Gisborough Hall - Emma and Jamie

A Gisborough Hall Wedding. Emma and Jamie celebrated their summer wedding at Gisborough Hall. As the son of a wedding photographer, Jamie knew alot about weddings, and along with Emma’s creativity, they put together a day filled with fun.

They made sure that there was no time for the guest to become idle. Lawn games, ice creams, a bouncy castle, and disney princesses for the little ones, along with the most original idea we have ever seen for confetti - mulitcoloured pompoms, which produced a spectacular effect.

Le Petit Chateau - Lauren and Simon

Lauren and Simon chose Le Petit Chateau in Otterburn, Northumberland for their wedding.  They were won over by it's quirky decor, beautiful gardens and friendly feel.  The weather sadly wasn't on our side and rain poured down the entire day. As we let our creative juices flow, Lauren and Simon were only too happy to play along to make the rain a thing to remember, and it all turned our rather well in the end!

How did you meet? What is your story? 

"We met at school, we were friends from first school but actually got together as a couple at high school."

How did you get engaged? 

"It was the night before my 30th birthday.  We were living with my parents at the time as we were in the middle of moving house. When we got back from the cinema I went upstairs to check on our daughter Fearne and found the ring box and a card in her cot and in the card it said ‘Mammy please will you marry my Daddy?)"

Tell us about your venue. Why did you pick it?

"We chose Le Petit Chateau because after having lots of friends weddings over the last couple of years we liked that nobody we knew had been married there before. We loved how different and quirky the venue was, it had a lovely feel about the place and the staff were all so friendly. We loved the inside and the outside and also that we had plenty of rooms for people to stay, however it was definitely the ceremony room that really won us over."

What was your absolute favourite part of the day? Does your spouse have a different favourite?

"I just loved every minute of it!!  His favourite part was the morning, the build up when all of the lads turned up and the adrenaline started before they went in for the ceremony."

Why was photography important to you and why did you choose 2tone Photography ?

"Photography was important because although we will always have the memories, the day really does just go so quick and we wanted some great pictures to be able to look back on over the years and remember. We chose 2tone because we loved the photos they did for my sister and friends wedding and liked how there was Nigel to be with the boys in the morning and Chrissie to be with the girls to get a picture of the whole morning both sides. We also love how relaxed they make everyone feel and the natural pictures they capture."

Do you have any advice for brides and grooms who are currently in the planning process?

"Just dont stress about the little things. Everything will come together in the end."

What is your favorite part of being married now?

"Feeling slightly closer as a family now we all have the same surname."

Venue: Le petit chateau

The wedding dress: Accent bridal

The men's suits: Moss bros

Wedding cake: Gillian banks

Flowers: The Flower Shed

Hair stylist: Reflections

Stationary: Myself

Entertainment: Proctor entertainment & Helena Pearson harpist

Wynyard Hall - Mojdeh and Trevor

Today is a day of preparation and planning - Amy and Jon's big day at Wynyard Hall is tomorrow, the cameras are ready, and the weather is looking not too dismal.  As I think of their day, my mind goes back a few weeks to another wedding celebration, the day Trevor married his bride Mojdeh.  Their elegant wedding took place also at Wynyard Hall. It was a wedding filled with tradition, two cultures blended together within the one day.  Married in Wynyard Hall's Brooks chapel, the pair went on to celebrate their day with family and friends, concluding in the conservatory with a traditional Iranian knife dance.

So as I go back to thinking ahead to tomorrow, I leave you with Trevor and Mojdeh and their wedding day at Wynyard Hall...

Seaham Hall - Steven & Derek

Steven and Derek chose to tie the knot at the lavish and elegant Seaham Hall in County Durham.  Surrounded by family and friends, their day was relaxed and joyful.  An event which combined style and red carpet glamour with celebration and love.  

How did you meet? How did he propose? What is your story? 

"As we work for the same company, we met on a flight from Shanghai China to London, Derek proposed on our hotel balcony at The Atlantis Dubai, both in our bathrobes with a bottle of champagne."

What was the inspiration behind your wedding?

"Classic, with a modern twist. Especially with our suits, we wanted more of a red carpet look than wedding attire."

What was the most memorable or your favourite part of your wedding day?

"We both loved spending the morning in the hotel spa with our closest friends and having best friends and family in the room whilst getting ready, the favourite part was when everybody was dancing the night away."

Why was photography important to you and why did you choose 2tone Photography ?: 

"We looked across a lot of work by different companies but fell in love with the work you guys produced and also we loved how you work together as a couple."

Do you have any advice for brides and grooms who are currently in the planning process? 

"Make memories of the whole process as once the day is over it’s nice to look back on how it all came together."

Venue: Seaham Hall

The men's suits: Dixon Anderson Tailoring

Wedding cake: Ivory Cake Company

Flowers: Fleur Couture

Hair and Make up: Amanda Bell Makeup Artist

Entertainment: WDC Entertainment

Healey Barn - Lizzie and Alessio

This is Lizzie and Alessio's wonderful wedding at St Peter's Church in Low Fell, and Healey Barn in Northumberland, the perfect venue for this stylish and relaxed couple.

