Victoria & David // Summer Wedding at the Shankly Hotel, Liverpool.
From Northamptonshire to Liverpool. Photographing Weddings across the UK is a dream come true! The Shankly Hotel is like nothing else.
Hello and Welcome,
Last month I had the absolute privilege of photographing David & Victoria’s Wedding at the legendary Shankly hotel in Liverpool. I love every wedding I photograph, and this was certainly no exception. The theme of the wedding was Peaky Blinders in the day and an all out Great Gatsby theme in the evening. (I even dressed up for the big day wearing my flat cap and a white shirt which was a first)
IN ALL HONESTY, I DO NOT KNOW WHERE TO EVEN START WHEN TYPING UP THIS BLOG.
THERE WAS JUST SO MUCH HAPPENING ON THE DAY IT’S HARD TO REMEMBER EVERY LITTLE DETAIL.
I am not ashamed to admit that I was even taken by surprise during some parts of the day as were the couple, the first dance especially caught me a little off guard but I managed to get my camera gear, lighting etc. all in the right place at the right time and capture those special moments.
I will keep this as brief as I can as I prefer the images to do all the talking, but let me start from the beginning.
So I arrived in Liverpool the day before the wedding which gave me a chance to check out the venue itself, get a feel of the place so to say and lastly I would sooner have arrived the day before than having risked driving to Liverpool on the wedding day itself, my worst nightmare would have been to have got stuck in traffic and be late or not make it at all. (Thank you for sorting out the accommodation David & Vicki, the hotel room was out of this world!)
So admittedly once I arrived in Liverpool I did a little sightseeing which was great, I hadn’t visited Liverpool in over ten years so it was nice to return. I want to go back to the city as it was just so much fun, I would 100% stay at the Shankly hotel again as it, in all honesty, one of the loveliest hotel’s I have ever stayed in.
So after a good night’s sleep the day of the wedding had arrived, and I was waiting at the door of the presidential suite for 9am ready to photograph Victoria and her bridesmaids getting ready.
IT’S HARD TO PUT INTO WORDS HOW STUNNING THE PRESIDENTIAL SUITE AT THE SHANKLY HOTEL IS BUT IT REALLY WAS SOMETHING SPECIAL
SO ONCE EVERYONE WAS ALL DRESSED AND READY TO HEAD UP TO THE CEREMONY, I MADE MY WAY TO THE ROOFTOP WHERE THE WEDDING CEREMONY WAS BEING HELD.
I always like to capture guests before the ceremony is in full swing. We were very lucky on the day as the weather was perfect and everywhere I looked guests were smiling and having a good time.
Now again, I wish I could explain just how stunning this venue is. The amount of detail that went into this wedding was like nothing else I had seen before. The ceremony went without a hitch and before we all knew it David & Victoria were officially Mr & Mrs Cooper. There was clearly a lot of love and even a few tears shed which is always nice to see. Well over 200 guests came to the wedding and all of them looked so happy for the newly wedded pair.
AFTER THE CEREMONY THIS IS WHERE THE ENTERTAINMENT BEGAN AND WAS PRETTY MUCH NON STOP UNTIL THE END OF THE NIGHT!
They had a ‘Punch & Judy’ show plus more entertainment during the wedding breakfast for the children. They also had singing waiters, a Jazz musician, stilt walkers, tap dancers, magician, salsa dancers and casino-themed games. There is no way you could say the guests were bored as there was something for everyone.
The wedding breakfast was easily a 5-star meal, and I was lucky enough to sit with the guests and tuck into the food, it was seriously good. The way they planned it was also rather clever. The children ate a little earlier so during the meal for the adults the kids were kept busy with lots of fun games. Again its little details like that which make such a big difference. During the meal, this is where the singing waiters came in to play and got everyone up on their feet dancing (a Congo line also formed at one point) After the meal all the other forms of entertainment mentioned came out at different points of the evening one after another.
The first dance as mentioned at the beginning of the blog took me a little off guard, myself and the couple thought the dance was going to be on the main dance floor, but we couldn’t have been more wrong. Someone led the couple to a stage where a tribute was played on the big screen. This was such a delicate touch and very thoughtful.
I could easily carry on and talk about this wedding all day but will now let the rest of the images do the work. You will see how epic this day was. This is the most amount of photographs I have actually ever shared in one blog because the fact is it was also the most photographs I had ever given a couple. I believe I was photographing for just over 12 hours but it went by so so quickly that I couldn’t believe the time once I had finished.
So scroll on down and enjoy the rest of the images from this amazing day.
I would like to thank Mr & Mrs Cooper for choosing me as their photographer, it means a lot I really mean that. My aim is to get myself out there and spread my wings far and wide, and thanks to you that became a reality. I would love to return to the Shankly hotel again, as it is so packed full of photography goodness, and as a wedding venue, it is simply stunning!
I hope we meet again one day as you two were such a cracking couple and incredibly easy to get along with; I wish you all the best in the future x
