King Street Townhouse Winter Wedding

King Street Townhouse is a relatively new Manchester-based wedding venue. It is owned by the Eclectic Hotels Collection, who also own On The 7th and Great John Street Hotel where I have also photographed weddings. This was to be my first wedding shoot there, just before Christmas last year. And, being December, the Manchester weather was not perfect….rain and more rain. All day! Not to be deterred, I was to approach this King Street Townhouse winter wedding with the minimum amount of kit. I travelled light, with two Nikon bodies and four prime lenses. This winter wedding was to have proper documentary-style coverage.

Manchester Makeup Artist

I got to Sarah’s suite to find the very talented Jodie on hair and makeup duties….together with her funky new ring light. The atmosphere was all calm, as Sarah and her friends were getting ready; I even had time to catch up with Rich and his mates for the ten minutes it takes for groomsmen to get ready. Easy peasy being a fella. My being a King Street Townhouse wedding photographer was suiting the 24mm, 35mm  and 50mm lenses perfectly.

Wedding ceremony at King Street Townhouse

Sarah & Rich’s winter wedding at King Street Townhouse was to be an emotional day. Sarah’s mum had recently passed away, and the air was tinged with mixed emotion. And it was Christmas too, which brings everything home to families. Sarah’s friend was brave enough to do a reading during the ceremony; something specific and a difficult passage to convey. But she did it, brilliantly.

Manchester wedding reception

The rain was still falling, so we photographed a handful of family photographs in the ceremony room, then retired to a lounge for drinks and canapes. The air was buzzing with excited chatter amongst the wedding guests, and the canapes were coming thick and fast…as was the Prosseco! I noticed too, that several of the ladies were already sporting Pantone’s 2018 official colour. Time was moving on, but the rain was going nowhere. Sarah, Rich and myself headed downstairs for a few couple photographs in and around the venue.

Wedding photos at King Street Townhouse

Armed with a small off-camera flashgun and fifteen minutes to create some portraits in the atmospheric lobby and mezzanine, we were off and running. Still no chance of going outside, we didn’t care and had sime fun…in the dry. I used a combination of 20mm, 24mm and 35mm lenses for the portraits – all natural light with a splash of flash to boost them.

Winter weddings in Manchester

Soon we were back upstairs as the guests were taking their places in the stunning, candlelit dining room. The reception looked stunning and very ‘Christmassy’. As the guests gathered, this almost intimate wedding was looking very nice through the Nikons.Very nice indeed. The champagne was being poured as Sarah & Rich entered the room, to thunderous cheering and applause. I left the guests in peace until the speeches. I was expecting a rollercoaster of emotion, and got it. Sarah’s dad was very brave and tried to do the traditional father of the bride speech, but, understandably it was all too much. It was too much for me, to try and remain neutral and just do my job. But when you have a daughter of your own, it is very difficult. Suddenly Rich and Best Man jumped into action and made us all laugh again. The mono image of Sarah & her dad hugging is one of the most moving images I have ever taken, and one I find difficult to look at.

Wedding DJ in Manchester

After the speeches, we were all outside to brave the Manchester eweather. The canopies were overhead, the heaters were on and the coffee and hot chocolate in full flow. There were even blankets for the ‘southerners’ to wrap up warm in, 😉 After a while we were back inside. Full on cake cutting, first dance and general dancefloor malarkey – all handled brilliantly by DJ NIck Campbell.