And this week's winner is....

Ahem.  The winner of the Manchester Wedding Show free prize draw is.......drum roll please.

EMILY HILL!!!!

Well done Emily!

Happy New Year!

I hope this year brings you everything you wish for yourself but mostly health and happiness ( a bit of wealth wouldn't go amiss either) 


It's going to be a busy one, this year. So much to look forward to.


You know how you always see the 'round of up the year' programmes? Well, I thought I'd do a 'favourite photos of 2011' round up but I couldn't do it because there was waaaaayy too many favourites and I couldn't decide.  It would have been a massive post with about 300 photos in it! Every now and then I'll pop a few in as I'm working on them so you can see what we've been up to. 


The wedding fair season starts on the 29th January for us. We'll be exhibiting at Park Hall, that's always a good show so pop in to say hello, it's always nice to hear from you. 


In the meantime, It's all about album design. Last year's brides and grooms have now mostly picked their album pictures so it's head down and get designing for me for the next few weeks. That should keep me out of mischief for a while - that and the New Year get fit campaign.


See you soon! 

Wow! It's Wrightington!

Wrightington Hotel wedding fair this Sunday.

 It's going to be fab! cake, dresses, cake, pretties, cake, photographs and cake. What's not to love about a wedding fair?

Come along and say hello - and have a mooch through our gorgeous new albums.

Triangle Wedding Fair

BRILLIANT weekend at The Triangle Centre wedding fair in Manchester this weekend. Many thanks to everyone who came for a chat. I'll be posting the full story very soon.

My feet hurt. I've been stood on 'em all weekend. Any chance of a foot rub? Anyone?

Michael Buble? Wow!

I'm told that at our last wedding fair of this season at Park Hall, Charnock Richard, in addition to the numerous goodies you expect to find at a wedding fair there will be a Michael Buble tribute act on!!

Did you think Im meant the real thing? Aw, sorry, put your clothes back on, there's a good girl.

See you there!!

Another wedding fair

This weekend we at exhibiting at the gorgeous Preston Marriott.  This is a new venue for Bob and me and I'm very, very excited about it.

Have you seen it, it's beeee-yootiful!  Echoes of a more elegant age altogether, methinks. Sigh.

So,  *shakes self* back to reality. As promised here is a preview of Katie and Toby's wedding album.

Everyones asks me where the lovely tower is, it's in Shropshire. It was well worth the journey, what a stunning location.

Katie and Toby requested a  very simple and clean look to their album design and as their ( and your ) wish is my command, that is what I created.

It always seems really obvious to me that we all have different tastes and ideas so how could a 'one size fits all' approach to designing albums work?  It needs to be as individual as you are.

 I spend  many an hour creating individually designed albums  that I know our couples are going to love and cherish forever. It's a labour of love and I wouldn't change that for the world.

Wrightington

We're at the Wrightington Hotel wedding fair tomorrow. See you there.

The Dunkenhalgh

It's the morning of the wedding fair at The Dunkenhalgh. Just a few last minute jobs to do before we get going.

The weather is appalling but don't let that put you off. It may be blowing a gale, raining and cold but there is a very warm welcome waiting for you at the wedding fair.

We've got some lovely new pictures for the exhibition stand, come and take a look.

In the meantime:

Here are a couple of photographs of a little boy who came to see us recently.  This one went right off the cuteness scale.

I might be wrong but I get the feeling we might have a budding footballer on our hands. I loved his little Blackburn Rovers kit.

Did you know that we do portrait sittings for only £25? Why not book a sitting for your little one  - or even for the whole family? 

Spring cleaning time

Shortly after I started to photograph children I realised that when a small child comes into the studio we usually get the best photos by just relaxing and letting them do their own thing.

This little girl wasn't interested in the toys in the baskets, or in posing nicely for the camera. She decided instead that the studio need a sweep and she was going to be the one to do it - and who was I to stop her?

 The little girl had fun, I had fun and got the photos I wanted, Mum nearly burst with pride and the studio has a nice, newly swept floor.

Last week's wedding fair at Garstand Golf Club was mobbed!  Bob and me hardly had time to draw breath all night.  Many thanks to all of those who came, and even waited patiently for a chance to chat with us. I hope you found the fair as good as we did.

This weekend we will be exhibiting at the Dunkenhalgh at Clayrton le Moors.  We like the Dunkenhalgh, it's always a busy venue with lots for you to see and do ( and usually some yummy wedding cake left over for we exhibitors to take home with us - every job has it's perks!)

 It's been a busy, busy  month for wedding fairs and  as a result the major dates for weddings for this year have already been taken.

Next year and even 2013 are filling up fast so please; come and see us and get your date booked in, you haven't got as much time as you think.

Good Grief!

