With the economy booming the way it is, and all that spare cash floating around in the run up to your wedding, you may be looking for a way to spank that little bit extra. It’s never too late to book in a firework display! At least this is what my brother and I are hoping when you see the amazing display we recently did for Merle & Ant’s wedding. As well as being a wedding photographer I help run a professional firework display company with my brother Nick called Matthews Brothers Pyro. I design the shows and help put them together, and then on the day I take the pictures and he does all the hard work out in the cold, it works very well

Merle is a girl who knows what she wants and gave us a really simple brief, she wanted it bigger rather than longer and set to the track Feel the Love by Rudimental. I will let you judge the results for yourself…

To quote Merle…

“I just wanted to say from the bottom of my heart THANKYOU SO SO SO SO SO SO MUCH!!!!!!!

We had the most amazing day and you were fantastic to have around. We felt so comfortable with you and i’m glad you could be part of our special day.

The fireworks! Well that was probably one of the most amazing experiences of my life. You exceeded my expectations a million times over!! They were the best part of the day, everyone commented on how amazing they were. In fact when I watched it back then I started crying!!!

One of my friends rung me today especially to tell me how amazed she was at the fireworks. In her own words she said they were better than ones she had seen at Disney Land earlier this year!

Other people have rung me saying they have watched the video clip about 4 or 5 times in a row because they are so amazed”

Feedback does’t get any better than that! The goal with both wedding photography and fireworks is always the same, and it makes me so happy to get such a nice reaction. The display itself may only last a little under 4 minutes but there are days and days of planning and preparation that go into it. It’s all designed on computer to be in time with the music and then 100′s of fireworks are needed to bring the display together.

Of course the advantage of booking your fireworks with Matthews Brothers Pyro is that you know you are going to get a stunning display along with photos and a video to match…

I think you will agree that is a fantastic way to start a marriage! A massive thank you to Merle & Ant for trusting us to put on the display, and to The Priory Cottages, near Wetherby, for being so nice and accommodating.

The budget doesn’t have to be massive, we can scale from £500 right into the thousands. So head on over to the Matthews Bros Pyro website for more details and a promise that if you book both your photography and fireworks with me you will get an unbeatable special deal and your wedding day will end with one heck of a bang

Kicking off the full blown wedding season early was Louise & Jamie and their wedding at the lovely Belle Epoque in Knutsford. Being slap bang in the middle of Knutsford it can be a tricky place to photograph but Louise & Jamie were up for having a wonder around the town with everyone looking at them…

I think that just goes to show that if you are willing to walk around (in the dark sometimes!) you can still get lovely wedding pictures where ever you are

I’ve been a member of the BIPP for the past 4 years now, and have entered the print competitions in the past. I have picked up a couple of merits along the way along with some very useful feedback. But last night was a bit different, it proved to be third time lucky for me with this picture of the stunning Philippa…

I won the coveted title of the 2013 BIPP Contemporary Wedding Photographer of the Year for the Yorkshire Region. It was taken in the old Garden Room of Kingston Bagpuize House, this was certainly an image I loved the moment I looked down at the camera and I am so glad the judges recognised it, we had a wonderful day and you can still see more images from Philippa & Mark’s wedding on the blog.

I was also very close to winning the overall Social Photographer of the Year with this picture, and I now think I know what it must be like for reality TV stars waiting to hear if they have one, as the judges made us wait and wait. I was so close, but the other image was so amazing in a totally different way I can see why it got the prize.

But that wasn’t all, I also got 3 merits in the same category for some of my favourite images from last year…

This image of JoJo has to be one of my personal favourites, her pose is amazing and I love everything about it!

I’m really happy with this picture of Amie & Eoin, you need to see it printed MASSIVE to get the real idea about it.

This picture of Adrienne was so nearly the winner, the judges made lots of nice comments about it. I would have been happy for any of these pictures to win, I love them all.

I really need to thank Stewart at Folio Albums for his help getting the best out of the prints. They were printed on the same paper using the same process as they would be in a real life Folio Album, so I can now safely say that if you order a Folio Album from me it will have this same Award Winning print quality. The judges made several comments on the quality of the prints, and I can see why. Folio’s printing is second to none in my opinion, they pull out a level of detail that is really hard to obtain in fine art prints and they just sit so nicely on the paper. Just brilliant !!! I am hoping soon my couples will be able to order prints with this exact same quality, watch this space!!!

It’s always nice to be asked to photograph a destination wedding, and Afsaneh & Keywan’s was no exception! I joined the ever talented wedding cinematographer extraordinaire Mark Lenik at the 5 star Hotel Hesperia, Lanzarote. It was a little strange to be there in what felt like the perfect British summers day, but to still have Christmas decorations up including a full blown tree in the lobby. It was a really special day, with a back drop that would take a lot of beating…

Have no fear, working with Mark is always a laugh and turning this into a 5 day adventure was what I can only call interesting and enlightening

I think you will agree that Afsaneh & Keywan picked a fabulous destination for their wedding day, and a belt of sunshine in the middle of the winter was very very welcome indeed!

They say you always go out on a bang, and we certainly did that on the last day of 2012 with JoJo & Tom. I was joined by Nicola for their wedding at Ham Polo Club for what would be a very special day…

Wow, what a party! Partly to do with JoJo & Tom’s amazing guests, but also because Tom runs the best party/disco company ever, Splendid Sounds! Seriously if yo need a DJ or Disco for your event book these guys, they really know how to throw a party like no other !!!

I think I also saved it until the last day to take my favourite picture of 2012, the one of JoJo on her own in B&W on the path with the lights behind her. You can see even more special moments in their slideshow…

To host their amazing wedding Kim & Tim picked One Great George Street in Central London, just a stones throw from Parliament Square. It’s the former Institution of Civil Engineers building, and is spectacular inside. I was also lucky to be joined by the amazing Tom Arber to make sure we captured every moment, Tom started with the boys…

A truly spectacular day! I always find Central London a challenging place to work, but Kim & Tim (and all their guests) made it a pleasure.

I should also point out that Erika from Flutterfly Events did an amazing job of making sure everything ran to plan, everything was timed to perfection. A great Wedding Planner is worth their weight in gold !!!

Also a big thanks to Tom, worked like a trooper all day and captured some perfect moments !!!

You can see even more of Kim & Tim’s pictures in their slideshow below…