Indian wedding ceremony in Bradford at Rio Grande
February 2nd, 2023This was a Gujarati Hindu wedding ceremony on the top floor of the Rio Grande, which allows for great views over the city during daylight hours







































































This was a Gujarati Hindu wedding ceremony on the top floor of the Rio Grande, which allows for great views over the city during daylight hours
Pages 8-9 in this wedding storybook show the little flower girls, holding up their hand crocheted bouquets, on a background of their cute little dresses. The bride’s daughter – on the left – has a dress made to match the bride’s evening outfit.
60 pages in total, as the first physical page is the binding that goes between the outer covers and the rest of the pages. ie it starts at page 2 so finishes at page 61.
This sweet little wedding wouldn’t have been possible without all the arty contributions by so many talented designers.
Nikitas Crocheted Creations : https://www.instagram.com/nikitascrochetcreations – crocheted bouquets
Ambient Paradise Jewellery: https://www.facebook.com/ambientparadise who supplied the jewellery, wedding rings and large coloured letters that formed their initials.
Smiler’s: https://www.facebook.com/smilersbarrow – wedding car and cheese cake and sweets.
Ivy and Ted’s Treasures Gift Shop: https://www.facebook.com/ivyandtedstreasures – bee jewellery.
Elegance by Jayne: https://www.facebook.com/elegancebyjayne.co.uk – hand made to measure jumpsuit, waistcoat and the couple’s daughter’s dress.
The Moon Crescent: https://www.facebook.com/hennaandgiftswithjess – macramé decorated glass jars
Boheme Beauty https://www.facebook.com/bohemebeautyv – eye brows and lashes.
Gwazi Hair and Nail Salon: https://www.facebook.com/gwazihairsalon – hair colour, nails and daughter’s hair cut.
https://www.facebook.com/WeddingHairMakeups – bride’s hair and makeup
Truly Yours Bridal Shoes: https://www.facebook.com/TrulyYoursBridalShoes – shoes
I love traveller weddings, particularly when the everyone is dressed so beautifully. See part of their wedding video here. https://youtu.be/T-_oQKkAjHs
Wedding receptions are an ideal opportunity for you to relax, and for your wedding photographer to get those natural wedding pics without you even realising! In the photo above the bride and groom are sharing a moment to have a laugh during the speeches at a Bagden Hall wedding.
The grassy outdoor spaces at Cedar Court Hotel in Wakefield are great for the children to let off steam while the adults are having a drink or catching up with friends and family after the wedding ceremony, or wedding breakfast during the longer summer days.
There is so much going on in this natural wedding photo at Tankersley Manor: its a beautiful summer’s day with dramatic clouds scattered across a bright blue sky, the guests are having a drink and the wedding car is parked in the courtyard ready for the bride and groom to have some photos. Look carefully and you’ll notice the bride’s beautiful mother picking up the bride’s train to make sure that it doesn’t get trampled on, as all the wedding guests spill out into the courtyard to enjoy the sunshine.
Not everyone has hotel wedding reception, so even a wedding party in your back garden can be great fun if the weather is on your side. The funny thing about this wedding is that they weren’t able to pay for their wedding photos at the time, but came back to me 13 years later! Fortunately all their wedding pics were safely backed up, so they were able to finally see them after all those years!
The beautifully presented table was for an intimate Asian wedding at the Great Victoria Hotel in Bradford, so an ideal way to celebrate a smaller family weddings, particularly in the current climate where wedding guests are being limited to an ever changing safer number during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Oulton Hall is one of my favourite local wedding venues, as not only is it a magnificent stately home with all the interior trimmings, but it has a magnificent outdoor space, directly accessed from the wedding ceremony room. so everyone can mingle and enjoy a welcome drink in the sunshine. Its during these moments that I get a chance to snap away, and capture all the happy smiles such as in the pics below.
Below is a happy moment when the bride circulates amongst her wedding at guests at the Holiday Inn near Junction 25 off the M62 in Brighouse.
And here the bride, wearing very modest, non traditional wedding attire, as she chats while walking out from her midweek wedding ceremony in Leeds
Happy moments that mean so much!
Hope to see your soon too! xx Elaine
See more on our Facebook Page – for example the thousand plus photos mainly from completely different weddings https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=destination.wedding.photographer.uk&set=a.10150193843360319
or on our Google page https://reel-life-photos.business.site/
or our main site https://www.reellifephotos.co.uk/
Its sad when a Gambian groom dies, but life has many twists and turns. Way back in 2010, an English bride-to-be called Denise, booked Reel Life Photos to photographer her wedding to a kind, gentle, Gambian man. Denise then became an instant mother to his two children, as their birth mother had sadly passed away. Those children are now young adults, well- educated, loved and cared for by their step-mum, but since the death of their Gambian father just three years after his marriage to Denise, she was their closest family.
