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Manchester Wedding Photographer - Sarah and Ben

Sarah and Ben's Epic Manchester City Centre Wedding

I love a good Manchester City Centre wedding and Sarah and Ben did not disappoint! It was off to a bumpy start in the wedding planning days for the two of them, when their first Manchester venue cancelled on them just a few months before the wedding! Luckily The Renaissance Hotel on Blackfriars Street came to rescue and they were able to hold their chilled out urban wedding right in the heart of Manchester.

Getting ready shots with the Groomsmen was exciting for me as I was allowed into Barber, Barber in the Barton Arcade, (normally girls aren’t allowed in) so I felt like a spy… Sneaking around with my camera. There were a couple of close shaves, but I think I got away with it… Oh dear… Then it was on to Sarah and Ben’s City Centre apartment to see how the girls and Sarah’s Dad were getting on and photograph Sarah getting into her magnificent wedding dress. It was a lovely chilled out morning full of tears and laughs. Some beautiful thoughtful presents from Sarah to her bridesmaids and parents, not to mention some killer dance moves getting thrown out by flower girl, Freya.

When we got to The Renaissance Hotel the excitement was building. The room looked stunning, but it had nothing on what Sarah looked like walking down the aisle to Ben, they were both glowing with happiness and laughing together throughout the ceremony. It was an absolute corker! After some confetti, fizz, canapés and a few family group shots by the River Irwell we hopped into a taxi and made our way to Stevenson Square in Manchester’s infamous Northern Quarter to bring some of Manchester’s amazing street art into the Sarah and Ben’s portrait session. We had about 20 minutes, so it was a mad dash from spot to spot, but Sarah and Ben totally nailed it, as I think you’ll see in their photos. We even managed to find some graffiti that fitted with the smoke bombs Sarah and Ben had wanted perfectly and literally just a few minutes before the taxi arrived to whisk us back to Black Friars Street in time for the wedding breakfast! We then enjoyed some hilarious and heartfelt speeches, before it was time for for the party, which obviously, like anything Sarah and Ben do, was done in style. I’ll let the party photos tell you the rest of the story.

Thank you for having me Sarah and Ben. You guys rock! Xxx

Katie Dervin is a Documentary Wedding Photographer based in Manchester.

To book a shoot or enquire about wedding bookings click here.

Baba's house sign - Manchester groom prep

Grooms men getting cut throat shaves in Manchester wedding documentary style photographs

Groomsmen getting shave, framed by the doorway of the barbers

Magazine with a black and white photograph of Elvis on the cover

Groomsman getting hair cut with clippers, Manchester

Grooms happy face in barber, barber, Manchester

Black and white photograph of groom getting hair shaved.

Barber and Groom in forground with neon sign in focus in the back ground

Black and white photograph of groom in front of a wall full of pictures.

Groom getting cut throat shave, black and white photograph

Groom standing in the door way of Barber, Barber, Manchester

Groom bumps into a friend in the street, image in black and white

View from the bride and grooms apartment in Manchester

Bride hanging out of the window of their Manchester apartment

Black and white pictures on the wall of the bride and grooms home in Manchester

Father of the bride getting his suit fixed and laughing

Bride and her father share a moment and she gives him a wedding morning gift.

Father of the bride reads a letter from his daughter while to mother of the bride watches him.

Parents of the bride stand together reading letter from their daughter smiling.

Flower girl looks at her self in the mirror in her special dress.

Flower girl had her buttons done up by bridesmaid, the brides wedding dress hangs in the background.

Bridesmaid and flower girl open their morning presents from the bride

Brides parents and videographer share a wedding morning giggle.

Flower girl and mother of the bride play together.

Brides tattooed arm reaches up as she puts on her wedding dress. Image processed in black and white

Bride shares a laugh with her bridesmaids as she puts on her wedding dress.

Bride has the back of her wedding dress fastened as bridesmaid puts make up on flower girl.

Flower girl pulls a funny pouty face as the bridesmaid puts lipstick on her.

Smiling excited Bride has her veil put on.

Bride comes out to see her family in her wedding dress.

Outside of the Manchester hotel where the couple will get married.

Candles decorate the floor in the room where the ceremony will take place.

Groom and groomsmen wearing blue suits stand in a line getting their flowers put on.

Groom looks towards his mother as a friend puts on his flower.

Friends gather round awaiting the ceremony.

Groom smiles nervously awaiting his bride.

Bride walks down the aisle with her father looking excited.

Groom looks at bride for the first time.

Brides beautiful tattooed arm stretches out to hold grooms hand. Close up photograph.

