KAREN AND ANDY'S WEDDING AT CRATHORNE HALL NORTH YORKSHIRE ....

Karen and Andy may have left their wedding plans later than most - they managed to do the whole thing in just 6 months!

I met with them and we semed to get on well during the consultation - even though I managed to turn up the night before my appontment!

Luckily, my personality and photography won them over and they booked me to be their official photographer at Crathorne Hall near Yarm in North Yorkshire - one of my favourite wedding venues in the north of England, and a place where I have photographed four wedding this year.

The staff at Crathorne Hall are most attentive and on top of their game, and the country house hotel has a wonderful atmosphere, all cosy and warm and welcoming - with wonderful grounds.

Karen and Andy wanted their wedding like many of my brides and grooms, relaxed, fun and a wonderful day of celebration, no messing around with photography for hours on end and lots and lots of images of their close family and guests enjoying themselves - letting me capture the ambiance and atmosphere and fun of the day.

I met with Andy and his close friends at the Crathorne Arms and he confessed to a few nerves - in fact he didn't finish his pint! Karen on the other hand was so chilled out that she wasn't even getting into her wedding dress until 15 minutes before and was fashionably 10 minutes late for her civil cermony!

The brief service over, it was time to chill out and relax for an hour or more before the wedding breakfast and I managed to gather family and friends together for 10 minutes for a few family keepsake photos - all captured as quickly and as naturally as possible ... Karen and Andy were having a great time and I even managed to get a few minutes with themto get some nice portraits - as they didn't want to be out of their comfort zone too long!

There were some great speeches - even from Karen and almost as it was over and we had finished our meal, guests for the evening were turning up and it was all go again ......

To see ALL my images from Karen and Andy's wedding from SATURDAY .. go HERE The password will be their married surname (all lower case letters).

I hope you have enjoyed a very small selection of images I created at the wedding on Friday - PLEASE LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS.

DIRK VAN DER WERFF

MELANIE AND GAVIN'S WEDDING AT NORTON CHURCH AND HALLGARTH GOLF AND COUNTRY CLUB DARLINGTON

It's been a long while since Mel and Gavin met me for the first time at a wedding fair at Redworth Hall Hotel.

Nearly two years ago, and in the meantime, we have met a few times, including a pre-wedding shoot and Mel also gave birth too!

Gavin and I talked though Facebook a lot and he also kept me up to date with wedding plans every couple of weeks - all part of the service!

Finally, their wedding date appeared on the horizon and it was a beautiful day for their wedding at Norton Church on the Green near Stockton on Tees where family and friends gathered for a lovely informal service and then we headed off to Hallgarth Hotel Golf and Country Club near Darlington for their wedding breakfast and evening celebrations.

The sun stayed out most of the day, everything was cool and chilled out, with laughter aloud and Mel's choice of having a magician to entertain her guests before the wedding breakfast worked out really well!

Gavin excelled with his speech - though he confessed later that he couldn't remember any of it - and Mel's love of dragonflies was everywhere - even on her beautiful dress and cake!

I managed to grab 15 minutes before the evening guests arrived to get a few images of the happy couple together too - it was a great day for all their family and close friends - and I hope this small selection of images from the 350 final edited photographs that they will choose from for their wedding album gives you a flavour of their wedding!

IF YOU WOULD LIKE ME TO BE THE OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHER AT YOUR WEDDING ANYWHERE IN THE NORTH OF ENGLAND, ACROSS THE UK OR ADESTINATION WEDDING ABROAD...... PLEASE RING ME ON MY PERSONAL MOBILE NO. 0778 7150966 TO CHECK YOUR DATE

DIRK VAN DER WERFF

KEYWORDS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS WEDDING: NORTON VILLAGE CHURCH, STOCKTON ON TEES, ENGLAND, HALL GARTH MANOR GOLF AND COUNTRY CLUB, DARLINGTON, BRIDE, GROOM, MAGICIAN, SPEECH, WEDDING, WEDDINGS, WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER, WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHS, WEDDING PHOTOS, NORTH EAST ENGLAND,

ONE OF MY FAVOURITE WEDDING VENUES HEADLAM HALL WINS SMALL HOTEL OF THE YEAR HONOUR

One of my favourite wedding destination venues in the north of England, Headlam Hall, which has been owned by the same family for 30 years has won the prestigious Small Hotel of the Year in the North East Tourism Awards.

