Crook Hall - Gill and Grant
Gill and Grant - what can I say about these two! I could talk for pages about what a joy their wedding day was, however I am going to leave that to Gill, her own words expressing so much more than I could ever do. Such beautiful souls, they share a deep love and respect for one another which not only is marvelled, but also inspiring. I knew from the moment that we met that I wanted so very much to photograph their wedding. Grant, is sumed up simply as a gentleman, charming and courtious, to everyone but not least of all to Gill, naturally graceful and warmhearted. Their story could have been taken right out of a romance novel. I adored working with and getting to know Gill and Grant, their children and their extended families. What a joy it was, a day that we won't ever forget.
What is your story?
"We met when we started infant school when we were 4 years old in 1967. In 1974 we moved into the same street as Grant, opposite end. Our parents still live there. We went through infant and junior school in the same class, and secondary school in the next class to each other. We left school at 16, I started work at Barclays Bank, and Grant at Rolls Royce Engineering. We never saw each other for over 30 years. We both got married, Grant had a son and I had two daughters. In 2011, when our circumstances were different, I saw Grant's name pop up wishing a mutual friend on face book Happy Birthday! I was really pleased to see it!"
"I'd always liked him at school, he even went out with my friend for a while, and I thought it would be nice to see where his life had taken him. He could have been living in Australia, with 10 children for all I knew, so I sent him a message! He was really happy to hear from me ......... and that was the start."
"We chatted on FB for ages hearing each other's love stories, and eventually met up. We still had so much in common. The same memories of school friends, our teachers, favourite music & old tv programmes. We never stopped talking. Our dads, both electricians, had worked on different sites together years ago, and our mum's were happy to get to know each other better."
"In 2014 we moved in together. We got on so well settling in to our new home, and went on lots of lovely holidays to Kraków, Budapest, Prague, Barcelona, Madrid and as many weekends away as possible. Living life to the full. We had dancing lessons, played table tennis, went walking and generally squeezed as much as possible in to our new life. In August 2016 we went to the Greek island of Santorini, famous for its glorious (romantic) sunsets. The last full day of the holiday was my birthday. I was opening my cards on our balcony that morning, and Grant went down on one knee and asked me to marry him. He gave me a little wooden box with 2 wedding rings that he'd made himself from titanium. I said yes :-)"
What was the inspiration behind your wedding?
"Crook Hall was the main inspiration. I'd been to a friend's wedding there in 2010 and loved the place - though as I was married at that time, I never dreamt what would happen there in the future! It's gardens are stunning and the medieval hall is so small and atmospheric I knew the backdrop wouldn't need dressing in any way."
"We knew we'd like Gareth as best man, Megan and Holly as our bridesmaids, and just close family at the ceremony, with a party for friends afterwards. The girls and I love navy, so their dresses were easy, and we chose the the boys blue tweed checked suits to go with them. My mum loves making cards and crafty things so she made all the invitations and favours with me. And anything else I saw in magazines or Pinterest that I loved the look of."
"I love white hydrangeas so our bouquets were full of them. And candles - we had candles and fairy lights everywhere."
What was the most memorable or your favorite part of your wedding day?
"We both had the happiest day of our lives, which I think is obvious from your amazing photos, but Grant says his favourite moment was me walking into the room with my dad, and mine is probably the ceremony itself and saying our vows, closely followed by our first dance."
Why was photography important to you and why did you choose 2tone Photography ?
"Photography has played a significant part in my life particularly, and I have even helped photograph a couple of weddings myself. Crook Hall is beautiful, and we think each other are too ;-) so we knew we wanted lots and lots of memories of the day. We hadn't given our photographer any great thought though. Then we came across 2tone Photography at a wedding exhibition at The Sage Gateshesd. Their pictures stopped me in my tracks. We stood looking at the albums for a while. I instantly loved the style and the light in Nigel & Chrissie's photos. We wandered off and looked at other stands. No one else there came close. (Or at the other 2 exhibitions we went to later). We chatted to N&C and liked them both a lot, such a lovely couple passionate about their jobs, and I felt Chrissie & I clicked within that first few minutes."
Do you have any advice for brides and grooms who are currently in the planning process?
"The music ever throughout the day was important to us, and we took a long time to put playlists together for different parts of the day - took us much longer than we expected."
"If you're on a budget, decide what's definitely necessary, and what's just be nice to have, and spend in that order."
"It was definitely worth a few dance lessons as our first dance was one of our favourite parts of the day."
