Photographing weddings is the best job in the world. But what takes the job to a whole new level of amazingness is when bride and groom are personal friends, it’s such a special feeling to be able to capture the day of someone you are close too – such as Laura & Tom

What made this day is more unique for me is that not only is Tom a great friend of mine, but he is also the best wedding videographer I know and somebody I have worked with at lots of weddings – so no pressure there then…! Just have a look at Tom’s website to see what I mean: www.silkweddingvideos.co.uk

Tom and Laura’s day was amazing. I’m not just saying that because they are friends of mine, it literally was amazing.

Tom and Laura got married at St Alban’s Church in Macclesfield and had their reception at the stunning Hilltop Country House in Prestbury. From the emotion of the ceremony (as you’ll see from the photographs) through to the laughter and smiles of the reception, this was a wedding that had it all.  Laura looked absolutely stunning and I don’t think I have ever seen Tom as nervous or as happy as he was during the day. It was just an honour to be there.

I would also like to make a special mention to my good friend Adam Johnson, a fantastic Manchester wedding photographer who helped me on the day by second shooting (and took some amazing shots!), the brilliant Leos Quartet (the best string quartet in the North West bar none!) and also the fantastic Howard Wing. Howard sang during the wedding breakfast and created an atmosphere of happiness and laughter like I have never seen before during a wedding breakfast. I knew of Howard before the wedding but I hadn’t been lucky to see him in action, but wow, he is amazing. I really can’t recommend him enough – you will see from the wedding photographs below just how much fun people were having whilst Howard was doing his thing! Here is Howard’s website: www.howardwing.co.uk

To Laura & Tom – thank you SO much again for asking me to be a part of your wedding day. I am so pleased that it was everything you hoped it would be, and I’m sure a lot more besides! It was a privilege to be there and I am so pleased that you are so happy with your photographs. I was a little bit nervous before your day (for ‘a little’ read ‘very very’) so to know you are so happy makes me extremely happy. I wish you both a lifetime of happiness together

Here are a selection of my favourite wedding photographs from your big day:

As you may have seen already from my blog post a few weeks ago, I was absolutely delighted to find out last month that I had won the award of BIPP North West Wedding Photographer of the Year!

I just wanted to write another post about the awards, but this time including the wedding photographs which won the various awards.  I also thought it would be good to do this today as today is the two year anniversary of me going full time as a wedding photographer

The BIPP (British Institute of Professional Photography) is a very highly regarded professional photography organisation so to win an award from them is fantastic and I was absolutely thrilled to have done so well in the North West region awards ceremony.  Much to my surprise, not only did I win the overall Wedding Photographer of the Year award but I also much better than I could have hoped in each of the 3 wedding categories. In each category, a Gold, Silver and Bronze is awarded as well as Merits for outstanding images which didn’t quite make it in to the top 3.The results of the 3 wedding categories which are entered were:

Creative Wedding Category:
Gold – Neil Redfern
Bronze – Neil Redfern
….Plus 3 merit awards

Classical Wedding Category:
Gold – Neil Redfern
Silver – Neil Redfern
Bronze – Neil Redfern
….Plus 1 merit award

Reportage Wedding Category:
Silver – Neil Redfern
Bronze – Neil Redfern

Since my first blog post announcing the news, I have been given 3 trophies (which are now sat proudly in our living room!) as well as certificates for each of the winning photographs

And there was an article in the local newspaper about the awards too! http://www.messengernewspapers.co.uk/news/9634973.Picture_perfect_for_Neil/?ref=la

So, here are all of my photographs which won awards at the BIPP North West Photography Awards:

Creative wedding category – Gold:

Creative wedding category – Bronze:

Creative wedding category – Merit:

Creative wedding category – Merit:

Creative wedding category – Merit:

Classical wedding category – GOLD:

Classical wedding category – Silver:

Classical wedding category – Bronze:

Classical wedding category – Merit:

Reportage wedding category – Silver:

Reportage wedding category – Bronze:

Last month I had the pleasure of photographing Laura & Matt’s beautiful Cheshire wedding at St James’ Church in Gawsworth and Sandhole Oak Barn.

It was such a great day, one that literally couldn’t have gone any better. It was a real privilege to be able to capture it for Laura & Matt.

