4Ever Photos

Hollywood Glamour Wedding in Northern Ireland

everphot — Mon, 14 May 2012 16:58:30 +0000

Hollywood glitz glamour and papparazzi was the theme for Carrie and Stephens wedding in the Tullyglass Hotel in Ballymena. Northern Ireland Storybook Wedding Photographers of the Year 4Ever Photos were there to capture the style, decadence and glamour of the day. Carrie owns a beauty salon in Belfast. You cannot help but think of “The only way is Essex” when you meet her. Carrie booked us a few years ago and we loved it when she came to our stand at bridal fayres as she is always groomed to perfection and full of fun. She planned the wedding event of the year in Northern ireland for over 2 years and her hard work paid off. She loves Hollywood and glamour, so we had a red carpet photography entrance with red ropes and carpet. All the guests were photographed as they arrived at the wedding. This was a great way to show off the flamboyant styles. There was alot of competition for the best dressed on the day. All the ladies had gone to alot of effort with the most amazing outfits, hairstyles, make up, shoes and bags. Carrie herself had gone for a My Lady Dress from Reflections Bridal in Lisburn. These dresses are top of the range wedding gowns made in Israel. The skirt was changeable and after the first dance Carrie went to her room to change the long flowing layered skirt to a little short number for dancing. To list all the events and things Carrie had at her wedding would be next to impossible. Here are a few photographs from the day. Check out the Ulster Brides Summer 2012 edition where you will see a full spread on Northern Irelands Wedding of the Year. For all those guests who had their photographs taken on the red carpet, click here to view the images.

Stunning Romantic Couple

Ice Sculpture at sweet table

Hollywood Couple

Sarah B Designs Room in Tullyglass Hotel

Dramatic Wedding Photographs NI

First Dance in Tullyglass Hotel

Hollywood Themed Wedding First Dance

romantic beautiful couple

Riverdance in Slieve Donard

everphot — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:07:48 +0000

Belfast born dancer, Aine Maher came to book 4Ever Photos – Northern Ireland Wedding Photographers for her wedding. At the consultation she said she was having a winter wonderland theme as it was in December close to Christmas. She said it would be her dream if she got snow on her wedding day. Aine must have the secret to the law of attraction as she did not just create snow but a blizzard and the country came to a standstill due to the winter wonderland conditions.

Aine is a girl who gets what she wants and at the age of 14, she won a place in the Riverdance troope. Aine danced the lead dance with her leading man Conor and it during these years on the road with the troope that romance blossomed. They toured the world together as the lead dancers in the Riverdance tour and came home to Ireland to be married in the Slieve Donard Hotel.

When we left the church, we had arranged to meet at a spot along the way to the hotel for a few shots. When we arrived a blizzard came on. Aine was not happy about getting out and getting her hair wet. With a little persuasion from myself, she got out of the car for a few minutes and we captured the most amazing shots. They remind me of Nanny McPhee – once again that magical feel to the day.

It was a spectacular wedding and Aine looked stunning. A lot of their dance troope attended the wedding and put on a spectacular first dance show to the original Riverdance dance.

Gareth Maybin

everphot — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 09:42:25 +0000

The Merchant Hotel in Belfast was the location for Gareth Maybin and Liz’s wedding. Gareth is on the European Tour. He is one of the professional golfers in Northern Ireland and put on a stylish celebrity wedding in the Merchant Hotel. Liz was meticulous in all the details of the day. When we arrived at her home in the morning of the wedding, everything went according to plan. It was a beautiful day with light clouds and perfect temperatures for a wedding day. There are lots of photos in their link below to show the room. Sophisticated and elegant are the best words to describe both the bride and her wedding day.

Professional European Tour Golfer Gareth Maybin was married to the stunningly beautiful LIz McMeekin in the Merchant Hotel, Belfast in May 2011. Liz had been in the studio for all the pre wedding meetings but we did not meet Gareth until the morning of the wedding. When we arrived at the hotel we met with the wedding planner, David McConkey who went over the timescales for the day.

Liz was a stunning bride and had put alot of thought into the little details of her day. When we arrived at the entrance of the Merchant Hotel, we knew that David McConkey had been in town with the staircase lit by candlelight in sparkly glamarous holders. The room was abundant with floral decorations, entrance drapes and pedestels. It created the wow effect for guests and those involved in the wedding. The father of the bride looked so proud as he walked his daughter down the aisle and there were a few tears from most in the house at the very personal wedding vows.

After the ceremony, all the guests had a group photograph taken on the entrance steps of the hotel then we all jumped into the cars and headed for the Botanic Gardens in Belfast for the photos. The gardens were great memories for Liz and she wanted them to be part of her day. We had little time in the gardens due to heavy traffic in Belfast but it was enough time to capture the beautiful couple, family and bridal party.

