Party on! Benn & Val’s Carlton Towers Wedding Spectacular!
Carlton Towers Wedding Photos | Hamish Irvine Photographer
All the way from Chicago, Benn & Val came and celebrated their big day in the BIGGEST of American styles!
And the crazy story about this wedding, is that I saw Benn and Val in Chicago in February. I was out there photographing my squash photos (anyone who hasn’t seen them, I photograph portraits of pro squash players across the world when I’m not shooting weddings, check some out here). I’d first met Benn & Val when they were over to see Carlton Towers and confirm it as their wedding venue. They found me on the Carlton Towers Recommended suppliers list and got in touch. We hit it off and they booked. Then when I was over in Chicago, we went on they HUGE night out. It was ridiculous. We didn’t get back till 4am, we were smashed, and it was safe to say, one of the best nights out I’ve ever had. The hangover the following day however, goes down as one of my worst, ending a heavy drinking 2 week trip with a bang.
But on with the wedding. Benn, hailing from Yorkshire, and Val from the capital of the mid west, it was a wonderful coming together of friends and family from the two sides of the pond. So the wedding followed the traditional yankee format, where the ceremony isn’t held till the early evening. The bride and groom have a ‘first look’, where they see each other before the ceremony, which the bride also does with her Dad. All group photos are taken before the ceremony too, which makes things really nice and easy for me! There’s much more concentration on the party, which is the best attribute of this format. And the one tradition the Americans so follow, is the open bar rule. All American weddings have an open bar, which was to all us Brits a very exciting prospect.
It was an emotional day on all fronts, kicking it all off with the first look, which was such a lovely moment. I positioned them both round the corner of the front of Carlton Towers, so they were so close to each other, but couldn’t see each other. The deep reds of all the leaves are so attractive this time of year, and just made it all the more lovely.
With Valerie’s side of the family Jewish, we enjoyed a Jewish wedding ceremony at Carlton Towers. The wonderful traditions of glass smashing, mazel tov-ing and chair dancing were all big highlights. And I caught one of my favourite wedding photos I’ve captured this year on the cane floor as Benn’s Mum was thrust up into the air in the chair dancing, and the expression on her face was just priceless.
This autumnal feel was in the air throughout the day, and as the evening went on, and the bar absolutely swamped with thirsty guests, the wedding was an absolute delight. I can’t thank Benn and Val more for our special night out in Chicago, and their extreme generosity for putting me up in a local hotel so I could stay and party. You’re absolutely wonderful people, and I can’t wait to see you next wherever that be in the world!
Congratulations once again, I hope you love all the photos x
Suppliers:
Florist: Lisa’s Florist
Videographer: Grace Films
Sax & DJ: Jonny Ross Music
MUA: Sarah Wilks
Hair: Ego Hair, Pontefract
Want to see another Carlton Towers Wedding? Head over to Jenna & Keifer’s wedding at Carlton Towers last year. It was another cracker that cannot be missed.
Carlton Towers Wedding Photos by Hamish Irvine Photographer. Hamish Irvine is a documentary, fun and relaxed wedding photographer available for weddings in York, across the UK and for weddings worldwide. See more same sex weddings here. Documentary wedding photography story telling packed with energy, colour and life. See more on the blog, and get in touch.
