A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to photograph the wedding of lovely couple Richard and Donna, I met them some time ago through Twitter when they were looking for a wedding photographer, I jumped at the chance to shoot at The Mansion House in Jesmond because it's one of my favourite venues, I'd last shot Caroline and Omars wedding there and it struck me as a cosy intimate venue, perfect for Donna and Richards wedding with 28 of their closest friends and family.

Here's the story of their special day in photographs -

The gardens at the Mansion House are so beautiful and well tended, there are so many areas to have gorgeous couples portraits

 and don't worry if it rains, there is a beautiful staircase and plenty of areas indoors where portraits would be perfect too!

Richard and all his groomsmen wore bright socks and so we shot a slightly amusing portrait, note that they're all doing funny things with their fabulous Paul Smith socks!

Richard and Donna took time to email me from their honeymoon to tell me how much they loved their photographs, things like that make me so happy!!

If you are getting married soon or maybe not for a while why not come and have a chat with me about your wonderful day, I have some availabilty left in 2012 while 2013 is looking busier by the minute, to contact me visit my website or if you are viewing on your iphone my html website is here

The before I get to 40 bucket list

Yes thats me, just in case you haven't been on one of my websites!

So on the 1/2/14 I'll reach a milestone, a milestone I'm moving towards with great trepidation, yes I'm going to be 40!

I love being in my 30's, the best times of my life have been during my 30's, I think your 30's you become confident in your own abilities, you stop worrying so much about what people think of you and as you surge onward you get more and more comfortable with your own self.

So why am I scared of 40?  Well I know it's not exactly old age but I think it makes me feel like I'll have to suddenly become a grown up and I'm not old enough to be a grown up yet!!

So, everything I have set out to achieve in my life so far I have done, even some of the things I would never have thought possible, my Business Mandy Charlton Photography was 5 years old last week and it's been a ride akin to being on the biggest fastest roller coaster of your life, lots of huge ups and a few real lows but you know what, you just have to ride them with your hands in the air screaming at the top of your lungs.  I'm the first to admit that I'm not perfect, part of being in business is making mistakes and learning from them but I truly love what I do, I'm so proud of what I've achieved, I've made so many friends because of what I do and I've shared in so many bride and grooms most important days, I suppose I never want to get to the point where I'm too old to photograph weddings and you know we have so many beautiful venues in Newcastle and the North East of England and I still haven't photographed half of them!!  5 years, over 30 awards and 150+ weddings, long may that continue!

So, anyway, I have around 18 months until the big 40 so I'm trying to compile a bucket list of things I want to achieve before that particular big birthday and this is what I have so far.

1.  Get my passport so that I can explore the world with my family - well I'm pleased to say that my passport application went off on Wednesday and I shall soon be allowed to leave the country.

2. Learn to drive and get a teeny tiny car - well as soon as my passport comes back the next thing to do is apply for a provisional license.  The thing is that I always have assistants when I'm working and I'm the master of buses, trains, taxis so it's never really been an issue and mostly I'm completely phobic of getting behind a wheel but I'm going to conquer it and then world domination will be mine, muahahaha.

3.  Sing in public and not on Karaoke, you see I love music so much and I love to sing but it's very much a nerve thing, I must do this though because otherwise I'll end up being an old lady with one of those old lady singing voices and it'll be too late.  I also want to write a musical but I figure it might take more than 18 months so I'm not going class it as a fail if I don't manage that!

4. Be thin, well you see I've never really been one of those thin ladies so starting 3 weeks ago I went on the Weight Watchers Online plan and I've so far lost around 9lbs, only 2 and a half more stone to go, it's not that I hate myself or feel hideously ill or unattractive but I figure once you get past 40 your body makes it even harder for you to lose weight so I better do it now, I have a physically demanding job and let me tell you after shooting 2 weddings in the last 2 days carrying a rucksack weighing who knows how much and sitting here with aching calves and tired toes I reckon that fitter is definitely better and obviously as I get older my old knees are going to start failing, haha, yes I know 40 isn't 100, it just feels like it might be sometimes!

So thats it really, 4 not so hard things to achieve, I reckon with the things I've already achieved so far in my life that I should truly be able to look back on my Big 40th birthday and happily exclaim that I did everything I wanted to do and more.

Jonathan and Susans Pre-wedding photo shoot, Newcastle Quayside

What can I tell you about Jonathan and Susan, well firstly they're utterly lovely people, I met them a few weeks ago for their pre-wedding shoot and it was the first time I met them, within 5 minutes it was like we'd know each other for ages, I love it when connections like that happen!

It's good that they did as this couple are busy busy busy, they both have uber cool jobs in the TV and Movie industry and are currently working on Game of Thrones at the moment.  Susan works in costumes and Jonathan works in Visual effects, i.e. he gets to go to work every day and blow stuff up, now I thought I had the coolest job in the world but that is even cooler, I think everyone would like to go to work and blow stuff up ;)

We met up on the Newcastle/Gateshead quayside and got some great shots and I can't wait for their wedding on Saturday :)

The Wedding of Kay and Rob - Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of shooting the wedding of Beautiful Kay and Handsome Rob, I met these lovely people last year and we hit it off straight away, Kay and I share a love of Audrey Hepburn, I knew it was going to be a special day and as it turned out their day was a day of two halves, beautiful sunshine and later torrential rain, they married at St Peters Church Monkseaton and then drove to The Baltic for a swish reception, heres the story of their day in photographs

As a surprise kay had hired a brass band to play outside the church after the ceremony and at this point it was a glorious summers afternoon.

As we arrived at the Graffiti wall the rain began to spot, luckily we got a few photos because then the rain became torrential and it didn't stop again all day.

Thinking on my feet we quickly moved to the viewing box at the Baltic and got some truly beautiful shots while waiters and waitresses stood waiting to prepare the box for private dining later that evening, I thanked them for their patience as no couple of mine were going to end up with a lack of portraits on their special day! haha

One of my favourite shots of the day, Kay loves Audrey Hepburn and I told her to channel Audrey, I reckon she pulled it for for sure!

If you can on the wedding day and you really want group shots which are unlike anyone elses all we need is a little extra time, why be boring and have everyone standing around in a line?

Congratulations Kay and Rob, may you have many happy years together and thank you so much for letting me document your most special day!