At the beginning of the month I had the pleasure of covering Cathy and Connor’s wedding at the Clandeboye Lodge Hotel outside Bangor in County Down.

Cathy and Connor were wonderful to work with and really understood what it is I do with my photography. As Cartier Bresson once remarked “To photograph is hold one’s breath, when all faculties converge to capture fleeting reality.”

Cathy senty me a lovely email after seeing her photographs online:
“We are overwhelmed with the photos Dylan, they are beautiful! Honestly we are over the moon with them; you are amazing at capturing the moment and there are so many of the photos that among all the excitement & bustle….you have caught us in our own little world celebrating! These are my absolute favourites!”

After Donegal I was back at the beautiful setting of Phantom House and the Great Hall in Galgorm Manor Resort and Spa for Gary and Emma Jane’s wedding.

It was lovely to see many of Laura and Colin‘s friends also at this wedding and of course Margaret and Conor whose wedding I had the pleasure of photographing almost two years ago up at Belfast Castle.

EJ and Gary were an absolute pleasure to photograph and I’m very lucky to have such wonderful clients. The ceremony was very emotional with the registrar’s voice almost breaking at the end – what a joy to be there and make photographs. I received a lovely message from them just a couple of days ago.

“Just another thank you for taking such great pictures. We really wanted someone who would capture the day and all those small moments that go by so quickly especially those that we missed. It was fantastic to be able to look at the pictures when we were on our honeymoon and remember what a fantastic day we had with our friends and family. Emma Jane cries when she watches the slideshow and my hayfever flares up something terrible…”

Laura and Colin married each other at the beautiful Cunningham Memorial Presbyterian Church in Cullybackey before heading up the road to Galgorm Manor for their wedding reception. The weather was pretty changeable but thankfully the rain managed to keep away and we ended up with a lovely wedding day.

Laura sent me this lovely email after seeing her pictures on return from honeymoon:

Hi Dylan,
The photographs are amazing! So pleased with them. I have watched the slideshow at least a dozen times and still get emotional! The photos bring back so many wonderful memories of the day and I wasn’t even aware you were there. Thanks so much.
Best wishes,
Laura

I love getting great feedback. Last week I received a lovely email from Miranda regarding her photographs and wedding album.

Here’s a little excerpt: “Dylan, Looking at your photos is like being in a time-machine, magically transporting us back to every moment, to all the things that made it our best day ever, and to all the things that we missed but that you’ve forever captured.”

I’d like to thank everyone who we spoke to at the weekend at the Wedding Journal Show in Belfast and for all you folk getting married overseas, remember – have passport, will travel!

It’s hard to believe we’re almost two weeks in to the second month of the new year already! It’s around this time of the year where I look back at my work from the past twelve months and look again with fresh eyes at the weddings I’ve covered. So I thought you might find it of interest to know which photographs are my personal favourites from the whole year. I figure it might give you an insight into my approach.

The first image is from Miranda and Arthur’s wedding in Dublin back in June. The photograph was taken with a long lens to isolate the moment. I could see Arthur whispering into Miranda’s ear during a quiet period in the ceremony. A wide lens aperture blurs out the background so that all you see are Miranda’s smiling eyes. This image to me just sings! It just sings of the romance of their moment and the beautiful dynamic in their relationship. It’s a beautifully intimate portrait and I’m proud to say it could just be my favourite of the year!

The second photograph above was taken in September at Gemma and Scott’s wedding in Belfast – and for me this image is another pure storytelling moment. Gemma’s parents had been married in the very same church over thirty years ago. As Gemma and her Dad pulled up outside the church, the car door opened and before stepping out, Dad just planted a little kiss on her cheek. Again, it’s a really heartfelt moment from real life captured in the photograph – without any staging or directing from me. The reflection of the bridesmaids and the little flowergirl waiting in the background adds another dimension to the image.

Aside from photographing such lovely fleeting moments, one of the best things I see (where possible) is the couple’s reaction to when they first see their album. I love just sitting back and watching them thumb through the book with big beaming smiles. More than anything, that’s the reason I do what I do. Last week, Gemma received her album over in York in England and she sent me this lovely message:

“Hi Dylan,
Thank you sooooooooooooooooooooo much for the beautiful album we are both so pleased with it, I couldn’t put it down last night, every time I looked at it I saw something different in the photos! Again thank you for all your help it has been a pleasure working with you, you made the whole process so easy and enjoyable.
Take care.
Kind regards
Gemma and Scott”

I’m really proud to get great feedback like that and I have to say I can’t wait for my new wedding season to begin next month.

Rachel and Peter brought me down to Bray in County Wicklow just after Christmas to shoot their wedding at the beautiful Christchurch and Esplanade Hotel.

I received this lovely email when they saw their pictures last week:

“Hi Dylan,
Just wanted to send you a quick email to say thank you so much for the photos, they are fantastic, we had been waiting with baited breath for them and you really didn’t disappoint, really captured the day perfectly.
There are some in particular we just cant stop looking at.
Thanks so much again.”

Here are just a few of my many favourites:

Donna-Marie and Paul came home from London just before the New Year to tie the knot in St Mochuas, Derrynoose, Co Armagh (with reception at Darver Castle, Readypenny, Co Louth). Donna’s Grandmother had married in the same church forty years ago so there was a wonderful atmosphere during the ceremony and through the remainder of the day.

Donna-Marie sent me this lovely message yesterday after she had seen her photographs:

“Hi Dylan, Paul and I have seen the photographs and we are just delighted with them – was so emotional this morning when I seen them. Thank you so so much for capturing such wonderful moments.”

Here are just a few of my many favourites from the wedding: