Glamorous Galgorm Wedding
Zara and Gavin Kerr's Galgorm Wedding
It's always nice to shoot a wedding for someone you know or you have met before. I had met the lovely Zara on a training course years before she asked us to capture her wedding. Zara and her now husband Gavin don't live far from us and they walked up to the house on each occasion they came to see us.
Zara said they were walking to try to get into shape for the wedding - I have never seen Zara in anything but amazing shape 👸 Gavin and Zara are extremely polite, eloquently spoken people and are lovely to be around. When we met their families, they are all the same too - we were made to feel so welcome all day at this wedding ❤️️
We did a really fun engagement shoot with Zara and Gavin, which will be in a blog later, and it was so evident they just enjoyed being in each other's company. They were made for each other for sure 💑 we knew the wedding would be great fun.
Preparations
Ryan dropped me off to the hair salon where Zara was getting her hair done, then went to meet Gavin outside the Turkish barbers where he was due to have a hot towel shave. Unfortunately the shop wasn't open 🧔 and they had to drive round looking for an open one - which luckily they were able to find, one called Aziz's Turkish Barber Shop.
We always give pictures to the couples in chronological order and with exact timings from the cameras. They can see what stages each other were at in the mornings when they were getting ready. We like the images to be telling a story of the flow of the day, so couples can relive their wedding from morning to night when looking at them.
So while Gavin was getting shaved, Zara was drinking lattes while getting her hair done at Sharon Malcolm Hairdressing 💇
The girls then went back to Zara's parents' beautiful house for makeup 💅 (Makeup: DJ Griffen & Dawn Rose)
Back at Gavin's parents' house, the guys were getting their glad rags on....🤵 Gavin and the groom party went for tails which looked so smart, and the accompanying shoes just oozed class.
And with the guys ready, it was time to send them off with some Champers 🍾 Looks like the cork got good distance on it judging by the faces :)
So with Gavin and family on route to the Galgorm, it was now time for Zara to get her dress on and have her reveal shots 👰
Zara looked absolutely stunning in her dress and now it was time for her daddy Neil to see her. I have said before in other blogs that this is one of the most emotional shots of the day - When a father sees his little girl in her wedding dress for the first time 😭
Zara's Daddy Neil is a lovely man and did very well not to shed a tear. Zara didn't fair so well 😢 ❤️️
With Zara's tears dried and makeup fixed, it was time for the Bridal party to head to the Galgorm for the ceremony. 💒
Zara's brother Nathan was usher and handed out the order of service at the door - The guest were all waiting in anticipation of the beautiful brides arrival.
The Galgorm Wedding Ceremony
Time for Zara and her Daddy to arrive and get the show started...The ceremony room was beautifully decorated by Blue Moon Event Design & the stunning flowers for the whole day were fashioned by House of Elliot Flowers
As with every wedding, it was time for the exchanging of the rings. I always love to get a shot of the rings together somewhere nice and it's one of the most stressful shots of the day - can you image dropping or losing one of the wedding rings 😱 💍
As always at the Galgorm, It's straight outside the Phantom House for all the guests after the ceremony, for the customary group shot.
This is always one of the hardest shots of the day to coordinate and it really helps to have two photographers here. You always get the odd straggler returning from the toilet/bar/hedges when you have taken it. It's a nice shot for the bride and groom to see everyone who was at their wedding in a single shot (minus the straggler of course) 😂
After the group shot we let the crowd mingle and take candid shots, then look to quickly get through the family pictures - by doing it early it means we can leave the family to get on for the drinks reception. We then look to grab the bridesmaids and groomsmen and get snapping.
Picture time 📸
The bridal party shoot is always a good laugh. We always give little prompters too.....like in the one below
"Look at the person least likely to buy a drink at the bar later.....1......2......3'' *click* *click* pic taken
Wait - Why are two of them looking directly at me? I think it's Ryan they are looking at to be honest 😂 Well there is a unanimous decision - The best man 😲 We love having a laugh with the bridal party at this point in the day 😍
We then send them on their way to enjoy the celebrations and look to take the bride and groom for their shots. We always try and make so informal. Just chatting to the couple and walking around from spot to spot.
And with that short window of pictures, it was time to let this glamorous couple get back to their guests and enjoy all the festivities. It's at this point that we got all the detail shots and candid guest pictures.