So its with great excitement that I returned to the Gambia in January 2020, to photograph a new wedding, as Denise finally found love again. As this was my 7th visit to the Gambia to photograph a wedding there I already knew my way around! xx Elaine
For more info on weddings in the Gambia or anywhere else in the world, call Elaine on Whatsapp: +447990867058 or visit https://www.reellifephotos.co.uk or http://weddingphotos-video.co.uk/blog/uk-wedding-photographer-in-the-gambia/#more-1357
Natural wedding pictures outside the church as the newly-weds head out into the winter’s sunshine on 1 January.
So much fun! Think I shot over a thousand pictures at this wedding , so its been really hard just to select a few. We were SO lucky with the weather as a sunny winter wedding on first of January is certainly not guaranteed! If you are having an exciting wedding – anywhere in the world – get in touch with Elaine to see if we can also make your day! It doesn’t have to be a Great Gatsby wedding, but fun and laughter makes for fascinating, mainly natural wedding pictures .
This lovely couple found some of the many wedding pictures I’ve taken on Reel Life Photos on Facebook Page. They love photos so I was delighted to be their wedding photographer, and to have the opportunity to share their special day. So much fun an laughter – from them and all their wedding guests! They were so keen, they came to see me almost straight after their wedding, as couldn’t wait to see their pictures! They initially chose 650 favourites, which they would have loved to have had include in their wedding album, but gradually whittled them down to a more manageable 127 images. I then added a few back in to use as backgrounds to make the story of their day more complete.
The church minister wouldn’t allow me to take photos from the from of the church as I normally do, but with my long lens from the organ loft at the rear, I still managed to get a few basic shots, though not the facial expressions I had hoped to capture. The church warden put on a feast of tastefully arranged chocolate biscuits on every table in the church hall afterwards, at her own expense too, so can see the couple are much -loved here.
The groom and best man are patiently waiting inside the church , as the bride is met outside by her sister and flower girl
The groom’s mother watch on from her wheelchair, enjoying all the excitement of the wedding in Leeds
The bridesmaid, flower girl and page boys walk down the aisle first, as seen from up in the organ loft at Oakwood Church in Leeds.
Reel Life Photos signature image showing the bride and groom’s hands and rings on the wedding register, next to the bouquet.
Mums are precious aren’t they! Lovely how both of the couple’s mothers managed to make it to the wedding!
This romantic couple met in The Gambia and kept in touch for 5 or 6 years before getting married at Coco Ocean Hotel in The Gambia, Christmas 2015. I was lucky enough to be their wedding photographer, the 5th wedding I have photographed in the Gambia since 2010. The image above is the one they chose to be on the cover of their wedding album. The bride really likes black and white wedding pictures, and this was the groom’s favourite photo from their wedding day at Ocean hotel and Spa in Kololi. I love beach weddings and this wedding venue in particular!
Bride having her hair done in the salon at Coco Ocean Hotel in the Gambia and wedding accessories in the Royal Suite
Bedroom at the Royal Suite at Coco Ocean Hotel and Spa in the Gambia, West Africa and the bride’s bouquet of lilies
The Gambian groom breaks with tradition, seeing his wife to be at the Royal Suite on their wedding day, as he brings the little flower girl there. All the little flower girls; and bridesmaid’s shoes lined up neatly in a row on the black and white tiled floor in the Suite’s cloakroom, ready to be worn at the wedding..
Black and white wedding photos of the bride’s mother and the bride getting ready in the Royal Suite at Coco Ocean Hotel and Spa in The Gambia.
Bride has her tiara on as she looks on at the little flower girl inside the Royal Suite at Coco Ocean before the start of her wedding.
Bride being helped on with her wedding dress, as her mum crawls underneath to sort out the underskirt in the Royal Suite before her wedding at Coco Ocean in The Gambia.
Bride in her wedding dress inside the Royal Suite at Coco Ocean, all ready to set off for her wedding in the Gambia,
The little bridesmaid tugs at the brides dress as she helps her down the steps towards the beach wedding at Coco Ocean
Wedding at Coco Ocean in The Gambia – storybook with mainly natural wedding photography by UK-based wedding photographer Elaine
If you are thinking of getting married in the Gambia or another country, Reel Life Photos are happy to travel there at our own cost. Contact Elaine here: https://www.reellifephotos.co.uk/contact
A lady called me from Nigeria to enquire about her wedding photography, but it turned out that she was actually getting married in the UK, in my home town of Dewsbury. It was a beautiful wedding, with the tables dressed immaculately with a masses of flowers following a lilac colour scheme. OK , like most African brides.she was nearly two hours late for her wedding, so its just as well it was in the middle of winter, or she may have missed out had the registrar been busy!
After the wedding she made an appointment to come and see her wedding photos, but somehow things caught up with her, and she forgot to contact me for nearly two years. Her English husband was still working in Nigeria, but they had by now had a second baby, so also set up a home in Leeds, West Yorkshire.
Now she wants to surprise her husband with the wedding album under the tree at Christmas, but here at least is the album I designed from the photos she chose from a selection of over 600 images that I had already shortlisted for her.
Storybook Pages004-005 wedding shoes and baby bridesmaid’s flowers in Italian storybook with the groom is also getting ready for their wedding in Dewsbury
Storybook Pages008-009 How to keep a baby bridesmaid happy while her mother is putting on her wedding dress: let the baby chew her new shoes!
Storybook Pages010-011 Novel way to keep the baby happy – with the wedding photographer’s expensive light!
