Lowry Theatre - Documentary Wedding Photographer

Les and Stacy

When I first met Les and Stacy for their Engagement Shoot in Heaton Park Manchester, I knew I was in for a treat. We had a right laugh together and the session flew by, while Les and Stacy mucked about taking the piss out of each other and we strolled around the park hunting for nice light and back drops, it was completely obvious they absolutely adored one and other. 

I was a bit nervous meeting Les for the first time, as he's a super talented Wedding Photographer himself, but he was such a lovely warm mischievous character I felt comfortable straight away just chatting rubbish with them and snapping away as per usual, plus I knew pretty early on that if Les was gonna give me any grief Stacy had my back! lol 

Morning Preparations

When the day of the Wedding arrived I met Stacy and her excited bridesmaids at her Maid of Honours house and Les's Best Mans house (these two still deny setting Les and Stacy up... but I'm pretty sure they had something to do with it!) They had a lovely relaxed morning together the girls getting ready for the wedding while Les's best man made the finishing touches to his speech downstairs. Then we all jumped into the teal vintage wedding cars (how cool are they!) and made our way to The Lowry Theatre.  

Compass Room

The service was super emotional, there were plenty of tears of happiness from all the major players while Les and Stacy said their vows under the beautiful twinkling fairy lights of the Compass Room in The Lowry Theatre. Once the Wedding ceremony was finished everyone headed down to the bar to get the party started and what a wedding party it was! I Let the photos tell the rest of the story, but before I hop off. Here are a few words from Les and Stacy themselves...

Les and Stacy's Story...

"We met in my cousins car on the way to a wedding that Lester was the photographer for I'd been asked to go last minute due to her husband being unable to attend. (still think it was a setup even though they both to this day deny any of it). Of course he was sat in the back next to a 4 year old while I rocked it up front."

 The Lowry Theatre as a Wedding Venue. 

"We wanted a city wedding but something different that wasn't a hotel. I love all things theatre and have been going with my mum since I was little so as soon as we saw it we knew it was perfect for us."

Advice for Future Couples

"It's as much the grooms day as it is the brides. Always think about others but what you and your partner want should be paramount in it all. It's the one day you get to have exactly what you want do it your way and enjoy it."

Les and Stacy's Wedding Suppliers

Bloomin Ells (Ellen Stone) - Florist and Venue Dresser    http://www.bloomin-ells.co.uk/
Wed2b - Wedding Dress and Bridesmaid Dresses https://www.wed2b.co.uk/
Lovely wheels - Wedding Cars http://www.lovelywheels.co.uk/
The Lowry Theatre and Lucy Markey - Venue and Organiser https://www.thelowry.com/
Liz Hendry - The Live Piano Experience Pianist http://www.thelivepianoexperience.com/liz-hendry/
Wayne Farrow - Wedding Singer https://www.waynefarrow.co.uk/
Swarbricks Formal - Grooms and Groomsmen Suits https://swarbricks.co.uk/
Stitches Manchester - Alterations http://www.stitchesuk.co.uk/

Chetham's Library Wedding Photographer Manchester - Maddy & Craig

Maddy and Craig's Story

"We met at work and had known each other for a while before one fateful night at the Liar's Club sparked the start of something. We had our first date the very next day

We got engaged in Copenhagen, which Craig managed to surprise me with for my birthday - I didn't even know we were leaving the country until we turned off the m56 for Manchester airport. He had even packed miniature toiletry holders so I could repack my shampoo etc without having to tip me off in advance. Craig proposed almost as soon as we got to the hotel, I think the stress of getting the ring through security without me noticing had taken it's toll! It was a beautiful weekend in the snow in January." 

Chetham's Library and Lock 91 as Wedding Venues

Maddy and Craig got married in one of Manchester’s hidden gem wedding venues, Chetham’s Library. It’s a beautiful venue with loads of character and wonderful little pockets of light and shadows that make for a wedding photographer’s dream! So if you are getting married there and reading this, give me a shout! Your wedding guests are also able to wander around the library and explore the stacks of old antique books while they catch up with one and other and sip on their champers. It’s a really unique wedding venue and all in Manchester city centre! Making getting there, staying there or hoping off to somewhere else all super convenient possibilities. In this case Maddy and Craig hopped over to Lock 91 in Deansgate to continue the party, which is another great venue for a lot of the same reasons Chetham’s Library is, without the epic Library to wander though of course!

