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 cover

Storybook Pages002-003 with the cute white baby dress and shoes waiting to be worn

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 Pages006-007 groom and groomsmen getting ready – all smiles!

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 Pages036-037 Happy days as the bride poses with her friends and the groom’s grown-up son.

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 Pages044-045 The groom’s speech

Storybook Pages046-047 Guests cracking themselves up with laughter during the groom’s speech.

Storybook Pages048-049 wedding guests and the splendid 3 tiered traditional wedding cake

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 Pages052-053 Oh that delicious dessert is making me hungry!

Storybook Pages054-055 Cheers! The wedding toast!

Storybook Pages056-057 First Dance and more dancing!

Storybook Pages058-059 Time for some fun dancing pics!

Storybook Pages060-061 Cutting the cake – all traditional like!

Storybook Pages062-063 bride and groom on the stairs of Dewsbury Town Hall

Storybook Pages064-065 wedding guests and the groom (!) pose for pictures at Dewsbury Town Hall

Storybook Pages066-067 Confetti pics

Storybook Pages068-069 The groom’s son is pretty merry as he hug and kisses his father and jubilant bridemaid after catching the bouquet .

Storybook Pages070-071 the garter and last few wedding pics

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

Asian weddings in the UK at least, are very different from English weddings.  The bride gets married on the same day , but in a separate room  from her husband. Their Islamic wedding can even take place in two entirely separate locations, with the groom having his Nikah in the mosque, while the bride might be at home with her family.  The groom’s Nikah is usually quite lengthy, whereas the brides can simply be a few words long – a verbal agreement that she gives her consent to marry her groom.  The groom will most likely sit in a circle with all the men, and the Imam – priest – at his side or opposite him, whereas the bride will be surrounded by a few female friends or relatives, and have her head completely covered in her dupatta – ornate (usually red) shawl. She can even miss hearing her own Nikah and still be married under Islamic law… (not sure how that works though, but have seen it happen)

See more on our Facebook page here Wedding photography by Reel Life Photos on Facebook.  and on our website Natural Asian wedding pictures by Reel Life Photos.

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

When a couple first see their wedding photos, they invariably want them all.  After all its the story of their day, and all their special people.  Some may want all the posed pictures, or others the natural ones , but the first time they whittle their initial choice down, there could still be too many to make a beautiful wedding album. This particular bride choice loads of group shots then after receiving the album decided she wanted a second one – just for herself – without all the little copies of a hundred and one groups.  Some pages are the same but here is the full version as she ordered it.

See more about Elaine – wedding photographer for 15 years at Reel Life Photos. www.reellifephotos.co.uk

Storybook cover shows the first dance

Storybook cover – white leather with small photo

Katie has classy tastes – and insists on the best for her wedding storybook album.  She’s worth it though as is absolutely beautiful.  The whole family dressed up in some amazing outfits for the church wedding followed by a fun wedding reception in Castleford, Yorkshire with loads of dancing.  Each image here represents two vertical (portrait format) pages – also known as a double page spread, except for the cover which just shows the front of the white leather, Italian storybook album .

First two pages of the wedding storybook, at the hotel where they got ready. P2-3

The glamorous traveller bride and her young brother.4 & 5

Bride’s family – parents and siblings at the hotel before heading off to the wedding ceremony. P6 & 7

Pages 8-9

Gorgeous bride ready to be married P10 & 11

Bride’s family pics Pages 12 and 13

Pages 14 and 15 with the bride’s family

The groom is waiting at the church P16 and 17

Bride and bridesmaids arriving in the limo, and walking into the church with her father. P 18 and 19

pages 20 and 21 of the wedding ceremony

Pages 22 and 23 – a double pages spread in Katie’s storybook wedding album.Smawthorne Church in Castleford

pages 24-25 wedding ceremony at Smawthorne Church

pages 26 and 27 – signing the register

signing the register p 28 and 29

bride and groom pages 30 and 31

Pages 32 and 33 outside the church with the limo

gipsy boys in the limo. pages 34 and 35

wedding reception by the castle cake pages 36-37

Double page spread with the whole family p38-39

P 40-41 family wedding pics

storybook pages 42 and 43

top table. p 44 and 45

castle wedding cake p46 and 47

posed wedding pics. pages 48-49

Cutting the castle wedding cake. P50-51

pages 52-53

54-55 First Dance

bride dancing with her mother and father. P 56-57

Wedding picnic in the grounds of Grouse Inn, West Yorkshire

wedding picnic sitting on hay bales

wedding picnic fun

perfect outdoor wedding party decorations

perfect weather for a summer wedding!

Great British picnic!

Summer wedding fun!

Just beautiful!

summer wedding picnic at The Grouse Inn in West Yorkshire

See more wedding pictures on Reel Life Photos site and Facebook Page.  

xx Elaine

As an experienced wedding photographer, I know that the first question EVERYONE asks is “How much? ”  Of course that’s important , and its what we all do when researching a product or  service online.  We recently needed to buy a new microwave, after the one we bought just months before ceased to work.  Crazy I know, but I spent hours and hours with my mental list of what was important to me, comparing products and prices.  The prices bit was easy, as once I’d chosen the make and model, it’s a like-for-like straight forward search.

