North East Wedding Photographer - Reviews of Dirk van der Werff Wedding Photography

I love to receive wedding reviews and testimonials - it's the culmination of all my hard work over a period of perhaps a year or even two years since I first received an enquiry from a bride and groom to be.
I get them from brides, grooms, parents, friends of the brides, all sorts of people are kind enough to offer a review or testimonial of my performance as their wedding photographer ... all I do is have a great day with all your family and friends, work my backside off for you and produce some great relaxed photographs that capture the fun and happiness and emotion of your great day ... enjoy reading some of my latest ones!
READ MY VERY LATEST WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER REVIEW IN THE NORTH EAST AND NORTH YORKSHIRE HERE

NORTH EAST WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS -  LEILA AND LEWIS' WEDDING AT THE NATIONAL GLASS CENTRE IN SUNDERLAND .. THIS ONE ON THE GLASS ROOF DURING A BREAK IN A TREMENDOUS SUMMER STORM - HENCE THE DRAMATIC SKY OVER THE RIVER WEAR

LEILA AND LEWIS AT SUNDERLAND GLASS CENTRE

"..... When we were seeking a wedding photographer, I searched literally dozens of photographers’ websites, and I must admit that Dirk’s grabbed me instantly. His photos stood out a mile, and those that came close were from photographers charging twice as much.

I loved the relaxed, natural, yet at the same time very precise feel of the photography. Relaxed doesn’t mean sloppy, but rather effectively and skilfully capturing the atmosphere of the wedding day, the exact moment people gasp or smile.

Once we had signed up, it was a bonus to have the pre-wedding photo shoot. This gave us a chance to get used to being photographed and to tell Dirk about what we wanted.

Our wedding at Sunderland Glass Centre was slightly unusual in some ways but Dirk was enthusiastic about doing something different.

Our venue had an industrial feel and the weather on the day was dramatic and changeable, but rather than spoiling the

On the day we were married facing inwards in front of large glass windows so the lighting was a real challenge, but Dirk captured the ceremony fantastically and a year on the photos evoke the reality brilliantly.
During the day, Dirk blended in easily with the guests and was charming and polite with everyone.

Some group shots were taken but these were arranged quickly and efficiently and were in keeping with the informal style.
After the wedding day, we were able to enjoy looking at our photos on honeymoon, just 4 days after the wedding.

Everyone who has seen them has commented on how much they love the photography.

We have found Dirk to be very professional and provide excellent service throughout..."

LEILA ATKINSON

NORTH EAST WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER - ANNE AND DAVID ENJOYING THEIR WEDDING AT REDWORTH HALL ...  A FINE INTIMATE FAMILY WEDDING

DAVID AND ANNE AT REDWORTH HALL

From the time we first met Dirk at a wedding fair – his daughter Ellie ‘bribed’ us with sweets to listen to him!

"... From that time until our A3 wedding book and CD of images arrived, he has been a pleasure and a joy to work with.

The pre-wedding shoot helped to put us both at our ease with him and his cameras. Dirk listened carefully to our wishes for how we wanted the day to be covered and then helped us to refine the details. We asked him for a record of the day without the typical posed shots and a picture of as many of the people there as possible.

On the day everything went brilliantly. Dirk arrived early and spent some time taking pictures of the preparations.

After the ceremony he mixed effortlessly with our guests shooting constantly yet never, ever, getting in the way. He took one ‘organised’ shot which included everyone, making sure that in the space of a couple minutes he had a selection of group pictures where everybody’s face could be seen clearly. He had a long day, that lasted well into a fairly riotous evening, where he captured the atmosphere perfectly!

From nearly 300 final edited proof photographs Dirk helped us to select a representative number and when the wedding album arrived we were absolutely delighted with the quality of the book; the selection, quality and arrangement of the pictures; the story that is told and the fact that from all our guests there was only one who did not have an individual portrait included.