We headed back to the hotel which is a stunning location for a wedding. If you have not had a chance to visit the hotel yet, make an excuse to enjoy some Jazz in Burts jazz cafe or call in for a drink just to enjoy the opulence and style. I loved the bar which oozed class and visions of the rat pack. With its white leather Chanel bar and the decadence, the guests relaxed and enjoyed the experience.

After the meal, we headed to the roof garden to watch the sun go down and snap a few extra shots of the happy couple before they started to dance the night away.

Riverdance Couple

everphot — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 09:41:11 +0000

Back to the dancing again. Riverdance was a sensation that has lasted decades. Two of the lead dancers got together and were married in the Slieve Donard Hotel, Newcastle. To read more about their winter wonderland wedding click on the link below.

George McCartney

everphot — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 09:39:09 +0000

George McCartney married Elaine in the Hilton Hotel in Templepatrick. Although it said George McCartney on the paperwork, being a girl I did not know guy was very well known in Northern Ireland. As a premiership footballer for Sunderland and International player for Northern Ireland Football team, the wedding was full of well known names in the soccer world. Elaine and George’s photographs were very loving and full of passion. Click on the link below to see how a WAG puts on a celebrity wedding.

Dance instructor Viktoria Berkley

everphot — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 09:38:19 +0000

Viktoria Berkley Michael McAdoo were married in the Slieve Donard Hotel, Newcastle, Northern ireland. Viktoria is the owner of 1st Dance NI – Northern irelands leading dance studio. She teaches wedding couples all around Ireland both north and south, to move like professionals for their first dance. In 2011 Viktoria was chosen as the dance coach for the Celebrity Come Dancing event for Children in Need. Michael is also a great performer and acclaimed thespian in Northern Ireland so as you can imagine, their wedding was full of wonderful entertainers and their guests were treated to a most enjoyable wedding.

Rachel Tucker

everphot — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 09:36:49 +0000

When we photographed Rachel Tuckers wedding, she was the leading lady in “We will rock you” in London’s West End. I originally met Rachel at another local celebrity wedding – Viktoria Berkley’s where she was bridesmaid. So when Rachel announced her wedding, we were thrilled to cover it.

Next Fairy Day 28th April 2012

everphot — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 13:27:54 +0000

After our award winning success with a fairy portrait from one of our fairy portrait days, the buzz for these mystical, magical images has mean’t we have had to put another fairy day on in the studio in Belfast. With prices starting from only £49 to include photo session, desktop framed print, fairy cupcake decorating, fairy tea party, fairy tatoos and lots of fun. It is a perfect day out for any little girl. Suitable for any little girl under 10 years.

Communion Photo Sessions

everphot — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 21:55:28 +0000

Northern Ireland multi award winning wedding and portrait photography studio 4Ever Photos are famous for their stunning communion photographs. Throughout communion season, our studio based in Belfast is busy with lots of girls and boys from schools around Northern Ireland. The communion day is a special day for all the family. Anyone who made their communion as a child will be sure to have the official communion portrait in their memory box. It is one of those days in your life that you remember.
The parents that book into the studio want to know that they have a dedicated time slot for their portrait and do not have to stand about around the church or school for hours waiting.
During your photo session, we will take a variety of photographs from the details on the dress to full length and also stunning head portrait shots. The portrait studio is a large space with lots of comfortable chairs to lounge in while your child is photographed. On communion days we serve tea, coffee and cupcakes to make the whole experience enjoyable and another great memory for a special communion day.
You may choose to book a time prior to the communion, on the day or alternatively a day after the communion if you have too much on that day. Just call Roisin in the office to discuss what suits you best. If you come in early, we can have the images ready before the communion day itself so that you can give them out to family and friends that day. Although vintage style in very much in with weddings these days, we try not to use this styling in our communion portraits as they can look very dated. Instead we aim to take modern communion photographs. We aim for classically beautiful images but we can product very funky communion photographs like those shown above.

Funky Communion Portrait

Northern Ireland Photographic Awards 2012 PPANI – x4 winners

everphot — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:00:40 +0000

Northern Ireland Professional photographers Association held its annual print competition on 18th March 2012. Annette Burke of 4Ever photos reached the finals in 7 out of 8 photographic categories. The finalist categories were Northern Ireland Classical Wedding Photographer, NI Storybook Wedding Photographer, NI Contemporary Wedding photographer, NI Pictorial Photographer, NI Fashion Photographer, NI Under 5 (Baby) Photographer, NI Family Photographer, NI Open Portrait Photographer.Classic Wedding was the only section we did not have an image reach the finals. This section has been a struggle for me for a few years now as we are not very classical in our approach to weddings. Our style is more contemporary and storytelling and it is these sections we reached the finals.
The awards ceremony was being held in the Culloden Hotel in Belfast. The hotel is 5 star status which was fitting for the top photographic event Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland Baby Photographer of the Year

