A fairytale wedding at Tyn Dwr Hall

As a wedding photographer in North Wales, Tyn Dwr Hall is one of my absolute favourite venues to shoot at. This beautiful venue boasts all the features that are straight from a wedding photographer’s wish list: think handcrafted fireplaces, stained-glass windows and dark wood staircases inside, and romantic waterfalls bordered by trees and wildflowers outside. So, you can imagine how thrilled I was when the lovely Emma and Matthew Dugdale asked me to photograph their wedding at Tyn Dwr Hall.

Emma and Matthew’s wedding took place on 11th March 2022- the perfect Spring wedding date. However, as anyone who lives in North Wales knows, the weather can’t always be relied upon, and it rained for most of the day! However, Emma and Matthew just embraced the weather, which made for some uniquely beautiful photographs:

The day began with one of the most unusual bridal gifts that I’ve seen in my time as a wedding photographer. One of the things I love about my job are the personal touches that couples bring to their wedding day, and Matthew certainly didn’t disappoint with his gift for Emma: private registration plates for each of their cars!

Wedding Photographer North Wales

Matthew stayed over in Tyn Dwr Hall’s Yew Tree cottage the night before the wedding, which gave me the opportunity to capture some great shots of him leaving the cottage and heading up to the Hall to get ready, along with his groomsmen.

Emma wore a beautiful bridal dress from Wed2B, and her gorgeous bouquet was by Vivid Floral Design in Wrexham. As a wedding photographer, one of the reasons I love Tyn Dwr Hall is the stunning dark wood staircase: it makes for the ideal photo opportunity and the images I shot of Emma walking down the stairs show this to perfection.

The ceremony took place at 1pm, and Emma was walked down the aisle by her lovely uncle, as sadly both of Emma’s parents have passed away. The photos I captured of Emma meeting Matthew at the end of the aisle, with her uncle looking on proudly, are the kind of emotional moments that really do make being a wedding photographer a dream job.

Tyn Dwr Hall’s Garden Room is the perfect space to celebrate, with lots of natural light streaming in through the large floor-to-ceiling windows that look out across the grounds and rolling hills. The room was beautifully-dressed by Uplift Event Hire, and I captured some fantastic shots of Emma and Matthew’s family and friends relaxing and enjoying themselves at the wedding reception.

North Wales Wedding Photographer

Wedding Photographer North Wales

Emma and Matthew’s wedding really was the dream day for me as a wedding photographer: a gorgeous bride and groom looking so happy, surrounded by fabulous family and friends, and all at one of North Wale’s most stunning wedding venues. Which just goes to show: no matter what the weather, your wedding day really will be the most magical day of your life.

If you are planning a wedding in North Wales, and have fallen in love with Tyn Dwr Hall as much as I have, please contact me to chat more about wedding photography at this stunning venue.

April 6, 2022

Blog

Winner: Creative Wedding Photographer of the Year Award

I’m delighted to share some very exciting news…

Last week I attended The Welsh Wedding Awards 2022, hosted by Creative Oceanic at Portland House in Cardiff.

I was thrilled to be nominated in the category of Creative Wedding Photographer of the Year… and I’m even more thrilled to say that I won! I am over the moon at being awarded this accolade: it’s such a prestigious award and means the absolute world to me. Two years ago I was the runner up in this same category, so to be the winner in 2022 is a huge achievement and I couldn’t be more pleased and proud.

I absolutely love being a wedding photographer in North Wales: I get to meet fabulous couples and shoot in beautiful venues, so I feel lucky every time I go to work! And for my work to be recognised in this way really is the icing on the cake.

I know it’s such a cliche to say that “it’s an honour just to be nominated”, but when it comes to The Welsh Wedding Awards that statement couldn’t be more true, because nominations come from past couples voting for you. Therefore, achieving a nomination shows that my past couples are delighted with the work I did for them, and made the effort to vote for me to win an award as a result. As a wedding photographer you really can’t ask for more than that.

The final decision on the winner is then judged by an expert panel, and out of 6 other photographers in my category I was delighted to be the one to take home the award.

