Beautiful story telling wedding photography for Worcestershire

Redhouse Barn Stoke Prior Wedding Photographer | Hannah and Dan

January 10, 2011

Hartlebury Church / Redhouse Barn Stoke Prior

The wedding of Hannah and Dan’s was probably the wedding I thought about most this year – The wedding was on the 29th of December 2010 and as you can probably remember the week before the UK got totally swamped with snow. We had around 10 – 12 inches and 3 days before the wedding there was still 6 – 8 inches on the ground. I am fortunate that I could walk to Hartlebury Church if needed but getting to Redhouse Barn in Stoke Prior, Bromsgrove would be a whole different story. But the gods must have been smiling because there was a major thaw for 2 days before the wedding and the roads were just about clear !!!

So I turned up to Hannah’s mums house ready to start my day, the house was in full swing with girls getting ready everywhere you looked. I normally start off with a nose about for locations for photos and things that are important to photograph, flowers, details etc etc and The flowers Hannah had chosen were amazing to say the least.

While I was looking around I spotted a beautiful blue box with white ribbon on it – having lived in New York for a number of years I instantly knew what this box was – it was a Tiffany’s box and I knew it would contain a special gift for the bride on her wedding day – after checking if it was okay to open I snagged a couple of photos.

as you will see later, the snowflake was a theme of the wedding.

So I went in search of the bride and her wedding dress – I found Hannah having her hair done so grabbed a couple of photos and then went dress hunting.

and after hearing a lot of giggling went down stairs to find Hannah about to pop the bubbly !

then after a slurp slurp it was time for Hannah to pop on her wedding dress – naturally when I say pop on her wedding dress it not quite that simple – buttons buttons buttons – the back of the dress had hundreds of buttons on it 🙂

Then it was a quick dash downstairs to get shots of Hannah coming down and shots with Mum and Dad, talking of Dad when I got downstairs, If found that Dad was having a few issues with his neck tie

then it was outside for a final photo of Hannah, Mum and Dad before I dashed to the church to to get shots of the boys and the arrival of the bride.

With the weather changing so dramatically it turned out we had a foggy day, there was still a bit of snow on the ground, it was cold but I thought it looked amazing for photos as you will see shortly. I arrived at St James Church in Hartlebury

and went inside to find the boys already hard at work as ushers etc, I grabbed hold of Dan and the boys and grabbed a quick shot at the back of the church

and after talking to the vicar and getting instructions on what I could and could not shoot, I went outside to wait for Hannah to arrive. The scene looking from the church down the drive onto the stourport (direction) road was beautiful – The weather made it all the better in my opinion.

The following shot is in both colour and black and white as I can choose which I like the most

then it was SHOWTIME – normally I work with my assistant Helen however due to the weather conditions Helen could not make it so during the wedding itself I had to work twice as hard to cover all the angles – I am very thankful to the officents at St James for allowing me to move around – some church’s let you some dont and its one of the reasons I like working with an assistant.

Walking down the aisle

At the alter

closer….

a quick run upstairs

During one of the readings

The signing of the Register

Walking out of the church

Then it was outside for the confetti shot

and a big beautiful kiss

then it was into the cars for a quick dash over to Stoke Prior in Bromsgrove to the stunning Redhouse Barn wedding venue.

As you can see it was still pretty wet and there was a little un-melted snow on the ground, one of the problems is the grass areas were very wet so we ended up shooting all the photos inside but this did not detract from a truly amazing wedding venue.

The inside of Redhouse Barn

The view from the top table

during the drinks reception the guests were entertained by a fabulous musician, unfortunately I didn’t get one of his cards but he has one of mine, if he drops me an email I will pop his details here as he was brilliant

even the kids loved him

A few of the formals

and a couple of the bride and groom

and since it was a wedding day and a Christmas wedding you have to have mistletoe and a quick snog !

