“WHEN it comes to planning a wedding, choosing the right wedding photographer is one of the key decisions you’ll make regarding your big day”, says Manchester-based wedding planner Ailish McDonnell, owner of Keep Calm and Marry On.
“It’s just as important as choosing the right dress, venue or flowers. You only get one chance when it comes to capturing images of your day which will last forever, so leaving it to an amateur photographer or family member without experience will more often than not leave you disappointed with the end result.
Being a wedding planner in Manchester means Ailish McDonnell has worked with some of the best. Here she shares her selection of Manchester’s finest wedding photographers, all with varying styles, approaches and budgets, in no particular order...
“And with so many to choose from, it can often leave couples feeling rather confused. Luckily, though, we are really spoilt for choice in Manchester with some of the country’s most talented wedding photographers living right here in our city and the surrounding areas.”
“Remember, you get what you pay for. Be realistic with your budget but also be mindful that if it seems too cheap, it will be. Just this week I’ve seen a ‘new’ wedding photographer, based in and around the Manchester area, advertising ridiculously cheap rates and using other professional wedding photographers’ images, without their permission I might add, posing as their own work. It’s disgraceful and undermines the real professionals in the business.
“Spend what you need to get the quality you want and if it means making changes elsewhere in the budget then do so. Make sure you’re happy to begin with, then the end result will be a positive one.”
Being a wedding planner in Manchester means Ailish McDonnell has worked with some of the best. Here she shares her selection of Manchester’s finest wedding photographers (along with each photographer's favorite photo), all with varying styles, approaches and budgets, in no particular order...
Lawson Photography
Husband and wife team, Pete and Laura Lawson are based in Adlington - just on the border of Greater Manchester.
Pricing:
£2,500 including coverage by Pete and Laura until 10pm. DVD of all full size images with personal reproduction rights, DVD slideshow and a 50 page 10″ x 10″ album. More information at lawsonphotography.co.uk
What makes the perfect wedding photograph?
"The key, for us, to a good wedding image is emotion. Weddings are wonderfully joyful events, and we don't think they should be approached like a photo shoot. We try to capture the real stuff, grandparents holding hands and people laughing out loud. Here's an image we love, just pure happiness and joy."
Best photo:
Jonny Draper
Jonny Draper, based in West Didsbury, is the current Wedding Industry Awards North West Wedding Photographer of the Year.
Pricing:
£1,995 for coverage from bridal prep through until after the first dance. The bride and groom then receive all their images as hi-res files with copyright permissions included. More information at blog.jonnydraper.co.uk
What makes the perfect wedding photograph?
"The absolute key to a great wedding photograph, I believe, is having formed and developed a great relationship with your bride and groom ahead of their wedding day. If they like you and trust you, they just want you to 'do your thing'. Which means you get wedding photographs like this one..."
Best photo:
Paul Atherton
Paul is based in Macclesfield and works throughout the North West mainly. He’s originally from Ormskirk but since his days as an international athlete he settled in Cheshire over 20 years ago.
Pricing:
Prices start from £1,200 and include 8 hours coverage and an album. Extra hours, larger albums and printable CDs are additional extra items. More information at paulatherton.com
What makes the perfect wedding photograph?
"A good picture to me has to contain a number of elements - it has to have a narrative and connect with the day. So, I am constantly looking for stories or unusual angles which will provide my clients with a different view from what they expect. It may be a simple look from the bride to the groom, may not even include the faces, the moment should be strong enough to convey that feeling. It probably comes as no surprise then that my style is unashamedly documentary in approach. If you are looking for trendy poses and vintage washed out filtered effects then I am probably not for you.
"Black and whites are just that - black and white. Colour shots are punchy and rich. In the image attached the bride was over 35 minutes late - the inclusion of the clock not only records this but reflects the image of the bride in the clock face in an artistic way. For me this contains the elements of a good image - anticipation, creativity, and execution - and ever increasingly, good computer processing skills to bring out the best of the image."
Best photo:
Nicola Thompson
Nicola is a 20-something-year-old mum, wife and photographer: her three full time jobs. Her greatest achievement to date being a wedding she shot featured in You & Your Wedding Magazine.
Pricing:
Wedding coverage is £1,500 and includes the initial consultation, the full day covered from preparations until dancing, all travel/accommodation expenses in the UK, 350+ carefully edited images on disc and an online purchase gallery for wedding guests. More information at nicolathompsonphotography.co.uk
What makes the perfect wedding photograph?
"I think the photographs from your wedding day should be the most amazing you've ever seen. Dramatic, creative, emotional pictures that you can always feel proud of. I'm always looking for a moment or an unusual way to view something, so when people look at it they see it in a way they never expected. The key to a great photo for me is making sure that all the beauty of the day, the years of planning and devotion, and the couple's personalities are captured in that photo. It should take you right back to that moment and you should be allowed to remember it in all its fine detail.
"My favourite shot was taken right in the heart of the city centre after Jen and Darren's beautiful Manchester Town Hall wedding. I loved using the urban environment here to challenge people's ideas of what wedding photography should be about. The clean lines and symmetry make this photograph, along with the yellows and blues of the surrounding buildings tying in perfectly with the colour of the groom's suit. Also the detail in this image means you can look again and again and see something new each time. Of course Jen and Darren are the stars of the show. They couldn't have looked more perfect in this shot..."
Best photo:
Katy Lunsford
Katy is a fine art wedding photographer based in Manchester, but she regularly works across the UK and Europe.