What is your favorite part of being married now?
"Although nothing has really been changed, everything feels even better. Plus we have beautiful photographs and memories of our day for always. And it is pretty lovely being a 'Mr & Mrs'."
...and anything else you feel like you would like to add.
"Just that you, Nigel and Chrissie will always have a place in our hearts for your lovely part in our day. You helped make it perfect! xx"
Venue: Crook Hall, Durham
Venue styling: Just me - but not too much needed as the place is perfect
The wedding dress: Anna Sorrano - from WED2B
The men's suits: Master Debonair are East Boldon
Wedding cake: Best friend, Linda
Flowers: Charlotte's House of Flowers, Sunderland
Hair and Make up: Hair, Show Beauty in House of Fraser (Marie) Make-up Marissa Bennett
Entertainment: Lovely friends Neil and David Atkinson singing with their guitars, and DJ Colin Cook
Lartington Hall - Beth and Luke
Beth and Luke chose elegant Lartington Hall in Co. Durham for their wedding. Dashed with champagne and gold, their day had a regal feel while still being relaxed and fun. Here is Beth to tell us about it...
How did you meet? How did he propose? What is your story?
'Luke and I had the most amazing engagement. We had booked to go away to Disney World Florida in 2015. The last day of our holiday was my birthday and Luke had organised for us to watch the firework display at Cinderellas castle from a private garden viewing area! I had already had my birthday presents early that morning and wasn’t expecting anything else! As the fire works began, they played a song which started with the lyrics - ‘wishes do come true’ to which Luke then got down on one knee and the fireworks were going crazy in the background! It was just magical.'
What was the inspiration behind your wedding?
'When we started planning the wedding we knew we both wanted quite a big wedding with the wow-factor to go with it, and we definitely got that with Lartington Hall. We wanted everything to be that little bit extra, but still classy. We wanted a neutral and champagne colour theme, which happened to match perfectly with the venue – it was fate! I’d almost say we wanted a regal-feel to it, from the tall, rounded centrepieces and the large cake to the gold painted pillar-cases in the ballroom. Everything was just how we imagined – perfect!” We couldn’t recommend Lartington Hall enough to future bride and grooms.'
What was the most memorable or your favorite part of your wedding day?
'Without a doubt our favourite part of our wedding day was the Singing waiters! When planning the wedding we knew they were definitely going to have to be part of our day! We felt that sometimes at the wedding breakfast there is a bit of a lull and everyone becomes a bit tired after a big meal so it was just the perfect thing to get everyone lively again and up on their feet. The atmosphere they created was amazing, everyone was up dancing, singing and having a fab time! So many of our guests commented on how unique and brilliant it was to have at a wedding breakfast!'
Why was photography important to you and why did you choose 2tone Photography ?
'Our photos of the day were one of our main focuses when wedding planning. We found 2tone photography at a wedding fayre and instantly knew nigel and chrissie were for us! We knew from looking at their past albums that they had captured some amazing pictures of other bride and grooms special days and that’s exactly what we wanted! Their pictures seemed so crisp, clear and deep in colour, and that was exactly what we were looking for, something that said bold. Nigel and Chrissie are so lovely too. They work with such a relaxed attitude and it’s almost like having friends photograph your wedding. I would definitely recommend having a pair of photographers, that way, so many more images from different angles are able to be captured and I would not hesitate to recommend 2tone to any bride and groom.'
Do you have any advice for brides and grooms who are currently in the planning process?
'Our advice for future Bride and Grooms would be to go ahead with any plan or factor that you really want on your day. You only get to do it once, so bite the bullet and book it! Even if it means saving those few extras pennies, you wont regret it!
What is your favorite part of being married now?
'Our favourite part of being married now is planning our future together! We cant wait to see what the next couple of years bring for us! Our least favourite part is not having a wedding to plan haha! Enjoy every single minute of it.'
Venue: Lartington Hall
Venue styling: The Whole Schbang
The wedding dress: Bespoke Victoria Kay - Happily ever after Darlington
The jewellery - Ivory & CO
The hair: Hair by Jordan Simone Darlington
Makeup - Heather Francesca Pro artist and studio
The bridesmaid's dresses - Tracy Wilson Bridal specialist
The men's suits: Slaters - Newcastle
The wedding cake: Creations by Paula Jane
The flowers: The whole schbang
The stationary - Linda Whyte @ The Wedding Stationery Company
The magician - Stephen Knight
The singing waiters - Main course singing waiters
The day time musicians - Amici Musicali
The evening band - Hip Hop Hooray
The photobooth - Party Pics photobooth hire
The videographer - One Digital Image
Healey Barn - Rosie and Anthony
School teachers, Rosie and Anthony were married at St Robert's R.C Church, heading over to Healey barn for their wedding reception. I asked them to tell us more about their school themed wedding day, their favourite moments and any advice that they could offer to couples getting married.
