I was pleasantly surprised by the reaction from lots of the lovely couples featured in my last blog post. So I have put together all the replies and the favourite pictures they picked themselves and made this follow up post…

They are not in any particular order, just as I found them in my inbox basically. We’ll kick off with Abbie & Mark…

“We received our photos and slideshow in a delightful package the weekend we got back from our honeymoon – it made our return from New York bearable….when we saw them we were literally blown away. We have so many favourites, the photos capture the chilled vibe of the day and prove that it was actually a beautiful summers day!!”

Our favourite bits of the wedding day…

from Abbie: “Seeing my dad in the morning and standing on the steps of the church before going in – first time I felt nervous…”

from Mark: “The obvious, seeing Abbie for the first time in her dress and getting to go in a fantastic car!”

“We loved the way Cris and Nicola caught the small, fleeting moments- a cheeky smile or a quick snog, not posed but still special. We chose this photo as it was our first kiss that we had that we weren’t told to do!”

Next up is Alex & Simon. Alex has been a little naughty and picked a few favourites…

“These just capture the fun and hard work we all put in to the day – i love how relaxed we all look (especially Simon)”

“I just LOVE Jim’s (best man) pose and facial expression in this shot!

” I love the bales in the background and the funky sign we made”

“This is my favourite shot of Simon and I . The time we spent alone between the church and reception was so special and time to just let it all sink in and I think that this shows this really nicely, and we just look so happy!! It’s really nice to have a few silent seconds alone in the day inbetween all the madness”

“One of my favourite memories from the day included the excitement of waiting just outside church ready to go in to get married, the seconds alone with Dad at the door – He was more nervous than I was!!!”

I found it especially hard to pick just one shot from Alex & Simon’s wedding so I’m secretly quite glad she picked a few more for me 🙂

Here is another wedding I found it really difficult to pick form, Danielle & Mike…

“We’d had to postpone our wedding by a whole year due to the arrival of our baby boy Jake! However, it was well worth the wait and having Jake with us made it even more special!”

“Being a total Monica, I had everything planned for the 2010 date, therefore the venue had been chosen in 2009!! Peckforton Castle was a cut above the rest, and we knew after our first visit that we had to get married there. Given that our wedding was in December, we went for a real Christmassy theme, silver and red, with reindeers, christmas trees and lots and lots of candles!! I loved setting up the rooms the night before, putting out the table plan, name cards and the cake!! I was so excited for our family and friends to see the Castle and what we had done to dress it up. Everything we had worked so hard on seemed to all just fall into place, even the decorations the Castle had up, reindeers at the entrance and massive decorated trees in every room, fell into our theme and colour scheme.”

“The weather for the wedding couldn’t have been better, we knew a winter wedding was a gamble, however, albeit a little chilly, the sky was clear and blue and there was no hint of rain!! Every bit of the day ran as smoothly as it could, even me coming down the aisle to greet Mike in a red dress(!) It is hard to pin point a favourite part of the day, obviously becoming man and wife was the most special, however, I think we both agree that our favourite bit was the wedding breakfast. The picture Cris picked for his blog shows how warm, cosy and welcoming the room was, and having all of our family and closest friends together in there was amazing and made both Mike and I appreciate how lucky we were. The brilliant speeches from my Dad, Mike and our Bestman, James, were simply the icing on the cake!!”

“It was hard for us to pick our favourite picture, there were so many, however, we both love this one. It was taken at the entrance to the Castle and just after we had taken our vows! Whilst Cris hasn’t asked us to harp on about his (and of course Nicola’s) photography skills, our guests have said that the photos really capture the essence of the day. Each and every one has a story behind it, makes us smile, laugh, or cry and reminds either myself, Mike or one of the guests of how special a day it actually was – they really are amazing”

“The only criticism I have is that there are too many nice ones!! We are really struggling to pick which ones will go in frames and whilst we have narrowed it down to 30, we think the walls of the house would struggle under the weight!”

I am so glad that Danielle picked that picture, I really wanted to put it on the original post but her room was so amazing I also wanted to share that. Sometimes that amazing artistic perfect moment isn’t the favourite memory of the day. The meaning and feeling behind a picture a very personal thing, and I know this shot is one of Danielle’s favourites too…

Jill & Andy had a lovely relaxed and intimate day, but I love the contrast the image they have selected shows…

Jill writes –  “It’s really hard to pick a favourite part of the day, it was all so relaxed, but I think for us it has to be the wedding breakfast – having all our friends and family around us, in the cosy setting with the open fires was just perfect. And your photos really captured this so well!”

 I picked a picture of the fireworks from Kate & Chris’ wedding, they had such a fantastic day (the weather was sooooo amazing) so I am glad they have picked a couple to share…

Kate writes – “I think my favourite photo is the one where we are on the other side of the lake and look a bit like dolls holding hands and then leaning for a kiss. It is so different than any photo I have seen before”

I am so glad Kate picked this picture, it’s hard to see on the blog, but printed wide this would look lovely on the wall. I took a strong dose of influence from my photographer buddy  Tom Arber for this shot 🙂

“Chris has a different favourite , it is where Chris and I are driving back in the golf cart and you have taken it from behind us as we drive back to the reception for the speeches and food”

“I think our best memory of the day is definitely having everyone we cared about in one room, this is probably the only time in our life’s where this will happen and it was so special. People always say you will love being the centre of attention but both of us being the opposite to this we were really not looking forward to that aspect of it. However we can say that it was the best day of your llives and loved every minute of being the centre of attention because you are surrounded by people that care about you”

“Cris as a photographer you manage to fit into the background and are so discreet whilst still maintaining control and capturing some amazing pictures. All of our guests commented on your manner and the number of comments we have had about the photos is unbelievable”

“We would highly recommend you and am so glad we chose you to capture the best day of our lives!”