I would also like to give a mention to my lovely friend Cassie from Cassie M Bridal. Cassie is a super-talented bridal hair and make up artist for North Wales and Cheshire. We originally booked to go to the awards ceremony together but sadly Cassie couldn’t make it at the last minute due to illness. I’m so pleased to say that Cassie also won in her category, Freelance Wedding Hair & Makeup Specialist of the Year. I had the honour of collecting Cassie’s award on her behalf, and want to say a huge congratulations on a very much deserved win!

A bit more about the Welsh Wedding Awards

The Welsh Wedding Awards recognises exceptional wedding suppliers that go above and beyond to ensure the uniqueness of every wedding. The Awards provided a platform to showcase those who promote excellence in the industry, inspire others by their achievements and add the fairy-tale sparkle to any wedding.

A Spokesperson for The Welsh Wedding Awards 2022 said: “The winners represent the industry’s gold standard that work tirelessly to meet the demands of the couples and their guests.

“The Awards showcase some of the best wedding specialists that operate in the industry, whose excellence and commitment brought them to the forefront of the industry. These champions are tried and tested specialists that know how to create a stress-free wedding experience, keeping the romance in the air. We would like to congratulate all finalists and winners for their amazing achievements.”

The event was a brilliant night, with over 150 wedding specialists in attendance. And of course, winning the award for Creative Wedding Photographer of the Year really did make it a night to remember for me!

A little note from me…

I want to say a huge thank you to all my lovely couples who took the time and effort to nominate me for this award: it means the world to me to know that you’re happy with my work, and went out of your way to put me forward for an award. Making brides and grooms happy is the reason we do this job, so it’s wonderful to know I’ve achieved that. Here’s to many more happy couples, beautiful photos, and (hopefully) more awards too!

March 28, 2022

Blog, Real Weddings

A beautiful Nunsmere Hall wedding

Following the excellent news that we should be back to some kind of normality from June onwards, I thought I’d share a beautiful wedding that was shot last October at Nunsmere Hall. The wedding of Holly and Katie managed to go ahead after being postponed from May 2020. During the times during lockdown, I’ve mainly kept myself busy doing family photoshoots, which I’ve adored. But I have to say, I was so excited to shoot another wedding, as they’re my passion.

The Wedding of Holly and Katie

Holly and Katie had already postponed their May wedding date, but come October, they’d decided that they wanted to try and go ahead with their small ceremony before the National lockdown kicked in in November. And I’m so glad they did! Despite the small numbers (just 13 guests), the wedding was truly beautiful and they were both so happy.

Holly got ready at Nunsmere Hall, booking both a hair and makeup artist for the occasion, along with her mum, her two bridesmaids and Katie’s niece, who made the most adorable flower girl!

The ceremony room was adorned beautifully, with blossom trees, LOVE letters and gorgeous pink chair covers. The chairs were all spaced out so that the 13 guests weren’t sitting too close to each other.

I love taking photos of the groom or bride as the bride walks down the aisle and I captured this shot of Katie as Holly entered the room.

While I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to seeing guests in masks, the ceremony was still beautiful and personal. Both brides walk back up the aisle following the ceremony with huge smiles on their faces.

Following on from the ceremony, it was time for some fun wedding photos and these two were all up for smoke bombs!

Smoke bombs are so much fun and really make for some beautiful, colourful photographs, particularly when you have such gorgeous scenery behind you, as Nunsmere does.

The stunning sunset allowed us to get some gorgeous low-light photos too, with a beautiful orange glow. This is why I love autumn weddings so much. The orangery in the trees combined with the sun peeking through makes for a gorgeous photo.

After photos, the couple were able to have a small wedding breakfast, complete with speeches, where the blossom trees were reused and helped to set a gorgeous backdrop.

And finally, the evening was finished off with some stunning fireworks. I love this shot of Holly wearing Katie’s jacket, hugging as they watch the lights!

I hope these photos make you as excited as I am for June, when large weddings can be held again and we can all laugh, drink and be merry!

March 3, 2021

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