Now that the weather as turned on us, it’s lovely to look at gorgeous weddings like this one in Cheshire or more recently, Nicola and Martin’s beautiful sunny wedding at Seiont Manor in Caernarfon! From their family portrait session we did in Llangollen all the way through their big day they simply couldn’t stop smiling and to me this is really what weddings are about. Lots of smiling and happiness! The staff at Seiont Manor were their usual amazing selves and made sure the day went smoothly and Rebecca from Rebecca Jayne Makeup was on hand to make the bridal party look their best throughout the day! Which reminds me: If you want the best in bridal hair and makeup, Rebecca Jayne Beauty offers 50% DISCOUNT to all full day Celynnen Photography clients on her Deluxe bridal package! But that’s another thing… Back to Nicola and Martin! Enjoy! (We surely did!!)

Ioan

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This post is a little different as we have a few pictures and a bit of news! First, we are very excited to announce that Celynnen Photography has been nominated for Best Wedding Photographer in North Wales at the Welsh National Wedding Show! We will know if we win both in our region and nationally later in November but thank you to ALL the couples who shared their day with us and voted for us!

We also wanted to share a few of the wedding pictures we took for Amy and Graeme on their beautiful wedding day in Anglesey. It was a beautiful September day in Beaumaris for Amy and Graeme and the wedding was held at the beautiful at Plas Newydd country house in Anglesey. Home of the Marquess of Anglesey, it’s a gorgeous setting for your dream wedding. Overlooking the Menai straits, this is only one of the few National Trust venues which are available for weddings and civil partnerships. It also features lots of beautiful grounds for all sorts of photography opportunities. The party then went to The Bull in Beaumaris, a well loved local inn. We really enjoyed the day and Amy clearly enjoyed the pictures as she wrote us this lovely testimonial:

“they are just amazing… I can’t stop looking at them!  really captures the day perfectly. And means we can re-live it as it all goes so quickly!! Thank you both so so much. Even better than we’d imagined xxx”

Hope you like the pictures as much as Amy did!

The morning of the wedding is finally here! All these months of preparations, going to wedding fayres, visiting venues, etc, all for this very special day!

But suddenly, the florist comes with a buttonhole or you forgot how to put a cravatte on…and how do you actually pose for all this wedding photography business?! Hopefully, this short “guide” will help calm a few nerves so you can concentrate on having the best day of your life!

First, enjoy getting ready. Sounds like a strange comment, but essentially, what I mean is dont get drunk and don’t get overly stressed. One way of doing this is by reducing the amount of people around you in the morning. Have your best man on hand of course, and maybe your father or one or two ushers, but generally having a smaller group around you will make it easier for you to get ready on time, prepare you for the coming day as well as help you really take the day in. Because believe me, once you arrive at church or at the room where the ceremony will be held, the day will fly by, literally.

Second, buttonhole flowers. This one is actually quite simple. First, put it on your left lapel. Notice I said ON? DON’T try and stick it in the lapel’s hole as it will look weird and they are usually stitched up anyways. Simply rest it on the lapel and then use the supplied pin by pinning through from under the lapel, into the stem of the buttonhole flower and back into the lapel. Don’t simply put the pin through in front of the stem as if often breaks the stem and the flower ends up drooping or falling and it’s just not a great look..

Enjoy yourself with your friends. As your photographer, I’ll be there for most of the day, so don’t always focus on me, make sure you take time to enjoy conversations without worrying about always looking my way.

Not all pictures with friends and family have to be “staged”. Here we have John and Phil with their friends before the wedding, simply enjoying themselves and this is the main kind of memory you’ll want to have from your day.

Organised group pictures doesn’t mean “stiff”. Here we have a clearly more structured picture with Amir in the front of family and friends during his wedding at the Chester Grosvenor. But allowing yourself to relax is key. If your happy and relaxed, you’ll look good, simple.

Here are two pictures from Alun and Mel’s wedding in Portmeirion. Always try and show a bit of cuff. Notice Alun’s right hand? That little stripe of white makes a really subtle difference when it comes to style and the picture. Just try and imagine this picture without it and you will find the picture less interesting i’m sure..Secondly,  ENJOY YOUR SPEECH! I mean it. And the best way to enjoy your speech is to be yourself. Now Alun here is an amazing public speaker so people expect him to talk at length, etc, but if you’re not used to it, all you need to do is:

• Thank everyone for coming
• Congratulate the bridesmaids for looking fantastic
• Thank both sets of parents
• Compliment and thank your bride
• And stay off internet jokes!!

And I really mean it when it comes to internet jokes because the fact is that if your getting married, chances are some of your friends are too and some of the guests will have been to a few weddings in the past couple of months or years and they will have heard the same jokes! Don’t be a comedian, unless you naturally are of course, just be yourself. Believe me, it will take lots of the edge off it.

Remember what got you here in the first place? You’re getting married to someone you want to spend your life with. So don’t always look at me or for me. Make sure you spend time enjoying each others company! If you have any other questions or if your looking for a wedding photographer in Wrexham, North Wales, Chester or anywhere else in the UK, just contact Celynnen Photography via our contact page.

We met Beth and Gaz them at one of our favourite places in Wrexham, The Lemon Tree Hotel, after they’d been referred to Celynnen Photography by Nick and Paula after their wedding at Carden Park. and from that first meeting, we knew we were going to have a great time.

The ceremony held at the gorgeous St-Giles Church of Wrexham, one of the seven wonders of Wales. We then went off to the Lion Quays in Oswestry where our bride and groom made the most of the sunshine with their guests.

