This is a really important blog post to me personally…below are the words of some of my brides and grooms from the last 12 months who voted for me in The Wedding Industry Awards – who’s votes contributed towards me becoming North West Wedding Photographer of the Year…!!!
The thing that pushed me to enter these awards is that they felt a little different to other awards – there’s a credibility attached to them due to not only your brides and grooms voting for you and having to leave testimonials, but you are then judged by a panel of industry experts, who take into consideration not only your work, but what your clients have had to say about you. So it really felt that I had to get a lot of things right to even stand a chance of being shortlisted in the category.
And to have won totally blew my mind. Nearly as much as when I got to read the testimonials my brides and grooms had submitted…
Thank you all so much for inviting me to be a part of your amazing day. Thank you all for saying such nice things about me. I found it very humbling and hugely emotional.
Finally, thank you for allowing me to share your wonderful comments in this blog post.
Each set of comments is accompanied by a single image from that particular bride and groom’s wedding – one of my own personal favourite’s from their respective special days…
Carly & Ian:
“We couldn’t recommend Jonny highly enough. He’s down to earth, personable and listens to what you really want. Breathtaking, Stunning and Unbelievable are all words our friends and family have used to describe our wedding photos and we couldn’t agree more. The guy is a genius behind the lens!”
“We knew right from the start what we wanted from our wedding photos and so choosing the right photographer was really important to us. As soon as we saw some of Jonny’s photo’s we knew he was the photographer we wanted for our wedding day, his pictures speak for themselves. From our very first meeting we knew he would be perfect. He puts you completely at ease and listens to exactly what you want from your wedding photos. All the special moments that you don’t get to see when you’re busy being the bride and groom, he manages to catch on film. They say a picture speaks a thousand words and our photos tell our wedding day story faultlessly from start to finish. They are incredible and we couldn’t be happier with them – A picture perfect day captured with perfect pictures!!!”
Bex & Matt:
“Jonny really understood exactly what we wanted from our photos. He was so helpful on the day, even helping us keep our timings on track!! I loved the fact that we got to see some of our photos on the blog whilst we were away!Even the hotel staff on our honeymoon were excited to see them!”
Hayley & Matt:
“We found Jonny to be incredibly enthusiastic and professional. He not only understood our crazy ideas but interpreted them perfectly and even added to them! He blended into the background on the day yet produced stunning, quirky, beautiful photos with the retro edge we wanted.”
Katherine & Spencer:
“The first thing I said after “YES!!” when my husband proposed was “we have to get Jonny Draper to do our photographs”. We wanted pictures that reflected us and our love for Manchester and Jonny understood that right away- we had such fun with him on the day and we adore our album! Top job Jonny!”
“He has a brilliant reputation locally and he is clearly committed and passionate about making the whole experience really special. We felt confident that he understood what we wanted from the second we first contacted him and his talent and flair is really amazing- he is a real artist. Plus his wife is just lovely too.”
Suzie & Mark:
“My pictures looked like nothing I have seen before, so beautiful I couldn’t have been happier! Everyone commented that they didn’t even notice him on the day! He also acted like a wedding coordinator on the day and helped me with everything!! Even managed to get some amazing photos of my 2yr old!”
Vicky & Jamie:
“From the minute we met Jonny and gave him an idea of the vision we had for our wedding photography we knew we were in incredibly safe, professional and enthusiastic hands. Jonny has amazing creativity and the ability to capture the true emotion at the moment the shutter clicks. An amazing service!”
“After only a few minutes in Jonny’s company it was clear that he completely understood our brief of what we were hoping to achieve in our wedding photos. I didn’t lose one minute of sleep over whether the results would be to our satisfaction which coming from a bride is testement in itself! We have been left with truly amazing memories of our wedding day brought to life through Jonny’s stunning photography. Jonny Draper Photography -an absolute must have for all brides and grooms to be.”
Laura & James:
“Jonny is a very talented photographer; his photographs of our wedding have been admired & complimented by our families & guests (we used some shots for thank yous). I was particularly impressed with the way he captured the emotion of our ceremony & the family shots we requested (we have 2 young kids).”
“Jonny made me feel very comfortable that he understood exactly the type of shots I wanted for the wedding from early on. He is a very warm and likeable guy and made us feel at ease (which was important because we are not “posey” people who enjoy having our photo taken!) from our first meeting, on our pre wedding shoot and on the big day. He knew the venue very well and was great at directing us in the right location and poses. He is enthusiastic about his art and that really shines through in his approach. I would and have recommended him to other couples.”
Alison & Adam:
“From the moment we met Jonny we knew that we wanted him as our photographer for our wedding day. His advice was excellent and never pushy – he was great at interpreting what we wanted and expected from our wedding day. The day went perfectly and a large part of that was due to Jonny.”
Katie & Mark:
“The photographs from our Wedding were more beautiful than we imagined. The groom was camera shy so didn’t want to pose for many but after the wedding said he wouldn’t have minded as Jonny made him feel so comfortable. The presentation of the photos on a slide show has me in Tears everytime I watch.”
“We booked Jonny Draper photography as we love his photography style and are so glad we did! The images are amazing and truly capture the emotion of the wedding day!”
