Brian Harte People Photographer

This week has been charity week for me. Not only have I been involved with the Ilkley Candlelighters Christmas Fair, I was also delighted to attend and take photographs for Anita Massarella’s evening of glamour and entertainment which raised money for The Acorn Charity.

Anita is celebrating her 20th year as a leading fashion designer and the evening was compered by Gaynor Barnes from Yorkshire Television.

After a Champagne reception everyone was ushered in to the Radcliffe Room. The Fashion show kicked off with a catwalk show of Anita’s new and old designs from both her wedding and evening wear collections.

Being a people photographer I like to see faces in photos but some of these dresses have to be seen from the back to really appreciate them.

The dresses were perfect for the models to enjoy swirling around…

And sometimes there was so much dress I got lost in the material!

Moving around gave me a chance to use the light to make a more atmospheric photograph.

The models were great but the real stars of the night were the past clients and brides of Anita who graciously offered to model their wedding and evening dresses one more time.

The show ended with a human beatbox group playing out the models.

The night was organised in aid of the Acorn charity who are a local charity supporting those affected by dementia and scleroderma.

As well as the fashion show there was a charity raffle with many donated prizes.

Once the show had finished the dresses were packed away.

But the night was still you and many people stayed on to party…

…with music performed by the Jazz trio Around Midnight (01484 608388).

If my eye’s don’t deceive me the trio turned in to a 5 piece band for the evening!

I had a great evening and as I was leaving I took a photo of the impressive entrance to Rudding Park.

The fashion show urn flowers were generously supplied by Joanna McCrea from Twisted Willow flowers.

This month I am involved in a Glamourous evening at Rudding Park in Harrogate, and best of all it is in support of a local charity.

Anita Massarella couture dress designer is organising the event to support the Acorn Charity raising funds for dementia and alzheimers. Acorn Charity are a Yorkshire charity and more information about their cause can be found at their website.

Anita and her team of winning designers are celebrating their 20th year of creating stunning dresses and tell me that it will be “an evening of Red carpet glamour with a celebratory fashion show”. There will also be live Jazz, wine tasting with Rudding Park’s very own wine expert and to top it off will be compered by the lovely YTV Gaynor Barnes.

I’ll be there supporting and enjoying the event so get yourself down too!

To books your tickets for 17th November call Anita on 0113 268 7783. Tickets are £20 or £25 for front row seats.

Last Sunday I exhibited at The Queens Hotel Wedding Fair in Leeds.

Bethan was representing me and answering questions on my behalf.

Bethan booked me for her wedding next year and she’s such a warm person I asked if she would like to represent me at a few fairs this year.

If you’d like to pop down and see me at my next wedding fair I will be attending The Wedding Experience at The Mansion in Roundhay Park on Sunday 8th November and will also be at The Charity Bridal Fashion show organised by dress designer Anita Massarella at Rudding Park in Harrogate on Tuesday 17th November.

For tickets to The Charity Bridal Fashion show at Rudding Park please contact Anita on 0113 268 7783.

The Queens boasts to be able to sit 450 people for a meal, comfortably, and I can believe it!

Confetti & Lace bridal shop organised two fashion shows during the day and the visitors were treated to a catwalk of her latest dresses. They have recently opened their new shop in Harrogate as well as this year opening Yorkshire Menswear hiring out menswear from Cameron Ross.

The Wedding Flower Company in Leeds had turned one of the rooms in to a beautiful room set with Just For You Cards & Invitations supplying the table decorations.

I met with Daniel from Dine catering earlier this year at Nostell Priory. Daniel couldn’t contain his excitement about his new venue in Yorkshire and his excitement quickly rubbed off on me as I agreed to shoot some photos for their up coming brochure.

I hadn’t known about The Mansion House in Roundhay Park, Leeds and the state of disrepair it had fallen into however what I do know is that it will become one of the best wedding venues (also corporate meetings & events) in Leeds.

At the side of the house is the stunning colonnades which make a great feature for photos.

I had a bit of fun shooting this photo…I don’t know what Susannah was thinking but lying on the floor shouting and whooping certainly made her smile.

Here Susannah was playing with her dress while the wind was blowing.

Using the colonnades I was able to shield Susannah from the direct sun and get some beautiful light in her eyes.

The interior of the house is very fresh and vibrant with a lovely symmetrical staircase.

I made great use of the staircase to frame Helen (who also modelled for me) lounging on one of the funky chairs.

Daniel had told me that he thought the photos should be elegant and I pulled out my portable flash equipment for this shot to see how elegant I could take it.

The detailing inside is simply stunning…

And here is one of the funky chairs with a diamond in the middle of the cushion, how cool…

The walls are decorated with framed photos showing the history of The Mansion House…

Even the rest rooms are gorgeous. I spent about 20 minutes taking a multitude of photos including using the reflection in the full length mirror.

I had to be careful not to get myself in the reflections…although I couldn’t help taking this one as I don’t often get to feature in photos!

The Colonnades Room where your ceremony is held has fantastic light for photos with a beautiful warm glow.

With a little bit of furniture re-arranging I was able to take a few photos of my bride too…

For larger wedding functions The Mansion room is just the ticket and with a permanent dance floor at one end there is no need to leave the room and then come back in at the end of your meal.

With several rooms available The Mansion can also cater for smaller weddings including this room set up for the very intimate wedding breakfast.

All of the rooms have fantastic views of Roundhay Park.

Susannah an I took a trip out in to Roundhay Park to see what we could find as a location for photos and as we were The Roundhay Land Train pulled up and we did the done thing and hitched a ride!

The light in park is great for some natural photos…

…and only a few minutes away we found a band stand.

I love the mirror in the lobby and it’s positioned quite high which is a bonus for me as at 5′6″ there is little chance of my reflection appearing in the photo!

I normally dont like completely defocused pictures however as I had a bit of time I had an experiment and took one of their crystal chandelier that works well.

I would like to thank Helen and Susannah for their time, Anita Massarella Design Couture of Leeds for the loan of her wonderful dresses and Kath from The Wedding Flower Company Leeds for arranging a bouquet of flowers at super short notice.

I would also like to thank Richard the head butler at The Mansion who not only doubled up as my assistant from time to time but also made sure I was supplied with all The Mansion’s own bottled water I could want (some say they have their own spring?)

Richard is ace….he reminds me of Alfred the butler in Batman.

If you would like to know more about weddings or corporate events at The Mansion Dine can be contacted on 0345 450 4545.

Sunday saw the glamorous Wrapit Wedding Party hosted at Rudding Park, Harrogate, where cakes and champagne was served to would be brides. Along with guest speakers from London the packed Radcliffe room was entertained with a fashion show by wedding dress designer Anita Masssarella from Leeds.

I was there taking photographs of the models wearing Anita’s dresses as they strutted their stuff and Ogden’s Jewellers of Harrogate, added some bling (according to a speaker bling is in) with some beautiful pieces.

Here is a photograph of model Emma. There are more of her to follow as I managed to get a couple of minutes before the show to shoot off a few photographs around Rudding Park Hotel.