So myself and the girls went to the studio earlier in the day and Brenda my sister came to do our hairs for the night. Brenda was trained by Vidal Sassons top stylist and trainer. She left hairdressing to have her babies but on nights like this, she can be relied upon to come up with some stunning hair styling. Photograph above is Sinead Burke, Emma Doone, Sean Burke, Annette Burke and Roisin Lillis just before we left the studio to go to the Culloden Hotel. Barbara of Fairytale Chair and room design had transformed the room into a Moulin Rouge theme with red drapes, uplighters, black chairs with red sashes and lots of feathers and red candles. The room was spectacular and really set the mood for the evening. At each side of the room were large prints of the finalist images. The 100 guests enjoyed scrutinising the images during the drinks reception before the main event. The first category to be announced was Under 5′s – this is the baby portrait category. The image that made it to the final was one of my favourite images from last year. It was taken on one of our fairy days in the studio. I loved magical, mystical feel of the shoot and adored this little image so was thrilled when it was announced the winner and I was awarded Northern Ireland Under 5 (Baby) Photographer of the Year The celebrations started at our table. Photos, facebook, drinks. We were very excited to have picked up this category winner. As we are a busy baby portrait studio, it is great to get this award. We love working with babies and the fairy portraits were something I played around with for a long time before launching them. They are a personal little project for me and something that I love. They are unique portraits of little girls and the day is such fun in the studio. We have cupcakes, tattoos, fairy dust and lots of pink. It is a very girly day. As we were still celebrating our success, the next category was called which was Family Portrait section. Simon O’Neill was awarded the winner of this section. Congratulations to Simon for his beautiful pregnancy bump shot. Then it was open portrait and we were announced 1st runner up with an image of Stacey Haskins. Stacey was the model in Britain and Irelands next top model.

Portrait Photographer Runner Up

. The winner of this section was Peter Crimble with an image from a photo shoot of an actress as a nun in a theatre production company. Congratulations to Peter. Then it came to the wedding section. The first was the classical wedding section which we were not part of. This was won by Martin Campbell for a beautiful image of a girl on a seat surrounded by trees and flowers. Very classical and very beautiful. Congratulations to Martin. Then it came to Contemporary Wedding. Our image that reached the finals was taken in the Slieve Donard at the spa. I have photographed here a few times last year but the reason I had entered this image over the others was because of the way I had lit the image. Now to the non photographers in you, you will not be one bit interested in this, but we used 2 flash heads bounced – actually we will just leave the technical bits out and say I really loved the detail in her dress.

Contemporary Wedding photographer of the Year in Northern Ireland

. The next section to be announced was the storybook wedding photographer of the year. The image we had in this section was a compilation of images taken and liz and gareths wedding in the Merchant Hotel last year. Gareth is a professional golfer and liz was a stunning bride with great attention to detail. Her wedding album was presented in a graphi magazine album and this category was sponsored by them, so it was a huge shock and total elation to be announced the winner of Northern Ireland Storybook Photographer of the year.

Storybook wedding photographer of the year

Storybook Wedding Photographer of the Year Northern Ireland

By now, I was on at least cloud nine. The best night of my photographic career. My heart was thumping and the grin was from ear to ear. By now our table was very excited with photographs, texting, facebooking and general giggling. The next winner announced was Simon O’Neill for his stunning pictorial image. The image was an art piece of angels in a digital composite. Stunning image with many many hours of work put in to create it. The final category was then the fashion. We had entered a few images into the fashion category and the image that got through to be truthful had surprised me as I had liked it but it was not my favourite from the ones we had entered. So when we did not get 3rd place or 2nd place, I started to talk to Barbara beside me and did not her my name when they called me as Fashion Photographer of the Year. That was the total shock of the evening. The image that won was taken at a shoot for Getting Married in Northern Ireland magazine last year. They were running a feature on rock chick brides and bridesmaids and this dress was one of the main images in the feature. Getting Married in Northern Ireland magazine is run by Dawn Hamilton. The magazine has run a readers awards for the past 6 years. It is a totally different type of award system. The PPANI awards is a judge based on an image. I would say this award is a technical award as they judge it on composition, lighting, expression, impact and control whereas the Getting married in Northern Ireland magazine is a voting system online. The votes come from brides based on overall service. We have won the getting married readers awards for 4 out of the past 6 years. The morning after the PPANI awards, we got a phone call from the Wedding Journal magazine to say we had reached the finals of their readers awards. So it has been a week of excitement here at 4Ever Photos and 2012 is definitely our year. At the end of the night, all the winners are then judged together and the overall winner is announced. Simon O’Neill with his angel portrait got was awarded overall winning image. Congratulations to Simon. Thanks to all our wonderful brides, grooms and portrait customers who have come to the studio and let us tell their story in pictures. It is our 10th anniversary this year in business and what a great night of awards to help us celebrate our 10th anniversary. It is August this year for the actual 10th anniversary. We will mark the occassion with a day in the studio. Keep an eye on the site and our facebook page where we will post further details on the where what and when for the celebration.

Fashion Photographer of the Year