Headlam Hall is in the hamlet of Headlam, near Gainford in Teesdale, west of Darlington, County Durham and beat off competition including Seaham Hall near Sunderland and Close House Hotel near Newcastle, to win the gold award.

Headlam Hall’s Managing Director Thomas Robinson said: “We are absolutely delighted to receive this prestigious award which is an acknowledgement of all the hard work and dedication of our staff.

By winning the Gold Award, Headlam Hall is now put through as the North East winner to the national Enjoy England Excellence Awards, which will be announced in a glittering ceremony on 23rd April 2010.

MY PHOTOGRAPH IS OF RHOANNE AND ANDREW'S WEDDING AT HEADLAM HALL A FEW WEEKS AGO - IF YOU WOULD LIKE ME TO BE THE OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHER AT YOUR WEDDING AT HEADLAM HALL, PLEASE RING ME ON MY PERSONAL MOBILE NO. 0778 7150966 IT'S A SUPERB LOCATION FOR YOUR VERY SPECIAL DAY AND AVAILABLE FOR EXCLUSIVE USE

DIRK VAN DER WERFF

BRIDAL GATHERING - THE NORTH EAST'S BIGGEST BRIDAL AND CHRISTMAS SHOW AT RAINTON MEADOWS

Bridal Gathering is a BIG new wedding show being held at Rainton Meadows this Sunday, November 1st (white rabbits, white rabbits....).

It's a bold step for the organisers - a first time event for the people behind the north east's newest wedding magazine Belle Bridal.

They have been really busy with this one and have matched it with a Christmas Show too to see how things go - but with over 100 wedding vendors / suppliers, it should be perfect for an afternoon out if you live anywhere in the north east.

It starts at 12pm and last until 5pm .. lots of goody bags of course .. a bridal fashion show ... a FREE champagne lounge area ... and fundraising efforts on the day will be for the Brother's In Arms charity.

I will be there of course - so pop along and say hello - and have a look at my fabulous San Francisco wedding books - which can feature up to 400 photographs from your wedding - brilliant when most books can only feature your favourite 80!

See you there!

DIRK VAN DER WERFF

TWO WEDDINGS AT CRATHORNE HALL IN A WEEK!

As I often say on my BLOG, Crathorne Hall Hotel near Yarm in North Yorkshire is one of my favourite wedding locations in the north of England.

It has style and elegance, the staff are great, the ambiance is fantastic and the building and grounds are just great for photography!

On Saturday I was privileged to be a part of Sarah and Martin's wedding at Crathorne Hall - even though the weather was pretty awful most of the day, and today I am the official photographer at Karen and Andy's wedding at Crathorne Hall.

Photographs from both will be here on my BLOG on Wednesday

DIRK VAN DER WERFF

RACHEL AND JONATHAN'S BEAUTIFUL WEDDING AT HEADLAM HALL

Rachel and Jonathan wanted a really chilled out wedding with their closest family and friends at St Godric's Church in Durham with a beautiful reception at the incomparable Headlam Hall near Darlington - and they got their wish!

Both training to be dentists, I had met with them at Headlam Hall with Rachel's mum too about 18 months or so before their wedding, just chatting and laughing about their plans for their wedding in Durham and their plans for their reception at Headlam Hall.

I was delighted when they asked me to be their official photographer and we kept in contact BY e-mail before meeting a few weeks before their wedding when we went for a walk and a chat around the river in Durham on their pre-wedding portrait session.

It was a beautiful day in August and the gathering friends and relatives at St Godric's Church on the hill close to Durham were full of excited chatter about the day ahead. Jonathan was calm cool and collected, and later, when Rachel arrived in her beautiful classic Jaguar car, not only did she look stunning, but she was also pretty cool and relaxed too.

The wedding ceremony was fun too, and the clergy were kind enough to allow me to discreetly take photographs during the ceremony from the front of the church - usually no bother in a Catholic church, but rare in a C of E Church nowadays.

The 'secret' garden lay down pas a car park, and through a covered walkway, and down the side of a house which opened out into quite the best viewpoint of Durham Cathedral I have seen - and terrific for a few formal family wedding photographs before we headed to Headlam Hall.