Storybook Pages012-013 – The bride puts on her pearl necklace and walks down the stairs holding her beautiful lilac and white bouquet.
Storybook Pages014-015 The bride carries her baby to the waiting limo with her female friends and family.
Storybook Pages016-017 The photographer waiting outside in the cold for ages to make sure she didn’t miss the shot of the limo arriving outside Dewsbury Town Hall, but as the bride got out a car passed by, obscuring the limo and hurrying bride, as within seconds the bride was already inside the Town Hall.
Storybook Pages018-019 The bride walks down the aisle and her groom gets the first glimpse of her in her wedding dress and fur shrug
Storybook Pages020-021 The bestman fishes the rings out of his pocket and before we know it the wedding is sealed with a kiss!
Storybook Pages022-023 The register signing photos can be such happy ones if the photographer is quick and experienced.
Storybook Pages024-025 The witnesses and Reel Life Photos’ signature shot of the newly-weds’ hands showing their rings by the register with the bouquet for decoration.
Storybook Pages 26-27 The groom’s father poses with the happy couple be the wedding register, as the bride’s best friend in the red dress looks on, before the newly weds look at each other as the link arms to walk back down the aisle together.
Storybook Pages 028-029 The groom just manages to appear in one pic as the bride enthusiastically poses with all her friends. Well I don’t know many grooms who enjoy posing for wedding pics after all! That’s why I love natural wedding photos…
Storybook Pages030-031 Couldn’t resist adding in this background pic of the bride’s gleaming tiara along with the black and white photo of the bride sitting on the floor with her dress spread out.
Storybook Pages032-033 The happy bride poses with her friends. The groom as usual manages to escape the camera!
Storybook Pages034-035 Traditional 3 tier wedding cake and the beautifully decorated top table al ready to begin the wedding breakfast
Storybook Pages038-039 The wedding decorations are first class at this intimate family wedding reception in Dewsbury Town Hall
Storybook Pages040-041 Its good to capture all the guest when its a relatively small family wedding!
Storybook Pages042-043 Its always lovely to see the wedding guests enjoying themselves, and to remember who was there at your wedding.
Storybook Pages050-051 wedding guests pose for the camera, and oh, even the wedding photographer is snapped in her African outfit, far right in this storybook design.
Storybook Pages068-069 The groom’s son is pretty merry as he hug and kisses his father and jubilant bridemaid after catching the bouquet .
To contact Reel Life Photos full time experienced professional wedding photographer in Dewsbury call 07990867058 or visit our website:
http://www.reellifephotos.co.uk wedding photographers in Dewsbury
Wherever your wedding, be it on the beach in an exotic location, a church or simple hall, we can help create your memories, with snippets from your wedding day.
Everybody would love to have perfect wedding pictures and not to have to pay much. We are not talking about getting friends on their mobiles or even friends with a nice camera to take them, but to have an experienced professional with a great eye and creativity to fit in with you and what you want and maybe even to think of something you didn’t even know you would like. I mean – how much experience do most brides-to-be have of contemporary wedding photography? Most images from weddings are those they see on their friend’s Facebook pages the day after or even on the day of their wedding, or have seen in older-styled wedding albums. Not every picture is an award-winning shot, but combined together they tend to form a bridge between the actual event and wedding day memories that fade over the years.
See more on http://www.reellifephotos.co.uk or visit our Facebook page to see more than 20,00 photos! Enjoy! xx Elaine
Its not often I get to photograph a wedding in Cuba, so am excited to post these first few pics following my recent trip there for this wedding. It isn’t set in a glamorous hotel or on an exotic beach, but the happiness in the couple’s faces shows the true meaning of a wedding day.
If you are planning to get married in Cuba, or are having your wedding reception abroad then get in touch , as we only charge the same as a UK wedding, other than a bit of hospitality if I don’t know anyone in the particular country your are getting married in. I have places to stay in The Seychelles, The Gambia, Cyprus and Cuba, and possibly others in different countries, depending on the towns. I am happy to travel anywhere really, and have already covered weddings in The Ice Hotel in Sweden, in Australia, Norway, Nigeria, Pakistan, Jordan, Egypt, France, Southern Ireland, Cyprus, Gambia and The Seychelles. We can come as a video-photography team or I can also shoot some video footage, as well as taking photos.
xx Elaine and Jorge
http://www.reellifephotos.co.uk
http://www.facebook.com/destination.wedding.photographer.uk
A male friend sits by as he knows he can’t do much at this stage to help the bride get ready. As you can see it is Christmas time too – 14th December in fact .
Artistic room in Havana where the Cuban bride is getting ready for her wedding, as a friend applies her makeup for her.
I am, above all else, a colourist. From way back in the days I started out as an artist, living and painting in Greece, colour dawned on me like a thunderbolt: strong ultramarine brush strokes, vibrant reds and contrasting areas of light and shade became my trademark. Yesterday however, I was challenged to post a series of black and white photos on my Facebook site, to show off the potential of that medium.