Bride and groom laugh together during ceremony.

A friend reads a reading as the bride and groom watch him.

The Bride turns to the groom and laughs during the ceremony.

Bride and groom look happy on their wedding day in Manchester

Brides family look emotional as they watch ceremony.

Photograph of Bride and Groom during their Manchester Wedding ceremony.

Two guests take photographs of the Bride and Groom signing the registrar.

Bride and groom laugh as guests throw confetti.

Guests throw confetti as bride and groom walk down the aisle.

Bride and groom stand at the end of the aisle looking loved up.

flower girl sleeps on confetti covered floor.

A view of Manchester from the wedding venue.

Bride exits Manchester wedding venue holding her bouquet in the air.

Bride and Groom walk with wedding guests through the streets on Manchester.

Couple smile in front of heart shaped street art in Manchester's Northern Quarter.

Bride and Groom stand in front of heart shaped street art showing the Manchester Skyline, Northern Quarter.

Couple laugh together in front of Manchester Graffiti.

Cool bride and groom in front of Manchester graffiti.

Bride and groom in front of street art in Manchester NQ.

Bride and groom kiss in front of big heart.

Bride holds flowers up cheering in Manchester's Northern Quarter.

Bride and groom messing around on their wedding day in the Northern Quarter, Manchester.

Bride and Groom have their photographs taken in Stevenson Square Manchester.

Bride and Groom smile in front of pink power to the people street art in Stevenson Square, Manchester.

Bride and Groom give the peace sign, in front on Manchester Bee Peace sign Street Art, Stevenson Square, The Northern Quarter, Manchester.

Bride and Groom pose in front of Manchester Bee Hand Heart Street art in Stevenson Square, The Northern Quarter, Manchester.

Groom holds brides dress for her as she walks past graffiti, Stevenson Square Manchester.

Bride and Groom pose in front of street art behind The Peer Hat, Manchester, Northern Quarter.

Bride and Groom having fun in Manchester alley.

Manchester Bride and Groom throwing some strong poses for their photographs

Bride walks down Manchester back alley with her wedding dress and flowers. Photograph in edited black and white.

Bride looks to Groom as they walk through Manchester. Graffiti tags in back ground.

Bride and Groom walk past tree graffiti on Faraday Street, Manchester. Photograph processed in colour.

Photograph processed in black and white. Couple walk by Faraday Street, Tree Graffiti in Manchester.

Bride and Groom stand on Warwick Street, Manchester for photograph.

Couple stand laughing together for wedding photographs in front of various street art at Warwick Street, Manchester.

Manchester Bride and Groom pose for photographs on Warwick Street.

Black and white photograph of couple dance in Manchester back alley on their wedding day.

Bride and Groom with smoke bombs in Manchester.

Bride and Groom in front o purple and blue street art with purple and blue smoke bombs, Northern Quarter, Manchester.

Bride and Groom in front of graffiti in Manchester.

You are my best friend, sheet music, table decor.

Bride and Groom Enter the wedding breakfast

Guests listening to father of the brides speech.

Children playing table football at wedding.

Wedding guests posing for photos on dance floor

Bride feeds cake to groom. Image in black and white.

Toddler in wig and glasses on Manchester wedding dance floor.

Wedding guests sit at table wearing wacky glasses at Manchester Wedding.

Bride laughing with friends on dance floor.

Man holding new born baby at wedding party.

Child holding blow up machine gun at Manchester wedding party.

Mother of the bride dancing with flower girl.

Page boy playing on wedding dance floor.

Wedding guest wearing a police helmet and holding a blow up dinosaur at Manchester Wedding.

Man dancing with blow up boobies at Wedding Party in Manchester.

Man with giant tie dances with lady at Manchester Wedding Party.

Man sings into blow up mic at wedding party.

Lady wearing sailors hat at wedding party.

Toddler with blow up gun chased by man with blow up sword.

Bride and groom laugh together during first dance.

Bride and groom dance at Wedding party in Manchester City Centre.

Photograph of bride and groom having their first dance together.

Why I Love This Photo Series 1.3

This photograph might not look like much at first. A family sitting at a table together in an empty room… But this moment was more than that. This was the moment when June and Steve took time out with their daughter Rosie during their wedding day. Rosie was overwhelmed. She didn’t really understand what the wedding was about and somehow thought that Mummy and Daddy getting married meant that they didn’t love her anymore. She was inconsolable. So deeply upset, it was hard to watch. After the ceremony was over June and Steve took her to one side to make her feel loved and spend some time as a family unit without the busy commotion of their guests around them. It was a beautiful, private and tender moment between the 3 of them and as it happened I managed to capture this little photograph of the 3 of them being a family.

