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A little teaser from the last wedding of 2017. The amazing Hannah and Alex, married at our favourite Hellaby Hall Hotel & Leisure Wishing you every kindness and for a prosperous and very Happy New Year as Mr and Mrs from us all here at Altered Images Photography  #hellabyhall #engaged

What a lovely couple. Young, good looking and full of life and loving life. I knew when I first met them that their wedding would be special. Getting married at my local church - Christ Church, Brampton Bierlow and going on to another favourite, Rogerthorpe Manor.

I caught up with Elizabeth at her home to see Kim Law and Janine Clarke preparing the bridal party's hair and Katie Daley, Beth Carney and Sam Law doing the make-up. It was nice and relaxed and the beauticians seemed very well organised and of course the bride and her bridesmaids were already looking amazing. The bride's dress was hung up and looked good supplied by Cupid Connections of Barnsley. The six bridesmaid's dresses and the flower girl's in pink were ordered off the internet. The flowers arrived from Petite Fleurs. I am no flower expert but these looked really good, pink and white carnations in a cloud of gypsophila and pink throngs. I just had time to grab a couple of photos with the girls all dressed and of course with mum - she looked stunning. In fact the entire bridal party looked amazing with Elizabeth being the focus. The dress really was the icing on the cake, it really showed Elizabeth off, she had picked the perfect dress for her. Cartwright's Cars with my good friends Kevin and Philip were waiting outside and the car was gleaming. Dad arrived and he was stunned when he saw his daughter. She knew she was pulling at his heart strings and a few tears started to come through.

No time to loose, I had to get to the church. Julius was there with his chaps, all looking very smart and in good shape just like myself. Another first class supplier, Top Mark had supplied the suits. Three piece, modern style in bright blue contrasting nicely with the flowers and pink colour scheme. The best man had the rings from James Hadley's Find Diamonds. A plain white band for Julius and a delicate half eternity, diamond studded ring for Elizabeth.

Our vicar was Carol. She told me that she normally does not allow any photographs in the church but very kindly she said she would allow me to get a photo of Elizabeth walking up the aisle with her father and from the gallery at the back of the church. I am always respectful of the clergie's wishes in church. It is a religious ceremony and that should be the focus. It is not a performance but I also feel it is an occasion that couples will wish to remember and relive those moments by looking at photos. Personally I have all but lost the memories of my own wedding and I would have loved to have seen some of the highlights in print but it was not to be. Anyway the bride arrived and the service was beautiful. We had a guard of honour at the front of the church and some family photos in the grounds. Christ Church is a splendid church and it looked beautiful with flowers bathed in warm afternoon sunshine.

On to Rogerthorpe. Elizabeth asked me to do one of our special heart-shaped group photos so that was my priority on arrival then a few group photos. It was sweltering! It was a case of using the shade as much as possible with the use of some fill in flash for most photos. I asked the couple if they would leave their intimate photos until after the wedding breakfast when the Sun would be lower and the light a little kinder. Wedding breakfast was good as it always is at Rogerthorpe, with Karen looking after the wedding details for the hotel. Speeches followed. It seemed such a shame to cut the cake. It was very unusual and magnificent made by Lindsay Marie Cake Designs.The piano was played during the wedding breakfast by David Robertshaw.

We grabbed a few more photos in the grounds later. The gardens at Rogerthorpe are some of the best in the area and more than enough to keep any photographer happy. We even managed to get a few photos in the farmer's field next door as the Sun went down. The couple were radiant.

Later in the evening the wedding party made good use of our photo booth. This ended the day with quite a few laughs! The first dance was to Nathan Sykes - Over and Over Again followed by Elizabeth dancing with her dad to I Loved Her First by Heartland to be joined by Julius and his mum.

DJ was Pro Sounds Discos. I asked the couple how they met and it seems they knew each other for most of their lives right from playgroup and on to school. Really becoming close friends during the past 15 years. Julius proposed using a special jigsaw puzzle - very unusual! Elizabeth said the special part of the day was for her being escorted by her father up the church aisle to see Julius peering back at her and the whole church ceremony. She loved it. Carol had become a good friend and her service was beautiful.

It truly was one of the most amazing days of our lives, everything went smoothly. The weather was great and everything and everyone looked beautiful. A day we will never forget.

So what advice can the couple offer others? "Go with your instincts and enjoy every moment. The dress was important. I knew it was the one from the first moment I saw it. Once I was in it I felt like a princess; beautiful and confident. It made my Maid of Honour cry. I was worried how I would feel being photographed but I felt so at ease and so natural. The food at Rogerthorpe was amazing and there was plenty - but I knew it would be as we are regulars at Rogerthorpe! Looking forward now to spending our honeymoon in Lanzarote for the third time with our 3 year old daughter, Sydney".

All of our best wishes for a long and happy life together.