Black and white used to be the only medium available for photographers when I first started out. I spent hours and hours with my Brownie Box Camera – a present from my father for my first ever school trip to London when I was 11 – sticking the family photos I shot into an album, using gold photo corners and labelling them in white ink on black card with a dip in pen. Sadly these photos albums no longer exist, as my parents, blessed with a large family – of whom I am the eldest – completed various moves after I left home, so I guess they were abandoned in an uncleared loft space loft space, or found their way accidentally, in the bin. I do however, still have the photos my grandfather took of my parents on their wedding day, and two pictures of me with my grandmother, as a baby.
So, now my art has come fill circle – allowing the images to speak for themselves, not from lack of colour, but from the unconstrained and uncluttered emotions, that become the focus of pure black and white.
Coincidentally. these three wedding pictures are all from the same wedding story.
xx Elaine Borges-Ibanez
http://www.reellifephotos.co.uk
https://www.facebook.com/destination.wedding.photographer.uk
Two very different cakes: Asian wedding cake in Dewsbury, and Gipsy castle birthday cake in Wakefield
Asian wedding pictures at Nawaab’s – details of tables and stage at Nawaab’s Indian Restaurant in Manchester
I’ve always wanted to photograph a gypsy wedding – way, way before all the TV programs started. Having been a professional wedding photographer since 2000, travelled to wedding venues as different as the Ice Hotel in Sweden, a beach wedding in the Seychelles, a luxury liner sailing round Sydney, high society and grass roots African weddings in The Gambia, an Orthodox wedding in Egypt, many Asian, Hindu and Sikh weddings, weddings in Pakistan and Nigeria as well as a Bedouin wedding in black tents in Jordan, I have now had my wish come true.
Love the story going on here, as the family wait in the bar before heading off to the wedding, and the bride’s little sister is doing up the shoes.
After waiting nearly an hour for the groom and his family to turn up, they suddenly realise they have forgotten the rings! The bride, in the meantime, has already arrived, but the limo driver is told to keep driving on past the church.
The groom ‘s family are celebrating gypsy-style, with a good natter and a pint, before the church ceremony has even begun.
This little gypsy pageboy has had enough! The wedding car arrives, not a moment too soon for this little page boy, who is being consoled by his cousin.
http://www.reellifephotos.co.uk
If you want to see more from this wedding have a look in the various albums on our Facebook page . To contact Elaine or see more from other weddings also visit our site
The bride and groom contacted me when researching their wedding, after coming across photos that I had shot at previous couple’s wedding in the Gambia. I also will be returning to The Gambia in early Spring 2014 to photograph a Gambian wedding for another couple.
Their chosen wedding venue – Coco Ocean Hotel – is this magnificent luxury hotel in the Gambia in West Africa. The couple themselves are based in the UK, but have family connections to The Gambia, so it was the perfect choice for them. I stayed a full week, so was able to capture their cultural wedding ceremony – based on traditions in Sierra Leone – as well as general pics of themselves around the hotel prior to the actual legal ceremony in their private Royal Suite by their private pool, followed by a religious church-style ceremony outside by another huge swimming pool next to the sea.
This combined wedding and honeymoon, is a popular solution for many couples, particularly for those with family connections abroad, as it guarantees lovely weather, and a fabulous location for the wedding pictures. In this case it also made it easier for their family and friends who live in Sierra Leone to travel to a nearby country within Africa. By booking Reel Life Photos for their wedding they also were able to get the quality of storybook album their wedding deserved. Hope you enjoy looking, as there are many lovely portraits of all their special people, and unusually for my brides and grooms, I was given complete creative freedom, not only to create the design, but also to choose the images I knew they would like. Most couples spend hours choosing, but they trusted me to choose for them, which was wonderful.
If you are planning your wedding abroad or a multicultural wedding in the UK contact Elaine – wedding photographer at Reel Life Photos .
bride leaves the Royal Suite with her father to go to her church style wedding ceremony by the pool at Coco Ocean
The bride is given a lift with her father and children to the poolside where the wedding blessing will take place
This is just magical! Everyone seated as if in a church – but outside in brilliant light of day, protected by white parasols, with the water sparkling alongside the guests and a see view.
Bridesmaids hold a bouquet of simple bougainvillea as hymns are sung and the couple’s children watch impatiently.
Love the sight of the yellow bridesmaids dresses against the exotic foliage as the bride and groom walk out together
“Now what shall I choose”, thinks the bride and groom’s son, when offered an array of nibbles by not one, but two waiters.
Love this reception area with the dynamic stripey floor, so organised this pic of all the guests taken from the mezzanine floor above
Can you imagine having your wedding here? Such a brilliant family in an equally exciting wedding venue.
Amazing food and culinary delights at Coco Ocean. Just a shame I had to leave to catch a plane that evening on the last Thomas Cook flight out of the Gambia before the rainy season started, and also to photograph another wedding in the UK the very next day!
Night has fallen so I grab the bride and groom before the dessert course and take pictures of them within the delightful geometric designs of the contemporary architecture.
With the whole day being behind schedule after the Gambian registrar arrived one hour late, the daylight hours vanished so night time pictures of the bride and groom were the only solution.
The night air is warm and the ambience delightful, but the bride and groom need to get back to their wedding reception and I need to head off soon for the airport!
Goodnight! Time to say goodbye to this wonderful couple in this amazing wedding venue in the Gambia, to fly back to the UK for an Asian wedding in Bradford in the morning!
