was of the couples shadow over the fireplace. If I have time to experiment I like to have a bit of fun creatively. I wasn’t expecting the reflection and only noticed it after processing. How wonderful!

In the evening everyone went back into the marquee. They had a fabulous band called “Matrix Club Matrix” playing .The first dance was a pleasure to photograph as the chequered floor gave a nice prospective to the room, while the chandeliers glowed golden and really complemented the blue lighting on the ceiling. Gladly the DJ didn’t have any disco lights on. Disco lights can sometimes spoil the first dance photographs as they cast a colour on the couples face and this can be unflattering. Everyone really got down and boogied to the great music. Outside the marquee, various trees and Haslington Hall were lit up. They also had lit lanterns from a tree. This venue really takes care about every detail. I really enjoyed photographing at this venue.