This was the first time I had photographed a wedding at St James’ Church but I hope it won’t be the last as it is absolutely beautiful and the Bishop couldn’t have been nicer or more helpful. The ceremony was beautiful, with so much emotion.  Laura looked absolutely stunning walking down the aisle and one of these photographed is one of my all time favourites After the wedding ceremony everybody headed to the beautiful Sandhole Oak Barn in Cheshire – a fantastic wedding venue set on the edge of a huge lake. The whole day went perfectly and I couldn’t have been happier for Laura & Matt.

To Laura & Matt – thank you very much again for asking me to be your wedding photographer, it has been lovely working with you both. Thank you also for your very kind words about your photographs – knowing you are so happy makes all the hard work worthwhile. I wish you both a very long and happy marriage together

Here are a selection of my favourite photographs from your wedding:

Earlier this month I had the pleasure of photographing Nikki & Will’s amazing wedding at the Belle Epoque in Knutsford – and wow, what a day it was!

I really can’t say enough how amazing the day was, everywhere I looked there was smiles and laughter.  It really was the perfect wedding day and I couldn’t have been happier for Nikki and Will as they are such a nice couple I must mention Nikki & Will’s special wedding Easter Egg too – the best wedding ‘cake’ I have ever seen, and the fact they cut it with a sword made it even more memorable…!

To Nikki & Will – thank you so much again for asking me to be your wedding photographer, it was a pleasure to be a part of your wedding day.  Thank you very much also for all your lovely words about your photographs, it really means a lot and I am really pleased you are so happy with them.  I wish you both all the luck in the world for your future together.

Here are a selection of my favourite photographs from your wedding day:

Last week I met up with Helen & Tom whose wedding I will be covering next month at Meols Hall in Southport, for their engagement shoot.

I hadn’t seen Helen & Tom since they first booked me early last year so it was lovely to see them again and hear about their wedding plans – it’s going to be a fantastic day!

We went to Sefton Park in Liverpool to take these photographs (great suggestion Helen!) and we were lucky enough to have the most amazing light I’m keeping everything crossed that we get something similar on the wedding day itself!

Here are a few of my favourite photographs from the shoot:

I recently met up with Jill & Dan, whose wedding I am photographing at Willington Hall in Cheshire later this year, for their engagement shoot – and what a fun time we had!

Jill and Dan chose to have their photoshoot at Willington Hall and I was really pleased they did because it is such a fantastic venue. I have only photographed one wedding there so far but it is one of those venues that I would love to work at more often because it really is perfect for photography.

I really enjoyed this shoot, Jill and Dan are the nicest couple you could ever meet and you can see just how excited they are for their wedding in their photographs   It was great for me too as I got to know them both better which is always nice to do before the wedding.

Here are a few of my favourite photographs

A couple of weeks ago I met up with Hannah & Rob, whose wedding I am photographing at the magnificent Eaves Hall in June, for their engagement shoot in (a very sunny) Lancashire

Hannah & Rob are such a fun couple, we had a great time taking these photographs and I really can’t wait for their wedding, I just know it’s going to be an amazing day!

Here are a few of my favourites from Hannah & Rob’s engagement shoot:

This is a bit of a first for me as I don’t usually blog engagement shoots but as I have started to do them quite regularly now, I thought I should probably start posting some photographs so that you can see what we get up to on these shoots!

For bride and grooms engagement shoots are really useful for putting you more at ease in front of the camera before your wedding day and they hopefully help you realise that having your photograph taken isn’t a scary experience at all, in fact I try my best to make it the complete opposite! From my point of view these shoots, which I do at any point before a couple’s wedding day, are great because they allow me chance to get to know my bride and grooms better, which is really nice

So, a couple of weeks ago I went off to meet Becky and Stephen, whose Cheshire wedding I am photographing at the end of June. We spent around an hour or so taking some photographs and here are a few of my favourites. I can’t wait for Becky & Stephen’s wedding now, I know it is going to be an amazing day!!

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of photographing Sam and Thomas’ fantastic wedding at Samlesbury Hall in Lancashire

Sam and Thomas got married in the beautiful St John the Evangelist Church near Preston before making their way to the magnificent Samleslesbury Hall for their wedding reception.  The whole day went perfectly, I don’t think either Sam or Thomas stopped smiling all day and with blue skies and sunshine, I don’t think any part of the day could have gone any better! It was just lovely to be a part of it.  The only downside for me was that I again didn’t see any of the famous Samlesbury Hall ghosts! Oh well, maybe next time….!

To Sam & Thomas – thank you very much again for asking me to photograph your wedding day, it was an absolute pleasure to work with you both. I wish you all the very best for your future together, I know it will be a very long and happy one

Here are a selection of my favourite wedding photographs from your big day: