Winter Wedding Photography at Peckforton Castle
Caroline and Dan’s winter wedding at Peckforton Castle
Breaking news: weddings are not about venues, flowers, shoes, dresses, suits or food. Weddings are about people, about a boy and a girl who fell head over heels in love surrounded by their favourite people in the world making a super cool commitment to each other and having a bloody good time. No holds barred. Aces high.
Don’t get me wrong – Caroline and Dan’s wedding had all the material things I listed – a jewel in the crown of Cheshire wedding venues, beautiful flowers by Pure Floral Design, sparkly shoes, sexy dresses, amazing suits and yummy delicious food. And as they’re both graphic designers, everything did look picture perfect.
But my favourite thing about any wedding are the people and the emotions and the amazing stuff that nobody scripted or expected. And Caroline and Dan are two of my favourite people ever. I’ve rarely laughed as much as I did during their wedding day, literally from start to finish. They also created moments that properly choked me up behind the camera – not least when Dan described his dad as his hero – partly because that’s all I want to be to my two boys when they grow up, and to hear a grown man break with the relentless comedy for a minute and say that about his dad… I’m off again now!
My couples often ask me for advice to get the best photos on the wedding day. And I always say the same – it’s my own personal cliche – just have a great time. If you let go of the planning stresses, forget hosting and just let your hair down, you make my job easy – because if you’re having a great time, everyone will have a great time. Caroline and Dan enjoyed every last second of their wedding day at Peckforton Castle.
I do a lot of weddings where the couple have been together a long time and Caroline and Dan met over 10 years ago when he thought she was a German exchange student staying with her chief bridesmaid Lucy!! Often there’s a different dynamic at weddings where the couple have been together ages, but I was surprised when Dan told me this because it definitely feels like these two still have the ‘I want to rip your clothes off’ chemistry!! And the fact their first dance was Juicy by Biggy Smalls just had me cracking up all the way home.
It was amazing to have my great friend Michael Jackson along to shoot this wedding with me. Not the late king of pop (that would’ve been weird), but definitely a king of wedding photography and someone I’m honoured to call a close friend these days. We had a blast working together for Caroline and Dan.
I’m also super delighted that Caroline’s bridesmaid and cousin Rachael has since booked me for her wedding next year – already can’t wait!