If you are thinking of using Dirk for your wedding photography, from our experience, you could not wish for a better result, or a more genial man with whom to deal……”

DAVID AND ANNE

IAIN AND LOUISE’S WEDDING AT JESMOND DENE HOUSE HOTEL

"...We can honestly say we had the day of our lives on our wedding day, and, thankfully, we have the photographs to prove it!

Dirk is an amazing photographer with a great eye for catching lovely natural photographs. Dirk’s informal style suited us and his work really did show our day, just as it was.

We found working with Dirk a real joy too, he has a great sense of humour and puts you at ease when the camera is out, to be honest, we hardly noticed him taking photographs on the day. Mind you, this is not to be confused with not noticing Dirk at the wedding!

Louise was so thrilled to have the support of Dirk on the day, he was always lending a hand, whether it be holding a bag or reminded us to breathe and smile! He was like an honorary member of the family for the day and we were glad he was there.

I remember at one point one of the children asking “Who is Uncle Dirk? He’s great” and I don’t think you get a better recommendation than that!

Dirk joined in our wedding, he was part of the meal, socialised with the guests and was genuinely a big hit. His approach was fantastic, as he saw and captured the day through the eyes of a guest, showing the true atmosphere, enjoyment and happiness of the occasion.

Dirk really does go the extra mile when it comes to your wedding, he planned a pre-wedding shoot to get used to his approach and he is always aware of your requirements and he checked throughout the wedding to make sure he had captured the sorts of images we were hoping for.

Post-wedding Dirk was also fantastic, the photographs were available on line so quickly and our friends and family were able to view.
He also took the time to develop a wedding book style and format to suit us, he was also patient and understanding when we wanted to tweak and develop the layout.

Dirk’s photographs really speak for themselves, his professionalism is unquestionable but most importantly it is his personality which really does make the difference.
I hope anyone reading this testimonial can be reassured with Dirk.

I will definitely use him again on my next wedding…….

Only joking Louise!...."

IAIN

NORTHUMBERLAND WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS  -  SHELLEY AND STEPHEN OUTSIDE LANGLEY CASTLE AT MIDNIGHT, WITH THE MOON  JUST COMING THROUGH THE CLOUDS ON A FROSTY NIGHT IN DECEMBER, JUST BEFORE CHRISTMAS

SHELLEY AND STEPHEN AT LANGLEY CASTLE

"... Firstly, take my advice … STOP LOOKING FOR A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER, NOW!!!

You have found him / it / her / they …… 
You have found your wedding photographer, you can stop stressing – You will not find a better photographer, or more natural and breathtaking photographs so just book Dirk and concentrate on all the other exciting plans for your dream wedding. Stephen and I were never going to be conventional. We had both waited until our 40′s to get married and never thought we would ever find love like this.

We met through martial arts. He was my instructor. I thought he was stern and grumpy. We often fight each other so you can imagine the “courting” was a bit different… He proposed to me at The Trevi Fountain in Rome and the planning began. He always told me that whatever the cost, I could be a princess in my castle and have the complete fairy tale!

We wanted a Christmas wedding in castle, we wanted snow, log fires, Christmas trees and some fighting on the roof with Samurai swords (no, really!). We chose Langley Castle near Hexham. It was perfect, absolutely perfect. Then started my search for a photographer.

I had probably 6 or so different photographers come to our house where we poured over lovely albums, watched slide shows, listened to how the photographer would work and what the photographer would do.

I found this daunting and intimidating.

You know it is so important to capture that day, the best day of your life and it is such a huge decision.

On recommendation we chose a photographer, despite my better judgement and things progressed. I sent this guy a cheque as a deposit. I then never heard from him again. Fortunately I cancelled the cheque and have since learned that he has swindled lots of couples out of their money and has not produced their wedding photographs for them. I was so relieved we didn’t get any further with him and so my search started again!!!

I came across a photograph in a north east wedding magazine, Belle Bridal, which showed a bride and her groom in a church yard with all her family around her. A strong gust of wind had taken her veil up and around her and was lifted around her family who were all laughing and holding onto their hats! I loved it.

