In case you're interested, the two winning images can be seen here.
If you were considering having your wedding here, don't hold back from booking. It's in such a great location and it's so convenient because there is often no driving from Bridal prep-house to church to reception venue. Everything under one roof!
Just make sure they light the fire for you. The smell is so relaxing!

Unfortunately, the first time I met up with Samuel & Kayleigh was on their wedding day. Due to some worrying family health, the date had been pushed forward and it seemed like everybody helped out to make everything run smooth. And it did!

I wish I had time to of met up with them before their bit day as they're a cracking couple.
Still, never mind. I always try my hardest to really get to know my couples before their wedding day so that they can feel comfortable around me.
It is always beneficial.

Kayleigh got her hair and make up ready in the keepers cottage before escaping to the Bridal suite to get into her dress without anyone spotting her. All good fun I thought!
Whilst everybody was in the cottage getting ready, I went out the backdoor to have a little explore.
Long story short: door closed behind me, locked shut, spent 10 minutes shouting for help. Of course, everybody found it hilarious! Good times.

On with the pictures then.
Just a little note about these fabric bouquets; Kayleigh made them herself and was very modest about them. Well done Kayleigh, we all think they're amazing!

The ceremony itself was a pleasure to cover. Real emphasis was put on making the marriage strong by making their God come first and by supporting each other and working as a real team. Often I find that church ceremonies aren't personal to the couple which is a real shame as it is such a personal day.
On many occasions, the priest/vicar/officiant has got the couple's name wrong and it's so embarrassing!
To save their own embarrassment, I've often been asked if I know the couples name.
"Sure, I'll tell you if you pay me real good money!"
Of course, there was no shame or mess-ups. Perhaps because my very own brother was best-man. It was very strange having him around, as I'm sure anybody will tell you!

It was a great wedding full of friends, old and new. Many of them previous clients of mine (a term that I hate using) 

Please enjoy the pictures, I know a lot of you have been looking forward to this wedding so if you've seen the pictures, please leave a comment and spread the word!

Thank you as always.

Joseph

Gavin and Lucy, what can I say?

Well, this isn't really me copping out, but I'm not going to say much about them. I really think that these pictures are a true reflection of their personality. That's not meant to make me seem like a photographer genius, it's just all about Gavin and Lucy.  So, I'm really going to struggle to not say anything about these two. Just enjoy.

I remember our wedding day. I don't remember the actual ceremony, but I do remember that it was great. I think I must of been a total scatter brain, which will come to no surprise to some of you but felt I just felt so nervous for no reason at all.
When you look at these pictures, just look at Gavin's face. He's doing what I tell all my couples to do; Stop and look around because your day will fly by so quickly its ridiculous. I bet Gavin and Lucy remember their ceremony so well and hopefully these pictures will help them.

They booked me after seeing another wedding in Manchester Town Hall, followed by the wedding reception in Didsbury.
Lucy and Gavin's wedding was held in the church, followed by an intimate but really fun wedding at Eleven Didsbury Park Hotel. I loved the hotel with its New York theme and gorgeous garden.
Little touches really made this a fun and unique day. Cinematic Orchestra played during signing of the register, Champagne in vintage tea cups and lace bunting tied to the trees were just some of the things that made the day so...Gavin-and-Lucy.

I'll hand the pictures over to you now.

A little while ago, I received a phone call from a lady with an incredible voice. Hints of English, Irish, Italian and French.
The lady was a certain Anna Debenedictis, a wedding, child and portrait photographer now based in Ireland
The good news was that she was due to give birth any day soon, the bad news was that she was due to cover Michael and Rachael's wedding but knew that there was a risk she could pop on their wedding day.
Cue the Mighty Mouse theme song!

So I met up with Michael and Rachael, had an engagement shoot with them, and a little while later I shot their wedding at the amazing Bristol Zoo.
By the way, you can view their engagement pictures a little later...
The zoo was an incredible place for Michael and Rachael to have their wedding. So many opportunities for amazing pictures as I'm sure you can imagine.
With it being England, it rained of course and with me only shooting for a couple of hours we were a little rushed, but we still had a great time.
It turned out to be a really intimate day that was all about family.
I would of love to of stayed around for longer as as usual, I was in my element.

Congratulations Michael and Rachael, you were an absolute pleasure.
Enjoy the pictures!

As usual, it was an absolute pleasure to shoot at Priston Mill in Bath, especially when it was as laid back as James and Rachael's wedding.
James, along with Rachael, work as editors for a magazine so it's always great to work with people in the media!
How Rachael ended up with working in the same company as James is a completely different story but I'm sure he'd love to tell you!

I loved how James and Rachael chose Priston mill as their wedding venue, despite none of their family or friends being from the area. They simply wanted to do things their own way and luckily their guests were totally on board!
Bumping in to some of the guests the day after in Bath was brilliant!

James and Rachael loved the area and agreed that when they're ready, this is where they'll get married.
A couple of years down the line, with a beautiful daughter, they kept their promise to the Mill!

After the wedding, I received an email from James checking to see how I'm getting on with the pictures, attached a picture of me at work which you'll find on my twitter feed, and I quote: "We had a great day, although my brother in his slightly drunken wisdom decided to pick me up and then fell over... he's still on crutches! Other than that, good fun!"

Good times.
Enjoy the pictures and leave a comment at the bottom.
If you're interested in having your wedding at Priston Mill then I can do nothing but totally recommend it.
The food is incredible and the staff are some of the most attentive I've ever worked with.
I'm sure James and Rachel will vouch for the Mill.

Anyway, enjoy the pictures and as always, leave a comment.
They make me feel all happy!
 Joseph.