Wedding photographers though are human beings, so each and everyone is unique.  OK you can compare “packages”, but even if the  album on offer is from the same supplier, the number of pages, the cover and the number of photos included, let alone the care  taken over the design – how many revisions – and any additional charges  and the style – could all result in a totally different vision.

One of my hard drives failed last week – but fortunately the client’s data was safe, as I always back up the original files shot .  However, even though I had only had the drive for three weeks, I learned a valuable lesson.  I had chosen the cheapest possible drive of that size!  When I contacted the data recovery company so I didn’t lose the extra work I had done, they told me that 75% of the drives they get sent, were all the same as the make I had chosen – (a Seagate Barracuda ) .   Had I spent just 25% more I could have avoided this situation and the extra my mistake.  If only I had checked the REVIEWS!  It turns out that 25% of all reviewers complained that their drive failed – and gave it 1 star only –  so the average rating was a mere 3 stars.

We all would like our wedding photographer to be the best we can afford, so the moral of this story is to check reviews of your prospective wedding photographer before even contacting them to check they have the date available, and choose the best rated that suits you!

SO…..

1-Check what others are saying about your wedding photographer before you book.  Do a Google search to see what you can find. about them.

2 – Check if the person taking your photos is actually the person you thought it was, as many companies use freelancers with varied experience

3 –  Check how long they have been in business, as most of the avoidable mistakes are made when the photographer first starts up.

4 – Have a look at samples, both online and in person – if at all possible – and not just the 20 best photos they have ever taken – but ideally the full spectrum of a complete wedding.  Bear in mind though that from the original photos taken, the personal choices of the couple may be different from what you might have picked from the variety of pictures taken.

I once received a phone call from the bride’s mother – who had been the one actually paying for the album – saying “I don’t like the album!” “Why”,  I asked – “what is it that you don’t like about the album? ”  “It doesn’t have any pictures of my sisters in it”.  I explained to her that although I had definitely taken several shots of her with her 3 sisters, that the choice of images was entirely up to the couple concerned, and that although I shoot everything and everyone – both natural and posed pics – the only thing I could do for her was to design a different album  – just for her – with the photos that she really wanted to have in it.   The result was an entirely different wedding album!  The style and layout were different too, so it wasn’t just in the choice of images, to reflect her personality and tastes.  She paid me separately for this of course, but at least I could make her happy.

The link below is from an independent blog post I came across on Linkedin today, and it clearly outlines all the points I  think are important to you.

http://www.theparty.net/theparty-blog/wedding-planning-questions-for-your-photographer.html

If you want to see some of my work – and there is absolutely tons to see look on our websites:  http://www.reellifephotos.co.uk

http://www.leedsweddingphotographers.com

http://www.weddingphotos-video.co.uk/blog

and over 15,000 photos on our Facebook Page

top table with flowers at Holdsworth House wedding – storybook pages 46-47

So cute the little ones shoes.

Natural black and white wedding photography – shows off the smiles and emotions.

the bride and groom leave the wedding in their horse-drawn carriage

Front and back cover of storybook wedding album

Love London weddings – even street scenes work well

Such a happy picture!

Bride’s father having fun with his granddaughter

My lovely Somali bride is laughing because I insisted on taking her photo her!

Time to dress up and have fun!

Touching black and white photo.

Bridesmaids jumping for joy inside Dewsbury Town Hall

bride and groom by sunflowers

bride in 1950’s wedding dress.

The belly dancer’s grand entrance.

happy belly dancer

belly dance performance at an Iraqi wedding

This is the second or third time I’ve seen a belly dancer performing at an Iraqi wedding.  Such a lovely idea for wedding entertainment.   We have over 15,000 photos on our Facebook Page too so hope you like looking at pictures!  If you are planning your wedding  get in touch with Elaine at Reel Life Photos . xx

The Grand Banqueting Suite in Ravensthorpe, Dewsbury

This colourful display creates a grand entrance to the hall.

This was a winter wedding in Dewsbury, but the Grand Banqueting Suite is such a stunning Asian wedding venue, that there are still plenty of places in which to take creative and beautiful photographs.   See more Asian wedding pictures on our site and on our wedding app – Android – and Apple.   Then get in touch with Elaine for photography and Jorge for video at Reel Life Photos in Dewsbury.

Love the beautiful chandeliers inside the Grand Banqueting Suite

Children just love playing with the petals and confetti.

pictures of the wedding venue inside

The bride’s lengha looks lovely as her wedding shoes are exposed when walking up the steps.

View of the details upstairs inside the Grand Banqueting Suite

Asian wedding photography in Dewsbury at the Grand Banqueting Suite, showing the table layout upstairs

Spectacular wedding venue isn’t it! The tables and chandeliers look amazing in this wedding picture taken from the balcony.

Detail of the chandeliers at The Grand Banqueting Suite

The tables from above

The table here looks just like a flower, doesn’t it? As seen from the balcony at the Grand Banqueting Suite

A simple stage.

View through the glass front at the Grand Banqueting Suite