Brian Harte People Photographer

Katrina booked me for their Swinton Park wedding last year after meeting up for afternoon tea at the castle. I have been looking forward to shooting their wedding since their engagement shoot when the were telling me about the different flowers.

I was also looking forward to Ashley’s speech after having a taste of his jokes during the engagement photos!

When the day began I was a little worried about the weather. I wasn’t worried for me because I know that I can get fab photos even on the wettest day, I was more worried that the guests wouldn’t get the chance to make the most out of the amazing grounds around the castle.

The ducks seemed to be enjoying the rain…

Katrina had told me about the flowers and orchids. The bridemaids each wore an orchid in their hair as well as a white orchid bouquet.

Katrina took a few moments to relax before rushing to Swinton as she remembered the registrar had said she couldn’t be late!

Katrina & Ashley got married in the Library which had the most beautiful light.

Swinton Park was overflowing with flowers and Katrina’s sister Emma read a passage from Winnie Pooh.

Little Ben was the Bestman for the day and he did a stunning job. During the meal he kept popping in to the drawing room to keep me company by telling me stories and crack a few jokes.

After the ceremony Katrina and Ashley relaxed with their friends on the lawn. Then they had a few photographs…

The cars were stunning and I managed to get their details before I left… tel. 01765 604417 or their Wedding Cars in Harrogate and Ripon website

The room was set out to perfection with different Roses on each table.

A guest joked that with The Chelsea flower show on the same weekend that Chelsea had been left short of roses for their displays!…(I hope they were joking) The wedding flowers were from Lynda Moss Flowers in Harrogate.

With the guests taking their places Katrina took a few moments out in the drawing room.

Chris, a friend to Ashley & Katrina, embraced to role of Master of Ceremonies…

linking all the toasts and speeches with some witty humour.

The food was a work of art…I overheard the kitchen speaking in french which could have been one of the reasons the standards were so high.

I love the light in this shot with Katrina and friends.

I didn’t stop taking photos and even borrowed their wedding rings to take a shot using the reflection on the piano surface. Ashley joked that having given me the rings it might be last he saw of me!

Katrina had told me all day that she had a second dress which she was planning to do the first dance as she was worried about tripping on her train. In the end she didn’t need it as they spun each other in circles on the dance floor.

I stepped outside to take this shot as the sun set with the party going full swing inside.

The night ended, for me at least, with seven minutes of fireworks. I got some great photos of which my favourite is this one with the warm glow of the castle.

I really enjoyed shooting Katrina & Ashley’s wedding photos and can’t wait to meet up with them again.

It was my first time at Swinton I realise now how special it is as a wedding venue. Katrina & Ashley had booked exclusive use which meant they could really let their hair down and enjoy getting married in a real english castle!

If you’d like to know more about weddings at Swinton Park you can contact Hannah Hinchcliffe on 01765 680971 or hannah@swintonpark.com

Last week it was announced that Sir Alan Sugar may soon become Lord Alan Sugar. Ok, I didn’t take Sir Alan’s photos but I did manage to take photos of another Lord at the recent wedding of Helen & David Murphy.

Here is Lord Richard Musgrave having his make-up topped up half way through the wedding breakfast.

Helen tell’s me that he is known to flash his card with his title on to get the best table when booking a restaurant!

I am yet to find out how his came to be a Lord but I am sure I will find out! Helen also said that he is one of the funniest guys she has ever met and I can vouch for that as he had me laughing my head off at Oulton Hall.

When Luke and Sara asked me for “something different for their wedding invite” my mind started going in to over drive. I thought about re-enacting scenes from great movies or maybe something more challenging to set up….a kiss underwater or maybe as they are parachuting from an airplane (ok…I like to dream big).

Luke and Sara had already given it some thought and wanted a photo to show Sara looking a bit miffed cleaning up after Luke.

They told me they only wanted a quick snap for the front of their wedding invite but I wanted to make it more than a snap. After a bit of furniture rearranging and setting up a light or two we settled on a montage of photos showing many Sara’s cleaning while Luke lounges on the sofa watching TV!

Luke and Sara have since married in Bali and I will be taking their post-wedding photos when they party through the weekend having booked exclusive use of Middleton Lodge, Richmond, North Yorkshire.

Their invite went down a treat with their guests…here are a few quotes from their replies

Choice invites, knew you would be different. – Ben & Hannah

Thanks so much for the invite though – it’s a great one – much better than the normal hearts and roses guff. – Catherine xx

Hi Luke, Thanks for the invitation they are fab! – Sasha

…look forward to seeing you both as husband and wife.  Ps.  I love the photo Luke, you are just going to have to retrain him sara. xxxx – Liz

Of course we will be there, quality invite!! – Rob C

Never seen an invite like that, they are excellent! – Soph & Kieran xxxxxx

So tell me your plans for a wedding invite and book with me for a special engagement shoot.

You might remember Helen & Peter from their engagement shoot. I have great news…Helen & Peter had a baby girl and they have asked me to take their christening photos this summer!…

Helen & Peter had their wedding at the National Trust property Nostell Priory in Wakefield and were married in Nostell Priory church. Nostell Priory is a stunning venue run by Dine catering renowned for their professionalism and top class organisation of their weddings.