The photographer was Dirk.

This was a Sunday and was in fact Fathers Day. I considered not ringing that day but did anyway. I left a message on an answerphone. Stephen and I then went shopping at B & Q for a light fitting (Sunday / Father’s day – I know….). My mobile rang and Dirk spoke to me in the lighting section…..

I knew after the first two sentences that he was the photographer we would use. First impressions mean a great deal. He was funny, reassuring, charming and cheeky! (in a good way)

Then came the meeting at our house. This was the first time a photographer had asked us how we wanted the pictures to look, what we expected from him, how we wanted him to work and what we wanted him to produce. None of the others had asked that!

This was a photographer who listened and was interested. One of the others had even suggested we change the time of our meal to ensure she could get her shots! He was genuinely interested, and I think a little bit excited that we were to be unconventional and there would be a martial arts influence with some of the North East’s top Black Belts present! I think the sword thing must have sounded a bit mad as well 

 It took no time or discussion for Stephen and I to agree and Dirk was booked.

We had the most beautiful pre-wedding photographs done at Roker beach in Sunderland. It was so difficult to choose from those they were all stunning and we felt very reassured that we were going to get some tremendous photographs at our wedding. Dirk kept in close contact throughout and this settled me a great deal. Nothing was too much trouble.

The evening before I stayed at Close House Hotel in Wylam with my family. During the evening it started to snow. I could hardly contain my excitement and texted Dirk a couple of times as it was too much to hope for, my castle with snow!!

Dirk came the next morning amidst crisp white snow and took some photo’s at Close House before we set off for the Castle. There was just enough snow! It looked fantastic and the photo’s I have are beautiful! Really the day went so quickly and most of the time I did not even know Dirk was there. We did not want too many posed photographs and he has managed to capture natural images of everyone without (seemingly) any effort.

He coped so well with the madness that was my room full of bridesmaids just prior to the wedding and everyone loved him!

His manner was faultless, he was reassuring through out and was relentless! He stayed until really late, much later than I had thought and we have some of the most stunning photographs of Stephen and I outside of the castle in the dark with a full moon peeping from behind a cloud. I cannot tell you how delighted I am with our A3 wedding book.

I love that it is actually a book with far more photographs in than a conventional album.

I love that it is practicable and portable and won’t end up under a bed or in the loft in years to come. I love that it tells a beautiful fairy tale, and I was absolutely a princess, with my claret and gold dress in my castle with my prince!

Each turn of the page still startles me with the easiness of it, the completely relaxed and fun moments are there for us. There is nothing that required any effort for us, Dirk had quite simply “nailed it”!!

Our day was full of laughter and this is very apparent from our album.

Dirk charmed everyone and I can only reflect on our B & Q conversation and say that “it does what it says on the tin”!!

He promised an album that would truly capture the day, he promised that we need not worry about the photography and he promised the photographs would be perfect. He did all of this and more.

My testimonial may be a bit long but I could honestly write more. I will end how I started. Stop looking, DIRK is it, you will not regret it I promise.

(Oh and your mam and aunties might fancy him…)...."

Shell xx

CUMBRIA AND TYNEMOUTH WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS -  CATHERINE AND GARY WALKING ALONG THE BEACH AT TYNEMOUTH LONGSANDS AFTER A LONG AND HAPPY AND FUN WEDDING DAY AT THE GRAND HOTEL .. IT WAS OVERCAST AND COOL, JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED AFTER A HECTIC DAY!

CATHERINE AND GARY KESTER AT TYNEMOUTH

“…Photography is something a lot of people misunderstand. I earn my living from it too so I know how easy some people think it is.

Given that anybody can buy a camera these days, even in things like their phones, surely this means that anybody can be a photographer, right?

Wrong – and Dirk proves exactly why, because there’s much more to photography than just taking a picture.

