Jen & Ally, 25th June 2011

The mixed weather of June 2011 decided to give Jen & Ally a break and the 25th stayed dry all day for them.

This beautiful Rolls Royce belonged to a neighbour and it was immaculately turned out for its role on the day.

Preparations were well underway in the house

Jen's dress was from Blackburn Bridal Couture in London and looked stunning hanging up...

..and even better when Jen was ready to go.

Off to the church in Rothbury - I hitched a lift with the bridesmaids in the Bentley from Alnwick Wedding Cars while Jen, and her dad followed in the luxury of the Rolls.

The church service was a nice blend of dignified ceremony with a light-hearted atmosphere...
Flowers were by local Rothbury supplier Flowers and Foliage

Back at Callaly Castle a piper had been posted to the roof beside a Saltire flying in honour of Ally's Scottish family

The marquee was looking great thanks to the marquee providers Best Intent, the caterers Epicurus and in no small measure to Jen's own hand-made bunting

Jen, Ally and I wandered round the gardens for a few minutes to get a few fun 'formal' shots before the meal.

Martha the flower girl with a much loved, and well dressed bunny.

The speeches were very funny, moderately outrageous and well delivered; They went down very well with everyone

We had time to quickly cut the Dreamworld cake before the first dance - maybe we cut it a bit too quickly...!

The Ceilidh band led off the top table and wedding party in a Strip the Willow as the First Dance which was really fun. The non-Scots put in a good show and when I left the dance floor was absolutely packed.

Jen & Ally's 150 guests were the most enthusiastic set of guests you could hope for; rounds of applause in the church, great fun during the family photos, superbly responsive to the speeches and well up for a dance. It was a brilliant, colourful, happy day which I really enjoyed being a part of.
Thanks for having me there and I'll talk to you when you're back from honeymoon.

Best wishes

Andy


Northumberland Photo Training - Teaching the Art of Natural Photography
andy craig photography - Family Portraits and Wedding Photography
one-eyed-hound.com - Dog Photography ...it's a dog's life

Amie & Adrian

I was brought in to photograph Amie & Adrian's wedding at the last minute due to their planned photographer falling ill.

I was pleased to be able to help them out: Having to cancel a wedding is every photographer's worst nightmare and all good pro's have an emergency plan to fall back on. Today, I was the emergency plan!

It was a very rainy day when I arrived at Amie's Mum and Dad's farm but I found everyone ready to go and Dad was in charge of the champagne...

St Aidan's Church in Bamburgh is like a mini-cathedral; an ancient, historic building with a special atmosphere all of its own. Adrian was keeping it together and Best Man Scott was doing a tremendous job organising the guests.

The flower girls looked adorable as they sheltered in the church doorway waiting with Mum and the bridesmaids for Amie to arrive.

I stay at the back of the church at St Aidan's but I'm still able to get shots of the ceremony without interrupting the service.

Amie and Adrian are both from farming families and after the family photos they left the church through a guard of honour formed from antique pitch forks.

There's a tradition of stepping up and over an old stool at St Aidan's. Amie's Mum and Dad had done the same thing a few years ago and Amie managed it with great dignity!

We stopped by Budle farm on the way to the reception for some rather soggy formals overlooking the Northumberland coast.

And then it was off to Embleton Hall, Longframlington for the reception. This is a beautifully maintained country house which has a really nice personal feel to it. Amie & Adrian's colour scheme suited the room beautifully.

Too wet to go out into the gardens sadly but plenty of lovely locations inside Embleton Hall.

It was a slightly strange experience to photograph a wedding at such short notice as I normally know my couples quite well by the time the Wedding comes around but I was made to feel very welcome and I really enjoyed the day. I look forward to showing the rest of the photos to you when you're back from honeymoon.

Best wishes

Andy

Northumberland Photo Training - Teaching the Art of Natural Photography
andy craig photography - Family Portraits and Wedding Photography
one-eyed-hound.com - Dog Photography ...it's a dog's life

Best of May 2011

Here are some of my favourite shots from May 2011. These have all appeared on my other blog Northumberland360.com - The Photographic Diary of a Dog-walker on the Northumberland Coast.

Hope you like them...

Northumberland Photo Training - Teaching the Art of Natural Photography
andy craig photography - Family Portraits and Wedding Photography
one-eyed-hound.com - Dog Photography ...it's a dog's life