If you are planning your wedding abroad or a multicultural wedding in the UK contact Elaine – wedding photographer at Reel Life Photos or keep up to date with recent weddings on Facebook
I knew this was going to be a very unusual Asian wedding as first of all there was no stage – just a traditional top table, and beautifully presented tables, in a lovely old barn in Cheshire. If you are planning your wedding and need any help, happy to do what I can, as have been a wedding photographer since 2000! See more on our website and Facebook page too.
xx Elaine
http://www.reellifephotos.co.uk +44 7990867058
storybook cover picture of bride and groom, Helen and Bryn.
Helen and Bryn booked me well in advance for their wedding at Holdsworth House, to ensure they got what they wanted – a fun day, and happy wedding pics. They made sure even the youngest of the children there were catered for, with a ball pool, and games form the older ones to play, as well as delicious ice cream and candy floss provided by a great couple who run http://www.theicicletricyclecompany.co.uk/ice-cream-tricycle/
This is the design for their Italian storybook album.
Its so beautiful here, so the photos evoke all the memories of a wonderful wedding day in Halifax – storybook pages 50-51
More info for your wedding on Reel Life Photos main website
and loads of interesting , and very varied wedding pictures on Facebook. – over 30.000 pictures in fact! xx Elaine
Paula and Wayne approached me before they had even secured their preferred wedding venue – the Lakeside Restaurant at Ponderosa in Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire. They were over the moon when they managed to get not only the church on the date they wanted – the 16 June, but also their chosen wedding venue and ideal wedding photographer for their lively personalities! These images below are all wedding pictures they chose to have in their storybook wedding album which will be printed in Italy by Graphistudio.
the last guests are still arriving as the wedding car pulls up with the bridesmaids and they march swiftly up the slope to the church
The bride's daughter rushes to take up her position as the bride is ready to go into the church and stands laughing in the door arch of St James Church in Heckmondwike
The bride and groom look round and laugh as the vicar asks if anyone knows of any lawful reason why they should not get married today!
This lovely June wedding day at Ponderosa Lakeside Restaurant was also blessed with a rainbow to add to the dramatic skies. See on the pictures of the groomsmen outside the wedding venue getting “Fresh Air” .
If you are getting married at Ponderosa Lakeside Restaurant – or any other wedding venue in West Yorkshire or beyond, and want fun wedding photographers, give Elaine a call on 07990867058
or visit our website for more info. If you would like a wedding album designing for you and fancy something creative, happy to use a mixture of your ideas, as well as mine.
xx Elaine
The little flower girl-bridesmaid had fallen down so was running to her mummy to kiss her better, as she had grazed her knee. A mother is always a mother – even if it is her wedding day!
The newly-weds can’t hold back their kiss any longer as they walk out from their wedding ceremony in Arrochar Three Villages Hall towards Loch Fyne and the Scottish mountains
This is the first time I have ever photographed a wedding ceremony in the woods, and it was in the winter too, so the couple were very brave!
If you want to see more natural wedding photos then have a look on our Facebook Page and website or call Elaine on 07990 867058 or 01924 430115
It just so happened that one of the bride’s friends brought a rather late Christmas present for the little boy, the bride and groom’s son Adam, and that was a joke box full of tricks. It kept everyone amused too, as you can see…!
Just lovely!
Such fun photographing this loving couple!
Wow what a kiss!
Amazing how beautiful the bride looks just while sitting on the bed in the Thistle Suite at Smiths Hotel in Gretna Green.
Lesya was the first bride Elaine ever photographed in 2000, so no wonder it was super special to have the opportunity to capture her again! Contact Elaine of Reel Life Photos if you fancy having her to photograph your special day too!
Emma and Steve touched our hearts with their love and dedication to each other. Steve cut a dashing figure in his army uniform, and Emma with her radiant smile and slinky wedding dress at their summer’s wedding in Richmond, North Yorkshire.
Emma and Steve really struggled to cut down their images to fit this 50 paged storybook ! It was initially only going to be 36 pages too!
xx Elaine See more wedding pictures from hundreds of very different weddings all over the world on our main site http://www.reellifephotos.co.uk, or on our Facebook Page.
This is the second wedding we have covered for the same family of boys in the South Yorkshire town of Barnsley, so now we feel part of their extended family: many hours work – but all great fun.
Its a bit like a Stag-Do where the bridegroom is smothered in a turmeric paste and coloured powders, but in front of all his family and close friends in the garden of their family home.
I actually won first prize in an international wedding photography competition – $1,000, from the Professional Wedding Photographers’ Network and was awarded the top wedding photographer excellence award for pictures from this couple’s Hindu wedding this year 2012, just days after the wedding had taken place!
More pics and wedding info on www.LeedsWeddingPhotographers.com
Interesting lighting makes all the difference when photographing an evening wedding reception. or any other subject for that matter. Its not easy to capture light within dark locations though. A compact camera flash will just white out all the beautiful colours and leave the image totally flat, so you can’t rely on family and friends to get good evening wedding reception pictures, though most professional wedding photographers will know how to capture the colours by underexposing and bouncing the flash, so if you appreciate beautiful photos, it is a good idea to use an all-day wedding photographer to get these kinds of images.
