Another 2018 review for you all today, but today it’s all about family shoots!

I’ve really come to love family shoots over the past few years, and I’m lucky enough to sometimes shoot the same families again and again which feels all kinds of wonderful. Sometimes it happens where I’ve shot a couples’ wedding and they go on to start a family, and I can be there to document the next chapter too!

Oh, Annie and Steven’s wedding was an Autumnal dream. It was wonderful to do a wedding at Woodlands Hotel in Leeds and it was the perfect setting for their November wedding. We made the most of those beautiful colours while the light lasted before these two rejoined their guests in the beautiful marquee and celebrated into the night. Having little ones there makes a day all the more special and made for some pretty wonderful photo opportunities!

So! 2018 has flown by at a startling rate and it’s time to ‘round up’ ahead of diving into 2019.. I’ve shot enough weddings now to know what I love about them and which moments really make me tick. I know my ‘why’ for getting into this industry in the first place, I know why I love wedding photography the most, and I know the type of shots and the moments that really make my heart sing and make me excited about each and every wedding..

…and just like that, it’s the end of 2018! Did it fly by for you all too?! I have my photography ‘2018 round up’ post coming very soon, but I thought I’d post my wedding stop motion film showreel from the past twelve months tonight to mark the end of the year.

WHAT a wedding to finish the year with! Grace and Michael’s Rudby Hall wedding was absolutely wonderful and I cam away feeling so Christmassy - their was a really elegant Wintery celebration.

Full disclosure.. I’ve known Lou since Year 7 when we were in the same form group and we’ve been close friends ever since. It’s a wonderfully bizarre thing to go through so much ‘growing up’ together, through early teenage years, the messy ‘going out out’ years, uni, beyond.. it’s been so special to watch her get married, have her first baby Massimo, and then bring his little brother, Elio, into the world too. The magic of everyday life. That’s what it’s all about.

Oh, Annie and Steven’s wedding was an Autumnal dream. It was wonderful to do a wedding at Woodlands Hotel in Leeds and it was the perfect venue for their November wedding. We made the most of those beautiful colours while the light lasted before these two rejoined their guests in the beautiful marquee and celebrated into the night.

I’ve waited so long to find the time to edit these! It’s what happens during wedding season.. you still itch to create your own personal work but actually processing and finding the time to edit and finish little projects on the side gets pushed to the bottom of the pile..

What an amazing Autumnal wedding at Priory Barns.. These two were so in love, so silly and so much fun - a real dream to work with and it was so special to be part of their wedding celebrations!

It was a blustery but beautiful day for Grace and Michael’s engagement shoot - and what an incredible setting. These two live in the village at the bottom of the hill, and it was worth us all hiking up to reach the beautiful summit of Captain Cook’s Monument.

Whoever said it was grim up North has clearly never been..

Shaunagh and Paolo planned an absolutely breathtakingly beautiful wedding in Chiavari in Italy, the town where Paolo’s family come from - his grandparents married in the same hotel as he and Shaunagh which made it all the more magical too. Their church was up high on the coastal hills with incredible views out to see and over Portofino - I was so spoilt for places that would make amazing wedding photographs for these two and the light out there is just incredible.

Here is their stop motion wedding film..

Tessa and Paul and a wonderfully intimate wedding in the Coppermine Cottages near Coniston in the Lake District where they said their vows in front of immediately family and friends. The weather wasn’t what they’d hoped for (100% chance of rain and a possibility of thunder and lightening..) but these two didn’t let it dampen any spirits at all.

September is one of my favourite months for weddings.. it’s the end of Summer but still slightly to warm to declare it ‘Autumn’. Phillippa and Toby lucked out and had beautiful sunshine and light for their York House in Malton wedding. Phillippa’s parents married at the adjacent Talbot House and it was magical that she and Toby celebrated their nuptials there too.

This August I had a rare weekend off, so as it drew closer I decided to embrace it and booked a camping trip for myself and my two girls. It was so intense working in the weeks before and after the trip (there’s still just so much going on in wedding season!) but it was worth every second. I booked a site in Saint Lunaire, near Dinard and Saint Malo in Brittany. We took a tandem bike and I brought my camera along to document the trip and take some travel photos.

Finally I can share some preview photos from Ed and Sorrel’s incredible wedding at Bentley Wildfowl and Motor Museum near Lewes! Ed and Sorrel’s wedding was featured in OK! Magazine last week which meant I couldn’t share more until the magazine was off the shelves.. I’ve been dying to get some photos from their wedding - it was such a fun day and I loved being part of it!

It’s no wonder that’s it’s taken so long to find the time for another ‘Behind The Curtain’ during the Summer, but better late than never I guess? Summer has gone by in such a wonderful and busy blur that I’ve had to sit and go back through my calendar to help me remember what I actually did and when! Work gets slightly slower-paced from October and I’ll be able to escape from ‘the editing cave’ in time to celebrate my birthday next month, but Summer has been busy and wonderful, and here’s how it looked for me..

Never have I ever come away from a wedding craving a glass of fizz quite so much.. Alex and Dave had a champagne-inspired Wray’s Barn wedding at the beautiful Whinstone View near Great Ayton in North Yorkshire. I've loved shooting weddings at Whinstone View so much in the past because every couple can really put their stamp on this beautiful Wray’s Barn venue and it has a totally different feel every time.. Alex and Dave celebrated in style and their wedding was wonderful to be part of. Here is their stop motion wedding film..

It was such a joy to meet Isabella - a fabulous little character, full of beans and busy exploring and playing with everything, and looking like the perfect mix of her Mum and Dad.. I joined the three of them at their home, and we got some natural shots of them being the wonderful family that they are.

Mark and Elizabeth said 'I do' at the local church in Hutton Rudby, before travelling a few villages away to celebrate in Rountons village hall. It was an incredible day - one I'll never forget - and after these photos were taken we danced into the night celebrating what these two have in each other.

Here is their stop motion film..