Wedding Photography at St James' park

Claire & Ben

St.James Park & Hilton Hotel (Double tree)

Claire had come across us while we were photographing a wedding reception at The Ware rooms in Newcastle upon Tyne a while ago and contacted us to book for her own wedding after watching us work! Claire and Ben booked us for their wedding photography at St James’s Park and The Hilton Double Tree Newcastle upon tyne. 

We also met with them for a pre wedding shoot at the beautiful Bolam Lake.

Getting Ready

Claire was getting ready at her mums house with her bridesmaid and her daughter Izzy. 

When we arrived they were all calm and enjoying some champagne which is great. Hair had already been done. The bridesmaid got her dress on and Claire was helped into her dress.

Little Izzy was dying to get her princess dress on too. When everyone was dressed and ready a gorgeous vintage car arrived to take everyone to St James’s Park football stadium for the ceremony. 

The Ceremony

When we arrived at the stadium Ben was greeting guests and everyone was getting into place. 

He was waiting nervously at the front with his groomsmen for the bride’s arrival!

Claire arrived and walked down the aisle to meet her Groom. 

There were some short readings by guests, the couple made their vows to each other and exchanged wedding rings. Not wanting be left out Izzy was at the front with mum & dad joining in! Ben was then able to kiss his beautiful bride and they were over the moon to be husband and wife!

After the formalities of signing the register were completed and few had a few shots with the register then everyone headed outside for photographs in the football stands and went for a short tour around the grounds to get some more family photos and a few photographs of the couple together! 

Ben was in his element sitting in the changing rooms with all the footballers’ shirts out on display!

We then went back to one of the rooms for a drinks reception and canapés and the couple were showered with confetti too!

It was then time to leave and a big old fashioned red bus turned up to take guests to the Hilton hotel for the reception, of course we couldn’t pass up a photo opportunity so grabbed a few shots with the bus before the guests got on board!

The Romantic Couple’s Photographs

We took a little detour with the couple and the wedding car down to Jesmond Dene in Newcastle for some beautiful couple’s shots before the reception.

The weather was definitely on our side! We did some shots with the car then went for a short walk around the Dene using some fabulous backdrops like the bridge and waterfall and an old stone wall. Claire’s veil looked amazing flowing in the spring breeze. 

Claire & Ben had been a little nervous for their wedding photos but after their pre wedding shoot at Bolam Lake they were very relaxed and confident on the day with no nerves as they knew what to expect. They had a great time posing for their photos, we had lots to work with so we headed over to the Hilton Hotel.

The Speeches

The room at The Double Tree Hilton looked amazing with the cake set up and pretty centrepieces. Guests came in and congratulated the couple and took their seats for the meal to be served.

We then took a break to let everyone enjoy their food and we got to work on a selection of the images from the day so far so they could be ready to go up on our projector for the evening reception guests to see!  We love our Image Projector service as it’s a wonderful way to include evening guests in everything that happened during the day time and a great talking point for guests too, as well as giving the Bride and Groom a sneaky peak at what’s to come! 

We joined the reception party again after the meal for the speeches. Claire’s stepdad gave the first speech telling about Claire growing up and when she met Ben, it was a lovely heartfelt speech. 

The groom Ben was up next and had a short speech thanking everyone for coming and telling everyone how happy he was to be married. 

The best man was last to take the stage and gave some funny tales of him and Ben including different props to aid his stories! He told of what they got up to, he had a few jokes included that gave everyone a giggle. He gave a lovely few words about Ben’s dad who sadly had passed away which set off a few tears.  Ben thought the speeches were over then but there was a surprise video message from one of his friends living abroad that couldn’t make the wedding which was lovely!

Party time!

After the meal the guests made their way to the bar area upstairs while the room was set up ready for the evening celebrations. The band arrived to set up and ready for the party to begin, the projector was up displaying the images for guests to see and we had our PropBox set up for some fun shots and a signing frame as a guest book alternative was out also.

After a quick cutting of the cake was done Mr and Mrs Dodd hit the dance floor for their first romantic dance as newlyweds.  

The kids were having a great time with the props and running round the dance floor and everyone was having a lot of fun and they were still enjoying themselves when we headed off home!

Overall it was a great day for everyone and we had a brilliant day. We hope they like their photos as much as we do! Thanks to Claire and Ben for choosing us to photograph their wedding day and allowing us to capture their memories to keep.  

We wish you all the best for the future together as husband and wife!

If you are getting married at St James Park and would like LeopardPrints photography to help capture the memories then don't hesitate to drop us a mail! 

The wedding car : AB Wedding Cars 

The Stationary :  weddinvites

The Wedding Rings : Smooch rings

Event Dressing (Hilton) :  Catherine's

Event Dressing and Florist at (St James) :  Greener Interiors

Flower Gifts : Flower cabin

The Band :  The Banned

The Cake : Marks & Spencer's

London Bus : Henry Cooper Coaches
The Dress : Rosetta Nicolini from Berketex Bride

Centrepieces : brides own

Hair : Henry Robert Hairdressing, Ponteland

Suits : Slaters