“Richard has worked as a wedding photographer with our clients at Hagley Hall for over 4 years now. His background is in fashion photography which gives his work a stylish and distinctive look. He has a relaxed style of working however, allowing the wedding party and guests to celebrate the day capturing perfect moments along the way. This unobtrusive approach results in natural, true images and yet his creative eye manages to capture photographs with depth, emotion and elegance. I would not hesitate to recommend Enlight Wedding Photography to any of my clients as I know they would receive a first class service, ultimate professionalism and a collection of images they would treasure for a lifetime.”

- Kate Oliver (Head of Events) at Hagley Hall -

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Kate for always making it a pleasure for me to work at this stunning venue year on year. Looking forward to being back there in 2012!

Firstly, to be safe, your wedding photographer should really be booked 12 months before the wedding. So for anyone getting married in the Summer or Autumn of 2012, now is the time to seriously start searching if you haven’t already, as many photographers can get booked up years in advance. Websites are a good place to start, but nothing can beat meeting your photographer in person. This is the only way you can find out if you like them and if you feel they will be able to get the best out of you on the day.

It is always a good idea to meet about 2 or 3 professionals before choosing your favourite, making sure that you ask them lots of questions, including their experience to date, what happens if it rains, how long until you receive your final album or CD and so on.

References can be a great way of finding out the true value of any service. If the photographer is happy with their work, they should be willing to pass on the details of past clients you can contact. Never agree to confirm their hiring without first of all looking at the comments of at least two references. This should help to give you peace of mind that the satisfaction level is high.

It would be useful if you have a strict budget and stick to it. Getting married can be a costly activity, find out exactly what the charges would be for hiring an individual to take photographs of the big day, and be sure that they explain to you every fee. There is nothing wrong with negotiating on the price, although, like all things in life – you get what you pay for.

Understand that the length of time that is required for the photographs to be received after the ceremony has taken place can vary dramatically. Preparing the pictures in the correct way can take a number of days, weeks or longer. Make sure the photographer you are to hire is clear on the processing and delivery time.

Finally, once you have decided on who you will use, provide them with information regarding the venue and number of guests, as early as possible. They may want to visit the location beforehand so that they can mentally prepare for your big day.

On the morning of Libby and Mark’s wedding, my first port of call was The Cottons Hotel and Spa in Knutsford in order to capture the atmosphere and excitement of the bridal preparations. When I arrived at 10:30, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, giving us a very good idea that the sun was out to stay!

After an hour or so documenting the hair and make-up, I moved on to Tatton Park ready for the bride’s arrival. Not having shot at Tatton Park before, I was really looking forward to getting outside after the ceremony, to the 50 acres of landscaped gardens I had been told about. There was simply too many opportunities for photographs that we couldn’t possibly shoot all of them, but in 30 minutes I managed to wrap up the formals, and take Libby and Mark on a walk around the park to take time out from the guests and photograph some ‘couple shots’ for them.

Libby and Mark were great to work with on the day, which made for lots of really chilled out and relaxed photographs of what turned out to be a tiring but amazing day.

Vicky and Simon had a small intimate wedding, and decided to hold their special day at the timber-framed Blakesley Hall in Birmingham. This 15th century house lies within a small haven of beautiful gardens that served as a perfect backdrop for their wedding photographs. See below some of my favourite images from the day.

With a relatively late civil ceremony, I arrived at Hotel Du Vin at 3pm to capture some of the bridal preparations. The rooms inside the hotel are very spacious, and with huge windows throwing in lots of one directional natural light at the subjects, providing great scope to get creative with the camera. It is one of those city centre venues where there is no outdoor space to shoot, so the entire wedding must be shot indoors. Usually, this would create some difficulty for a wedding photographer, however Hotel Du Vin have a great central patio area with a completely open roof, providing ample light in order to capture the guests naturally as if I were outdoors. This space also set the scene for Elaine and Peter’s formals.

The wedding breakfast and hilarious speeches from the two best men concluded another fun filled day! Many thanks go to Elaine and Peter for the booking.

Venue: Nailcote Hall, Warwickshire

My last wedding in April 2011 was a sure sign that British Summertime was on it’s way! With bright, clear blue skies, Katie and Colin had the perfect weather for their special day. Most photographers on days like these will complain that the sun is too bright causing contrast issues and casting too many deep shadows over the faces. In my opinion, the sun is only a problem if you let it become one!

I absolutely love the sun to come out, it makes people happy, and happy people always work better in photos. All you have to do is get creative with the light and work with it. I look for big white or cream walls that will act as a reflector, use the trees to soften or cast a ‘dappled’ light, or just shoot straight into the sun, creating some amazing lens flares, and halos of light around the bride and groom.

There seemed to be endless opportunities for photography at Nailcote Hall, but as usual, time was limited and I could only shoot a few of my ideas with Katie and Colin before the wedding breakfast. Nevertheless, the images I captured in those 15 minutes worked really well in the final storybook album and I have since heard back from Colin via email…

“Hi Richard, we’ve just received the album, it is effing incredible!! We love it, thanks so much for all your help, we’ll be sure to tell all our friends about you. Thanks Colin and Katie.”

An email like that reminds me why I shoot weddings and confirms for me that my job is done.

I am always flattered when a fellow artist books me to photograph their big day. Klaire was such an artist and certainly has an eye for detail, as for her wedding she decided to actually make the bouquets, place settings and flowers herself by hand! To say they were absolutely amazing would be an understatement, and they looked great on the photos too.

As this was a City Centre wedding, after the ceremony, I had an idea to take Klaire and Daniel out into the street for some urban style images, using a waterfall that was close-by. Coupled with Klaire’s very cool and artistic hairstyle, these shots turned out awesome, and something a bit different to my usual style!