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...
Finding your inner confidence and look great in your wedding photos
A childhood friend of mine is getting married next month! She is marrying the man of her dreams and the father of her child, sharing the moment with all of those most dear. She says to me, I am not nervous about the wedding, but I am dreading the photographs.
This is an all too common statement for us to hear. The pre-notion of what it must feel like to have your photograph taken when most of us have little more experience of the thing than sitting for a school photo, awkward and stiff, or posing for pictures with friends on a great night out, poorly lit, badly composed and completely unflattering. So what can we say to convince you that the experience will be nothing like that.
Anxiety is simply the unknown, a concern perhaps that your photographs may not show you in your best light. These feelings are normal and exist in all of us, multiplied when the pressure of the wedding itself is added into the equation. But what can you do about it? Firstly prepare yourself as much as possible. Get to know your photographer as best you can before the wedding, creating a relationship can do wonders for your confidence. Get to know their work - every photographer has a different shooting style, really study it to make sure that you adore their work, and finally have trust.
Mentally preparing yourself for the experience is a huge turning point. Allow yourself to have fun, give your self permission to not take it too seriously, relax, be yourself and the result will be naturally beautiful images that show you to be you. Furthermore, you don’t always need to wait for instruction, we love it when a couple improvise a bit.
I want to share a little story with you. As someone myself who chose to be behind the camera, not infront of it, I used to hate having my photograph taken. Anxious that I was not as good looking as I would like to be, perhaps a little overweight and even a little awkward - then I fell in love and married a photographer. The realisation came to me that I didn’t have much choice about being infront of the camera anymore. Nigel wanted to preserve our own moments and journey through life together, as did I. He wanted to create meaningful images of us together and record times with our children as they grew. If I shied away, not only would I be depriving him of his enjoyment of capturing these moments, but I would also be depriving myself and our children, not allowing us to relive these precious moments and share them with one another in the future. After a reluctant acceptance came, and a fair few awkward moments for me being photographed, one day I simply just decided to start enjoying myself. I took these mini photoshoots less seriously, I laughed, played and had fun with our family. Now a fair number of years down the line, I have the confidence in myself that I was lacking before along with thousands of precious, beautiful images of us and our children enjoying life and loving one another.
I know how it feels to feel the anxiety of the camera lens upon you, but I also know that it is possible to turn things around to make the experience a truly memorable one. You just need to allow yourself to do so!
If after all this, the nerves are still plaguing you, we have a solution that will work wonders. Book in for a pre wedding shoot. The resulting images from the shoot are a lovely reminder of your time as an engaged couple, however the revolutionary part is the experience. Eradicating the fear of the unknown. While the experience is a little different on the wedding day, it is not so far removed as to be completely different. You will learn how we work as photographers, and get to know us in a much less formal way. You can test your own boundaries, discover what makes you feel comfortable and learn how to have fun when you are having your pictures taken.
So try and relax, let yourself enjoy the experience and have faith, it will be worth it!
To my dear friend Emma, you are and always have been beautiful. Have faith, relax, give yourself permission to have fun and you will have the most wonderful reminders of your first day as your husband's wife. I wish you all the luck in the world.
Chrissie x
The South Causey Old Barn - Natalie and Daniel
South Causey Inn, being so close to us in Stanley is one venue that we visit frequently, however Natalie and Daniel's wedding was a first for us. The brand new 'Old barn', South Causey Inn's newley refurbished wedding venue, with it's wonderful decor and attention to detail was a treat to photograph within.
Natalie and Daniel were married just before halloween. The mid autumn season brought with it that stunning low sun that we love so much, and the drawn in nights presented us with a stunning pink/purple sunset.
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
Doxford Barns - Sarah and Max
Our first wedding at Doxford Barns in Northumberland was for Sarah and Max. A stunning venue filled with rustic charm and perfect for lovers of the outdoors. Max met us as we arrived, getting out of the car, he pulled us in for a huge bear hug. Their warmth continued throughout the overcast late August day, brightened by their mutual cheerful and relaxed disposition. Two people so likeminded in every way, beginning their married life together.
Thank you to you both for your warmth and friendship, it was a joy to attend your beautiful wedding day.
How did you meet? How did he propose? What is your story?
"Max and I met at work. I worked in the box office of a music venue and he worked for the security that were contracted for events taking place there.
We were going on holiday to Center Parcs and he was locking the house up. I’d moved his bag into the back of the car and when he got in he started panicking about where his bag was. This was odd; he’s never normally like that. I had no idea why but then brushed it off and we headed off. When we got there we checked in as normal, and went for a walk. I didn’t have a clue he was about to propose but we stopped at one point in the forest and went down on one knee. Instead of crying or anything all I could do was laugh. Turns out he was panicking about his bag because it had the ring in it! I feel so awful now for laughing, sorry Max!"
What was the inspiration behind your wedding?
"We just wanted to have a day filled with fun and joy and laughter - a day the two families could really come together. Pinterest was also a big help!"
What was the most memorable or your favorite part of your wedding day?
"The most memorable part has to be the registrar calling Max by the wrong name in the middle of the ceremony! It was hilarious then and still is now! As for the favourite, the first dance was pretty special for us. One of our favourite songs played acoustically by my cousin. It was a beautiful rendition."
Why was photography important to you and why did you choose 2tone Photography?
"Photography was so important because it’s the way of capturing those little moments you may miss, forever, and telling your own story through images. We chose Nigel and Chrissie because, from meeting them once, we knew they could do just that for us."
Do you have any advice for brides and grooms who are currently in the planning process?
"Make sure your plans are for you, no one else. Everyone else will be happy for you both no matter what you plan. Take it easy in the immediate run-up to and on the day itself. Take a few minutes to just be together after you’re married. You’ll thank yourselves for it afterwards!"
What is your favourite part of being married now?
"Our favourite part of being married is just being together! Being able to share memories and planning our future together is so much fun."
Venue: Doxford Barns
The wedding dress: Ronald Joyce - Robyn - purchased at Something Special, Low Fell
The men's suits: Slaters Menswear
Wedding cake: Sarah’s mum
Flowers: Sarah’s mum
Hair and Make up: Hair: Danielle Hurst, make up: Sarah’s sister
Entertainment: DJ: AMV Live