What Dirk did on the wedding day of Catherine and I was not just capture what was happening and where, but pressing his shutter at exactly the right moment and from exactly the right angle to crystallise everything into beautiful, artistic images that help us remember a day that, to be honest, was all a bit of a blur in our heads (when it’s your turn, you’ll see!)

Taking amazing photographs is only one of Dirk’s many skills, and his other skill is far less common, because throughout the day Dirk, while never stopping, was only visible when he needed to be.

Amazingly, he took everything he needed and that we wanted without ever making his presence felt, unless it was time to stage portraits and quick group shots or respond to requests, in which instances his friendly manner and good humour set people at ease and brought out their best for the photographs.
An intrusive or overbearing photographer can easily get in the way and slow things down, while one that is too timid may well miss something magical. Dirk is neither, and we can safely say that his presence was as professional as it was welcome and enjoyable.

Selecting the right wedding photographer is a big decision, and we made the right one.
So thank you Dirk for helping make our big day everything we wanted it to be, and for producing a portfolio of photographs and wedding books that has stunned all who have seen them.

We’re delighted!…”

NIKI DURING HER WEDDING AT WYNYARD HALL ... CHILLED, HAPPY AND CONTENTED!

NIKI NELLIS AT WYNYARD HALL

Dirk van der Werff was recommended to me by my cousin Sue who had commissioned him for her only daughter Jo’s wedding at Crathorne Hall.

She had saved all her daughter’s life to give her the best wedding possible and that’s why she hired Dirk because she wanted the best … and that’s just what she got.

I went to my cousins house and saw the beautiful wedding album and photographs Dirk had captured and I was amazed.

I loved how natural the photography was, people were happy and enjoying a wedding unaware that they were being photographed, and I knew there and then we had found our wedding photographer.

We arranged to meet up at our house and straight away felt at ease with Dirk, and by the time he left we felt like we had known him all our lives – a friend or part of the family.

My husband to-be Steve hates having his photograph taken and if anyone remembers an episode of Friends, the one where Chandler has to smile for his engagement photos, they will know what I mean.
Steve was just like Chandler .. but he couldnt smile …

So I was amazed when we had our pre-wedding photographs taken, Steve looked great and even had a few smiles!

On our wedding day at Wynyard Hall was even better. There isn’t one photograph of Steve that I don’t like and even Steve was pleased….
Steve and I wanted Dirk to just capture all our family and friends naturally and we didnt want the old boring photographs where the bride’s family all stare at the lens then the groom’s family etc…. we had that at our first weddings, and it was just awful.

We love our wedding book and presentation box with 400 final edited photographs as hard-copy prints, but the hardest job was picking our favourites to go in the album …

Dirk certainly had his work cut out on our wedding day as there were 9 bridesmaids, 5 pageboys, 3 ushers and a partridge in a pear tree!.

Anyone thinking of getting hitched I would thoroughly recommend Dirk as I have done to my family and friends.

If any prospective bride would like to see our wedding book – you’re welcome to come and see it ,….

Dirk is the best and if the best is what you want you need to book him.
Thank you Dirk for making our wedding so special by capturing everything you did.

You truly are a friend for life and when you’re in the area, pop around for a pot of tea!

Niki
xx

AND NIKI'S HUSBAND STEVE NELLIS JOINS IN WITH HIS VIEW “…. We heard about Dirk from Niki’s cousin Sue. I didn’t know what to expect when I heard that a Dirk van der Werff was coming to see us about wedding photos, being the groom, I had just carried along in the tidal wave of preperations and arrangements so I shrugged my shoulders and waited to see this blonde moustached six foot something bloke to turn up on a bicyle and clogs and start saying how “he was jus goink to fotograf sum fantashtik pikturs “…

However who actualy turned up was a true north-east lad as I would say.