What a busy, busy night at Garstang Golf Club last night!  We ran out of everything!

Many thanks to all those who came for a chat, it was lovely to meet you all and hearing about your wedding plans.

There were plenty of big, sparkly diamonds on show last night, most of which were delivered by Santa, I think.  The fashion show was......well, actually, I have no idea.

I'd been told to make a point of watching it as it was a bit different and very special but Bob and me hardly had time to draw breath never mind stand and watch the models. We were still chatting to folks when everyone else had packed up and gone!

We made it home about 11.15 last night,  it wasn't many minutes before I was in my bed and snoring my head off, I can tell you.

The next wedding fair will be at the Dunkenhalgh on the 6th Feb.  See you there.

Another Wedding Fair

This Tuesday evening we are at Garstang Golf Club,  then on Sunday, 6th February we will be at the Dunkenhalgh.

I've got loads to tell you and photos to post, as soon as I get a spare minute I'll catch you up on all the latest gossip in Wowland.

Wedding Fayre Time

The first wedding fair of this season (for us, anyway) will be at Haighton Manor tomorrow evening. It's a pretty venue and I've always enjoyed it there so I'm quite looking forward to it.  Why not pop in and have a chat?

It's been a busy few weeks her at Wow! Towers. Babies, bumps, families and kids have all been popping along to the studio for photos. here are a couple from just before Christmas.

 I was told that this little girl was shy. Really?  She hides it well!

I may have done a little bit of work on this photograph. If you'd like something a bit different and totally unique then give me a call and we'll have a chat about it.

Another shoot I really enjoyed was with this little munchkin, she was only a few days old and flatly refused to wake up. So sweet.

I've got loads more to show you, as soon as I have them ready, I'll post them for you. In the meantime: have a nice day, hope I see you tomorrow at Haighton Manor

Haighton Manor

Have you missed me?  No?  Tsk,  oh well.

It's been full steam ahead getting wedding albums designed and out of the door before the Christmas rush starts (yes, really, so early).

Many thanks to this year's brides and grooms who all seem to have chosen their album photos in record time!!  Big round of applause for them!!! Yay!!!!

We're exhibiting at a wedding fair at Haighton Manor tomorrow evening, the first of this season. Why not pop in and say hello? We've got some fabulous new stuff to show you.

See you there!

Wow!

It was sooooo busy at the Dunkenhalgh on Sunday.

Most of the major dates are now  booked for this year and next year already. We could have booked 28th May 1011  four times over!!

If you're thinking of booking us to do your wedding photography with us then please don't wait too long to do it as it really is getting busy and I'd hate for you to be disappointed.

So. The show. What a lot of exhibitors.

There were a lot of old friends and quite a few new ones.  Of course my priority is always to check out the food stalls and there were plenty to choose from, including one that did the most gorgeous looking chocolate dipped strawberries you've ever seen, and  they tasted as good as they looked.  I lingered for a while round there!

That's the end of the wedding fairs for us for a little while. It was lovely chatting with so many of you, please don't hesitate to get in touch if we can help in any way with your wedding, or indeed any other photography, you might want.

Martin & Charlotte

This week I have been putting the finishing touches to Martin & Charlotte's wedding album.  It was a big honour for me and Bob to be asked to photograph Charlotte's wedding because we've known her since she was about three.  I'm getting all teary eyed just thinking about it!

So, sniff,  (pulls self back together). The wedding ceremony was at St Peter's church in Darwen, What a fantastic church it is.  We'd never been in this church before, even though I live in the town,  and I was stunned that a little town like Darwen has such a beautiful church. Someone told me that it's  known as 'The Cathedral of Darwen' and I can well see why.

Charlotte arrived, her usual bubbly self, looking gorgeous (oops, there I go again, sniff).

I'd managed to get myself in the balcony for the ceremony, just in the right spot to capture this moment.

I love the juxtaposition of the all the serious faces at the back, respecting the solemnity of the occasion and all the smiling faces at the front, sharing a special, funny moment.

Funny word, juxtaposition, no one ever uses it in real life but photographers us it all the time. It's like having a little language all of our own.

Here's Charlotte with her Mum.

We can see you, you know!

It was a fabulous warm, sunny day. We couldn't have booked better weather. The bridesmaids and pageboy seemed to enjoy it.

The groom's brothers got in on the act as well, in fact everyone just went out of their way to have a brilliant time. Formal pictures?  Not for this crowd, they just wanted to have fun. Just the way I like 'em!

The wedding car was fantastic. I thought it suited a bit of the old 'Top Gear' treatment to make it look a bit more dramatic. What do you think?

We went for a stroll round the gardens at the Swallow Hotel in Samlesbury. The staff were amazing.