Pricing:
Wedding collections begin at £1,995 (£2,225 for 2014 weddings) and include all day coverage, an engagement shoot and a beautiful Queensberry album. More information at katylunsford.com
What makes the perfect wedding photograph?
"A good picture is made up of a number of components, but for me the winning element is almost always gorgeous light, and I prefer to use natural light as it has such a beautiful romantic quality. This image is one of my favourites from last summer, and probably sums up my signature style - a beautiful rural location, with evening sun casting a golden glow over the picture (and yes, even in the North West my weddings are often still sunny) and a gorgeous couple in love..."
Best photo:
Claire Penn
Claire is a full time wedding photographer based in Chester and covers the North West, the rest of the UK and abroad. Reasonably new to the industry (shooting her first weddings in 2011), Claire used to specialise lifestyle shoots and children's photography.
Pricing:
Claire offers one package priced £1,595. This includes pre-wedding consultations in person or by telephone, coverage throughout your wedding day from bridal prep through to the dancing, creative image editing in signature style, online password protected gallery to share with friends and family and digital images (minimum 250) presented on disc(s) in a bespoke case. More information at clairepennphotography.com
What makes the perfect wedding photograph?
"The key to a good wedding photograph for me is that it's real... it has to reflect the couple and who they are. My style is very relaxed and I like to capture the emotions and interaction between the couple and all the guests. Technically speaking the light is also key, and it's my job to find the best light there is. My favourite (below) is of a couple from Salford - that's where we did their engagement shoot, however the wedding was in Chester. It was taken in October (best weather I had all year) and we'd already done the portraits of the couple but whilst waiting for all the guests to be seated for the wedding breakfast I saw an opportunity and grabbed the couple quickly for some impromptu and romantic 'golden light' shots..."
Best photo:
Haydn Rydings
Haydn is from, and based in Manchester and shoots weddings all over the UK.
Pricing:
Digital package costs £895 and includes pre - wedding consultation, 8 hour coverage of your day (from bridal prep to first dance), 300+ retouched hi-res images supplied digitally + lo-res version for Facebook and Twitter. More information at haydnrydings.co.uk
What makes the perfect wedding photograph?
"What do I believe is the key to a good photograph? In a word, honesty - of the people I'm photographing, and to the viewer. I'm greatly inspired by documentary and fine art photography, and look to create contemporary and stunningly diverse imagery."
Best photo:
Neil Redfern
Neil is based in Sale and has been photographing weddings for almost 8 years. He is the current BIPP (British Institute of Professional Photography) North West Wedding Photographer of the Year.
Pricing:
Packages start from £1,850 which includes all day coverage with USB of at least 400 full size, high resolution digital images and a pre-wedding shoot). More information at neilredfern.com
What makes the perfect wedding photograph?
"Wedding photography is all about capturing the atmosphere and excitement of the day together with providing the bride and groom with striking portraits that they will love and look back on for years to come. I aim for my photography to have an energy and a vibrancy that really reflects what the wedding day was like. Most of all I just like to photograph happy people. This photograph was taken at Salford Quays. I love this photograph, not only because I like to think it is a strong image, but also because it reminds me of the bride and groom and how amazing their wedding day was."
Best photo:
Martin Hambleton
Born in Stockport and currently living in Bowdon, Martin has been photographing weddings throughout the North West, and occasionally further afield, for the past 10 years.
Pricing:
Prices start from £1,550. More information at hambletonweddingphotography.co.uk
What makes the perfect wedding photograph?
"To me, the best wedding imagery is all about emotion, and especially the emotions between people. The image I've chosen demonstrates all these things. I'd gone outside with Louise and Gary to make a couple of portraits in the dark, and they began to talk about, and then practice, their first dance. With some slight direction from me, the shot was there. A lovely moment, caught."
Best photo:
Lisa Aldersley
Lisa Aldersley, is a Manchester based photographer with wedding photographs published in several magazines including Bride, Cheshire Bride and Pure Weddings.
Pricing:
Wedding photography commissions start from £2,000. More information at www.la-photography.co.uk
What makes the perfect wedding photograph?
"Natural spontaneous photographs inspire me, they tell the story of a couple and their relationship. I think this picture does exactly that and I love it. It sums these two up perfectly. It's the thing I love the most about photographs, their ability to tell a story of that exact moment in time. I love the thought that in years to come people will be looking back at the photographs and they will be treasured. It is this feeling of nostalgia that inspires me. I want each photograph I take to capture emotion, and to evoke an emotional response from the viewer."
Best photo:
Alison Groves
Alison is based in South Manchester but splits her time between Manchester and Newcastle, and takes bookings in both the North West, North East and beyond.
Pricing:
From £1,600. More information at www.alisongroves.com
What makes the perfect wedding photograph?
"For me, photography is all about capturing emotion and allowing you to relive those precious moments through my work. I also get to capture all those gorgeous details you have carefully chosen - flowers, food, your dress, the colours and, of course, the shoes. My style is a mix of natural, unobtrusive photojournalism and creative portraiture. I love to capture the day as it unfolds in front of me.
"For the majority of the day I will be quietly recording what is happening, observing the exchanges between people and special moments. That way I can get real smiles, real tears, real emotion, rather than you have to “cheese” to the camera - that is always embarrassing and not what the day is all about. Most of my favourite images aren’t of the obvious but tiny little snippets of tenderness or emotion I have managed to capture."
Best photo:
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