On the 15th September 2019, I had the pleasure of being asked by an old school friend, Chloe, to be the photographer on her special wedding day, as she tied the knot with her now-husband, Joe.

The couple chose to have their nuptials at The Woodlands Hotel & Wedding Venue, in Leeds, West Yorkshire.

It’s a beautiful wedding venue, set back in lush woodlands, hence the name, but is situated only a thrown stone away from the busy city centre. The wedding venue describes themselves as “a luxury boutique hotel, wedding and event venue”.

The venue is a stunning country house, which has been lovingly restored, boasting 23 individually decorated bedrooms and an award-winning restaurant.

It was a full day shoot, arriving in time for the bride and bridesmaids getting ready, although it wasn’t the best start to the day as the Bride, Chloe, was involved in a car accident on the way to the venue!

Luckily, nobody was hurt and the bride made it to the venue just in time to finish getting ready and thankfully the wedding dress wasn’t dowsed in prosecco before walking down the aisle.

The wedding ceremony was beautiful, hosted in the ceremony room overlooking the grounds, with pink sash bows on every chair, to match the pastel lilac colour theme that matched the bride's flowers and bridesmaids. As the couple exchanged vows, I always try to capture the expression of pure joy that is always on their faces, this was no exception.

I’ve also got to say, I've not photographed a couple who make each other laugh so much in my photographic career. Throughout the entire wedding day and through the ceremony, both Chloe and Joe had each other in hysterics, it was a joy to witness the connection between the two.

To date, this wedding had the largest wedding party that I've had the honor of photographing. Both parties were quite large, six bridesmaids and six groomsmen.

It can often be difficult to coordinate a large group, getting them all to pose correctly, no one blinking, all standing up straight and eyes front, but alas, I managed, and surprisingly with ease!

I remember when I first started wedding photography...The absolute fear of god used to come over me at the thought of directing people to stand in a certain way or to strike a pose.

Now, after many weddings, events and working with models it has actually become second nature to me and often I've found people actually prefer to take direction!

After the drinks reception and wedding breakfast, it was straight on to the speeches! This is always my favorite part of a wedding because, although you may or may not previously know the wedding couple, it’s always hilarious to hear the stories that are told, and the best man speeches have often got me in stitches along with the guests. Don’t worry though, I'm still snapping away getting the reactions from the couple and the guests!

There was a little wait after the wedding breakfast as we waited for the room to be turned over for the evening reception. I’ve always found this time a little strange, a wedding day is always so full-on, and I’m not talking about this wedding in particular, but weddings on a whole.

Why do they make you wait an hour or 2 to turn a room around for an evening reception? I often find that guests always struggle to know what to do with themselves during this period of time - don’t you agree?

Alas, the time passes pretty quickly and everyone seemed happy enough to have a few drinks in the hotel bar. Before we knew it, the room was up and running just in time for the evening guests.

Chloe had a lovely surprise for Joe, the DJ gathered everyone around the dancefloor, and made it out as if the couple was going to do their first dance, and then, at the very last second… He announced that Chloe had a special treat in store for him.

Joe turned around, in shock and with a slightly nervous look on his face, he had absolutely no idea that Chloe had a slideshow prepared for him. It was a showreel of his childhood and teenage years, with a couple of recent images in their too. It was a lovely gesture and it was very well received from the guests and Joe himself was beaming with happiness.

As the guests were already gathered around, the couple were introduced into their first dance, it was beautiful and comical, both doing twirls and swaying in each other’s arms, again constantly making each other laugh.

Guest’s joined the newlyweds on the dance floor to begin an evening of dancing and celebrating!

This is when I called it a day, my job was done, it was great, the couple loved it, the guests loved it and I enjoyed myself too!

Take a look at some of the pictures below and I hope you’ve enjoyed this read!

Snap you later,

Ajay