Keep an eye out in Perfect Wedding Magazine, as I think you should spot Kate & Chris in an upcoming issue. Now for a day we’ll never forget, Kathryn & Stuart had a fab day in the Lake District…

Kathryn writes – “I think you captured the essence of ‘us’ beautifully in this shot! We love a bit of rockin’ out!”

Lauren has picked a pretty awesome photobooth picture as her favourite from her wedding to Peter, I’m just so glad we did this…

 Lauren writes – “I struggled to find a way of describing our day any better than my sister, so I think I’ll let her do the talking…”

“Your mum asked me today what I thought was the best bit out of the whole weekend and I couldn’t pick any, thats because from start to finish it was perfect, right from the wedding invites, the fantastic Castle, the nice weather, the yummy food, all your guests, the Scottish pipers, the DJ, the pretty flowers, the beautiful bridesmaids, the speeches, the wedding cake, the little favours, the look on Pete’s  face when he first saw you (priceless), the first dance which you both did beautifully, the photographs, and last but no means least you, Lauren you looked stunning, you both did an excellent job, the perfect fairytale wedding, thankyou for the memories of a brilliant weekend.”

Lauren & Pete have a great page in their album of the photobooth, you can click the preview below for a better look…

Now, picking one picture from Lucy & Charlie’s wedding in Cyprus is super super difficult, but here is Lucy’s…

“Wow, choosing our favourite picture was really hard as we have so many amazing pictures of our big day. When we originally decided to get married in Northern Cyprus my parents were concerned that we may not have any guests!  The expense of flying out as well as accommodation costs may put people off, so we prepared ourselves for a smaller ceremony as we were determined to have a Mediterranean wedding.  Ever since we have been together Charlie and I have lived in the Sun and by a beach so it didn’t seem right to have our most memorable occasion back in the UK. Charlie grew up in Northern Cyprus from the age of 3 so to him it was his home. We didn’t need to worry, I think due to the amount of notice we gave our guests, they were able to mix our wedding in with their yearly holiday and were all excited to go to a country that almost all of which had not been to before. We ended up with 174 guests!”

“Northern Cyprus didn’t know what had hit it, our family and friends explored the beaches and many historical sites as well as experiencing a trip one evening on two Turkish Gulets (one which my dad called the SAGA boat and the other for the “youngsters” donned with a Foam Machine, disco lights and dance floor upstairs!) and then took over the ‘Bellapais Abbey’ and local restaurant called the ‘Archway’ on the big day.”

“The weather was amazing on the wedding day with the sun shining and a lovely cool breeze and the Abbey (ceremony) set up was so romantic.  After some pictures and Brandy Sours (a local favourite drink) we all descended on the Archway restaurant where we had dinner and speeches under the stars.  Some people said it was like a “Mama Mia” wedding which I took as a huge compliment as this is exactly what I had always dreamed of.”

“People travelled all over the world to come and join us and the one thing I will always remember is how overwhelmed Charlie and I both were standing there with people from different parts of our life….colleagues, family, friends…it was amazing.”

“After going through the pictures again I decided on the one which I originally chose as my favourite when we first saw Cris’ photos. It is of Charlie and I standing in the Abbey. Only ourselves and Cris and Nicola were allowed into the Abbey to take the photos so it was a great moment to have some time just the two of us after such an amazing ceremony. It had all gone to plan and we had both managed to say our vows without messing up, no one had tripped down the aisle and the sun was out….we were so happy.”

“Cris and Nicola, from the moment we met you we knew we wanted you to be our photographers. Charlie is a keen photographer himself so I was worried we wouldn’t find anyone that he approved of.  But as soon as he saw your portfolio he knew you were going to be great. Everyone in our group raved about how inconspicuous you were throughout the week and how well you just slotted into our group. Those who have already got married wished you had been there for theirs and those planning to get married were eager to get you booked for their weddings….well done!”

“I just wish we could do it all over again…no wonder people renew their vows!!”

Trust me, when you renew your vows Lucy, I’ll be there 🙂

Just so we know who wears the trousers in his house Craig writes – “The day was amazing from start to finish and you captured the whole of the day for us to treasure”

(Don’t worry Lyndsey we all know the truth 🙂 )

 And last but by no means least Zenab & Ali have picked one of my favourites from their wedding…

Zenab writes – “The photo really captures how we both felt on top of the world at that moment. After saying our vows and exchanging rings, we knew that the months of preparation and planning had been worth it. It was the final of 8 (I know- 8!) wedding events and we were going to enjoy this one with the people we loved, as we had the rest of our lives- and a fabulous honeymoon- to look forward to with optimism and excitement”

“We truly had an unforgettable experience.”

I would just like to thank all the couples who responded to the look back over 2011. It was fascinating to see your wedding through your own eyes, and thank you so much for the lovely lovely comments 🙂

2012 has already started well, I promise I’ll get back to blogging once our new bundle of joy is here 🙂