A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from Laura Lawson, the female half of Lawson Photography, whose wedding photographs I just adore featuring on Love My Dress. And it went like this;
“We are having a bit of an ‘unusual’ get together next week with some photographer pals and were wondering if it might be something that would make a nice feature? Basically, we are all dressing up in our wedding outfits and taking pictures of each other! I was thinking a few pictures of each couple with a blurb about their wedding and advice for couples planning their big day (from a photographers perspective of course)…”

Cue me scratching my head about the general state of wellbeing of the wedding photographers I work with?? Promptly followed by the realisation that actually, it sounded like this lot were having a riot of fun amidst the weekend role call of work and weddings.
It turns out that a whole bunch of crazy Northerners spent the day prancing around in their wedding dresses for a giggle, and I couldn’t wait to see the photographs! Let’s start off with this little behind-the-scenes film, crafted by film maker Aaron Jones of Reel Weddings.
Several photographers took part in this shennanagins, including of course The Lawsons, who were joined by Liam & Bee, Jonathan Yearsley, Martin Hambleton, Neil Redfern, Jonny Draper, Hannah Dornford May, Shutterleaf Photography, Evie McDermott-Wroe of Chapter Photography, Karen Julia and Love Gets Sweeter Photography. Each of them had their photo’s taken and each of them have very kindly agreed to share their wonderful words of wedded wisdom with you all today. Enjoy!



















The colour, the raw silk, the lace bodice were all so perfect and really not a style I originally had in mind. So brides to be, keep an open mind! What you think might suit you isn’t necessarily the case. My dress isn’t any label, it was handmade in Italy and bought from an Italian run family wedding business in Bolton – Bridal Couture Italia.
It was so nice to wear my dress again on the shoot and it felt as special as when I wore it on our wedding day. At the shoot I then got to wear a beautiful Terry Fox creation brought along by Emma from Love Bridal. It was so much fun wearing a dress that was a completely different style from my own dress.

Our wedding itself was very classical English Country wedding. We married at St Michaels at Whitewell and had our reception in the marquee at the Inn at Whitewell. We loved the fact it was on the Duchy of Lancaster Estate and that the church was just a skip across the car park to the Inn. We also loved that because it is quite remote that all our
friends had to stay at the hotel with us, making it a really nice atmosphere. And the surrounding landscape just made for stunning photographs. If we had our wedding day again I wouldn’t do anything differently, it was all so perfect.
If I can give any tips to brides to be it would be this: Firstly never skimp on having a hair and make-up artist, it can make the difference between a nice photograph and an awesome photograph. Secondly, trust your wedding photographer and work with them. They are experienced at what they do and want to make you look amazing so let go
of your inhibitions and go with the flow. Lastly when it comes to the actual day don’t worry about anything, just enjoy every minute and soak it all in.










Emma from Love Bridal also treated us ‘Brides’ to some of the boutiques new gowns. I was in heaven! She picked out a wedding dress that was so beautiful and suited me so well I just wanted to get married all over again! She’s a very talented lady as I wouldn’t have picked that out for myself but it just suited me so well! If anyone needs someone to model dresses again.
Our wedding took place at the stunning Hillbark Hotel, Wirral. We instantly fell in love with the venue as soon as it came in to view as we came down the sweeping drive. We only had 44 guests so wanted something intimate and not too grand and found the Hillbark and their staff to be exactly what we were after. We kept the wedding as simple as the guest list, white flowers, grey suits (my husband wore a gorgeous bespoke suit handmade by Distinction Tailoring, Chester) and pale blue dresses for the bridesmaids.
We wanted everything to be very ‘us’ so as well as having a hip hop group entertain guests in the evening we also learnt a quickstep routine for our first dance, Love Gets Sweeter (which later became our wedding film company name). I also tried to make as much as possible myself, including the cake and all it’s tiny flower paste flowers and the cute cake topper and got friends involved with the stationary and filming the day.

I can’t recommend having a wedding video enough. We were so close to not having one as Lee hated the idea but I compromised by having a few pro cameraman friends to film it for us and I had the joy of editing it all. He loved it that much that he bought me a website named after our first dance, Love Gets Sweeter, and encouraged me to start making wedding films for other people! I don’t think you can get a better recommendation than that! A great wedding film really does bring the day back to life and I just love hearing everyone enjoying themselves…and I still get teary watching us say our vows!
Also, try not to succumb to family politics and dramas. We made the early decision to only have close family and friends in the day because we wanted to share the important moments with the people that meant the most to us. We’d been at friends weddings before ours and they admitted to not knowing half the guest list! But the best tip I share with all my couples is just make the most of it and enjoy every minute. Take time out to just be with each other and enjoy the moment, it honestly does help you slow the day down a little and remember more because the day really does go by so quickly.