It was the last weekend in July and it was looking like it was going to be the hottest day of the year. Great for a wedding you may think but blistering sunlight can be a photographer's second worst nightmare - after rain of course! I was to meet the bride early up at the Hawkhills in Easingwold. It was a beautiful venue with a tree lined drive that seemed to go on forever. It was stunning. Erin was there with her parents, bridesmaid and flower girl all being prepared by Rebecca Shann from Tadcaster. Erin had collected photos from Pinterest for inspiration to show Becky how she wanted her hair and makeup. Erin says Becky offers a fabulous service and is amazing at her job.
 

I hung Erin's dress above the window in the bridal suite next door. The curtain pole must have been ten feet up! It was a gorgeous period room with oodles of finery and a very contemporary en-suite. The dress was a very elegant T-length with a lacy skirt. Maggie from Finery Bridal in Sherburn in Elmet showed Erin the dress and that was it, it had to be that one. She also had a full range of Dessy bridesmaids dresses with a full choice of styles and colours to match the blue colour scheme. "The service was personal, friendly and all round superb service", says Erin. The bridal flowers came from Melanie's Flowers in Tadcaster. "I've had flowers from there before and they've always been fresh and kept fantastically. The girls at the shop took my ideas and worked with them to provide really informal flowers that suited the look and feel of the wedding I wanted".
 

It was quite a journey to All Saints Church in Sherburn in Elmet. I always seem to be rushing and it wasn't getting any cooler even with the air con on full blast. Lee was having a pensive five minutes alone at the back church sat on a small bench admiring the vista to York and beyond. He was happy to let me join him for a while. He looked really dapper in his Tweed and Chinos bought at Moss Bros. That was a great choice as the chaps could wear them again after the wedding. Colour was right. I thought the tweed would be too hot but the jackets were deceivingly light weight. So where were the rings? Lee 2; aka Best Man, had them. A white gold band with a single stone for Lee and a diamond encrusted band for Erin. They had been totally personalised to the couple's specification by Forever Wedding Rings. The jeweller made a home visit making the choice very relaxed and an exciting part of the wedding planning.
 

The bride was on her way. The bride and groom had been to a few festivals with friends and their beloved 'Edgar'. 'Edgar' was a VW Combi and that had to be the choice of transport. However poor Edgar coughed and spluttered for the last time the day before the wedding and was no more. So Erin made her way in a blue and white Comer van quickly seconded for the job.

The church was idyllic. It was Lee's family church. The service was really personal and thankfully cooler inside the church. After the necessary confetti and hugs and kisses it was off to Hawkhills for the Wedding Breakfast and reception. After visiting a few venues Lee told me this had to be the one. It had a mix of tradition and modern and the couple had it exclusively to themselves for all weekend. There were lots of kids at the wedding and this was a lovely, safe environment for them to run around in. After speaking with Maria, the coordinator, and the staff, Erin found them all so friendly and accommodating that it was an easy choice to make for her also.
 

Speeches outside on the lawn! Followed by an amazing wedding breakfast and of course the wine flowed! Not to mention the cocktail bar on the lawn to keep the guests in the party mood. And the cake of course. It had to be Colin the Caterpillar from Marks and Spencers. All family celebrations had Colin as a central part so it was only right he should appear again, except this time he was joined by his new girlfriend, Connie! And if that was not enough a sweetie cart from Yorkshire Confectionery was stood for those with a sweet tooth. To round the day off the couple opened the dance floor early dancing to 'Shut Up and Dance with me' being sung by Duvet, the ultimate covers band. Lee and Erin - a bit lively - well there's an understatement. To be followed by heaps of vibes from DJ Chris Marsden.
 

Erin told me that she met Lee about 6 years ago in a local pub, at a random evening just having a friendly pint. Lee was an electrician so it wasn't long before there was a spark between these two. Then at Christmas in the morning, just before their little girl woke up, Lee presented a gift bag with the big question there on its gift tag. Advice for others? "Just do what you want to do and only then start to consider your guests". What about shopping for the wedding? "I thought I'd found the perfect dress, but when I went to a local bridal shop Maggie persuaded me to try on a dress whilst I was there. She brought one out and that was it! I changed the dress to suit my style, which was no problem at all".

Is there to be a honeymoon? (Honeymoon btw was a period of 1 month that a fellow would abduct a girl for and hide her away, trapped, feeding her on honey. If she hadn't been found during that month then he could claim the right to marry her - she had no say in the matter - this was man's stuff.) No honeymoon though for Erin and Lee. They have just started a new business to keep on top of. However one of the fabulous friends booked them in a two nights getaway as a surprise and no doubt a couple of days relaxation won't go amiss.

Best wishes from us all here for a long and prosperous life and let the sparks keep flying!

Photographed by Robert from Altered Images.