I hate smiling, I’m not photogenic in the slightest and was dreading the staged “stand there and do this …ok ..left a bit , left a bit ..now smile ” approach.
How wrong could I have been?
Dirk put me at ease straight away, Niki and I talked about what we wanted to achieve with the photographs which was a relaxed, intimate, informal representation of our big day. Dirk arranged for a pre-wedding photo-shoot so we could get to know each other a little more, as I lived in Morecambe and work in Khazakstan at the moment, so on the big day Dirk could just mingle and do his thing as a guest at the wedding.

We had a laugh filled afternoon at Wynyard Hall where me and ‘the missus-to-be’ posed for some pictures as Dirk just snapped away .. and bugger me I found myself doing something I NEVER do, I smiled, slightly, and didnt even know I was doing it… (see image above..)

On the big day Dirk was there very early at Wynyard Hall and even caught me turning up with my support crew of ushers and best man in the streched limo…..the big day was great ..only a few contrived photos to please the older generations before the wedding breakfast and the rest of the day was spent just enjoying the guests company and my lovely wife and not even knowing we were being photographed….it was honestly that unobtrusive…..

Nobody realised that Dirk was telling the story of our day and that in his mind a wedding book was being generated …and what an wedding book !!!
I cannot believe that the whole essence, character, charm and emotion of the day was captured in such an artistic and natural but perfectly clear and sharp and true way.

So any grooms out there who are wondering about the whole ‘Do I HAVE to smile thing’ …Well no ..you dont have to smile but that doesn’t matter because you will smile naturally while interacting and laughing with friends and relatives, and IT WILL BE CAPTURED, you just won’t notice its been done ….until you see the mindblowing results which in reality when you have the A3 wedding book in your hands puts everything into another dimension all together…..FANTASTIC

If I could go back in time I would not change a thing, and I can heartily recommend Dirk to be your wedding photographer!

NORTH YORKSHIRE WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS -  I TOLD CHARLOTTE THIS WAS THE SHOT OF THE DAY ... WELL, YOU CAN SEE THE BACK OF HER BEAUTIFUL DRESS!

CHARLOTTE AND GRAEME FISHER

“From the initial meeting with Dirk I just knew he had to be our photographer. My husband-to-be and myself were nearly sent to sleep by a couple of other photographers we had met, showing us weddings albums with photo after photo of ‘posed’ shots and the ‘traditional family’ photos.

This is exactly what we didn’t want, so when we met Dirk he was a breath of fresh air!

He was so enthusiastic and took his time to talk to us and also listen to what we wanted from our photo’s, and once we had looked through the examples of his work, we already had him booked.

We were quite nervous about the pre-wedding shoot we had planned a few weeks before the wedding but there was no need to be nervous at all, he put us at ease and we just spent the afternoon chatting away and getting to know each other.

During the wedding day, Dirk arrived at my mum and dads house to get started. He captured some of my favourite shots during this time to our arrival at the church. The day went perfectly and this is reflected in our photos. At one point we were taken away to get some shots in a neighbouring garden – we had initially discussed with Dirk that we didn’t want to be away from our guest too long or we might miss the action!

Dirk understood this and we were only gone about 15 minutes. Dirk’s entire day must of lasted at around 11 hours, from arriving at 11.30am to leaving at well past 10pm to get some action shots of the ceilidh.

Literally every guest we spoke to after the wedding commented on how fantastic he was throughout the day, saying what a great personality he has. Dirk isn’t someone to fade into the background, he gets involved in the celebrations and talks to other guests. One guest even said she thought he was part of the family as he blended in so well.

Whilst on our honeymoon on Boracay Island we got word that Dirk had uploaded some of our photo’s on facebook. Even though it was our honeymoon, we couldn’t resist heading to the nearest internet café and logging on and we were over the moon with the results so far. Dirk must of known how excited we were to see the photo’s, so on the day we returned from our honeymoon, he arrived that evening with 400+ final edited proof prints in a presentation box.

They were better than we ever expected, and tell the story of our day in pictures!

I would recommend Dirk to anyone – particularly if your looking for more natural pictures. Graeme’s best man and fiancé were so impressed with Dirk that they have booked him for their wedding next year!”