Weddings,

Lumley Castle Wedding Photography for Jason & Steph

 

Jason & Steph chose me for their wedding photography and upon meeting them for the first time I knew we would get along perfectly.  We had a discussion about what style of wedding photography and family photos they would like and we drew up a list of family photos and decided on a mixture of traditional wedding family photos and natural photos taken in the moment.  Jason also showed me some wedding photos he really liked and asked if I could recreate these, which I had no problem in doing.

It was a fine day for Jason & Steph at their chosen venue of Lumley Castle in the heart of County Durham.  Surrounded by gorgeous parklands overlooking the River Wear it was the perfect setting for their big wedding day.

I started the day by visiting the bridal party in their room at Lumley Castle.  I always stay out of the way and just let everyone go about what it is they need to do.  This is the best way of achieving natural looking photos.  I captured photos of the children having fun, hair and makeup and the dresses amongst others.  One of my all-time favourite photos is the bride’s reflection looking into the mirror.  It always shows a really natural look and true emotion.

Once it was time for guests to arrive I left Steph and headed off to meet up with Jason and his best man for the obligatory photo.  Jason and Steph chose The Scarborough State Room for their ceremony and it was a lovely bright airy room with neutral decor, great for photos.   It was a lovely ceremony both with tears and laughs as Jason & Steph declared their commitments to each other.  Once the ceremony was over we took photos of the signing of the register and then headed downstairs to the Dungeon bar.

Shortly after, it was time for family photos and couple portraits so I got everyone outside lined up on the famous stairs for a photo of all the guests.  It is always a challenge to get every last person in the photo, I need to be firm but polite.  Most guests can then relax and do their own thing, apart from the main members of the family and wedding party who need to stay for traditional wedding photos.  Once family photos were over it was time for the bride and groom to have some time to themselves and we wandered off away from the guests to get some intimate couple portraits.  Its probably the calmest and quietest part of the day where the happy couple can have 15 minutes to themselves.  We got some amazing portraits which will look great framed on the wall.

I then headed to The Barons Hall to set-up for speeches and capture the details of the day.  I love to have a bit of quiet time to capture the details, the wedding favours, table decorations and name cards.  Its lovely to capture the delicate layout of the room before guests sit down.  Speeches went down a storm, everyone was laughing, perfect to capture natural happy photos of guests.

I then had a break whilst everyone had their wedding breakfast and headed back later for the evening reception.  As dusk was falling the lighting provided the opportunity to take the photograph that Jason had requested.  It was at the top of the steps outside at the front of the castle, where the colour wash lights are with a flash placed behind the bride and groom to create a silhouette. 

Shortly after we headed inside as it was time for the first dance.  As usual, I set the remote flash heads at diagonal angles across the dance floor and they created a beautiful highlight edge on everyone in the room dancing and having a great time.

I have to say it really was an amazing day, Jason & Steph and their family and all the staff at Lumley Castle really did make me feel welcome and part of their day.

 

 

For wedding package info please visit the Wedding Photography Packages page.