Wedding Photographer: Manchester, London, Cheshire, Lake District, Yorkshire | Martin Crombie Photography

The Wedding of Julie Purvis & Ian McGrath, St.Thomas Church/ Lancaster House Hotel, Lancaster

Julie Purvis & Ian McGrath had a church wedding in my old home town on a very cold December day. It was so cold the church had turned blue! St. Thomas's church of Lancaster looked very pictuesque inside and afterwards all the guests were treated to cake & tea now that should be the norm I say. :-)

The Wedding of Rob & Kathie at The Old Rectory Hotel, Denton Nr. Manchester

2nd Place - Overall Mario Acerboni MPA/ UK Photography Awards

 
http://www.masterphotographyawards.co.uk/2010-winners-mario.php
Just a quick update on my set of 3 images (3 in 1) winning Mario Acerboni North West Region, finally went on to finish UK Runner-Up 2010 to Kris Dickson who is probably the No.1 photographer in the UK for the last 3 years. 
Thank you to The MPA for the recognition and also to Danielle & Dan (bride & groom) again :-)
Will post up the award when it arrives.   

The Wedding of Alison Thorpe & Dan Needham at The Netherwood Hotel, Grange & St John's Church, Levens

I was given a brief - something a bit unusual/Rock 'n' rolla style please. Oh, I thought 'music to my ears' 
The venue was The Netherwood Hotel  The dark wood panelling was an interesting factor and the old grandfather clock. Alison made life very easy for me, she had a clear idea of what she wanted me to capture - not alot of starting into cameras all day. When a bride has her hair down I think, certainly in Alison's case is an excellent move. Her beautiful dark hair really jumps out and reminds me of fairytale stuff - i.e 'Rapunzel'. 
Sometimes it just clicks for me & this day was one of them. Both Dan & Alison were a joy to photograph and presented something unique for each photograph I took. Quiet and unassuming people tend to bring out the best in me. Photographing brash Londerners would have me in fits. I brought some ideas on the mobile, sometimes they work sometimes not, but on the whole we got a great spread of imagery natural, creative, avant garde :-) The weather was beautiful the following day was heavy rain so these guys had the fortune of the gods looking over them. These are some of my favs from Dan & Alisons wedding day. 

The Wedding of Isobel Howard & Andrew Pickering, The Gibbon Bridge, Chipping, Lancs

My 3rd wedding of the year at 1 of my favourite venues - The Gibbon Bridge nr.Preston. If you love strong bold colours, outdoor landscaped space this is a great wedding venue to hold your big day celebrations. There is so much to see within the gardens and variation.

Andrew & Isobel were both in high spirits throughout the day. Everyone had a fabulous time the rain was off & on which meant we didnt do the groups until dusk but that added to the fun. Chocolate fountains, singers, and some incredible flowers provided by the florist Jane at Lytham. 

  

The Wedding of Martin Ogier & Jayne Eagle, The Imperial Hotel, Blackpool, Lancs

A fun & lively wedding on a beautiful sunny day in Blackpool, my old college stopping ground.
I started off at Jayne's parent home and was straight in at the deep end, so on went on the fisheye lens and produced a vibrant image full of interest.

Next stop was to The Clarence pub where Martin and all his ushers were getting some 'dutch courage' this group were seriously a great bunch of lads to photograph. Martin's best man has to be one of the funniest guys I have had the pleasure to photograph. At this time 2 American Cadi's pulled up both owned by Martin's father and they certainly added to the slendour and glamour of the happy day.

 

The Wedding of Paul Pickering & Rachel Scadding, St.Annes Church, Manchester City Centre/ Saddleworth Hotel, Oldham

Paul & Rachel's day was nicely thought out and it proved to involve a lot of driving and running and parking in some strange spots but none of this mattered in the end because everyone had fun. The amazing St.Annes church in St.Annes Square was my first time apart from the day before having a scout about the balcony proved a great vantage point and the light levels were decent for photography.

We spent a good 40 minutes walking up to The Eye using the many super choices of backgrounds in Manchester streets & arcades it proved to be very different type of photography. I had along Anthony from Saddleworth Hotel with his Rolls Royce Phantom and he treated Paul & Rachel to a cup of tea each at £25 a pot!

The drive back up to Oldham seemed like an eternity in my old banger but the b&g were fresh as a daisy in the convertable 200mph machine. We started at The Saddleworth Hotel 10.30am capturing Rachel getting ready whilst Tim (another photographer from Saddleworth) covered the guys getting ready in town. Finishing around 9.30pm so it was a longish day and I can say we all enjoyed every minute of it.  

The Wedding of Libby Ashton & Chris James Dean at The Gibbon Bridge Hotel

Libby & Chris were a perfect bride & groom for my style of photography. Libby; classy, beautiful and knew instinctively how to position herself in front of camera. She has a unique timeless quality about her 'look' on the day reminding me of Jane Ayre. Chris a cool laidback guy with a relaxed attitude in front of camera they both let me get on with what I do best - being creative.

This particular room at The Gibbon Bridge has to provide the best light of any room I have ever photographed a bride in - an amazing quality. Through a small skylight but aided with the help of Gold bed rails, red walls and high contrast light you have a winning combination.

 

The Langdale Chase Wedding Album

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 

The Wedding of Danielle Smith & Emerson Smith, Langdale Chase, Lake District

Danielle & Emmerson from Lancaster had their civil wedding at The Langdale Chase Hotel in the beautiful Lake District. Danielle looked incredible in her beautiful wedding dress it had such lovely details - in every photograph a new 'look' appeared. During the speeches Emmerson stood up & had prepared a beautiful poem for his wife Danielle lasting well over 5 minutes. It had clearly taken a lot of time for him to prepare as it was very well written and I'm sure those 5 minutes will stay with Danielle forever.  

