West Mill Wedding Photography

West Mill Wedding Photography

As far as journeys for a Derby wedding photographer West Mill has to be one of the quickest. I am literally just a few moments away. As such then it’s perhaps no surprise that I’m there a number of times a year to photograph weddings with couples booking me from all over the UK and beyond. It’s a fantastic space for a photographic backdrop, with it’s industrial charm, abundant light and seemingly never ending opportunities for photographic angles. I first visited the venue with one of it’s earliest weddings just after opening in 2015 and I’ve enjoyed the visual character of its Barrel vaulted ceilings, exposed brick walls, cast iron columns and beams ever since.

It’s unique in that each of its 4 floors serves a particular purpose. The 4^th floor for civil ceremonies and celebrant weddings and the 3^rd floor acts as the dinning area for wedding breakfasts. The 2^nd floor as the evening entertainment room for first dance and cake cutting and lastly ground floor for receiving and canapes. It’s an incredibly busy wedding venue coping with approximately 270 bookings a year but is always run to an exemplary standard.

The Gallery/Reception

Upon arrival guests are invited to mingle in The Gallery and enjoy refreshments while the bride and groom make final preparations and see the registrar etc.

The Dressing Room

On the top/4^th floor is the tastefully styled Dressing Room. Adorned with mirrors it’s a great space for makeup and hair for typical bridal preparations and keeps the Bride (in a typical arrangement) out of sight until she’s ready to make her entrance and take her place next to her future husband in the Ceremony.

The Cotton Quarter

When I first laid eyes on this space after it opened in 2015 I couldn’t help but spot the perfect opportunity to a wedding dress on a metal tie point in the ceiling. A spot that’s probably been used in the same way for pictures more than a thousand times since! The primary use for this space is for the actual main wedding ceremony and it’s grand industrial mill windows flood gthe space with natural light on even the darkest days.

An unusual feature of West Mill is that couples often choose to slip away from guests. Guests then head to the ground floor for confetti and champagne. Couples remerge from the dressing room once the area is clear giving me as a photographer the chance to create some great wedding portraits. This lets newlyweds take in their leap into marriage with the bonus of some no pressure pictures.

The grounds

In most cases when it’s a dry day guests will be asked to step out into the courtyard and ready themselves with confetti to throw at the newly married couple. It’s one of my favorite parts of a wedding day as a photographer because there are so many joyous faces in a few short moments. Personally, I like to hold the couple inside until I’ve got guests in position and whilst I’m a documentary style photographer at heart, this is one area where I like to whip up the crowd a little and get the excitement going.

Typically there’s what some of us refer to as the hugathon; where wedding guests come and give a congratulatory hug. Brides and Grooms parents, siblings bridesmaids etc will be reaching in to say hello and I’ll be trying to get all those looks of admiration on camera. It’s often quite an emotional part of the day and can make great pictures. Mostly this is also when drinks and canapés are served and at this point I’m mingling with my camera looking to capture all the wonderful human interactions.

When the time is right I’ll move on to photographing group pictures, and for this part I’ll refer to the questionnaire that’s been filled out ahead of the wedding day. I like to be organised so it rarely takes much more than 20 minutes. A little later I’ll suggest to the couple that we step away from crowd of guests so that we can cover a few wedding portraits. There’s plenty of space in the grounds for great creativity and I’ll do some close up pictures as well as some more landscape photos. We might explore the mills which has some lovely settings with its industrial past, the cobbled streets and characterful river setting are quite the charm for romantic photographs with a setting sun.

The Breakfast floor

In case you’re unfamiliar with the term ‘Wedding Breakfast’ it relates to this being the first meal as a married couple. This entire floor is dedicated to the main meal and I’ve photographed some truly fantastic speeches here. I’ve heard/seen singing waiters, prosecco corks popped, many a wedding meal selfy taken and witnessed many a glass raised. I’m not one for simply staying at the back of the room when I’m photographing this part. Depending on the light and time of day I’ll either shoot with what’s available or I may set up off camera flash lighting, but either way when I’m covering speeches I like to be in the thick of it. It can be a hugely emotional part to the wedding with some truly tender words said between different family members and friends. Often the only way to get those moments across is to be in the action but despite my proximity I’ve never once found it be a problem with most couple commenting that they don’t even remember my presence.

The Spinning Room – Bar and dance floor

What’s a wedding without an evening party? “This gorgeous space is ready to go for any kind of evening do.” I’ve seen dance offs that would rattle the cast of American Pie and first dances that even the hardest of us would struggle to keep our eyes dry with. I’ve giggled at Cake cuts that have involved axes and swords and seen brides tumble on unashamedly high heels and a little too much gin. Mostly though I’ve seen the best part of everything that a wedding boils down to, Love.