Just before the dinner is served, it's time for speeches.....Gavin delivered his speech perfectly and brought tears to the eyes of his new wife. We always like to take pictures of guest's reactions to the speeches....we have captured many a picture of a yawn or someone looking at their watch - but not this wedding - they were all beautifully delivered speeches.
After an absolutely amazing dinner, it was time for the next phase of the party to start - the evening do, with dancing late into the evening....
There was the first dance, the father of the bride dance and then the grandfather of the bride dance which got a great reception from the crowd - if i can move like Zara's granddad when I am his age, i'll be a happy girl.
After a few dances, we took Zara and Gavin for a walk just to cool down and to get an evening picture - I am not going to lie - there was a smoke bomb planned for the below shot but it burned out within seconds and drifted off towards Ballymena ☁ 😱
We still loved this shot anyway 😍
Gavin and Zara then had all the guests gather outside, where they were treated to an amazing firework display, to put a cherry on the cake on what was an amazing Galgorm Wedding day.
This was a lovely way to end the day for us as we got to watch them too. It was such an enjoyable wedding and Zara and Gavin are two of the nicest people you could ever meet. All day they kept asking us were we ok and if we needed or wanted anything. We had to keep saying 'it's your wedding day, stop worrying about us'' - That's just how nice they are.
Thanks for choosing us to capture your big day Zara and Gavin, you lovely people ❤️️
Hope you all enjoyed the blog....if you are getting married and would like us to capture our big day - we would love too...just get in touch :)
Much love,
Nush x
Wonderful Wool Tower Wedding
Mr & Mrs Spence's Wool Tower Wedding
Nicola and Ian are awesome 😍 From our very first meeting at our house, we knew that we'd enjoy capturing their wedding and being in their company at their big day. Ian loves football like Ryan and they chatted about that while playing pool and Nicola and I love gin and chatting so we already had a lot in common 😂
We had to remind ourselves at points that we were there to discuss weddings and photographs. Getting to meet so many lovely people is one of the best parts of being a wedding photographer. We talked through the engagement shoot plans (posting soon) and also plans for the big day at the Wool Tower.
Our First Wool Tower Wedding.
We had heard good reports about the Wool Tower in Broughshane but had never captured a wedding there. It's a lovely old brick building beside a river and has lots of old rustic rooms and spots for pictures.
Preparations.
With every bride and groom, we tell them to do exactly what they want on their day, and we will capture it. We always ask grooms if they are going for a haircut, shave or breakfast - to let us know as when they look back on their pictures, we want them to remember exactly what they did. Well this morning, Ryan went with Ian and the lads for breakfast - not to eat though - he was working :)
Then it was back to Ian's house for the lads to all get ready....all while playing a few games of Fifa. A fry-up, a few beers and a game of Fifa. What a way to start the day 🍳🍻️⚽️
Ian supports Everton (hence the blue theme in the suit I guess) and the best man supports Liverpool. So they had a game on Fifa with those exact teams - with Ian racing off into a 2-0 lead, all while goading and gloating......
But you should never celebrate too early as the best man brought it back to 2-2 and then scored the winner in the 90th minute, forever immortalised on camera 😂
After all the laughing, the lads then got dressed up and were on their way to the Wool Tower
Nicola and the bridesmaids were already at the Wool tower getting ready. It's no secret that bridal prep is one of my favourite parts of the day and this day was no different. The bride is almost always last to get make-up done and I love to take the bridesmaids for a few shots at this time.
Nicola's beautiful hair (by Emma O'Boylan) and stunning makeup (by Rebecca Saulters) was complete and she had put her dress on. The girls came back to see and were all holding back the tears when they saw how stunning she looked....
Ian and Nicola were both ready.......It was now time for these two lovely people to get married 👰 🤵
Wool Tower Wedding Ceremony
All the guests had arrived, the groom was waiting patiently and the bride was ready. It was time for the ceremony...
Having two photographers means we can capture many different angles of a wedding - Like Nicola coming up the aisle & her and Ian seeing each other for the first time 😍 📸 it just couldn't be done without 2 photographers.
Once the ceremony is over, everyone spills out into the courtyard for some pictures. I said it in another blog and i'll say it again - 'Always have a confetti shot. Always.' 🎊
All the guests get involved and there are so many smiling faces in the shot. It's hard to get the bride and groom with open eyes or without stray hands or confetti in the way....but we always get an amazing shot in the end.
