Blog Archives

Wedding at the Tower in Mold, North Wales

North Wales has plenty of stunning wedding venues on offer and the countryside is what makes this location even more beautiful. Justine and Aaron chose to have their wedding at Tower in Mold in July 2019.

About Tower

Tower is a very unusual and beautiful venue that is perfect for weddings and other events. Located close to Chester, Tower is a Grade-I listed building nestled in its own parkland in Mold, North Wales. Despite being conveniently placed next to roads such as the A55 and the A494 for easy access, you still feel like you’re in the middle of the peaceful Welsh countryside. The building is hidden from the road and boasts stunning views of the grounds and the large pond. This makes the perfect backdrop for an outdoor wedding, just like the one of Justine and Aaron.

The property has been owned by the same family for 500 years so, if you want a venue with tonnes of history, this is the one for you. Tower was built to guard against any attacks from the English, but I’m sure anyone is most welcome in the venue today.

The Wedding of Justine and Aaron

Justine chose to get ready in one of the Tower’s many beautiful bedrooms. One of my favourite shots is this one, where we can see Justine looking at herself in the mirror the makeup artist is holding up. You can see the true character of the building, with it’s lead windows and beautiful shutters that fold into the wall.

This building is also a dream to shoot in. The beautiful decor makes every photo look stunning, while I can get shots like the one below due to the way the rooms are laid out in the corridor. Bridal prep is one of my favourite aspects of the day, and these kinds of photos show why.

Justine’s dress was a beautiful satin fit-to-flare dress from The Silk Loft that came right in at the waist and flowed out from above the knee to the floor, with an exceptional train to end.

Justine and Aaron were praying for nice weather on the day of their wedding in July, as they’d planned a beautiful outdoor ceremony, complete with a flower arch to get married in front of and the beautiful pond as a backdrop. The rain is not always predictable but, despite being cloudy, it held off.

Justine wore minimal jewellery and kept her hairdo quite informal in a half up/down style. Her colour theme for the day was pastel pink and green, as you can see from her dad’s tie and pocket hanky and her flowers. The bridesmaids’ were pretty in pastel, as their dresses were a gorgeous pastel green/blue colour, almost like a light turquoise and these matched the groom’s tie and pocket hanky.

The rest of the groomsmen, like the father of the bride, wore pastel pink ties and light grey suits.

If we haven’t already determined this, Tower makes for an excellent photo backdrop. The opportunities here are almost endless, which is why it’s one of my favourite venues.

The cake matched the rest of Justine and Aaron’s colour scheme, incorporating both the pastel green and pinks from the rest of the day. The iced details on the flowers are unbelievable and it’s a simple but stunning design.

I love taking images of a venue throughout the day as it can change so much from morning to night. I snuck away from the wedding and captured these images of Tower at sunset, when the uplights and fairy lights are on and the pond is still. I just love the colour of that sky.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you’re still looking for a North Wales wedding photographer to capture your big day.

May 6, 2020

Blog

What does the coronavirus mean for your wedding?

Weddings can be stressful enough to organise without having to worry about the coronavirus that is now affecting people in the UK.

Following the government’s announcement requesting that people don’t leave the house and to avoid gatherings of more than 2 people, I wanted to create this helpful, positive post about what this means for your wedding day. I want to put your mind at ease and show that, despite it being an awful situation, you shouldn’t let it form a black cloud over your head.

There is a plan of action that you can create to ensure that your day still goes ahead at a time and a place that is safe for you, your guests and your suppliers.

Do I need to postpone my wedding?

On the 23rd March, Boris Johnson announced that the UK would be going into a 3-week lockdown. This means that you can only leave the house to buy essential supplies, exercise once per day or go to work as a key worker. Gatherings of more than 2 people are not allowed.

This means that any weddings scheduled for the next 3 weeks won’t be going ahead.

During this time, it’s very important that you stay up to date with news from around the UK and keep in regular contact with your suppliers. It’s likely that many of your suppliers have got in touch with you already to say that they’re closing business temporarily.

If you can avoid postponing, then you should.

If your wedding is due to take place in a couple of month’s time, have a think about what actions you could take to protect your guests from contracting an illness. You could put mini hand sanitisers on the table as favours, or leave signs around the venue reminding guests to wash their hands frequently. Guests should also be reminded to avoid hugging, kissing or shaking hands when greeting people. For this reason, it may be best to forgo the reception line!

If you’re worried about certain elderly or unwell guests attending, the Church of England is looking into ways your guests can be a part of your day without physically being there. The service could be streamed on Skype or you could have it recorded and send a copy to guests that were unable to attend. Save them a piece of wedding cake, too, so they can experience some aspects of the day.