Here’s what Maddy and Craig had to say about Chetham’s Library as their wedding venue:

"We wanted casual but classy venues for the wedding and we wanted to keep to a strict budget. We visited Chetham's Library and fell in love with how beautiful it was and all of the history behind it. We thought about having the full day there but really wanted to put our own stamp on the party and keep it quite casual and Lock 91 was perfect for that. It was also extremely reasonably priced to have the ceremony at the library's Baronial Hall and we had exclusive use of the library itself for photos and for guests to explore after the ceremony. It turned into a wedding of two halves really, with a fairly traditional civil ceremony at the library followed by a raucous party at the bar!

Lock 91 were completely relaxed and accommodating, which was extremely helpful as we were maybe a bit too laid back with the planning until quite last minute. We had caterpillar cakes for our wedding cake which I completely forgot to buy until I went to drop everything off the night before and Andi (the manager) helpfully reminded me and I made a mad dash to Tesco! Simon at Chetham's was brilliant as well, we were very fortunate with everyone we dealt with.

In choosing the venues (and in choosing everything) within budget we decided to focus on what was important to us and what wasn't. I got a taxi to the venue as neither of us is particularly interested in cars. Our two wedding cakes cost £10 from Tesco and who doesn't love caterpillar cake!? The biggest outlays of the day were on drinks, food and the band and as the aim of the day (besides getting married) was to have a really great time with friends and family, drinks food and music were our priority and therefore where chose to put our money. Craig is a big music fan and spent much of the year building up to the wedding making Spotify playlists for pre-ceremony, ceremony, drinks reception etc."

Suppliers

"I got my dress and hairpiece from case of the Curious Bride in Sale and the dress designers are Hazaar of London (the headpiece was done by Melanie from case of the curious bride). Craig bought his suit online in the sale and the groomsmen wore their own blue suits. Bridesmaid dresses were from Dorothy Perkins (also in the sale!) And Jasmine's dress and shoes were monsoon. Flowers were amazing and were done by Emily at Bloomin Altrincham Market. The food was done by Cafe Mozaic in Ashton and everybody loved it! Mr Wilson's Second Liners were the most incredible band we could have wished for. We bought shed loads of prosecco for the drinks reception at Chetham's from Sainsbury's. Rachel McDonnell did my dress alterations. Rachael Dutton did hair and make up. We had the most amazing wedding night at Hotel Gotham and they were very patient when we completely overslept our check out time.

Also we had THE BEST PHOTOGRAPHER EVER  and I highly recommend her to anyone looking for a wedding photographer!" 

Looking for your wedding photographer? Get in touch!

Manchester Wedding Photographer - Sarah and Ben

Sarah and Ben's Epic Manchester City Centre Wedding

I love a good Manchester City Centre wedding and Sarah and Ben did not disappoint! It was off to a bumpy start in the wedding planning days for the two of them, when their first Manchester venue cancelled on them just a few months before the wedding! Luckily The Renaissance Hotel on Blackfriars Street came to rescue and they were able to hold their chilled out urban wedding right in the heart of Manchester.

Getting ready shots with the Groomsmen was exciting for me as I was allowed into Barber, Barber in the Barton Arcade, (normally girls aren’t allowed in) so I felt like a spy… Sneaking around with my camera. There were a couple of close shaves, but I think I got away with it… Oh dear… Then it was on to Sarah and Ben’s City Centre apartment to see how the girls and Sarah’s Dad were getting on and photograph Sarah getting into her magnificent wedding dress. It was a lovely chilled out morning full of tears and laughs. Some beautiful thoughtful presents from Sarah to her bridesmaids and parents, not to mention some killer dance moves getting thrown out by flower girl, Freya.