We usually let the bride and groom mingle and get a drink at this point.....then after 15 - 20 minutes, while the rest of the guests were enjoying the sunshine, the ice cream, the shortbread and of course, the bar.....we took Ian and Nicola off to get pictures done.
At this point, we always tell the newlyweds to bring a drink or two with them to enjoy while getting the pictures, and it always makes for a nice picture of their first drink as a married couple....
We usually start off with the full bridal party and then split into 2 groups with the guys going with Ryan and the girls coming with me.......
photo time.........📸
The videographer for the wedding was Dave McGarvey from Firefly Weddings and we always enjoy working with him. His sister was bridesmaid at this wedding and in typical Dave fashion, he got the guys having a dance off together for the video🕺💃
And with that, we sent the bridal party off on their merry way. Now it was the window we get with the bride and groom for pictures, with Ian and Nicola just chatting with us casually as we moved from place to place and captured candid shots.
And with that, the lovely couple went back to the reception to enjoy the rest of the afternoon with their guests.
It's at this point in weddings that Ryan and I will go round getting pictures of guests and little detail shots. One of the perks of working weddings is always the sweet cart....and at this wedding.....what a sweet cart it was 🍬🍬 😍
After gorging ourselves on sweets to get a sugar rush energy burst, it was upstairs to capture the room before the guests get called for dinner. We always like to be efficient with our time at weddings so the bride and groom get to spend most of the day with their guests.....it's always a nice to have a good balance between that and pictures.
The room look absolutely amazing with the fairy lights giving beautiful feel to the images. The stunning floral arrangements where created by Flowers at the Mill and they decorated the room beautifully. It was now time for the moment a lot of grooms fear the most......the speeches. Ian breezed it 🤵
And with that, dinner is served. At this this time we usually charge batteries both metaphorically and literally. It is usually the first time we get a rest from early morning but because we love weddings so much️, we don't even notice the time passing ❤️
With dinner gone, we capture some more guests images, with new guests arriving for the evening do. Wool Tower weddings have the dinner upstairs and the dancing downstairs, so there is no room turnaround so it's straight to the dancing
Now i couldn't write a blog on this wedding without mentioning Ste Ming. Ian had a mask from his stag do - i'm not entirely sure of the full story on how this mask came to be - but it came to the wedding. Ian wore it for a special dance off and also for the group picture will all the stag lads. It was hilarious. We couldn't stop laughing.
This was a truly amazing day from start to finish with so many familiar faces. We both had such a great laugh the whole time and we often talk how fortunate we are to be able to do this as a job. Ian and Nicola are fantastic people. They got the day they both deserved and it was a pleasure to capture it ❤️️
Thanks for taking the time to read my blog 😍 - if you are planning a Wool Tower wedding, or indeed a wedding anywhere in the world, we'd love to capture your big day. Feel free to get in touch to start your wedding photo journey.
Much love,
Nush.
Amazing Cultra Manor Wedding
The Sturdy's Cultra Manor Wedding
We get to meet all our couples before their big day, in fact we insist on it. It just helps make the wedding day better for us, for the couple, and for the pictures. Katie and Aron came to our garden room and it was like we had known them for years. They are both nurses and that's how they met. Aron loves Strongbow dark fruits and his only job in the house is putting the bins out - which he regularly forgets to do. Ryan does exactly the same.
Katie likes gin and so do I (I mean, who doesn't though?) and they took it in turns driving to the meetings we had with them regarding the wedding, meaning the other could have a drink that night. Ryan also asked me to write in here that Aron got 'destroyed' at pool, just to remind him when he reads this :D
We love meeting all our couples and hearing all about them. It's such an enjoyable part of the job and it was no different with Katie and Aron :)
Groom & Bridal Preparation
Katie got ready at her Mum and Dad's stunning house just outside Millisle, County Down. The make-up artist was Emma Scott and hair was by Cathy Hamilton. The gardens at the house were beautiful and had been looked after to perfection, including this vintage bike with flowers which i absolutely loved 😍
Aron got ready at his mum and Dad's lovely house in Donaghadee, with all the lads there too. Aron's mum, seen here modelling the 2019 Spring/Summer Gucci shot belt, helped provide all the guys with the dutch courage :)
Aron got Katie a number plate as a present but tricked her with a fake one first that said 'SH1T L1P', which Katie thought was her real present. That sums these two up - always messing and joking with each other and always smiling - well.....Aron smiled most of the day apart from a few times :D which you'll see later - 😭
Katie had got Aron a beautiful watch which he wore on the day too. Getting each other wedding gifts is something that Ryan and I weren't aware was a thing until we started doing weddings. We didn't get each other anything for our wedding day. I missed out on the chance of a nice designer bag :D
Katie and Aron, like a lot of brides and grooms, are big dog lovers. They wanted their cute little dog to be part of the big day too. He got ready with Aron in the morning and dressed up just as sharp as the rest of boys.