You should avoid cancelling the whole day

You will just lose any money you’ve spent on the day so far and it will only upset you further. Instead, by moving the date, you’ll have the wedding to look forward to in the future and you won’t lose your deposits. If you do want to cancel, the Church of England have announced that they will be refunding couples.

Finally, it’s very important to check your wedding insurance policy documents. This could outline that, in extreme circumstances, you may be able to claim the majority of your money back if the wedding doesn’t go ahead due to venue closure or illness of you or a close family member.

If you have to postpone because your wedding is happening in the next few weeks or just because you would prefer to, there are some things you should look into.

How to postpone your wedding

If you wish to postpone your big day, then there are some things you will need to think about. You can follow the steps below to ensure that you can still have the wedding of your dreams in a few months’ time.

First, you should find a date that your venue can do in the future. Try to avoid rescheduling for a short time in the future, such as 4 months, as it’s unknown how long this virus may be around for. You could book for the same date a couple of years in the future, or pick a date next Spring or Summer.

Then, contact all of your suppliers. This includes photographers, videographers, florists, cake makers, registrars, caterer, DJ, etc. The more notice they have, the better.

Call each of them individually to let them know the situation. It’s likely that they will be extremely understanding and more than happy to help you in any way they can.

If you’ve been able to rebook your venue in the future, let the suppliers know the new date and ask if they can do it. In most cases, suppliers know of other professionals that can help out. For instance, I would be able to supply brides with a list of wedding photographers that I have worked with in the past.

Once you’ve spoken to your suppliers, it’s time to speak to your guests. Where possible, you should phone them to fill them in. If you have a new date secured, let them know what it is and that new invitations will be going out in the future. If you don’t yet have a new wedding date, tell them that you’ll keep them in the loop and will announce it as soon as you know.

Try not to get too upset at the situation. As awful as it may seem, there are a lot of other couples in a similar situation. Wouldn’t you rather get married at a time when this situation isn’t hanging over your head? At a time when you wouldn’t be worrying about guests getting ill or being unable to make it? A wedding is about a love a couple share, and that love will still be there in a year or two’s time.

Remember why you’re getting married and that this celebration WILL go ahead. When it does, it will still be the day you’ve always dreamed of.

March 24, 2020

Blog, Photography

How to ask guests not to take photos at your wedding

In a time of mobile phones, social media and the internet, it takes mere seconds to publish something online. Around 300,000,000 photos are uploaded to Facebook every day, as well as over 300 hours of video to YouTube PER MINUTE. This is a lot of online content.

Would you care if someone posted a photo of your wedding before you’d had the chance to? Maybe you wanted to do some kind of social media reveal and a guest has ruined that moment for you. Or what if they tagged you in a particularly unflattering photo? It’s likely that you want the photos that are published to be the ones taken by the professional photographer and published on your terms.

It can be hard to control what your guests put out on social media, but how you ask them to not take photos of your big day and to not publish them online? You want to ask them politely without being seen as a bridezilla.

If you want to ask your guests to not take or publish photos of the day, you’re not alone.

Tell them in advance

The best way to stop your guests from taking too many photos is to give them plenty of notice. This is the kind of detail that could be included in your invitations so that guests are aware of the rule before the day. You could include a short poem on the invite that politely requests the only photos are the ones taken by the photographer, such as:

There’s a photographer here,

We asked her to come,

So put down your phones,

Our wedding only needs one.

You should also let them know whether the rule applies to just the ceremony or the whole day.

Remind them on the day

If you sent your invitations out a few months before the day, it may be worth reminding your guests of the no photos rule. Use a sign that can be hung outside the ceremony rule or put it in their order of service. If you’re having a church wedding, it’s likely that the priest or vicar will remind your guests of this anyway. Some churches are very strict and the officiant may even have rules about the official photographer taking pictures.

Alter your privacy settings

It’s likely that your guests will still be tempted to put some photos of your day on social media. If you’re worried that this will be the case, you could change your privacy settings so that you can’t be tagged in any photos without pre-approving them first. Alter your settings on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to prevent anyone from seeing the photos appear on your timeline.

Post sneak peek photos

If you want to be the first to announce your wedding day on Facebook with a few photos of you and your new husband and wife in your beautiful outfits, you could ask for a sneak peek from your photographer. This works well if you don’t want to wait months for your wedding photos. They could send these to you to publish on social media shortly after your day. At least these will be published on your terms. And why not change your Facebook relationship status while you’re at it?

March 12, 2020