Almost like an impressionist oil painting! Like Mediterranean sun shining through a bamboo trellis...
Well, that is how my artistic mind views these images, comparing them to memories of sunlight streaming through the vine leaves and clusters of grapes hanging on a slatted bamboo or wooden pergola in Greece, with the light patterns cast creating oil paintings in my mind – and even in reality (one of mine of such a theme is in a private collection in Germany) – as the shadows cast dramatise the remaining light.
A mother bends double to follow her small child through their obvious delight on the illuminated dance floor.
These evening wedding guests sit peacefully in the semi-darkness, punctuated occasionally by bursts of light. They seem a little sad, or maybe just reflective on the day's events...
Wow! Caught in mid action, as the young girl races into the light. holding her string of balloons aloft.
George sticks his tongue out in concentration! Night night all! xx Elaine
See www.LeedsWeddingPhotographers.com for more info
Cover showing the wedding ceremony on the front and the first dance on the back, Joanne in her romantically floaty white wedding dress
Joanne was bridesmaid at a wedding I photographed about 6 years ago, and Chris was Best Man at another wedding where I was the photographer in 2003, before we went digital. Seems I stuck in their minds….!
To find out more about Reel Life Photos wedding photographer Elaine, visit www.LeedsWeddingPhotographers.com
The bride and bridesmaids are given a ride in the hotel buggy to get to the wedding ceremony by the pool, but reluctantly their daughter has to wait for the next trip down.
Patches of light and shade show the tropical light and create wonderful patterns on the bride’s dress during their “church” wedding by the pool at Coco Ocean Hotel in The Gambia/
If you are thinking of getting married in the Gambia – or anywhere else at all in the UK or abroad visit Reel Life Photos website http://www.reellifephotos.co.uk or call Elaine!
At last they got what I meant by a big group like a crowd together…Just had to get this foyer in the picure too. xx
You can see more pictures from this wedding at Coco Ocean Hotel here
and their Sierra Leone traditional cultural wedding here
If you are thinking of getting married in the Gambia, at Coco Ocean Hotel, or anywhere else – or anywhere else at all in the UK or abroad visit Reel Life Photos website or call Elaine!
This was our second wedding in the Gambia. The first was for Denise and Bax who had a wonderful Gambian wedding day as well as an an outdoor Civil Ceremony at the hotel. I will soon have another wedding in the Gambia so watch out for new Gambian wedding pictures! This is the Italian Storybook album from the first wedding I photographed in The Gambia. xx Elaine
See more whole wedding, storybook albums, and wedding galleries on www.reellifephotos.co.uk or if you are getting married near Leeds try www.LeedsWeddingPhotographers.com
xx Elaine
Caina & Tony wanted to get married outdoors, rather than the traditional way in the UK. They were not put off by current English legislation (There has to be a roof at least for which a hefty fee has been paid to the council to “licence it”) which meant this beautiful ceremony would not be considered legally binding, as it was going to be their day (they did the legal bit beforehand). They chose Inter-Faith Minister Janette to conduct their wedding ceremony.
This is just few seconds of the wedding ceremony, showing the Element of Air in the fun bubbles ; such a beautiful idea too.
Right from the start when they were getting ready, they showed their love, as Tony struggled to place the necklace round Caina’s neck:
Groom lovingly puts on bride's necklace for her before they leave to get married outdoors in the woods.
Earth - the element and the smell of a hyacinth - gave Caina the strength to live - so a seemingly small thing such as this, plays a major role in their wedding ceremony
Little candles in their holders, sweet liquid and sour lemons, and the four elements of earth, air fire and water, make this outdoor wedding ceremony in the middle of winter in the woods by a lake, truly emotional.
To contact Elaine of Reel Life Photos or visit http://www.reellifephotos.co.uk to see loads and loads more wedding photos – in the galleries, All Day Wedding Pictures and more unusual and traditional wedding storybooks
You might also like to visit our Facebook Page, to see what we are up to and to see loads more pictures quickly.
Emma & Luke piled into my car to join four special friends on Lake Windermere while we were waiting for their wedding venue to open, following their midday ceremony at Kendal Register Office. After a snack of crisps and ice-cream, the bride and groom and their entourage clambered aboard the road-train to go the the the Island Cruise boat at Bowness. There was a huge queue, but everyone kindly allowed the wedding party to board first and get the best seats on the top deck at the front. The Captain sneaked up to me to ask what the bride and groom were called, then made a surprise public announcement welcoming the new Mr. and Mrs. onboard, cheered on by the Japanese tourists who in turn snapped away with their own cameras too. On the way back the road-train driver kindly allowed the bride and groom to pose for pictures inside his cab, so they were both made to feel like stars for the day.
This album aims to show what a fun time everyone had at Emma & Luke’s wedding in the Lake District on Wednesday 31 August 2011.
See here to contact Elaine of Reel Life Photos about your wedding or visit http://www.reellifephotos.co.uk to see loads and loads more wedding photos! – in the galleries, All Day Wedding Pictures and storybook
xx Elaine and Cuban videoman Jorge
Like any wedding, Asian weddings are full of their own unique traditions. Here the groom’s family arrives at the Grand Banqueting Suite on Huddersfield Road, bearing well-chosen gifts for the bride. Inside the Asian wedding venue – near Dewsbury in West Yorkshire – the bride is awaiting her groom on the stage, where her family’s gift to the groom are all neatly load out.