Ally & Matt:
“Jonny was both very professional & flexible when it came to the planning of the day. We gave him a list of shots we wanted & he fit them into the day as the moment presented itself meaning we had time to enjoy the whole day without the ‘pushy photographer’ phenomena. Fantastic service & photographs”
“Jonny came recommended by the suppliers of the wedding dress – Michelle from Timeless Bride in Cheshire. We first looked on his website and blog which gave a very good representation of his work and we soon got in contact to meet. On meeting him in person, we found him to be very professional and friendly and we felt like we we could tick the photographer off the list and forget about that part of the wedding plans knowing that we were in safe hands”
Kavita & John:
“We knew as soon as we saw Jonny’s pictures that he had to be the photographer for our wedding. We met up with him (after several emails) to confirm we would get on, which of course we did, and booked him straight away! We couldn’t be happier with our wedding photos and album.”
“His pictures speak for themselves! He has a distinctive style which we loved and fit our vision of our day. If that wasn’t enough, he is a top guy and very easy to get along with/work with. From start to finish, his service has been top class. From our initial emails, to meeting up a few times at local wedding events, to our pre-wedding shoot, our wedding day and the communication after; we have enjoyed every bit and are so glad we booked Jonny.
Our wedding was on one of the hottest, sunniest days of the year, in a giant greenhouse, and we had 2 ceremonies on the same day so it wasn’t the easiest wedding to shoot..! But Jonny was superb on the day and our photos totally reflect our day perfectly.
Our friends and family have been so impressed with our photos too. We couldn’t recommend him highly enough.”
Lynn & Paul:
“Jonny was excellent. As well as producing lovely photo’s, the service was excellent. We treasure both sets of pictures (pre-wedding shoot & wedding set) Jonny produced for us. He’s so good, he even managed to make it look like we could actually dance, when we both have 2 left feet.”
Hannah & Ian:
“Jonny Draper is an exceptional photographer but equal to that, is his fantastic personality and likability. As soon as we met him, we felt totally relaxed in his company and confident in his amazing talent and abilities. We truly couldn’t be happier with our beautiful wedding photographs. Many of my friends had been disappointed with their wedding photos as they were too traditional with a ‘set up’ feel. I wanted to choose a photographer with artistic vision, whose photos would be a piece of art on my wall as well as being a true reflection of the day.”
“It is clear that Jonny tries to make every image the best it possibly can be and wants to produce the best images he can for his clients but also for his own professional development. This drive to be the best he can be results in some of the best photographs I have ever seen and his ability to capture all of the emotions of the day (no matter how fleeting the moment) amazes me every time I look at my photographs. I chose to book Jonny within 5 minutes of meeting him, which says a lot as my wedding photographs were my absolute priority and I immediately loved his style, vision and brilliant charisma! I knew that everyone at the wedding would be completely at ease being photographed by him. I cannot praise him enough!”
Jess & Matt:
“Personal, Professional, organised and relaxed. When Jonny was taking photos it was as if he wasn’t there so no awkward posing just beautiful genuine story telling photos. He captured our children stunningly and kept very calm trying to organise us all, not easy with a baby and a three year old!”
Gemma & Dave:
“The quality of Jonny’s work on his website/blog was the first reason we booked him. Secondly, once we had met him in person, his enthusiasm blew us away and we realised that he totally “got us” and would deliver what we wanted from a photographer. We wanted a non-intrusive photographer where we didn’t feel we were being taken away from our guests and this is exactly what Jonny delivered. After the first meeting, we rang him within half an hour and booked him as we knew there was no point in seeing anyone else and it was the best wedding decision we made.”
Andy & Seb:
“From the pre-wedding shoot to the actual big day, Jonny made sure we felt incredibly comfortable and got the photos/memories of our day that we wanted. He was able to capture the emotion of the day in his shots which is what we wanted and couldn’t have asked for better photographer. Thanks Jonny!!”
“We met a number of photographers, however Jonny was the only one to spend some time getting to know us as a couple and trying to understand what kind of photos we wanted from the day. He spent time getting us used to the camera with a pre-wedding shoot and the photos were beautiful. We were sure from the way he was able to understand how we wanted our day to go that he was the photographer for us.
As the photographer ultimately spends time being part of your day I think you also need someone who is easy to be around, polite, and attentive and Jonny is all those things and more. He took the time to deliver the photos in person and made a DVD of images to music for us as well. He chose beautiful shots and the music brought both me and my partner to tears with emotion. I could not recommend Jonny highly enough.”
Pam & Ged:
“From the first enquiry email I sent to Jonny he has been nothing but friendly professional and courteous, he has gone above and beyond anything we expected from a photographer and we are overwhelmed with the images he produced for us. We couldn’t have hoped for any more!”
“We booked Jonny Draper Photography as we love his photography style and are so glad we did! The images are amazing and truly capture the emotion of the wedding day!”
Helen & Graeme:
Jonny was very knowledgeable professional friendly experienced he captured our special day in the exact way we wished and asked for he really did a fantastic job and we were over the moon with the results his style and approach was superb and we wouldnt recommend anyone else to friends or family”
“His style and great attitude and approach very professional got what we wanted and we got on really well from our first meeting”
Becca & Paul:
“When I received my wedding photographs, what amazed me more than anything was not just the quality, but Jonny’s ability to capture every single emotion, from tears, to laughter and the overall atmosphere during the speeches, welcome drinks, service. It was literally like re living the moment again.”
Kerry & John:
“Jonny was AMAZING – he was very professional and personable in everything he did for us and we enjoyed having him as part of our big day. His photography speaks for itself and we loved the blog and our finished prints.”
“Jonny is the sort of guy who you could imagine going for a drink with and having a really good night – personable, fun and creative. We “clicked” from the first moment we met and we booked him straight away!”
What a year…
xxx