They also have an amazing bridal bedroom at Redhouse Barn so I took the couple up there for a few ‘nice’ photos

and Hannah having a laugh during out photos

Then it was downstairs for the cutting of the cake

During the wedding breakfast I put together the slideshow (we normally run a slide show for the couple just before the first dance)

Redhouse barn has the BEST equipped AV system I have seen at any wedding venue, we just had to plug a laptop into the wall and a BIG screen dropped out of the ceiling for the slideshow.

Here is a shot of the bride and groom watching the slideshow with friends and family.

and as I was setting up the lights for the first dance I grabbed a shot of Dan and his best man just to test them out – notice the light behind them, this is one of my lights used to make sure we get GREAT first dance photos – you will see them in a minute.

So Dan and Hannah had a band for the evening entertainment

Then it was time for the first dance – the dance floor at Redhouse barn is a bit special 🙂

then all the kids joined in – this was very much a children friendly wedding which seemed to put great big smiles on the faces of both the bride and groom

The kids were jumping for joy on the dance floor

and last but not least, the sign of any good band / dj is how he / they fill the dancfloor !

By the time I packed up it was close to 11pm, after big hugs and kisses from the bride and a smaller hug from the groom – its a guy thing 🙂 I said my goodbys and made my exit.

It just goes to prove that all you need to get married is someone who your truly and madly in love with, someone to say the magic words and friends to share the day with. The weather did not play ball but it was no problem at all, Hannah and Dan had an amazing day, it was my last wedding of 2010 and one that i thoroughly enjoyed.

I just wish to pass along my congratulations to Hannah and Dan, wishing them all the best.

take care, hope you have enjoyed this look at their special day.

ciao

dp

David Purslow
Wedding Photographer
http://www.davidpurslow.com
Phone 01299 250114
Cell – 0759 0076666

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WANTED – The one that got away – TTD / DDD

December 22, 2010

Trash the Dress / Drown the Dress

So yesterday was in interesting day, I received a phone call from a television productions company who are making a documentary for Channel 4. The gist of the show is Wedding dresses that didnt get used and a Trashing of the dress.

Basically if you called off your wedding but have your wedding dress – do you want to do a trashing of the dress ??????

Short and Sweet but there you go, I said I would spread the word – so ladies, if you got engaged, brought a dress and then called the wedding off do you fancy trashing it and having it filmed for Channel 4 ?

If so, drop me an email to david@davidpurslow.com

ciao

dp

Tags: drown the dress,trash the dress

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Winter Wedding photography – lessons from the boy scouts !

December 19, 2010

Snowy Wedding & Portrait Photography

Be prepared !

Okay this is going to be a bit of a different post from me today. This time last year I had 3 or 4 weddings coming up and the weather started to get a little nasty (snow and ice) so I decided to buy myself a 4×4. As you may know I lived in America for 10 years, The North East – New York, New Jersey and Connecticut where we would regularly get 20 inches of snow. In the states I owned a Jeep Grand Cherokee and this car would go anywhere and thru anything. So this is what I brought. Because this was going to be a WINTER car only, and one to get me too and from winter weddings we spent a grand total of £1400 and brought a 10 year old model. Its not pretty, it drinks fuel but it gets me to where I need to be WHEN I need to be.

As a wedding photographer winter weddings are becoming more and more popular and I actually LOVE photographing wedding in the snow – it reminds me of my time in the states so much. When a couple are thinking about getting married in the winter I am sure one of the last things they think about is, is my photographer going to be able to get to my wedding ?

This is a shot from a wedding 10 days ago when we had the last lot of snow (see blog post below)

And this is me working away – nothing stops me getting the shot, not even a few inches of snow

Winter weddings offer the chance of GREAT photos, this shot would have looked nice normally but when its all covered in snow, it looks great – its an outtake, here is my assistant taking shots at another winter wedding.