I have had to be selective in the images used for this story, so as not to reveal too much as yet, until the bride has had time to see and approve her wedding images.
See more from Reel Life Photos on www.LeedsWeddingPhotographers.com and here from another Asian wedding in Bradford.
We have just completed a 3 day Asian wedding in Dewsbury and Batley and Ravensthorpe – all popular areas for UK residents whose families originate from India and Pakistan, so many of our wedding clients are Gujarati or Urdu or Arabic speaking Muslims, Sikhs or Hindus.
I can’t as yet show you more than a few details till the couple get back from their honeymoon in Dubai and Mauritius, as they have requested to be the first to see their wedding photos.
See more from Reel Life Photos on www.Leeds WeddingPhotographers.com , or visit our Facebook page for literally thousands of whole wedding pictures.
xx Elaine
Gill and Graham travelled all the way from Canada to renew their wedding vows in South Yorkshire, to celebrate 34 years together and to have the big wedding they never had. This will take place in a church today, so more piccies to follow!
See here to contact Elaine of Reel Life Photos about your wedding or visit http://www.reellifephotos.co.uk to see loads and loads more wedding photos! – in the galleries, All Day Wedding Pictures and storybook
xx Elaine and Cuban videoman Jorge
Italian storybook cover: Karen & Paul’s wedding was on New Year’s Eve: the best possible way to start married life by entering into the New Year together with all their friends and family. The first we knew about it was when I (Elaine) received a phone call from France in 2008 – two years before this wedding – from the Mother of the Groom, lovely Linda, whom we had met at another couple’s wedding in Tenerife. Jorge and I had enjoyed videoing and photographing that wedding so were delighted to be chosen for Linda and Roy’s son’s wedding too. I didn’t even get to speak to the bride at that stage: she took us on trust, as she had a great bond with her future Mother-in -Law. They were looking for a special venue, but already knew the date the wanted. It took several months and loads of research before Karen & Paul settled on Thornton Manor for their wedding venue; and what a venue!
Following a delicious, relaxing meal with hilarious speeches, its easy to have a those happy family photos.
We also have a clip from Karen & Paul’s wedding video on our video page
See here to contact Elaine of Reel Life Photos about your wedding or visit http://www.reellifephotos.co.uk to see loads and loads more wedding photos! – in the galleries, All Day Wedding Pictures and storybook
xx Elaine and Cuban videoman Jorge
xx Elaine
These Creole dancers performed in pitch black outside on the helipad by the sea at Lauren and Trevor’s Seychelles wedding reception. There was an official videographer there too (Michel T) , so this is just a basic clip I shot for myself (as the wedding photographer) on my Canon 5 D Mark II whilst also shooting photos.
Levana – aged 9 and a half – was my little assistant using one of my “big” cameras and two different “L” (top of the range) lenses during the first part of this wedding, up to the end of the beach ceremony, and several of her photos have been included by the bride and groom in this storybook wedding album. She has been coming with me on wedding shoots since she was three , so know what to do, though its only in the past two years she has been allowed to use one of my professional cameras to participate in the photography.
This wedding was also videoed by Michel – a professional cameraman in the Seychelles. He can be contacted on +2482510972 and his son Damien took over the assisting role once we arrived at the wedding reception venue. Some of his photos have also been included, so many thanks to both my young assistants. xx Elaine
The earlier pages of this Italian storybook, showing the bride and groom and their families getting ready for the wedding, and Lauren & Trevor’s beach wedding ceremony in the Seychelles can be found here.
Sometimes I feel that wedding photographers are frightened of colour and dull everything down to muted tones and plain black and white throughout. That might be appropriate for some weddings in the UK and for certain couple’s tastes, but when in an exotic or vibrant environment, its a shame to somehow avoid colour! Having lived in Greece for 8 years where I brought up my family, I soaked up the Mediterranean light which in turn formed my artistic vision through my oil paintings and line drawings of people, and photography too.
I doubt Kate and William had a better wedding than this, though they did honeymoon in the Seychelles too!
The little pictures show details of the personalised coconut-shell cups the welcome drinks were served in decorated by star fruit. the tropical leaves overlaid with white Frangipani flowers following the theme of green dresses for the bridesmaids, and banana crisps wrapped in funnels of banana leaves. Absolutely fantastic!
I originally designed these with the images of the bride and groom to the left and to the right in a slightly smaller size, as believe space surrounding the images is important to display the photos better, but always listen to bride and groom’s personal views and preferences so this is a revised version to suit their tastes.
groom's sister Katherine plays a delightful flute recital for the wedding guests at the start of the wedding reception
Love the emotional hug from the groom for his sister after the flute performance while their Mum applauds and smiles with happiness too. All the bridesmaids had Frangipani flowers in their hair too, so overlaid this lovely image of Katherine onto a picture of the red flowers used.