The wedding Fair season starts again next month, as long as we aren't snowed off again.  Dates at the moment are:

Foxfields Hotel, Whalley.  7th Feb

Haighton Manor, Preston. 10th Feb

Sparth House, Clayton le Moors. 21st Feb

Dunkenhalgh, Clayton le Moors. 7th March

Why not pop down for a chat?

Santa's little helper

Aaaaaaahhhh, it warms the cockles of your heart, doesn't it?  

This little cutie came for a photo shoot on Sunday. As well as doing the booked portrait shoot we decided to let her have a little play in the Christmas set that I'd put together for our family Christmas photos.  While she just played away with the toys and clothes I just kept on shooting and getting some lovely, natural shots Besides, there's no point in trying to pose a baby on a mission, and this baby was on a mission!  

I don't think she knows that her backside's for sitting on, she was all over the place having a lovely time as me, Bob and her Mum and Dad, just kept saying "aaaahhhh, isn't she sweet?"

This is my favourite pic of the day

Now that the wedding season is over for this year I'm spending most of my time on my computer getting all the albums and reprint orders out in time for Christmas.  I'll be posting  a few of the album pages for you to have a look at in the next few days.  In the meantime, here's advance warning of a couple of wedding fairs we're exhibiting at next year.

Early start for this year - 6th January at Haighton Manor in Preston.  

After that we are at the Dunkenhalgh in Clayton le Moors on the 7th March.

I'll post details of our other wedding fairs as we book them.

Answer: Me and nursery school teachers

So what's the question?

The question is: who gets to build halloween sets for  children that don't belong to them?

The good and bad thing about being terminally unable to throw anything away is that I have loads of props knocking about for various projects.  Astroturf anyone?

 Following another one of my bright ideas I have spent all this afternoon creating a small set at the studio ready for the  not insignificant  stream of small children who will be passing through it over the next week or so.  What a great excuse to play with fake spiders and spiders webs. Tonight I'm carving a pumpkin ready for a shoot tomorrow.  My family have been threatened with pumpkin pie for tea tomorrow. None of them seem particularly thrilled by the prospect, I wonder why?



All was going swimmingly with the set build until one of the staff came in to chat for a minute and thought the fake spiders real, she let out a blood curdling scream, pointing frantically at my lap while backing quickly out of the room. Scared the living daylights out of me!!

The finished set will be ready for photographing tomorrow so I'll post some pics then for you.

I've noticed the blog now has a follower. Hi, (waves cheerily), welcome to the blog, hope you find it interesting.

This Sunday we will be exhibiting at a wedding fair at The Dunkenhalgh, Clayton le Moors.  It starts at 12 midday until 4pm.  It should be a good one and it certainly is a lovely venue so if you're thinking of getting married in the next 18 months or so why not pop in for a chat?  To get you in the mood here are some images from Scott & Emma's wedding at 'The Dunk.'

It was a cold, wet and blustery day so most of the photographs had to be taken indoors. We did manage to get a couple of the magnificent facade before the weather drove us indoors.

 We'd been out for a pre wedding shoot the week before the wedding as Emma had been a bit worried about the camera. She shouldn't have worried, she's absolutely gorgeous and any nerves she may have been feeling she certainly managed to conceal well.

Wedding Fair Season part duex

The wedding fair season is in full swing now.  It always makes me chuckle when I see the cutesy spelling of 'fair' that is popularly used. I always think that 'fayre' looks Victorian and cutesy, not our style at all so I shall go against popular opinion and stick with the more down to earth, 'wedding fair'. 


OK, stream of consciousness over.  Wow!  What a busy day we had at Park Hall yesterday, it went from empty to mobbed in about three seconds so Bob and me were kept busy pretty much all day. Hello and welcome to all the people who have come on here for a look as a result of yesterday, feel free to leave comments and talk to me - I don't feel like I'm talking to myself then!


I love to hear about all the different ideas people have for their weddings, we met one couple who are planing to get married at Ewood Park Football Club.  In a moment of supreme blondeness I asked them what the colour scheme was going to be.  They looked at me stunned for a minute before telling me it was  blue and white.  Sometimes I amaze myself!


Next Sunday, 26th October we will be at the Dunkenhalgh. Why not pop in for a chat? 

Wedding Fair Season

The wedding fair season starts this weekend.  To kick it off we are exhibiting at Sparth House this Sunday, 11th October.

We like it at Sparth House, not only because they feed us well, although I have to admit it's definitely a contributory factor - you wouldn't like me when I'm hungry, but because we have shot several wedding there over the years and we know that they take really good care of their brides and grooms.

Doors open at midday, the fashion show is at 2.00 p.m. Why not pop down for a chat and a look through the new sample albums?

Next weekend, 18th october, we will be at Park Hall, Charnock Richard.