Headlam Hall, along with Crathorne Hall is one of the finest wedding venues for civil ceremonies and receptions for many, many miles around. One of my all time favourite venues.

Service, attention to detail and staff are second to none - highly recommended

Champagne and canapes on the terrace with the vast gardens at the guests' disposal gave me the chance to capture the fun and atmosphere of the day and after an hour or so of relaxed conversation in the sun, I quickly gathered close relatives together together with siblings and bridesmaids for a few quick, relaxed group shots and one main photograph of the whole party on the lawn - total 10 minutes, everyone was smiling, that laughed at my silly jokes and the photographs looked great!

Why does it take so many 'wedding photographers' so looooong to complete these images?

Into the Edwardian Suite for the wedding breakfast which was superb as always, and then tears, laughter and fun during some excellent speeches - giving me lots of photograph opportunities.

By the end of the fun, it was 7pm and it was time for me to grab Rachel and Jonathan for 15 minutes to create some nice photographs of them together in the grounds - but return them in time to greet their evening guests and ready themselves for their first dance and the fun of the evening ahead!

I left about 9pm, the party was in full swing ... and I was off to edit their photographs so they would be ready on their return from the Far East from honeymoon.

I hope you enjoyed a small number of the 400+ final edited images which documents their fantastic wedding at Durham and at Headlam Hall

DIRK VAN DER WERFF

KEYWORDS FOR THIS ARTICLE: HEADLAM HALL, ST GODRIC'S CHURCH DURHAM, ENGLAND, DARLINGTON, WEDDING VENUE, WEDDING VENUES, EXCLUSIVE USE, BRIDE AND GROOM, PHOTOGRAPHS, PHOTOGRAPHER, PHOTOS, PHOTOGRAPH, DURHAM, WEDDING DRESS

PRE-WEDDING SHOOT - ON TOP OF A FELLSIDE IN THE LAKE DISTRICT WITH KATHRYN AND GARETH BEFORE THEIR WEDDING AT CRATHORNE HALL IN NORTH YORKSHIRE

I'm a sucker for punishment ..... most brides and grooms are quite happy getting together with me on a beach or a local country park or a favourite spot in a beautiful city like Durham or York for their pre-wedding portrait photography.

It's nice when they want it done in Paris or in Nice like some of my couples in 2007, but I was caught out a little bit when Kathryn and Gareth said they would like to have their photographs taken on top of a fell in the Lake District ... :)

That's where they became engaged to be married during the Christmas holidays, so they wanted to have their pre-wedding shoot on the top, so they could see the Lancashire coastline, the mountains of Cumbria and probably my house on the north east coast at the same time!

So after a 2 hour drive across to meet them at Gareth's parent's house, it was up the fell we went.

Now, at slightly more than 50 years of age, I didn't want two Doctor's of Medicine out-yomping a rather unfit photographer, so I travelled light with just one camera and lens and flashgun and aimed to stay at the front, stopping only when they stopped for a breath of fresh air.

God, I was praying they would stop every 100 feet at one point. We did have a laugh or two and I was wondering if their Doctorate's meant they could also offer first aid as a paramedic would and if they had the direct number of a air ambulance crew to hand ...

Anyway, we got there, it was blowing a gale and we could JUST about see the Lancashire coast and the Cumbrian Mountains .. so we didn't hang around too long as the pub beckoned and the thought of a pint of real ale was very attractive as we headed down through the gloom ...

The whole point of a pre-wedding shoot is a bonding session really, so that we are not strangers on the wedding day, we feel as though we know each other a little and of course, if we also manage to create some nice images too - all the better.

So, I hope you like the one that we chose together to represent the yomp up the Fell (above) which will be framed and displayed with the wedding cake at their wedding at Crathorne Hall in North Yorkshire, and the additional ones below which actually feature me leaning into the howling wind and Gareth and Kathryn trying to keep their footing at the top as the wind blew in from the Atlantic.

You pre-wedding shoot comes as part of your wedding photography package with me.

DIRK VAN DER WERFF

KEYWORDS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS CONTENT: PRE-WEDDING PORTRAIT, PRE-WEDDING SHOOT, CUMBRIA WEDDINGS, LAKE DISTRICT WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY, CRATHORNE HALL WEDDINGS, CRATHORNE HALL WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS, PORTRAITS, LOVE, COUPLE, ENGAGEMENT PHOTOGRAPHY

FOLLOW DIRK VAN DER WERFF WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY ON FACEBOOK ....