BTW: the flowers are from Belles Fleurs of Llangollen

“Happiness is the secret to all beauty”
-Christian Dior

I probably don’t need to tell you how much I love weddings. The traditions, family and friends and the history that brings two people together for a very special day really touch me and it always feels like such a privilege to be invited to be invited as the couple’s photographer.

One of my favorite things when I look back at our weddings, is seeing all the smiles. Genuine smiles, genuine emotion.

Suzanne started the day surrounded by close friend and family and very special good luck wishes all the way from Australia via Skype! (got to love technology..)

In Nant Gwrtheyrn ‘s sun drenched chapel, Gareth, proud member of the RAF Regiment, was waiting for his bride to be who walked in wearing a gorgeous dress of vintage inspiration and sunflowers which looked perfect in this summery setting!

The ceremony included a beautiful reading (which I hope Suzanne and Gareth will forward to me!) and lots of emotions! We then made the most of Nant Gwrtheyrn’s beautiful grounds and access to the beach some portraits. Before enjoying some fantastic speeches (I love it when we learn about the groom’s youth..) and some great dancing thanks to music provided by The Cellar Dwellers.

Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we did taking them and a BIG thank you to Gareth and Suzanne for sharing this special day with us!

Ioan, Emily and Nicola of Celynnen Photography!
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PS: Celynnen Photography are proud to support our Armed Forces by offering a discount to all Army, Navy, RAF and MOD staff! We thoroughly enjoy doing our best for people who do their utmost for Great Britain. Interestingly enough, this was our second RAF wedding at Nant Gwrtheyrn, the last one being Nicole and Phil!

In the same way every Celynnen Photography wedding is different, every wedding at the Chester Grosvenor is different! After Dawn and Rob‘s intimate wedding,  it was Charlotte and Amir‘s turn to celebrate their love in front of family and friends from all over the globe!

The day started with a rather lively group of ushers visiting Amir while he was getting ready (and the boys can’t deny it as it’s all been captured by Love Gets Sweeter wedding videographers!).  But everyone soon reverted to their best behaviour when Charlotte and her beautiful dress from Aphrodite Bridalwear made her entrance on a red carpet put down specially for her.

After the ceremony, we then went to the park for a few pictures before retuning to the party for some rather memorable speeches and  a loving first dance. I’m sure you’ll notice by their smile that they had a rather good day!

One of the things we don’t talk enough about is how beautiful the decor and flowers are. As it is the case with many Celynnen Photography weddings, Charlotte and Amir went to Wild Floral Design who have created, as they always do, beautiful and elegant flower arrangements for the bride and groom.

After coming back from Penny and Adrian’s wedding in Australia we went straight to Conwy for another memorable wedding! You never know where in the world you will find your soulmate, as Nickie and I found out of course, and Theresa found hers all the way in Orange County, California! As they are both big fans of everything Disney, it was only normal for our princess of the day to have her pictures taken at a Castle! (Conwy Castle in this case).

Because he was in California during the whole planning, I’ve only met Robert twice, but it was lovely to see how good they were together and how supportive they were of each other!

From the moment Theresa walked into the church of the Most Holy Family Roman Catholic church, he couldn’t stop smiling and neither could she! We then went to Conwy Castle in comfort and style, thanks to Go in Luxury cars, where children couldn’t believe their luck seeing a “real princess” walking around! The party then carried on in a gorgeous local venue.

Hope you like the pictures as much as we enjoyed taking them and wishing Robert and Theresa many happy years with lots of love, happiness…and Emma Bridgewater pottery!

It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been together, weddings days are always special days and Dawn and Rob chose a special place indeed for their intimate wedding: The Chester Grosvenor!

From the largest weddings to the most intimate affairs, the staff of the Grosvenor always make you feel special, which is also Celynnen Photography’s approach! From the coverage of the ceremony which was beautiful and emotional, to our fun walk around town…we even managed a group shot (OK, we nabbed the doorman)

We could tell you how much fun we had, but we’ll let the pictures talk instead.

“For richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health.”
These very well known words, were definitely heartfelt for Emma and Tim as they have had their share of struggles.

But all that was behind them as they celebrated, surrounded by friends and family, their beautiful wedding at the St-Georges Hotel, Llandudno. Celynnen Photography‘s lucky good weather streak was still on which allowed us to take the couple on the promenade for some pictures. I always love doing that as the couple usually gets congratulated by passers-by and gets the odd applaude and stuff which I think is lovely.

Besides the fact that they both looked great and so happy together and that one of their flower girls owned the dancefloor with a rather elaborate routine, one of the standout moments of this wedding to me was the Best Man’s speech which was fantastic and easily one of the best I’ve heard! It wasn’t complicated and didn’t involve all sorts of props but it was very personal and heartfelt. And that’s usually what I recommend for all the grooms and best man speeches: just be yourself and all will be fine. If you are a “natural entertainer”, fine, if not, it’s also fine. Be the best you can be, be yourself. And KEEP OFF the INTERNET JOKES!

Hope you enjoy the pictures of Emma and Tim’s wedding in Llandudno as much as we enjoyed being there!

As for you, Emma and Tim, a big thank you for inviting us to your wedding and wishing you and little Elliott many, many happy and healthy years together.

-Ioan

Now, I will not refute the fact that the sun hasn’t been very generous for most of us this summer, BUT it was certainly shining on Sara and Ian’s wedding at the Grosvenor Pulford! For a bit of cheese I’ll say it was shining as much as their smiles, but in all seriousness, it was another one of those memorable days where you look at the bride and groom and can see instantly how happy they make each other. From their pre-wedding shoot to when we went to show them their wedding pictures (we never do “sneak previews, our clients are always the first to see our images) it was a real privilege to see how in love these two are and hope you can see it in our photography!

PS: Congratulations on the upcoming addition to your family!