Documentary Wedding Photography

Part of being a documentary wedding photographer is looking out for the small moments in between the bigger more obvious ones. Rosie will grow up and probably forget most of this day, when June and Steve tell her that she was so upset she may not even believe them! When I look at this photo, I see Love. The unconditional love that June and Steve have for their daughter. One day she’ll be older, she wont need them to hold her hand any more, she’ll make friends, move out, travel, become independent, but there will always be this little moment frozen in time when all this little girl wanted was a cuddle from her mum and Dad and that’s beautiful…

To view my full Wedding Portfolio click here.

Katie Dervin is a Documentary Wedding Photographer based in Manchester.

Liverpool Engagement Shoot - Jess and James

I love engagement shoots, it’s a lovely chilled out way to spend a hour or two having a laugh while creating something together.

I met Jess and James at The Ship and Mitre in Liverpool, it was a special place for them as that is where they had their first date, the place where the story of Jess and James really began, so it seemed fitting to start the shoot there. After a catch up and drink in bar we made our way out to explore the city and see which bits of the beautiful urban Landscape we could incorporate into the shoot. We were spoilt for choice! Finding wonderful Liverpudlian street art along our way, including a piece by the anonymous graffiti artist Banksy and of course it would be rude to not incorporate the infamous Liver Buildings into a photo or two. As we made our way to The Docks and the sun grew lower in the sky we stumbled upon a small fair ground, so made use of the bright and playful backgrounds before grabbing another sneaky drink from one of the sea front bars. We then took it upon ourselves to hunt down the prettiest Lamb Banana we could find, ending the evening shoot by taking some snaps as the Seagulls flew low over our heads while sun shone across water and then making our way home.

Jess and James were such a pleasure to shoot, they booked the engagement shoot as they thought that they might be nervous in front of the camera on their wedding day, but turned out to be complete naturals. Complete naturals at just being themselves with each other, making each other laugh, having nice little snuggles together and just being in love. It was beautiful to capture them doing just that. I’m really looking forward to shooting their wedding next month, it’s going to be an absolute belter!

Couple infront of Ship and Mitre Liverpool

Couple Shoot outside The Ship and Mitre Liverpool

Couple in front of Banksy heart Liverpool

Jess and James holding hands by LOVE graffiti

Sun hits couple in front of Liver Buildings

Mural leading to couple kissing, black and white.

Couple in front of mural of divers in the River Mersey?

Couple in front of Liver Buildings smiling

James kissing Jess's head in black and white.

Jess and James in city street in black and white.

Jess and James with the air plane streaks and teal sky behind them.

Couple with sun behind them and teal sky.

Couple in front of blue sky at Liverpool docks

Sun shing between couple in front of bright teal sky.

Couple laughing as the sun shines between them.

Jess and James laugh as the sun shines between them.

The sun sets and the couple mess about laughing.

Sun sets, couple stand together, birds in the sky.

Couples heads together, sun setting behind them.

Couple come together in front of sun set, a single bird in the sky behind them just over the sun.

Couple and Portrait Shoots for you and your partner in crime... Whoever that may be...

If you would like to book an engagement shoot, couples shoot, shoot with your bestie or partner in crime send me a message! I’d love to hear from you.

FYI Couples that have booked me as their wedding photographer receive a £50 discount on their session fee. Just because I LOVE YOU. xxx ;)

Why I Love This Photo Series 1.2

The most beautiful stack of dirty dishes I have ever seen

This is my second post in this series, if you missed the first post the idea is to look over my favourite photographs over the past year and think about why I love them, which ends up being a nice exercise for me, while also giving an insight into my though process and the reasoning behind creating these images.

Details

Details don’t always have to be pretty and perfect, although sometimes they might turn out that way. Detail shots that tell a story are the ones that speak to me and they are the ones as a documentary photographer that I am always on the look out to create. There are obvious detail shots, the cake, shoes, dress, flowers, but there are also photographs of things that can really help set the scene and build on the story of the day.... That brings me to this photograph I took of a stack of dirty dishes at Victoria and Steve’s Wedding in Nottingham.

Why Dirty Dishes?