Just a quick one ....

I despaired of being a business on Facebook ... the thought of having 'fans' seems a little bit silly to me.

However, I have a second profile on Facebook now - purely for brides to be, this year's brides and brides from my past as well as grooms (of course) and suppliers, venues, cakes, dresses and anyone else who want to join in ....

So if you are on Facebook, are passing through my BLOG, are interested in keeping up with the latest weddings, often as they happen, then ask to be a friend!

http://en-gb.facebook.com/people/Dirk-van-der-Werff/100000183037823

CLAIRE AND JAMIE'S PRE-WEDDING PORTRAITS ON THE BEACH

Claire and Jamie are being married at Redworth Hall, a wedding venue near Darlington in County Durham this week and I spent some time with them a few weeks ago to have a chat about their big day and get to know them a little more.

I hadn't seen them since we met almost a year ago with their parents when I was pitching to be their official photographer at their wedding.

We got on well then, and I enjoyed being with their family as well, so it was good to hook up again and talk life, love and weddings.....

Jamie had injured his ankle, so I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have been too happy being dragged across the sand dunes and beach - but he took it in good heart and spirit, and Claire just laughed!

A pre-wedding portrait session gives my brides and grooms and myself a chance to bond a little so that when it comes to the wedding day, we're not strangers and they and their families will be confident that I can record the biggest day of their lives and create some lovely photographs at the same time!

I hope you enjoy a few of the images we created on our walk on the coast near Hartlepool - look out for a selection of their wedding photographs next week!

DIRK VAN DER WERFF

KEYWORDS: PORTRAIT, PORTRAITS, PRE-WEDDING, LOVE, ENGAGED, ENGAGEMENT, COUPLE, NORTH EAST ENGLAND, COAST, COASTLINE, WEDDING, BRIDE AND GROOM

LUCY AND PAUL'S LOVELY WEDDING AT SEAHAM HALL

I WAS REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO LUCY AND PAUL'S WEDDING AT SEAHAM HALL.

We had every weather apart from snow during my time with them and their families at St Peter's church Wolviston and at Seaham Hall, but it was a great relaxed day, really chilled out and a wonderful day of celebration.

I started at Lucy's lovely home, capturing images of her preparing for her big day with her family around her, including their beautiful children Sadie and Max.

Afterwards I met up with Paul at the church, and while nervous, he said that he was looking forward to the ceremony - and I thought he was about to faint when he saw how stunning Lucy looked in her dress!

Just as we were leaving church, the skies turned black and the rain came down heavily as we headed up the A19 on the short trip to Seaham Hall.

Our welcome from the staff was as nice as always, with a homely feel to this fine hotel and spa, and the one long table that was set out was fit for a King and Queen!

Before long, the heavy gray skies cleared and we were out on the terrace in the bright sunshine with blue skies and white fluffy clouds - and champagne and Pimms of course...

A wonderful wedding breakfast with tears and laughter over the speeches meant that we had some time for the three of us to wander the hotel and grounds and the spa to spend some time together and create some nice photographs before their evening guests turned up.

Paul and Lucy selected me to be their photographer as they were both nervous about posing, and after seeing my BLOG and website they knew that I let my brides and groom and their families and friends get on and enjoy their day - capturing lovely photographs of them all having a great day of celebration with minimum interruptions - and that's how we worked it between us all.

After their first dance on the floor with their children involved too, it was time to make my excuses and leave after a successful day photographing their fun and the joy and the happiness.

THANKS FOR YOUR HOSPITALITY AND LETTING ME BE A SMALL BUT IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR WEDDING AT SEAHAM HALL - A LOVELY WEDDING VENUE IN COUNTY DURHAM!

KEYWORDS / LABELS

SEAHAM HALL WEDDINGS, SEAHAM HALL WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY, SEAHAM HALL WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHS, SEAHAM HALL WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS, SEAHAM HALL WEDDING PHOTOS, COUNTY DURHAM WEDDING VENUES, LUXURY WEDDINGS, EXCLUSIVE USE, NORTH EAST ENGLAND

DIRK VAN DER WERFF