So back to the reason for the story today

This was the scene outside my house yesterday.

and this is the street we live on

As you can see the road is totally covered, the cars at the bottom of the road cant get out and it was beautiful to look out on all that snow. We only had 4 inches of snow but most of the village and nearby towns came to a halt.

So I called a very good friend of ours (Zena) and asked if she would like to bring her two kids out for some snowy winter portraits, Z lives right across the road from the park ! She said yes, so Nikki and I loaded up our kids and took off.

This is my winter wedding car

Nikki loaded the kids into the car while I dug out cameras etc and off we went to met up and spend a little time shooting a few nice winter portraits of the kids.

Anway back to what its all about,

I have NEVER missed a wedding yet, and if its in my power to do so come hell, high water or deep deep snow, I want to make sure I have the tools at hand to get me there and get the shots for my couples.

If your planning a on getting married in the winter (November – February) one of the questions you should ask your photographer is, if it snows how will you get to my wedding ?

and remember at this time of year you CANT hire a 4×4 they are all booked out ahead of time – thats why we brought one.

Getting married in the winter can be great and can result in wonderful photos, having the right equipment is more than just a good camera, you need to have everything you can to make sure as a professional you wont fail and let down your clients.

For most of the year our jeep is off the road, but as soon as the first floods or snow fall comes, we pop it right on the road

Have a GREAT Christmas and really good new year.

ciao for now.

dp

Tags: getting married in the winter,snow wedding photos,wedding photographer winter,winter weddings

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Alex, a suffolk wedding photographerJanuary 3, 2011 - 11:15 am

Hi David, a happy new year to you!

Got to agree about thinking ahead and getting a 4×4, while here in Suffolk we didn’t get anything like that kind of snow this year, last year we did and I remember getting my 3 series stuck while going to a shoot in the depths of rural Suffolk. Thank you cat litter for saving the day! 😀

You’ve got some lovely shots here in your blog. Drop by mine sometime, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

All the best for 2011

Alex

Himley House Winter Wedding Photography

December 14, 2010

The wedding of Tracey & John

Getting married at Himley House, Dudley, West Midland

Sneak Peek – Just a few teasers……

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of photographing the wedding of Tracey and John at the stunning Himley House situated between Kingswinford and Wombourne Just southwest of Birmingham in the West Midlands. What made this wedding a little unusual was the days before it snowed and snowed so there was a TOTAL blanket of snow on the ground. The view of Himley House in the snow was magnificent.

We arrived about 2 hours before the wedding, or about an earlier than we normally would, we spent that hour taking photos of Himley House in the snow and lots of detail shots.

Me laying in the snow taking the above photo

Helen shooting wide shots of the Venue

The bride and Groom by the Christmas Tree at by the main staircase – this is why I love winter weddings. Winter wedding photography has its own challenges including the cold, bright glare and the reluctance for couples to go outside for photos, but with winter weddings come Christmas weddings and all the associated bonuses that go with it.

The Christmas tree at Himley House looked amazing

Tracey and John

I love this shot of Tracey taken during the service

The good news for us is that Tracey and John were excited about a winter wedding so when I suggested we went outside for a few wedding photos in the snow, they were more than happy to oblige !

This shot taken at the golf club was taken while it was snowing, we had another few inches of snow during the reception

I hope you have enjoyed this sneak peek – Winter weddings are GREAT fun, so if your getting married in the winter, dont worry about the weather, if its cold and snowy it just makes for much prettier photos.

ciao

dp

David Purslow
Wedding Photographer
http://www.davidpurslow.com
Phone 01299 250114
Mobile 0759 007 5555

Tags: Birmingham Wedding Photographers,christmas wedding,snowy wedding,wedding photography birmingham,Weddings in Birmingham,winter weddings

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Searcy 4030 Wedding Photography At The Gherkin

December 10, 2010

The Gherkin – Wedding Photography

by Top National Wedding Photographer David Purslow

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Quite simply 0ne of the most sought after destinations in London, Searcy 4030 at the top of The Gherkin otherwise known as No.30 St Mary Axe in the City of London.