Under the above photo here is of a sunlit dark green pool surrounded by palm tree fronds at the entrance to this Seychelles wedding venue at Cap Lazare in Mahe. I really wanted to photograph the bride lying on the smooth undulating rocks at the side of this pool but it had rained heavily during our drive from the beach wedding ceremony to the reception venue, so it wasn’t to be…
Trevor’s Dad Emmanuel loved the idea of a pic that showed the blue sky above palm trees here
xx Elaine and Cuban videoman Jorge
See here to contact Elaine of Reel Life Photos about your wedding or visit http://www.reellifephotos.co.uk to see loads and loads more wedding photos! – in the galleries, All Day Wedding Pictures and storybook
xx Elaine and Cuban videoman Jorge
www.leedsweddingphotographers.com
Weddings at Waterton Park Hotel are always very special due to the wonderful location on a private island on the lake
The trees are still fresh, as if Spring has only just unfurled, as the light catches the water while the fisherman cast their lines and the Geese go about their day….
Kirsty and Paul chose Waterton Park Hotel for their 15 May 2011 wedding day, which started bright and early with all the little ones in the large en-suite room in the new part of the building. This room has changed quite a bit since our first ever wedding here in June 2002 for Lisa & Paul. Gone is the four poster bed, replaced by normal beds… but the charming mirror is still there, just moved to a better light for makeup by the window.
Loads more pics still to come from this wedding, when I get a moment!! You can see them all online anyway under All Day Wedding Pictures on our site. See below…
See here to contact Elaine of Reel Life Photos about your wedding or visit http://www.reellifephotos.co.uk to see loads more wedding photos and storybooks
xx Elaine and Cuban videoman Jorge
Lauren and Trevor found us on Facebook a year ago and clicked “Like” on Reel Life Photos Facebook Page. They are such a lovely couple I thoroughly enjoyed giving them a pre-wedding engagement portrait session in Sheffield. They had their honeymoon on one of the lovely islands in the Seychelles following their beach wedding on Mahe.
Little wedding photographer Levana and I both covered their Seychelles wedding and at the reception venue in Cap Lazare, we were joined by Damien, another young wedding photographer but from the Seychelles.
The couple chose to get married in the Seychelles as the groom’s family are all from there, and decided on April as it is usually the driest month. However on the wedding day, the beach wedding nearly didn’t happen as the clouds decided to to drop their load on the individually embroidered towels laid out on the beach with personalised white paper fans! The downpour stopped just long enough for the ceremony and a few pics before letting loose again with renewed vigour as we drove the half-hour’s ride to the wedding venue at Cap Lazare.
The dried flower confetti accentuates Lauren’s trailing silk wedding dress as she glides over the sand under a canopy of tropical trees. Paradise!
See here to contact Elaine of Reel Life Photos about your wedding – anywhere in the whole world – or visit https://www.reellifephotos.co.uk to see loads and loads more wedding photos – in their storybook or visit some of our wedding galleries and on our Facebook page
xx Elaine and Cuban videoman Jorge
https://www.reellifephotos.co.uk.
We often get asked what our albums are like, so here are a few pics mainly taken at various wedding fairs in West Yorkshire . xx Elaine
and a few more album pictures on display at Dewsbury Town Hall in Yorkshire
And at our latest wedding fair in The Light Shopping Centre in Leeds in January 2012 – a very popular show!
See storybook wedding pictures as individually designed for each bride and groom personally by Elaine
Return to Reel Life Photos main website here: www.reellifephotos.co.uk
This particular storybook album has – as always – been designed not only with the bride and groom’s own choice of images from their wedding, but also as requested by them to have interesting backgrounds, rather than just standard plain white or black. All the backgrounds are created using pictures from the individual wedding , so all contribute to the unique aspect of each and every hand-designed page. Hope you like it! xx Elaine (wedding photographer and storybook designer)
Please visit www.LeedsWeddingPhotographers.com to see more local wedding pictures from around West Yorkshire, or to contact Elaine about your wedding photography.
I decided to turn the confetti pic into a black and white wedding photo, as although beautiful in colour too, it had too many different colours to hang together properly in the album.
Groom's family on steps outside Gomersal Park Hotel and bridesmaid fishing confetti out of the bride's dress!
I normally avoid green grass as a backdrop for wedding photos, as feel it tends to clash with most bride’s flowers and colouring, but in this case, by making use of the right patch of light, and the bride’s unusual lemon roses, it very much suits Jodie and Scott’s relatively traditional wedding.
The usually undemonstrative groom goes with the flow – even holding the wedding bouquet and laughing! The soft background behind these images elevate it from the ordinary to the extraordinary – with a subtle feeling of relaxation and gentle light.
See here to contact Elaine of Reel Life Photos about your wedding or visit http://www.reellifephotos.co.uk to see loads and loads more wedding photos! – in the galleries, All Day Wedding Pictures and storybook
xx Elaine and Cuban videoman Jorge
See here to contact Elaine of Reel Life Photos about your wedding or visit http://www.reellifephotos.co.uk to see loads and loads more wedding photos! – in the galleries, All Day Wedding Pictures and storybook
xx Elaine and Cuban videoman Jorge
Such attention to detail. Even the chocolates have the same design – specially selected by Zoe and Steve. They were also amongst the delights served at their small family wedding reception in the Ice Hotel restaurant following their wedding there. See some of their Ice Hotel wedding pics here.
If you want to see more from Elaine, their wedding photographer who travels all over the world, then visit www.LeedsWeddingPhotographers.com