I knew these two were going to be extra special when they sent me, along with the signed contract, a picture of the wedding cake they wanted and a hand written letter.
Sure, not that unusual, but when my couples do things like that, it gets me really excited about their wedding. It shows that they're passionate about their wedding day too!

We eventually met up in the beautiful city of Bath for an engagement shoot and we hit it off straight away. I remember Ed and Lucy saying that they were both nervous about meeting me, it felt a bit like a first date for them!
"What if we didn't like you?", they asked. Well...there's always that risk I guess!
In case you've not had a chance to look yet, their engagement pictures are here.

We drove the amazing journey to Aberystwyth along the mountain road and met Lucy as she got ready with her Mum and Bridesmaids at home.
After a quick little drive into the town we met Ed at the church waiting to marry Lucy.
Very nice.
On to the reception which was held at the Conrah Hotel which sits in 18 acres of amazing Welsh scenery.
I'd love to shoot there again, it's an incredible part of the world.

I was made to feel so welcome by all their guests which I'm always so grateful for.
My favorite moment?
Probably when Lucy's Nan was dancing to Kings of Leon's Sex on Fire!
Yeh, in fact that might be my favorite ever wedding moment!

Enjoy the pictures, ok?

Congratulations Ed and Lucy.

I've known Mike for a little while but met Gabi for the first time at Rowan and Faye's wedding a couple of months back.

The engagement shoot
We met up at Blaise Castle which you may of seen a couple of times on the blog here, here and here!
When couples ask to shoot there, it's music to my ears! It's on my backdoor step, and it's beautiful there!

We started the shoot in the typical way by having a chat and helping them to see that although I may look like a total hunk in my picture, I'm actually very approachable, as is my camera!

The actual pictures!
Enjoy them, leave a comment and more importantly look out for their wedding on here soon!

So I've been waiting for the right time to blog this wedding and I'll be straight with you here; this is a long post.
Colin, my web-guy will probably kill me for this. Sorry Colin.
We're talking like, 120ish images here. So, I'm sorry but at the same time I'm also not sorry at all because I know you'll love this wedding.
Alex and Sian, as I mentioned in my previous post featuring their engagement pictures, are both doctors.
A fair percentage of doctors were present at the wedding, I'm sure they would of had an absolute field-day poking my odd little body and wondering what the devil is up with it!

Alex and Sian had their wedding ceremony in Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan, just a few miles outside Cardiff.
They then were joined by their friends and family at Sian's parents amazing house in a little village called Bonvilston.

It was an utter pleasure to shoot. I was looked after so well by everybody, especially Sian's parents who kindly hosted their daughter's and new son-in-laws wedding.
They had an amazing marquee on their land but as you might know, a marquee requires flat land and it meant that earth literally had to be moved to make everything even!
I joined Sian and her bridesmaids, as well as Alex and his boys as they got ready for the most amazing, musical wedding that Bonvilston has ever seen. Probably.

Enjoy.

Sian and her girls got ready in a room that was big enough to host her 21st Birthday party with a bouncy castle!

An asian/south american/english fusion breakfast! Of course!

These bouquets and the button hole a few pictures up were by Vida Flora in Porthcawl. Really amazing!

Sian surprised her girls with pearl necklaces. I loved their reaction!

I think all of Sian's girls all looked amazing, they were great fun too.

I then met up with Alex and his ushers in this funny little B&B.

We popped over the road to a petting zoo for some quick formals.

Simples!

The amazing Welsh male voice Choir filled the church with their incredible voices!

Does mother approve Alex?

Don't they all look great! Sian's sister is the one in the middle.

That's a proud Dad!

Married!

My favorite picture from the day I think!

It was so hot. Alex and Sian had kindly made sure that the ushers handed out bottles of water to the guests outside the church. Little acts of kindness like this cost so little, but say so much!

We visited the castle ruins that we did part of their photoshoot in. I was expecting the castle to of been finished by then, but no.

Samuel Davies, an incredible jazz pianist set the mood whilst the guest enjoyed champagne and canapes.

Enjoy these detail shots from the marquee!

Both Alex and Sian's parents are still happily married so they chose to display wedding pictures from previous generations.
Call me slow, but it was right here that I realised the importance of my "job".
In 30 or so years, pictures that I've taken will hang next to these pictures at their child's wedding! Such an honour.

The table names were all named after pubs on a famous Leeds pub crawl.

A review I found online of the Polybop charmingly said:
"Every darn saturday we always get ourselves completly drunk and end up going to this complete dive. But the thing is, every time we go here we have a right good time. I dont know what it is, mebbies because everyone who is there hates the place as much as you do then everyone is out to just have fun and pull anyone they can..."
Great choice for the top table then!

Look at that view!

Time for food! Catering by New House Hotel, they did an incredible job.

Just as they started the first dance, they had a power cut! Thank goodness it didn't last long because it looked like they'd been practising!

Without a shadow of a doubt, this was the best wedding band I've seen. They're called SoundAwake. I can't wait to work with them again!

Look lady, we all know how to play a vuvuzela!

Yes, there were a lot of pictures, but I could of easily blogged them all!
I had such an amazing day, thank you so much for letting me capture all of this Alex and Sian!
It was a pleasure, all day!

Hope you enjoyed!

I really enjoyed this wedding, I was there right up to the very end which was great as I really got to know a couple of the guests.
I certainly felt like one of Owen and Jane's friends by the end of the evening as they made me feel so welcome!

So, thank you, you two!
I hope you made your flight to San Francisco for your honeymoon in the end!

This one picture is just a little teaser.
It really caught my eye when I was going through the 1400-ish pictures!

I love that Owen's mum made time to glance at her son at a very important moment.

Keep an eye on the blog as I've got another great teaser to post before I blog the best of Owen and Jane's pictures from their wedding at Clearwell Castle.

Enjoy!