Couples lucky enough to hold their wedding at the Gherkin are in for a once in a lifetime experience. Offering a unique 360 degree view over The City of London and beyond guests are left speechless upon exiting the elevator on the 38th floor and walking into the the ceremony room.

The Gherkin is a challenging experience for any photographer, with Black Marble floors wall to wall glass and ceilings that extend up around another 40 – 50 feet reflections can be tricky to say the least.

The up side of holding your wedding at the Gherkin is undoubtedly the spectacular backdrop which is quite simply London – You look over The Tower of London, The River Themes, The Shard, Canary Wharf to name but a few.

When choosing your photographer to capture this most special of days, its important to choose one who has experience of this magnificent venue, one who knows exactly which equipment to bring, how to light up the interior to maximize each and every photo opportunity.

We have experience of working with wedding co-ordinators, personal security details etc, We carry 5 million pounds worth of Public Liability and professional indemnity insurance. I have a current CRB check and was previously Positively Vetted by the Ministry of Defense. We can offer clients total privacy and exclusivity contracts and are happy to deal with magazine and magazine editors if needed.

We offer an all inclusive wedding photography collections to provide you with total peace of mind, as standard our wedding photography collection includes

An Engagement / pre wedding photoshoot
DVD of full sized edited master files from your engagement session ready for printing
Unlimited Photographic coverage on your wedding day
Evening slide show –projected onto huge screen prior to your first dance
A Beautiful Story Book Wedding Album including your first featuring your first 75 wedding photographs
* Beautiful hand made matted albums are available – we can discuss your specific requirements as needed
DVD of FULL SIZED master camera files in beautiful presentation case in both Colour & Black & White
DVD Slide show of your wedding album set to your first dance song to play on your TV
DVD of your wedding album master print files as backup in case anything happens to your album.
An copy of your Album and wedding photographs ready to load onto your Ipad / Laptop
Copyright release allowing you unlimited reprints of your wedding photographs from your master DVD files
50 Thank you cards featuring your favorite image from your wedding
12 months SECURE online web-hosting of your wedding photography with a ‘buy-on-line’ option for your guests & relatives
TWO PHOTOGRAPHERS
All Travel and Accommodation charges included (we arrive in London the day before your wedding to be ready when you want us)

CONTACT US FOR MORE DETAILS

Please view the following photographs from the wedding of Alun and Rachel which took place at The Gherkin recently.

We are used to guests being bowled over by how beautiful or spectacular the wedding venues look but these guests were just awestruck – everyone had to take a peek over the edge

Alun and Rachael did a sort of receiving line and I took the opportunity to lye-down on the job and take some wide angle shots and capture the whole of the roof of 4030 / the Gherkin

While this was going on, Oliver and his staff were transforming the room downstairs for dinner, once it was complete before the wedding party went down for a candle lit dinner over looking the whole of London, I shot a few long exposure photos of the room.

Then it was up stairs for the music and the dancing – I had set up a portable studio and again took some long exposure photographs of the guests on the top floor of the Gherkin – the guests love this. here are a couple of shots

and if you a regular blog follower of mine you will know I am well known for my reflection shots, I always look out for unusual reflection photos – check this one out – you could only get a shot like this in a round room at somewhere like the Gherkin.

And finally check this one out, this is what I love about the reportage / documentary style of wedding photography, I dont use a lot of lights, I rely on candles, room lights etc to create the magic – I had to add a tiny amount of fill flash to this but I love the fact Alun and Rachael did not know this photo was being taken, it is completely natural

well thats about it, ALMOST………….

I just wanted to share a few others with you, I didnt know where they fitted in but I love them anyway.

Rachael had the most magnificent flowers for her wedding they were beautiful – here is just one arrangement. This is a 30 second photo painted with light – pretty cool – great fun to make.