This photo isn’t just a photo of stack of dirty dishes, it’s a photograph of love, friendship, kindness and the beauty of the relationships Victoria and Steve have with their friends and family. Their wedding was at Victoria’s family home, they had the service at the church down the road, held for them by the Vicar (and family friend) the rest of the day happened in Victoria’s family garden. Everything about this wedding was very homemade and personal, the flowers came from next doors garden, the cake was home made, the decorations were made by Victoria herself, Victoria’s make up was done by her sister (a make up artist) her father had even made a statue of a family member who had past away recently to greet the guests as they entered the garden so he could still be part of the wedding. Performances from friends and family kept everyone entertained though out the evening. Family friends served the homemade food up to guests and used the family kitchen to prepare the food, all of the dishes were washed by hand in the sink. This photograph is a reminder of the hard graft that went into making such a wonderful day for everyone, a reminder of how much Victoria and Steve’s family pulled together to make it as awesome as it was and that’s why I think this might just be one of the most beautiful stacks of dirty dishes I have ever seen, and believe me I have seen a lot! If you have ever been to my house you would know this. ;)

To view my full Wedding Portfolio click here.

Katie Dervin is a Documentary Wedding Photographer based in Manchester.

Why I Love This Photo Series. 1.1

Wedding Shoes on a Windowsill on a Rainy Wedding Morning at Middlethorpe Hall

Why I Love this Photo 1.1

So I thought it would be a nice exercise to pick out some of my favourite photos over the past year and explain why I love them, which brought about the Why I Love This Photo Series.

Details

I thought I’d start with details, as a lot of the time that’s how I’ll start my day photographing a wedding. I’ll often photograph the exterior of the place I’m about to enter and then usually the first few pictures I will take will be of details the couple have requested or things of interest around the room that I think add context to the story, this gives me some great photos to help me put together the story of your day for the couple, it also gives the people around that morning a little bit of time to relax and get used to having a photographer around before I start taking photographs of them.

Why Wedding Shoes?

Today’s photograph is maybe a strange one to start with… I am a documentary photographer yet the photo might not so obviously be in that style.

You’ve probably seen a photo like this a million times before. Detail shots are done in windows a lot because of the quality of light, it’s an easy go to shot, it looks nice, but it’s nothing ground breaking so why choose this photo?

The reason I love this photo is that it shows the brides beautiful shoes and the setting off, but it also adds some context to the day. You can see the delicate rain drops on the thin paned glass of the windows, a hint of the beautiful gardens of Middlethorpe Hall in the back ground and that’s why I love this shot. It isn’t just a shot of Donna’s lovely shoes it adds to the story of the day Donna and Kev got married by reminding them of those extra little details of the morning that otherwise would be long forgotten.

When shooting detail shots, I’ll always look around for different ways I can add context to the photograph, sometimes the best way to shoot these items is to photograph them where you find them, other times it can be nice to find somewhere that helps add another layer to the story.

To view my full Wedding Portfolio click here.

Katie Dervin is a Documentary Wedding Photographer based in Manchester.

Hindu - Irish Fusion Wedding - Kilhey Court - Vicki and Ravi

Vicki and Ravi met at University and on their first date Vicki took her sister Emma with them! Although Ravi thought it was a bit weird, he still had a nice time and they ended up on going on many more adventures together, music festivals, travelling the world and generally having loads of fun and making each other laugh a lot.

It was on a trip to New York when Ravi popped the question in Central Park, and of course Vicki said yes… Which leads here, to this Epic Wedding Day at Kilhey Court Hotel in Wigan. A love so spectacular that they didn’t just marry each other once! But they went and did it twice in one day! A beautiful classic white wedding ceremony with a string quartet, readings and music performed by Vicki’s family members followed by wonderful colourful Hindu ceremony, where Ravi arrived smiling nervously on a finely dressed white horse, before entering the venue with his family and the rest of the guests as they danced into Kilhey court to the beat the of procession music. Greeted by the UK’s first Female Hindu Priest and a room bursting with all the colours of nature, ready to being joined together again with a spectacular Hindu Ceremony.

This wedding was so much fun to photograph, also I must take this opportunity to shout out to my Awesome Second Shooter Katy Mutch who is always amazing and did an epic job as always.

The rest of the team that worked so hard to make this day as awesome as it was were…

Hindu Priest: www.kersi.co.uk

Floral Design by: www.verdure.co.uk

Make Up by: www.jodiemakeup.co.uk

Videography by: http://mcgillsisterfilms.com/

Live Music by: www.rylandsstringquartet.com

DJ: www.andymurphy.co.uk

If you are getting married and looking for a photographer to shoot your wedding, please check out my online portfolio or drop me a message. I’d love to hear about your plans for your big day.

Katie Dervin is a Documentary Wedding Photographer based in Manchester.