Denise and Bax’s wedding was great fun – sand, sea and sun as well as African percussion, happy chaos, and beautiful Gambian headdresses/costumes and DANCING!

I  (Elaine –  a  UK based  international wedding photographer)  travelled all the way to The Gambia from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire to cover their wedding photography, and was introduced to a whole new world in West Africa – where a bucket serves as a shower and rags knotted together become a rope for a well – yet there is a smile on every face.

One of the ladies in my compound was up before dawn everyday,  pounding beans to powder, which they then fried to make a crisp fluffy fritter  and sold along with spicy beans for local people’s breakfasts.

Other enterprising families made Baobab juice  – from the dried fruit of the tree shaken with water and flavoured with banana and coconut with milk – which they put into re-used plastic bottles from banana milk and sell from home.

Will be uploading more  travel pics from The Gambia soon too, as these pictures tell a story of the real Africa!

Denise met Bax while working out there a few years back, and she fell in love with The Gambia, and all her people.

Denise gives a twirl on beach after Gambian wedding

See their  finished storybook wedding album here!

The second Gambian wedding I photographed was at Coco Ocean Hotel, plus a cultural ceremony at the bride’s mother’s house. You can see some of those wedding photos here, and the Coco Ocean storybook wedding album here.

If you are planning your wedding in the Gambia, visit Reel Life Photos website and say hello to me on Facebook

xx Elaine

We’ve all been looking forward to Denise and Bax’s exciting wedding in Africa for months, and now the time has nearly come for all the Northern guests to board a plane from Manchester to fly to Banjul. Denise found us on a lovely website run by a talented guy called Jim. He will be covering the run up to the wedding as well as publishing pics from his site that we send him so to avoid duplication initially please have a look on his site here: http://www.weddingphotographyworld.co.uk/#/reellife-photos-africa/4539836158

Sometimes I get a wedding enquiry and I know the family are really struggling to get everything together, but have a lot of love and are genuinely kind-hearted people.  If they show a passion for our work, I generally do my best to see how we can make them happy:  that gives me a lot of pleasure too.

After a nice meal at a nearby restaurant called The Warehouse, the guests all lined up by the fabulous white wall for a big group shot.

This one of the little boy – the bride’s son –  was taken outside the family’s house as we were leaving for the Register Office.

What a beautiful kiss!

Photos taken after the meal can often be better than those posed traditionally before the meal, as by then everyone is more relaxed and comfortable with the camera lens.

Am quite excited as have another wedding to cover in Australia next year – on a boat in Sydney Harbour –

http://www.starshipsydney.com.au/index.html

so will be out of the UK around that time, though we will still be available for weddings with other photographers in our team.

Acrylic wall-prints are the latest way to display your favourite wedding pictures or one out and out favourite.  They appear to be almost 3D as they show off your image which is either printed directly on the back of the 10mm deep block (anything smaller – though cheaper – will bend),  or a high-res print is attached to the back using invisible glue.  We recently printed one 46″x33″ for a lovely couple in Dartmoor and one 23″x33″ for another special couple in Perth, Scotland.

This contemporary way of realising your beloved wedding images is much better suited to photography than canvass, as it retains the original smooth texture, sharpness and vibrancy.  Light only serves to enhance the image so giving the WOW factor to your well-designed home.

Brides always remember their wedding day!  Sometimes the images stay in their mind so much that even years after their wedding day they come back to us to ask for an Acrylic Wall Picture / special enlargement for their new home, or newly decorated room.   I always try to add that little bit of magic into a personalised border to make it unique to them and their personality.

The Kiss

Magical Kiss

Contact Elaine at Reel Life Photos for a quote for your favourite images or visit our main website to see more interesting images.  You can also see new wedding pictures on our Facebook page. xx Elaine

smiling Caribbean dancer at Huddersfield Carnival 2009

Caribbean steel band float at Huddersfield Carnival 2009

creative giant masks carried aloft by male Caribbean dancers in Huddersfield Carnival procession 2009

female Caribbean dancers at Huddersfield Carnival 2009

loads more pictures here:

http://reellifephotos.silkstream.org/online/view.php?main_pagesize=48&flag=view&section_id=1954

Visit www.LeedsWeddingPhotographers.com for more info about Elaine and Reel Life Photos

Michelle & Keiron’s wedding was very different from the normal mixture of posed family groups and reportage pictures that make up most weddings.  Starting at the bride’s house full of mirrors and black and white with red walls in the boudoir, I knew we were in for a fun day.  Michelle and I had never met in person till that moment – but had got to know each other through lively descriptions of her family life by email, the first of which arrived when I was in Egypt back in February this year.

Michelle’s highly confident and fun little boys are the light of her life … They even gave her away and during the wedding reception did a double act delivering the funniest wedding speeches ever!

