When couples first start looking at wedding photography packages, one of the first decisions they have to make is how long they actually want their photographer there. Three hours might cover the ceremony and a few photographs afterwards. Five hours sounds like plenty. Then there’s eight hours, ten hours or full-day wedding photography, and suddenly you’re wondering whether you really need somebody wandering around with a camera for quite that long.

It’s a perfectly reasonable question, particularly when you’re trying to keep control of a wedding budget. But after photographing weddings for almost two decades, I think there’s another question worth asking at the same time: which parts of your wedding story are you happy not to have photographs of?

Being based where I am, there’s always something particularly nice about photographing a wedding close to home. I spend a lot of my year travelling around North Yorkshire and the North East for weddings, so when I get the opportunity to photograph a day in Guisborough, surrounded by places I’ve known for years, it feels that little bit different. Paul and Bernice’s wedding was exactly that, with their ceremony taking place at St Nicholas Church in Guisborough followed by photographs with their family in the historic surroundings of Guisborough Priory.

One of the nicest things about photographing weddings is that no two stories ever begin in exactly the same place. Some start in grand country houses, others in village churches that have stood for hundreds of years, while some begin with a much smaller ceremony surrounded by the people who matter most before the celebrations move somewhere completely different. Sam and Charlotte's wedding was one of those days, beginning with a lovely ceremony at Redcar Registry Office before everyone made their way to Fletcher's Farm for an afternoon and evening of celebrating.

I've photographed quite a few weddings here over the years and, no matter how many times I drive through the gates, it always feels like somewhere special. Tucked away just outside Saltburn-by-the-Sea on the North Yorkshire coast, it somehow manages to feel grand without ever losing that relaxed, welcoming atmosphere. Every couple puts their own stamp on the venue, which is probably why no two weddings here have ever felt the same.