Wynyard Hall - Rebecca and Michael

Wow, wow, wow! If you are going to have a black-tie wedding, this is how you do it! Rebecca and Micheal were one of the few lucky couples who were able to be married in 2020 without limitations or restrictions. Their elegant and sophisticated wedding took place at Wynyard Hall last February.

There was not a dry eye in the room as Rebecca walked down the aisle of the grand ballroom, following her and Michael’s daughter and escorted by her brother. There were smiles and one or two tears from the guests as they exchanged vows and rings, and joy spread through the room for the happy couple as they were pronounced man and wife. It was another extremely windy day, and the sky was desperately trying to rain so we stuck to sheltered areas for their pictures - but Wynyard Hall being what it is, is not short of wonderful places for photographs. After their meal and some fabulous speeches in the conservatory, they took to the dancefloor for their first dance as man and wife. They had told us before their wedding how much they liked our more dramatic artistic wedding portraits, and so as guests began to tuck into the evening buffet, we stole away with them to Wynyard Hall’s stunning Brooks chapel for a few more shots with one or two more outside in a similar style. It was a wonderful day with a wonderful couple. I just can’t wait to get back to shootings weddings like this again.

“THANK YOU! You were both so fantastic on our wedding day and we are so happy that we found you to capture our day. What can I say.... the pictures are amazing! You really did capture some amazing moments. We shed a few tears looking through them last night. You guys are fabulous and so talented at what you do. We can’t thank you enough!!

Rebecca and Micheal”

South Causey Inn - Jade and Craig

It has been so good looking through our first weddings from 2020 again, and reliving what were some pretty epic occasions. It's doing my soul so much good to see pictures of people hugging and celebrating together, knowing that we will be back there again soon. Jade and Craig’s wedding last February was indeed epic, despite it blowing a hooley almost all day. Wind is always the most tricky weather for a wedding photographer, even more so than rain, but when you have a bride and groom who just laugh all day, how could we go wrong!

Jade and Craig were married just a few miles away from us at the South Causey Inn in County Durham. It’s an awesome venue to work at, trendy and cool inside with some lovely views of the surrounding countryside outside. Nige met the lads at their home, while I joined the girls in one of South Causey’s cosy bedrooms. Jade looked stunning in her fitted lace gown, and her rose bouquet with lots of greenery was just gorgeous. They were married in the chapel and went on to have a meal with their family and friends in the Old Barn dining hall. After dinner, the wind dropped to a more manageable level, so we ventured out to explore the grounds with the newlyweds. The weather as it was before dinner, there was no way we were going to ask the guests to pop outside for confetti, but after the meal, they were all only too happy to join us which turn out to be a great kick-starter to their fab evening do.

Durham Castle - Yuze and Fedir

It’s been a long time since my last post, too long.  This last year has been one of the most difficult many of us will have known and my lack of posting comes entirely down to just simply doing what I can to stay mentally healthy while coping with the devastating blow the pandemic has caused to our whole industry.  Despite this, I still want to share with you some of the photographs that we have taken from the wonderful weddings that we were privileged to attend in 2020.  Our first wedding of 2020 was also our first wedding to have been impacted by the terrible virus that originated in China that later came to be known as Covid 19.  

After meeting Fedir, Yuze moved from China to be with him in Sweden, and together, they arranged for their wedding to take place at Durham Castle, with friends and family due to travel across the globe to attend.  Due to the outbreak in China, only two weeks before their February wedding day Yuze’s parents and friends had to make the difficult decision to not attend the wedding.  It was a devastating blow to our couple but determined to be married, they continued on with their plans with the addition of the very talented duo, Janet and Chris from One Digital Image wedding videographers, who would record the ceremony for Yuze’s family to view over in China.  While considerably smaller in numbers, the day was perfect.

Deciding to throw out tradition, Yuze and Fedir got ready together at the Hotel Indigo in Durham.  Without bridesmaids or the mother of the bride to help, Fedir stepped in and helped his bride into her wedding dress before escorting her down the aisle to exchange vows.  After their intimate wedding ceremony in the Bishop’s Dining room, they celebrated with their guests in the Tunstall Gallery before returning back to the Bishop’s Dining room to share a meal together.  They enjoyed laughs during a game of Mr and Mrs, and we left them as they partied the night away.

Looking back at Yuze and Fedir’s wedding pictures from February 2020 - with everything that has happened since, people laughing together, hugging, kissing, no social distancing, it’s been so long it seems almost strange and weirdly uncomfortable to look at, but as national restrictions ease, today of all days being another milestone reached towards getting back to life as we knew it, I look forward with excitement and even a few butterflies to all of the wonderful wedding days that we shall be photographing later this year.

Best of 2020

So here we are, at the end of the craziest, most challenging year in modern memory. Most of us had a hard time adjusting to the ‘new normal’ of living during a pandemic, and along with so many others, our business was greatly impacted. Wedding dates changed and changed again, weddings were cancelled, postponed, or went micro, but we worked when restrictions allowed and we are so thankful to those couples who went ahead with their plans despite all the challenges and obstacles.

One thing that I did love about 2020 was learning to notice the joy in the little things. I baked, spent so much time working in the garden, and read lots and lots of books. (Everything from Dickens to the Witcher!) I edited all of our family pictures going back to 2006 - then designed an album for each year and yes, we also homeschooled - I really hope we will never have to do that again!

Despite all the heartbreak and worry that the year brought, we still feel ourselves very fortunate to have photographed twelve wonderful weddings in 2020 and we are so happy that we can still share with you this roundup of our best of 2020 wedding photography.