All the guests were treated in the evening to a Lake District boat trip everyone had so much fun at this wedding.On the lake steamer Danielle had a band playing where she boogied with her fun friends and everyone watched the sunset over the water, a very romantic way to round off the evenings pleasure on the mighty lake. There was more dancing at The Chase from 9.30pm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
  


 

 

 
 

 
 






 

 

 
Some great images from my assistant Chris Jackson (Manchester) a 'student' he has a very good quick reflex for photojournalism style of wedding photography.

The Wedding of Laura Campbell & Mark Davies, St.John's Church, Knutsford/ Belle Epoque

Laura & Mark tied the knot on a day of 2 halfs -Light Rain then torrenial Rain in the afternoon. However non of this dampended the spirits of these 2 lovely people for their wedding in Cheshire.
 
Laura, a very elegant & beautiful women looked fabulous and Mark a very tall handsome groom enjoyed a very happy intimate wedding at The Belle Epoque, Knutsford. Heres a few.

 




 



 

The Wedding of Emily Graham & Ross Freeman, Holy Trinity Church B-L-S, Leighton Hall nr.Carnforth

Emily & Ross met at a bar in China. Ross a Texan, Emily an English Rose from Bolton-le-Sands plan to live in USA, not before celebrating their lovely wedding at Leighton Hall. The weather stayed fine until after the groups at the church then a fine mist descended upon Leighton Hall in all its moody splendor.
We started off from Emily's parents home which was very grand & spacious.  
Some brides let you look right into their soles - Emily is one of those people.

Private school Emily really was a delight to be around - a lady whom the camera loves and the story of how the day unfolded was a pleasure to watch & capture her high's and low's during the day. Looking into her world is fascinating and never predicable which adds to her charm.



 





 
 
 
 


 
Ok this is what I would like you to do....
 



 
 

 

 

The Wedding of Joanne Nicklin & Peter Stanner, Swan Hotel, Newby Bridge, Lakes

A very lovely happy wedding took place on a Monday at 1 of my favorite venues for a wedding The Swan at Newby Bridge. My last 4 weddings there have rained so I was expecting the same again but no.... it was dry. Peter & Jo from Stoke are a lovely couple and I had so much fun at this wedding I felt like one of the guests. We got up to all sorts during the day, I had poor Jo in so many positions her head must have been spinning.
Peter is a great fun loving character and was a blast to take pictures. We had plenty of laughs possibly one of the most relaxed guys I have ever photographed nothing was a problem for him allday long. We experimented with chairs, beds, cars thanks for everything you were both great! 
These are just a few from the day in no particular order.

 

The Wedding of Robert Howard & Zoe Hopper, St.Peters Church Heysham/ The Grange Hotel, Grange Over Sands

Yesterday saw me take a trip up the M6 to a corner of the world I haven't seen in many years - Heysham. Before the nuclear power station was created in the early 80's i can remember going to Heysham head with the folks & seeing Sambo's grave whilst at Dallas Road Junior school back in the 70's so I felt a bit of nostalgia and it was a very happy day and good fun.
My brief had been to provide an album along the lines of 'Adele & Roy's'wedding but without the helicopters, pimp daddy white suit , staff & birds of prey but I gave it a good go. That wedding alone has brought me in over 10 weddings in order to get 'that look' takes many elements to come together - weather being 1 in particular. Both Zoe & Bob were uber cool and said 'yes' to pretty much anything I could think up along with my new lighting system which I have been after for a couple of years now and found it very useful. I collared over 4 different people to hold it for me so a big up to them including the Zoe's chauffeur.
 
Driving around Heysham Sugham Lane where pretty much everyone who wanted to drive at one stage went to for their first driving lessons was another point of call 23 years ago since I was last there. Just driving round that area I haven't seen so many BMW's in an area since Prestury a few weeeks ago, must be all the Power station overtime money! 
  
The weather at St.Peters Church, Heysham was a bit damp & drizzly when Zoe arrived. Possibly 1 of the smallest churches out there a very sweet little building over looking Morecambe Bay dating back to 1300AD. I got a 4 hour parking ticket for 80p now thats value! (The Vicar here is a very well spoken, suave guy and definately 1 of the best out there for his sheer presence and he is straight!)
 
After the service we all went on to the tops above the church next to some partial ruins believed to be an old Saxon church 1080AD to see the view & get some wind shots, Zoe took it all in her stride the sky was moody very HeathCliffe then we headed back for the 40 minute drive round the bay to Grange via the A6. I went up there for a totally different image which wasn't accessible due to the turnstiles & cobbles but we went 1 better which is the beauty of photography.

 







 

 
 

 

The Wedding of Nicola Horrocks & Jonathon Mitchell, St.Peters Church, Scorton, Gibbon Bridge Reception

Nicola & Jonathon brought a lot to the table for me to photograph on their very sunny wedding day starting from Garstang Golf Club where Nicola got ready. Jonathon waited for Nicola to arrive at Scorton Church in a new Silver Bentley. A light pink themed wedding perfect for a summers day, the guests later relaxed at The amazing Gibbon Bridge hotel for the reception. Nicola & Jonathon were both fanastic to photograph and looked amazing together, more images will be uploaded in due course. They have honeymooned in Cancun, Mexico/ Carribean.
  
Here are some black & white snapshots using Doug Boutwells  filters plus a few tweaks why is nothing ever right out of the box!I'm not just about posing couples folks I just dont really see photojournalism as important as the photographer's ideas.