
I was extremely happy when Lauren and Michael asked me to be their Burnley wedding photographer. This happy couple booked me for half day coverage at their wedding at The Best Western Oaks Hotel. This beautiful old building used to be the private home of a local tea merchant and it retains that sense of history in its features and architecture.
I joined our bride Lauren in a busy bridal prep room at the wedding venue. Everyone was already having their hair and make-up done and seeing as the hair stylist was also a friend of the family it was nice to include her in the photos too. I was pleased to hear that Lauren and her best friends were rock kids , now retired (you’re never really retired), like myself. Even though I’m a bit older (not *that* much older), we were able to compare notes on our exploits in rock clubs when we were a little younger!
The bridal suite quite a few well positioned mirrors which I was able to use creatively as part of my natural style of wedding photography, capturing all the laughs and emotion of bridal prep. Lauren’s hair looked lovely, but it was only after styling had been completed that she realised she still had her t-shirt on…and there was no way to remove it without ruining her hair! There was no choice but to cut herself out of the shirt using scissors!
The mother of the bride was naturally very emotional when Lauren emerged from the bathroom adorned in her dress, and they had a heartfelt hug immediately. Her chief bridesmaid and even the hairdresser became emotional at the sight! The episode was repeated again when Lauren’s dad came into the room shortly after. Even his pint of Guinness couldn’t help him hold back the tears!
Some mutual tying of dresses and then everyone was ready to go, but with some time to kill, the bridal party relaxed together, chatting away. Downstairs guests had begun to arrive en masse and Michael was enjoying some hugging between trips to the bar. There were a lot of children at the wedding, including the bride and groom’s son, and they had plenty of fun playing on Oaks Hotel#s grand stairway in the main hall. It wasn’t long before everyone was called to the ceremony room as proceedings were about to begin.
Michael was overjoyed to see Lauren led down the aisle by her father. The wedding ceremony was lovely: full of smiles and laughter. As soon to be married couple read their vows to each other, both Michael and the bridesmaids soon became quite emotional, with the groom having to wipe away his tears with the back of his hand.
The first kiss was a lovely moment and there were hugs all round when our newlyweds exited the ceremony room to the rapturous applause of their guests. After a little mingling and some awesome confetti, Lauren, Michael, and I took a relaxed walk around the grounds of the hotel, taking a few natural couple photos as we went.
Massive congratulations to Lauren and Michael! Thanks for letting me join in on your special day as your Burnley wedding photographer at The Oaks Hotel!
The Oaks Hotel isn’t the only wedding venue in Burnley. If you’re still looking for somewhere awesome to host your special day, why not check out some of the following:
Higher Trapp Country House Hotel
Mytton Fold Hotel and Golf Club
If you like my style of photography why not check some of more of my photos in my portfolio or get in touch to check for availability.