LeopardPrints Weddings: Wedding Photography at St John's Church Killingworth

Lynsey & Gary

St John's Church Killingworth & DeVere Village Hotel

Lynsey and Gary found us while looking for a wedding photographer for their wedding at The Village Hotel Newcastle. We work regularly at this venue and its one of our favourites! They got married at St Johns Church in Killingworth Village.

This wedding was very nearly one that we didn’t see. Unfortunately Gary was involved in a serious accident at work just a few months before the wedding was due to take place, he almost didn’t make it and spent a period of time in intensive care critically ill in hospital for a while too. He proved everyone wrong when the doctors said he wouldn’t be able to be at the wedding, or that he wouldn’t be able to manage to walk or be fit enough to last out the full day. Wow did he prove everyone wrong and showed an amazing amount of willpower and strength and they had an amazing day- Here is the story of their beautiful day.

Getting Ready
Lynsey was getting ready at her mums when we arrived and was with her bridesmaid, mum and dad and the couple’s daughter Lola. Hair had been done and makeup was underway and everyone was looking beautiful! Even Lola had a little bit of make up on too. They girls had stunning bouquets to carry and little Lola had a super cute traditional flower crown in her hair.

Lynsey’s dress was an amazing fitted dress, she was helped into it by her bridesmaid who expertly fastened all the tiny buttons on the back. With her look complete by adding shoes and jewellery the bride looked amazing and she was ready to go!

She entered the room where her mum and dad were waiting to see her fully ready- there were a few tears all round!

The Ceremony
When we arrived at St Johns church Gary was greeting guests as they took their seats and was having a walk around and a chat with his best man trying to keep calm! He took his position at the front of the room with his best man and the boys for the ceremony to start.
The bridesmaid and flower girl went first down the aisle, with Lola carrying a little sign saying Daddy here comes your bride, followed by Lynsey who was walked down the aisle by her father to meet her Groom.

The couple made their wedding vows to each other and there were a few different hymns sung. We must admit we have never been to a wedding service quite like this one, the vicar is a lot of fun and decided to introduce a bit of hymn karaoke! So at different points of the songs he walked up to guests and gave them the microphone and they sang a few words then he moved on to someone else. Both the guests and the couple found this hilarious!
They exchanged wedding rings. It was then announced the groom could kiss his beautiful bride and they were officially married!

The formalities of signing the register were completed then everyone headed outside for photographs in front of the church and some fab confetti throwing!

We try to keep the family formal photos brief so guest don’t get bored, it usually takes around half an hour. Once they are out the way guests were able to head off to the next venue- The Village Hotel. The couple headed off to the wedding car and a pink limo arrived as a special treat for the children to take them all to the hotel, they were very impressed with it! This is a great time to have your photos done together as a couple as guests are less likely to miss you as they will be getting a drink, freshening up, and chatting about the day so far when they arrive at the hotel.

The Romantic Husband & Wife Photographs
The Village Hotel is often underestimated as a wedding venue due to its location. It actually has a lot to use! We took the couple over the road to the Rising Sun Country Park for some gorgeous shots next to the lake in picturesque surroundings and did a few shots with the vintage car in the car park area. We then headed back over to the hotel to get some quirky shots inside the Hotel Restaurant. Wedding Photography in the Buca Restaurant is always a little different and gives some unique images which is great. We did some photos with the couple, and then Gary brought his groomsmen round for some fun shots with cards around the godfather table, and they had a photo in the Passion Pit booth with Lindsey’s bridesmaid and her partner who are both very close friends of the couple.

The Speeches
By the time we were finished with all the photo fun it was time to head to the Vibe room for the speeches and wedding breakfast.
The room looked fab decorated with pretty centre pieces and coloured mood lighting behind the drapes.

Lynsey’s dad gave the first speech and did a great job, he was clearly very proud of the two of them and very happy for them. Gary went next and it all got a bit much for him and he was a little overcome with emotion, the reality of him almost not making it to see the day hit him. He gave out thanks and gifts to everyone for helping and said how lovely the bride looked (smooth move Gary!) and then it was time for the best man’s speech. The best man had a lot of tales to tell about Gary and he also was pleased to see him there at the wedding. There was a bit of embarrassment while some of the stories went on but it was all in good spirits! Lastly the bride stood to say a few unplanned words of thanks for the support everyone had shown to them

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!

Party time!
After the meal the guests made their way back out to the bar area while the room was set up ready for the evening celebrations. The lovely Kathie from Balloon Bedlam had been and set up some unique balloon centrepieces on additional tables that matched the colour scheme but also had funky lights in them! The DJ arrived to set up and put the sparkly LED dance floor down to get ready for the party to begin, the projector was up displaying the images for guests to see, and we also had our PropStudio set up for some silly pictures with props for the night! The PropStudio photos are uploaded to our facebook page by the following morning for guests to share and tag themselves- it’s a lot of fun for your guests! We also had a signing frame out as a guest book alternative for everyone to leave messages to the happy couple.

After the cutting of the cake was done Mr and Mrs Illingworth stepped onto the dance floor for their first dance as newlyweds. We set off one of our confetti cannons to add to the first dance fun- Gary forgot it was coming and got a shock when it went off!

A lot of people were on the dance floor and just as we were about to leave everyone sat on the dance floor for a funny rendition of Oops upside your head which made for some great pictures and everyone was having a lot of fun! They were still enjoying themselves when we headed off home!

Overall it was a great day for everyone with lots of genuine emotion and we had a great time. We hope they like their photos as much as we do!

Thanks to Gary & Lynsey 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 Mr & Mrs Illingworth!