It was now time for Katie to get her stunning dress on.....👰
And then for one of my favourite shots of the day - The ever emotional first reveal. The first time Katie's dad saw her in her wedding dress. Such a beautiful moment. It always reduces even the most manly of men to tears and I always feel the tears forming in my eyes just capturing the emotion ❤️️
Cultra Manor Wedding Ceremony
This was our first Cultra Manor wedding and we were really looking forward to it. We had no idea where the ceremony would take place, so it was all new to us but that adds an extra little bit of pressure that helps keep you on your toes. It was in a quaint little Church within the tree lined manor. Such a beautiful place to get married.
So this is the first time Aron cried 😭 and as you can see - Katie really consoled him 😂 She laughed and joked a lot when Aron cried. Aron and Katie are like best friends - the saying 'Ive married my best friend' is so obvious here and they constantly laugh, joke and mock each other.
The picture below of Aron's laughing and in the background, his dad laughing the exact same way, was a lucky shot - but a cool shot.
Always do a confetti shot. If the church doesn't allow it, do one at the reception.....but always do a confetti shot 😍
Picture Time
We always try to grab the list of family pictures right after the ceremony (we get this list in our pre-wedding meetings) - everyone is there and you can get them done quickly and allow them to get to get down to the reception/party/bar :) Then we get our time with the bride and groom and wedding party. we grab a nice full wedding party shot first:
And then Ryan takes the lads to one side and gets pictures while i take the girls. This takes about 5 to 10 minutes but we get this done and send the bridal party on their way (to the bar :)) The above picture was taken on the beautifully cobbled streets around the Manor. It was a pleasure to capture a wedding here, it really was.
With the wedding party sent off to party, we grabbed a quick 10 minutes with the bride and groom themselves. This is the first time they are alone together after getting married and bride and grooms always love this time. We let them chat and walk around and capture what's happening before posing them and giving a few prompters, like so:
*Walk towards us and look at each other*
*face each other, nice and close, show us romance....show us love*
And then Katie and Aron's favourite prompt of the day:
*Play with her Aron.....PLAY WITH HER*
Ryan said ''Nushy, wtf...you can't say things like that''. I didn't know that it had a potential different meaning but it got us this picture of them laughing which we love. They were laughing for about 5 minutes after this shot too 😂
Speeches
This venue is something else - The dinner and speeches are held in the main manor building that would be the envy of any lord. The decor and flowers, which were provided by Floralicious, were stunning and the lighting in the room was amazing. The speeches were a lovely mix of emotion and humour. The perfect wedding speech mix. Although, Aron's dad made some really nice comments about Aron and guess what happened??.........😭
.......Aron went again 😭 - Ever the comforting wife, Katie just laughed and mocked him again. 😂
There was entertainment in the form of a band and also a magician, who's tricks were really impressive. Wedding crowds are a tough gig, especially when much drink has been taken, but the young man pulled it off with aplomb.
First Dance
The celebrations started with the first dance and ran well into the night. We actually stayed late at this one. Ryan knew so many of the guests and at the end I had to drag him away as he wouldn't stop talking to people. We had such a great time at this wedding.
It only feels like yesterday that Aron and Katie came into the garden room in Newtownards to chat through us potentially being their wedding photographers. It's hard to believe that it's all over and done now, but we absolutely consider them friends and they are welcome at the garden room anytime. Thanks again for choosing us to capture your fantastic day.
Much love, Nush (and bag carrier/minion) 😂
For anyone reading this, if you are considering having a Cultra Manor wedding, please feel free to get in touch as we'd love to capture your big day too. Even if you are not getting married at Cultra, the garden room is always available for a chat about what we do ❤️️