HOME, Manchester Wedding Photography
WHY I LOVE PHOTOGRAPHING WEDDINGS AT HOME
HOME just suits the way I like to work.
There's no need to manufacture loads of wedding-y moments because the interesting stuff is already happening.
People arriving, hugging, drinking, chatting, crying, laughing, disappearing off to the bar, children doing whatever children have decided they're doing that day. Then there are all those little looks and touches and things happening in the background that you probably won't notice until you see your photographs afterwards.
That's the good stuff.
And when we do want some portraits, we can just wander outside.
No cars. No elaborate plan. No disappearing for an hour.
Just the two of you, me and Manchester for a little while.
Then straight back to your party.
Oh, I LOVE a HOME wedding.
There is something so bloody brilliant about getting married in the middle of Manchester in a building devoted to film, theatre and art — particularly if the traditional country-house-wedding thing was never really going to be you.
HOME weddings have this wonderfully relaxed, creative feeling to them. You're in the city, you've got brilliant spaces to celebrate in and the minute we step outside we've got Manchester as our backdrop.
I've photographed some very special days here and it remains one of my favourite places to come back to.
If your plans involve your favourite people, a brilliant party and a wedding that feels much more like you than a performance of what a wedding is supposed to look like, we're probably going to get along.
NADIA & PAUL'S HOME WEDDING
Nadia & Paul had one of those weddings that reminded me why I bloody love doing this job.
The weather threw pretty much everything it had at us, but absolutely nobody cared. Their family had travelled from Trinidad & Tobago to be there, the whole day was full of warmth and emotion and Paul gave the most beautiful speech about men embracing kindness, warmth and empathy.
Honestly. My HEART.
And then there was the party.
Trinidad & Tobago flags, an absolutely packed dance floor, hip hop and Caribbean bangers and a room full of people who very much understood the assignment.
It was joyful and emotional and completely theirs.
Exactly how a wedding should be.
TEN MINUTES IN MANCHESTER
This is one of my favourite things about HOME.
We walk out of the door and we're already somewhere brilliant for photographs.
Manchester isn't a backdrop I need to make look pristine. I like it because it's Manchester — the buildings, the streets, the movement, the people wandering through our photographs and all those unexpected little bits of colour and light.
So we'll have a wander.
I'll give you enough direction that you're not standing there wondering what on earth to do with your hands, but I'm not going to spend 45 minutes arranging every limb into the perfect position either.
We'll walk, chat, probably laugh quite a lot, make some lovely photographs and then I'll send you back inside.
I often sneak couples away again later for another tiny portrait session if the light is particularly gorgeous.
Two little adventures rather than one enormous photoshoot.
Much nicer.
AND YES, THIS WORKS IN MANCHESTER WEATHER
Nadia & Paul's wedding was a fairly good demonstration of this.
Rain does not mean your photographs are ruined.
Cloud doesn't mean your photographs are ruined.
A forecast that appears to change every eleven minutes does not mean your photographs are ruined.
We'll make a plan, abandon it if we need to and work with whatever Manchester gives us.
You don't need perfect weather.
You need your people there.
Everything else we can work with.
PLANNING YOUR OWN WEDDING AT HOME?
My advice is pretty simple:
Let it feel like you.
HOME is already such an interesting place to get married that you really don't need to pile loads of Wedding Things™ on top of it.
Choose the bits that matter to you. Bin the traditions that don't. Bring your favourite people together. Feed them well. Give them something good to drink. Put some excellent music on.
And please, please don't schedule every five minutes of the day.
Leave a little room for things to happen.
Because while we'll obviously make time for the family photographs and some gorgeous pictures of the two of you, the photographs I tend to get most excited about are the ones nobody could possibly have put on a shot list.
Your dad's face.
Your best friend losing it during the speeches.
Someone dancing like an absolute lunatic.
The hug happening behind you.
The way you look at each other when you think nobody's paying attention.
That's your wedding.
That's what I'm there for.