How did you meet? How did he propose? What is your story?: "Both of us are teachers and Anthony and I met as we were both teaching at the same school. Three years later, Anthony proposed when we were on a trip to Edinburgh, a couple of days before my birthday. I had no idea what he had planned and was so surprised when he got down on one knee in front of Edinburgh castle. It was very romantic!"
What was the inspiration behind your wedding?: "We wanted quite a relaxed and rustic theme to our wedding day. We visited a wide range of venues looking for the perfect place and as soon as we visited Healey Barn (even though it was still being built!) we fell in love with it straight away. As we are both teachers and that is how we met, our wedding had a school theme to it. The table names were the names of different subjects written on chalk boards and our favours were school-themed cookies! Our master of ceremony (my brother, Chris) used a traditional school bell throughout the day before making his announcements."
What was the most memorable or your favorite part of your wedding day?: :"I think our favourite thing was having all of the people that we love all together in one place and being able to celebrate with them. We both smiled from start to finish! We also made sure we snatched a few moments together throughout the day. The car journey from the church to the Reception was really nice as we had some time just the two of us to take it all in and enjoy it."
Why was photography important to you and why did you choose 2tone Photography?: "Choosing the photographers is such an important part of planning your wedding as the memories are so lovely to look back on. It's vital to have a good rapport with your photographers so that you all feel at ease on the day. As soon as we met Nigel and Chrissie and saw examples of their work, we knew they would be perfect for our wedding. We cannot praise them highly enough and all of our family and friends were so impressed with their professional and friendly approach on the day. The group shots were planned in advance and there was no waiting around on the day. Nigel and Chrissie got so many fantastic pictures without us even noticing they were there! We could not be happier with the wedding photos we have received, the difficult thing was narrowing them down for the album!"
Do you have any advice for brides and grooms who are currently in the planning process?: "Just enjoy it! We had a two year engagement and planned the wedding very gradually. Everyone says that wedding planning it such a stressful time but it honestly doesn't have to be, we really enjoyed planning ideas around our theme and just had fun. Remember that it's your day and go for whatever will make you happy. Do look around at a range of venues, photographers, florists etc so you can choose your favourites rather than just going for the first ones you see. Try not to stress too much over who to invite or sorting the table plans, do what you feel comfortable with, it will all come together on the day and it will be the best day of your life!"
What is your favorite part of being married now?: "It's just nice to know that we are finally Mr and Mrs and can look forward to lots of exciting times ahead. It's been funny for the children at school to get used to calling me by a new name, so I just respond to both names now!"
Here is their day...
Venue: Healey Barn
The wedding dress: I Do
The men's suits: Slaters
Wedding cake: Vanilla Teas
Flowers: Flowers Unlimited
Hair and Make up: Hair- Lisa Cameron Make up- Sarah Stonehouse
Entertainment: Aaron Bayley Band
Matfen Hall - Laura and Paul
It's been far too long since I last posted. Nigel and I have been busy all year long, photographing some incredible weddings, and I can't wait to show you them. All the way back in April, we were very fortunate to photograph Laura and Paul's elegant wedding at Matfen Hall in Northumberland. The sun shone, the atmosphere was fantastic, and all in all it was a really unforgettable day.
Laura and Paul chose some amazing suppliers for their wedding day. It was great to work alongside Lisa Jones (Hair and make up), Coco Luminaire (light up letters), Snaparazzi photobooths, and Jason Issacs for the evening entertainment.
Here are some of our favourite shots from Laura and Paul's wedding at Matfen Hall.
Beamish Hall - Jenny and Jim
Jenny and Jim's winter wedding at Beamish Hall was a day filled with love and beautiful moments. They were married in the Moubucher Suite at Beamish Hall, set in the beautiful North Durham countryside, later sharing a wedding breakfast with their friends and family in the Hall's winter gardens.
Here are a few images from their day...
Wynyard Hall - Joanne and Lee
Joanne and Lee were married just a few weeks before christmas at the parish church of St Mary and St Cuthbert in Chester le Street, heading over afterwards to the stunning Wynyard Hall. Here is a glimpse of their day...