As a recommended supplier at Healey Barn, we are in the very fortunate position of being a regular visitor to this great venue.  It's rustic styling, woodlands and rolling coutryside views never fail to impress us.  It was a joy to return for Lizzie and Alessio's big day last May.

"We both worked at Costa Coffee whilst I was at school and college. After I finished university Aless and I worked in the same store when he asked me to go out to a drink and we’ve been together since. Aless booked a trip to Copenhagen where he took me to Tivoli Gardens, where we sat and had a drink then he popped the question."

"We both loved every second of our day, but our first dance was very special. We will never listen to the proclaimers (500 miles) in the same way."

"We chose 2tone because their work was exactly the style we were looking for. They were also extremely thorough throughout the whole planning and extremely professional. We are over the moon with our photographs and wedding album, they couldn’t have captured the day any better."

Venue: Healey Barn

The wedding dress: Mia Sposa

The men's suits: Moss Bros

Wedding cake: Family and friends

Flowers: Wildflower

Hair and Make up:  F.A.C.E - Sarah Stonehouse

Entertainment: The Ultimate Wedding DJ

Durham Castle - Laura and James

Durham Castle is a dream to photograph, wonderfully atmospheric, grand and full of history.  It also held some very special memories for Laura and James and so it could not have been more perfect for their wedding. 

I asked Laura to tell us about their wedding herself, so here goes!...

"We met at Durham University in 2006. We shared a few mutual friends, but it was playing college basketball that meant we started spending more time together. The most memorable turning point in our 'friendship' was when we spend a couple of hours together on a first aid course.... practising CPR (!) and then the long walk back home where we chatted for ages.  James proposed after 7 years together, on a slightly random Monday evening after I'd been at work for the entire day. He called me whilst I was driving home and asked me to give him a call 5 mins from home so he could start cooking the chicken fajitas. Little did I know it was actually so he could leave our flat - he left an envelope on the doormat which was the start of a treasure hunt... the end of which was a proposal :) Unfortunately the chicken fajitas didn't exist (!), but we went out for dinner before going on a mini break to Vienna 2 days later."

"We had a facetime chat with Chrissie and Nigel and loved how relaxed they were! I could instantly imagine them sharing in our wedding day."

For Laura and James, Durham Castle was always the one.  

"We were both students at Castle College in Durham, which is very lucky to have Durham Castle as the halls of residence! I lived in the castle during my final year, top floor of the keep - 127 steps up.  James used to refer to it as his 'city centre pent house! For us, there was only one place we could get married if we were ever to 'tie the knot!"

Laura chose vintage inspired accessories along with her stunning shoes - the Ivory 'Paris' stone embellished heeled sandals by No. 1 Jenny Packham.

Laura's stunningly beautiful wedding dress was the Jean gown by Badgley Mischka

"My wedding dress was the first thing I bought for the wedding - I loved the slightly vintage element of it and tried to carry this across the wedding (ie nothing too pristine and perfect - I didn't want 'matchy matchy'!)"

They were married in Durham Castle's medieval private chapel, the Tunstall chapel, constructed by Bishop Cuthbert Tunstall in 1540. 

"When I'm a guest at weddings I never look at the bride first when she walks down the aisle - I always look at the groom to see his reaction! I really wanted two photographers so that both moments could be captured"

"One of my favourite moments was walking back down the aisle after the service and seeing all our friends and family."

Laura and James were so much fun to work with, relaxed and clearly in love.  They made it too easy for us to capture some beautiful images of them alone together

"We loved the confetti gauntlet despite it almost choking James, the photo of him after getting confetti in his face is one of my favourites - even though it really shouldn't be!"

I asked Laura for a little advice for other couples getting married...

"Plan the day you want and that will make you happy. There can be so many differing opinions when planning a wedding. Just do what makes you happy -it's your day."

"As we were getting married in spring, I wanted to incorporate spring colours (light pink and purple). As it was Easter weekend we also wanted to give a little nod to this with the personalised easter egg favors."

Laura and James' beautiful wedding cake was carefully handcrafted by Laura's talented mother

"We looked over some photos that Nigel and Chrissie had taken at a wedding at Durham Castle and fell in love with them. Once I'd seen this there was no debate!"

"Make sure you find even just 5 mins to yourselves at the wedding.  We used the time when we went off to do some photos with Chrissie and Nigel after the dinner."

A favourite moment was our SECOND dance with our amazing band, Detroit Soul, 'This Old Heat of Mine'. We actually wanted this to be our first song, but didn't think the lyrics were appropriate!

Congratulations to you Laura and James once again.  Thank you for your words of wisdom, kindness and warmth - and thank you from the bottom of our hearts for inviting us to share with you, your wonderful wedding day at Durham Castle.

Laura and James carefully selected some fantastic suppliers for their wedding day:

Venue: Durham Castle

Venue styling: Pumpkin Events (friends business)

The wedding dress: Badgley Mischka: Jean

The men's suits: Moss

Wedding cake: Mother of the Bride!

Flowers: Style and Seated (friend)

Hair and Make up: Church Hairdressing (Tynemouth), F.A.C.E Makeup (Sarah Stonehouse)

Entertainment: Detroit Soul