Lucy & Johnathan's Wedding at Christ The King Church & The Peak Edge Hotel

Back in the short days of December we got to make an all too rare visit to the see the newly refurbished Peak Edge Hotel, & Red Lion Bistro on the wild Derbyshire moors. First stop was to see the girls getting ready in the room.

Then it was time for a whizz down to the church at Alfreton to see the boys.

After a while we got a couple of shots of the fella's party before Lucy's bridesmaids arrived.

This was the second family wedding we had shot, as the previous year, Lucy's sister Catherine was bride instead of bridesmaid!

I love this informal shot of Lucy and her bridesmaids just before they went into church for the ceremony...

During the ceremony the minister kindly allowed us to quietly sneak to the front corner to capture this lovely angle.

We didn't hang around long after the wedding as the temperature was hovering around freezing, and I had plans for later on involving a dusky sky, which I didn't want to miss.

You can see the winter sky darkening before we left the church, and I was concerned we would miss the dusk light by the time we got back to the reception.

And if we were more than a couple of minutes later, we would have. Fab timing and a ridiculously long exposure got us this result, *just* holding some lovely detail in that winter dusky sky.

I have to say that the shot below will probably stay with me as one of the most 'extreme' wedding shots in my 21 years of shooting!

It was around freezing, the wind was whipping in over the Peak District moorland so hard that I daren't let go of the tripod for fear of it blowing over.

We were shooting at around 1/4 second exposure with the LED lamp being held by Lucy's long suffering dad (thank you sir), but Lucy was determined this was the shot she wanted, and I think we can safely say we got it. When they called this place 'Peak Edge Hotel' they weren't kidding :)

Of course, five minutes later, and a glass of mulled wine in hand, all was well again, and we had our shot.

I even managed to talk Lucy & Johnathan into a last quick shot outside before dinnertime!

Congratulations Lucy & Johnathan!

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Jenny & Andrew's Wedding at Burton On Trent & The Priest House Castle Donington

It's always a pleasure to get to make a visit to a church we've not been to before - there aren't that many left around the area that we haven't already been to! In November we visited the lovely St Mary & Modwen's Church in Burton On Trent (just near the brewery!) for Jenny & Andy's wedding.

We made a quick stop in at Jenny's house to get a few preview shots, and then it was off to church.

Over at church the chaps were getting ready, Andy was checking over his Groomsmen, and getting buttonholed and fussed over by the ladies.

Along with a regular shot of the fellas posing, we opted for a bit of dramatic lighting to liven up the grey November day.

Soon enough Jenny was rolling up and ready to go...

The interior of St Mary & Modwen's is fantastic, and the minister was kind enough to allow us good access to capture the Bride's arrival, the ceremony and the register signing afterwards.

I love this caught moment, I wonder what they were looking at?

Other than being a bit dark and grey, it was a lovely day, and that same lack of light made it really easy to drag the shutter speed good and long to inject a real sense of motion into the shot of everybody throwing confetti.

Just a short walk down the road from church was this lovely old period building which I couldn't resist using as a backdrop just before we left to make the trip over to Castle Donington.

When we arrived at the lovely Priest House Hotel we took off for a wander around to get some shots around the grounds and by the river.

Meanwhile, the guests were enjoying a drink and a chat...

We're always on the lookout for something a little different and we really like the look of this shot by the hotel's staircase window.

And as 'different' shots go, they don't get better than this to finish with...

Congratulations Jenny & Andrew!

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Sue & Nigel's Wedding at Morley Hayes

It was a misty Autumnal afternoon when we made the trip over to Morley Hayes for Sue & Nigel's wedding. I stopped in to catch some preparations at home on the way, and grab a cup of tea with the girls.

It's a tough life.

Over at Morley Hayes, we set up a couple of shots of the fellas arriving.

The newly refurbished rooms at Morley really look the part, with warm, rich, inviting colours for a cool November afternoon.

After the ceremony everybody dutifully wandered outside for a few family shots, and I took the opportunity to grab some cute photojournalistic style shots too.

One of the main plus points of braving the murky weather was to get some shots with the lovely countryside, and to show the stunning colours which were right at their peak.

But all too soon, the warmth of the function suite beckoned...

Even the staff commented on how amazing the finished room looked!

Speeches were before the meal, so I decided to hang around to grab just a few shots of the proceedings.

Congratulations Sue & Nigel!

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