Michelle had a burlesque hen night so was not shy of showing off her lovely figure and flamboyant but practical wedding boots.

The vicar – Father Paul – at Mill Hill  Unitarian  Chapel in Leeds is no stranger to the media,  as used to work for the BBC, so he was happy for the Jorge and me to move around during the service to get a good variety of shot.  The whole emphasis being on making the bride and groom’s day.  They even sat round chatting and drinking champagne in church with the guests after the ceremony!

Michelle couldn’t wait to get outside and play with the kids by the water fountains

in Leeds city centre.

Fun band act during the evening wedding reception at Smokestack in Leeds.

First band playing – taken without flash to reflect the true night colours.

Bridegroom Keiron with his Dad outside Smokestack in Leeds during evening wedding reception.

Drummer from second band during evening reception at Smokestack in Leeds.

Keyboard player at Michelle & Keiron’s evening wedding reception in Leeds

World famous musician friend of Michelle & Keiron’s playing at their evening wedding reception in Leeds

Michelle’s wedding guests get in on the act too!

If you are getting married or just love looking at wedding photos see loads more on www.LeedsWeddingPhotographers.com

http://weddingphotos-video.co.uk/blog/?cat=26 (advice for brides / weddings)

We don’t usually do wedding fayres, but since the Black Horse Inn, their food, and their staff are so lovely, we melt every year and decide to support them, so if you are looking for anything wedding-sy and missed this wedding fair then use the contact info below to see what is what for your wedding!

www.blackhorseclifton.co.uk/

Restaurant,vintage modern accommodation, events, parties and WEDDINGS!

HD6  4 HJ.

For wedding gowns see Always and Forever Bridal Wear

www.alwaysandforeverbridal.co.uk

amazing wedding cakes by Maria Webster

www.mariascakes.co.uk/wedding.htm

-delicious as well as great-looking wedding cakes!

www.idoweddinginvitations.co.uk

All your wedding stationery lovingly created by FIONA to co-ordinate with your colour scheme

for unique scroll design wedding invitations,Pink Daisy – weddings and Events

Greenwoods mens wear   www.1860.com/

My balloonz   www.weddingkeepsakes.co.uk/lancashire/lancashire_directory_confetti_balloons.htm

The Body Shop at Home http://www2.thebodyshopathome.com/

call ZOE on 07766 203081 for your party fun!

Mango Lily florists http://www.mangolily.com/weddings/1.htm for the most amazing orchids ever!

Cartwright cars  – based in Huddersfield but looking after brides all over Yorkshire! www.cartwrightscars.co.uk/

Not only does the front of the Black Horse look great, but so does their handy garden to the rear with loads of seating in which to relax and enjoy a nice drink at the wedding reception!

If you want to know more about wedding photographer  Elaine of Reel Life Photos visit her site so just curious about recent multi-cultural weddings abroad and in the UK visit Reel Life Photos Facebook Page.

Images from trip to Benevento & Fragnito Monforte in Italy

We usually only do wedding photos but while visiting a wedding venue abroad we simply can’t close our eyes to the scenes around us!  Loads of wedding pictures in the various posts below.  If looking for storybook wedding photos or say, winter wedding photos,  or Sikh wedding pictures etc, just pick that category from the index on the right here to see the ones you are interested in…

 Enjoy!  xx Elaine

Caught this couple during late evening sunlight in Benevento , Italy.

Arty graffiti in Magneto Monforte, Italy

Detail from a wedding venue on Italy http://www.palazzo-ducale.com/

Winter tree against clear Italian January skies, casts  shadows patterns on the wall

January washing day in Italy – at least they have the weather for it!

Just love the rusting red patina of this truck against the perfect deep blue sky!

Roadside fruit-seller in Arpaia Italy offering me lemons as she has had no sales all day…

Two black guys hang out at night by a Trendy Girl clothes shop in Benevento, Italy.

This is a recent winter wedding, as chosen by the bride and groom from hundreds of possible images. 

We always take plenty of casual, non-posed pictures, documenting the full day, so the couple are free to make up their own album according to their personalities.  The very same original images could just as easily be made up into a fun wedding storybook with all the kids running riot and the happy exchanges between wedding guests,  or a more relaxed, classical view of their day.  The couple are consulted at every stage of the image selection – usually spending around 3 hours with us going through their choices and if they decide to go for a designed storybook album – as this couple did – they are free to get involved in the final layout, as its their personal wedding album, not just an exercise in arty design. 

Emotions, expressions and important relationships between families are usually the key reason for their preferred images being included in the album – some choosing mainly of themselves and other showing the full story of their day. In this storybook they even included the pictures about the fire alarm that sounded – just as the bride was about to change into her wedding dress in the morning – and the firemen visiting their hotel in Leeds while everyone piled outside on the opposite pavement,  to wait for the all-clear!

Below is a selection of pages from Hayley & Chris’s wedding album…