Dine recently invited me back for a wedding fair where I enjoyed chatting with couples about their up-coming wedding plans.

I am looking forward to the Christening and will post some photos of the day later on this year.

You might remember Helen & David’s wedding photos, well I had an email from Kath who supplied the flowers saying that she really liked the photos and would I like to come and see her garden flower studio.

The studio was brimming with flowers and table mock-ups which Kath makes up to show every customer how their wedding flowers will look. She can also supply wedding chair covers, cakes and table decorations so it’s a one stop wedding shop and you know they will all match in colour and style.

Kath is full of energy and we didn’t stop talking all afternoon about flowers and photography. I had a gut feeling that she might be a pisces too, so I asked, and you guessed it she is! No wondered we chatted the afternoon away!

If you have your wedding flowers to organise ring Kath on 0113 255 4938 and see the studio for yourself

The wedding flower company website

Last year I took Mike and Rowena Rogers wedding photographs at The Hospitium in York.

This year I sent them a sample of the photographs as a thank you for being wonderful co-ordinators and venue hosts. Looking through my web statistics I noticed a lot of visits from The Hospitium website and was pleased to find that they liked the photos so much they are now using them to advertise the venue!

The two photos they chose to use are Mike and Rowena walking through a glade of trees and Rowena chatting with friends at the reception….

There will be more of Mike & Rowena’s photos to come.

I was invited by my good friend and fellow photographer Annemarie King to come along for a super sunny wedding this weekend.

I have known Annemarie for a few years now and we each bob along on one another’s weddings when we have the chance. It’s great for us as we have such a ball trying to out do each other with the best photos and it’s great for the couple as they get two fab photographers (can I say that about myself?) shooting for them.

It was the hottest day of the year and Jamie told me that he had booked the weather especially for Claire. Here is Jamie getting ready and having a little trouble with his winsor knot.

Claire had chosen a wonderful fairy like wedding dress with fairies and wild flowers as their theme.

They held their wedding at the Church of St. Botolph at Bossall in North Yorkshire. The priest was a family friend who had seen Claire growing up from a young age. Here he is contemplating his service before Claire and her father arrived.

The Bridesmaids arrived by black cab which was decorated in wedding ribbon. It proved to be a great way to arrive as the doors were large enough to get in and out easily. If you’d like to book the taxis you can contact Ian or Dave on 01904 791739.

Claire arrived in a vintage chevvy…

Claire and her father were greeted at the Church by their priest.

I cheekily moved up the aisle to capture this fun moment…

Claire and Jamie held their reception on Claire’s parents farmhouse…

…where they opted for Papakata tipi style tents instead of a marquee where they had lounging sofas and real fires burning.

One guest had left a present for Claire and Jamie on the top table, a knitted wedding cake!

Annemarie’s mum was one of the guests and I took a quick photo of them when I saw them together.

As Claire and Jamie started their speeches I packed my camera away but not before I had time to take this closing shot of the Papakata tents in the lovely gardens.

Everybody had their fingers crossed yesterday for the weather and it seemed to have worked Helen & David’s wedding missed the worst of it and the sun even paid a visit to bring a shine to the photos.

Helen & David booked with me over a year ago and I’ve been looking forward to their wedding ever since. They had booked an engagement shoot with me as they thought they might need a warm up….

…they didn’t really need it as they are such a natural and down to earth couple.

Helen looked stunning with her hair up

They got married at St.Wilfrids church, Calverley in Leeds. It is a gorgeous church and the priest was lovely.

They had a pink theme wedding and Helen text me on Thursday to ask me if I could get in on the theme. I was wearing a pink tie and I noticed that David was wearing pink socks!

There were a few photos in the church grounds

before throwing the confetti on the way to Oulton Hall.

Oulton Hall is one of my favourite locations and yesterday we took advantage of it’s beautiful setting to take some fab photos….

…including some during the meal and speeches.

The night, for me at least, ended with the first dance…

…but I couldn’t help unpacking my camera from the car to take one last photo.

Helen & David’s photos will be online from 2nd June. Please contact Helen or David for a password to the site.

Ben and Rebecca had been flying around Australia on a year out when they first made contact to see me. When we met up Rebecca spoke of all her wedding plans and her dream for something different when it came to the wedding photography.

On the wedding day the heavens opened and the wind blew a gale but that wasn’t going to stop us getting an album of fabulous photos. Rebecca and Ben even came out for some more photos and skipped dessert where they danced around the fountain at Oulton Hall.

Rebecca was so impressed with the DVD slideshow of her wedding photos that she sent me an email…you can read it in the testimonials section.

Nostell Priory, Wakefield, is a dream venue to have your wedding and I was personally invited to attend and show my photography at their wedding fair this year.

I would like to thank Gordon Watt for sending me his photograph of me chatting with wedding couples about their wedding plans.

Other Wedding fairs I have attended this year include The Craiglands Hotel in Ilkley and The Queens Hotel in Leeds. I will also be at The Bridge Inn at Wetherby on 14th June.