When we got to The Renaissance Hotel the excitement was building. The room looked stunning, but it had nothing on what Sarah looked like walking down the aisle to Ben, they were both glowing with happiness and laughing together throughout the ceremony. It was an absolute corker! After some confetti, fizz, canapés and a few family group shots by the River Irwell we hopped into a taxi and made our way to Stevenson Square in Manchester’s infamous Northern Quarter to bring some of Manchester’s amazing street art into the Sarah and Ben’s portrait session. We had about 20 minutes, so it was a mad dash from spot to spot, but Sarah and Ben totally nailed it, as I think you’ll see in their photos. We even managed to find some graffiti that fitted with the smoke bombs Sarah and Ben had wanted perfectly and literally just a few minutes before the taxi arrived to whisk us back to Black Friars Street in time for the wedding breakfast! We then enjoyed some hilarious and heartfelt speeches, before it was time for for the party, which obviously, like anything Sarah and Ben do, was done in style. I’ll let the party photos tell you the rest of the story.

Thank you for having me Sarah and Ben. You guys rock! Xxx

Katie Dervin is a Documentary Wedding Photographer based in Manchester.

To book a shoot or enquire about wedding bookings click here. 

Why I Love This Photo Series. 1.1

Why I Love this Photo 1.1

So I thought it would be a nice exercise to pick out some of my favourite photos over the past year and explain why I love them, which brought about the Why I Love This Photo Series.

Details

I thought I’d start with details, as a lot of the time that’s how I’ll start my day photographing a wedding. I’ll often photograph the exterior of the place I’m about to enter and then usually the first few pictures I will take will be of details the couple have requested or things of interest around the room that I think add context to the story, this gives me some great photos to help me put together the story of your day for the couple, it also gives the people around that morning a little bit of time to relax and get used to having a photographer around before I start taking photographs of them.

Why Wedding Shoes?

Today’s photograph is maybe a strange one to start with… I am a documentary photographer yet the photo might not so obviously be in that style.

You’ve probably seen a photo like this a million times before. Detail shots are done in windows a lot because of the quality of light, it’s an easy go to shot, it looks nice, but it’s nothing ground breaking so why choose this photo?

The reason I love this photo is that it shows the brides beautiful shoes and the setting off, but it also adds some context to the day. You can see the delicate rain drops on the thin paned glass of the windows, a hint of the beautiful gardens of Middlethorpe Hall in the back ground and that’s why I love this shot. It isn’t just a shot of Donna’s lovely shoes it adds to the story of the day Donna and Kev got married by reminding them of those extra little details of the morning that otherwise would be long forgotten.

When shooting detail shots, I’ll always look around for different ways I can add context to the photograph, sometimes the best way to shoot these items is to photograph them where you find them, other times it can be nice to find somewhere that helps add another layer to the story.

To view my full Wedding Portfolio click here.

Katie Dervin is a Documentary Wedding Photographer based in Manchester.

Hindu - Irish Fusion Wedding - Kilhey Court - Vicki and Ravi

Vicki and Ravi met at University and on their first date Vicki took her sister Emma with them! Although Ravi thought it was a bit weird, he still had a nice time and they ended up on going on many more adventures together, music festivals, travelling the world and generally having loads of fun and making each other laugh a lot.

It was on a trip to New York when Ravi popped the question in Central Park, and of course Vicki said yes… Which leads here, to this Epic Wedding Day at Kilhey Court Hotel in Wigan. A love so spectacular that they didn’t just marry each other once! But they went and did it twice in one day! A beautiful classic white wedding ceremony with a string quartet, readings and music performed by Vicki’s family members followed by wonderful colourful Hindu ceremony, where Ravi arrived smiling nervously on a finely dressed white horse, before entering the venue with his family and the rest of the guests as they danced into Kilhey court to the beat the of procession music. Greeted by the UK’s first Female Hindu Priest and a room bursting with all the colours of nature, ready to being joined together again with a spectacular Hindu Ceremony.

This wedding was so much fun to photograph, also I must take this opportunity to shout out to my Awesome Second Shooter Katy Mutch who is always amazing and did an epic job as always.

The rest of the team that worked so hard to make this day as awesome as it was were…

Hindu Priest: www.kersi.co.uk

Floral Design by: www.verdure.co.uk

Make Up by: www.jodiemakeup.co.uk

Videography by: http://mcgillsisterfilms.com/

Live Music by: www.rylandsstringquartet.com

DJ: www.andymurphy.co.uk

If you are getting married and looking for a photographer to shoot your wedding, please check out my online portfolio or drop me a message. I’d love to hear about your plans for your big day.

Katie Dervin is a Documentary Wedding Photographer based in Manchester.