Auckland Castle in Bishop Auckland, Durham, was a brilliant place to produce wedding photographs,
I didn't even know that Auckland Castle existed until Gillian and Robin booked me as their wedding
photographer.

I only have a small brain - Auckland Castle is in Bishop Auckland - Bishop Auckland has it's own castle -
which is a bit of a ruin.
Auckland Castle isn't Bishop Auckland's castle though - it's the Bishop of Durham's palace !
try getting your head around that one . . .

and it's also a mighty fine setting for a wedding reception !

Auckland castle isnt really a castle though - perhaps a Castle in name only .

rather than start the album off with a picture of a face or a leg or some bit of human anatomy smiling at the camera . . . .. .

howsabout some stained glass.

this piece of glass has particular relevance,
as it overlooked Gillian and Robins wedding.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

St Mary's Cathedral in Newcastle,

Gillian and Robin occupying centre stage with the aforementioned stained glass gazing down on them,

photographer lurking at rear of building with lots of cameras.

The technical name for this manoevre is a kiss.

marriage ceremony over,
Robin shows his feelings
whilst Gillian tries to beat him off with a bouquet.

aha . .

where's she going to now you ask.

she isn't . . . she's arrived.

now at Auckland Castle - notice the smile !

I like unposed pictures like this one,
they look quite simple -
but everything depends
on the photographers timing.

we had to get a picture of the castle.

I wouldn't like to try defending this particular castle in the middle ages . . .

too many windows - you'd get arrows and allsorts lobbed through them.
(and probably bricks with notes on,
saying 'surrender varlet, or else).

The building to the right is the Bishops Chapel, with quite a stupendous interior.

Meanwhile, Robin helpfully demonstrates the domino effect. . .

all you have to do is make sure that one of the girls trips over your leg,
and they all fall over . . . .

Robin and his merry men (sorry - couldn't resist that one) . . . .

start again . ..

Robin discovers who is responsible for the mayhem,

it's that geezer hiding behind a camera . . .

O.K., I'm a bit wierd.

I like architecture,

I like compositions,

and I especially like compositions that dont' comply with tradition.

this one is a bit of a wave,
surging from one side of the image to the other.

do we see candles ?      Oh yes . . .

Gillian and Robin have
singlehandedly revived the fortunes of the British candlemaking industry !

suggestion :

buy shares in candles, before this couple completely corner the market.

seriously - organising flowers for such a large venue as Auckland Castle might daunt many florists.

Kathryn, of Forget Me Not Florists arranged the flowers for this wedding.
The arrangements were spectactular - incorporating candles, fairy lights and allsorts !.

Kathryn has a great deal of experience with Auckland castle,
is easy to get along with and was very helpful to me.

Kathryn can be contacted via

email       kathrynforgetmenot@hotmail.com

phone     07817 192827

shameless plug . . . but give credit where it's due. she's good.

t being winter,
well - technically, it's late autumn . .

but hey - if you can see your breath in the freezing air - it should be called flipping winter.

back to the plot . . it being winter,

it's dark outside quite early,

thus the speeches in the Throne room are lit by candles
(and also candelabra powered by that newfangled electricity that everyone seems to be talking about ).

Wandering about the building during the meal

I blunder into the Bishops Chapel,

wow - what a ceiling.

I'd better stop being silly, get serious and take some sensible pictures . . . or someone will probably beat me about the head with a bouquet.

to the left - Gillian and one of her bridesmaids stand at the entrance to the Bishops humble little chapel.

please don't ask me to explain this picture. I can only say that it took ages to take,
and involved me hopping about like a chinchilla on speed.

the roadway to the castle was lit by burning torches (you may have gathered that . . .)

more pictures are produced at an alarming rate.

but hey . .

you only get one chance. . .

and the cool air is rather pleasant too.

to the left - we see the bishops humble front gate.

The bishop who had it built must have liked gadgets.

fancy having a gate post with a clock in it -
it even has a weather vane.

in it's day - it was probably like something from one of those gadget shops . . .

err . . .

this is me being a bit more serious and trying to take sensible pictures.

I like this one - the whole atmosphere of the image seems to be from another time . .

This couple were really good sports,
they were quite keen to get some decent pictures for their album,

hey . . If they'll have some fun with pictures,
I'm up for it !

the little white (ish) spots in the sky
are water droplets, it started to rain a little bit,

so we grabbed this picture then took shelter indoors.

the water vapour in the air allowed the lights from the Bishops chapel to reach into the sky in a most impressive manner.

Gillian's road lit by burning torches is still functioning

I wonder what it looks like from the air,
best not to think about it,
or every time we heard an aeroplane - we'd duck for cover !

s

omeone left some shoes lying around.

I caught them on camera
just as they tried to shimmy up a tree lit by fairy lights.

yeah . ok

I put them there,

but the first story was a better one. . . .

Gillian steps into her dancing shoes . .

yes . . the very same from the fairy lights picture !

above and left,
Gillian thinks that a guest is photographing her shoes.

she's really removing a contact lens . . but we won't tell . . .

time for me to go methinks.

the shoes have done the trick, they've smiled for my photograph,
they've posed for the lady above,
and now they're carrying Gillian in a whirl around the dance floor.

I'd happily photograph this wedding again tomorrow . . ..