I love this city of ours. I love all its people, all its buildings and all its soul. I love the very bones of Liverpool.
So just like all Liverpudlians, I mourn when something bad happens here. The closure of the Contemporary Urban Centre was an event that definitely robbed me of some joy. What a sad thing for this great city. Back in 2011, due to financial mismanagement by the owners, The Contemporary Urban Centre was forced to close down. Apparently they let down 21 brides! I was therefore privileged to be able to be the photographer at the last ever wedding at the CUC. Just very glad, not only for myself but also the bride and groom, that we weren’t on that list of 21.
This whole debacle made me wonder about the concept of wedding insurance and whether it’s just another expense to add to an all ready very costly event. Of course, my couple, if they had any, didn’t need to claim, as their event went ahead as planned, but what about those other 21 couples? How many of them lost their deposits, or worse, their entire wedding venue costs? From what I’ve heard, wedding insurance really doesn’t cost very much at all, but in the event of a total cancellation of your wedding due to insolvency (or in the case of one very famous venue a few years ago – fire!) you would be able to get all your costs back. Something to think about, perhaps?
Anyway, back to Amy & Dave, the last couple to ever use the CUC for their wedding venue. We started the day with bridal preparation photos at Amy’s parents’ house, then on to Amy & Dave’s church for the ceremony and a lovely tea and cake reception afterwards. Then we dashed into the city centre for some very windy (and as I recall, incredibly cold) couple shots. I remember saying to Amy as I got out of my car, that I’d just nearly been blown off my feet (you know what the wind down by the river can be like at the best of times – this was December!) and asking her whether she was sure she wanted to go ahead, as the would very likely be a somewhat negative effect on her lovely hair. But Amy was made of stern stuff, and she and Dave jumped out of their car and got on with it. Brilliant!
Then the CUC came into its own – it was full of fantastic spaces, including a cinema! I had the idea of getting 3-D glasses for all the guests, and then getting them to pretend they were watching The Creature From The Black Lagoon. It seemed to work! 🙂 Eight years on, I’m still using that image in all my sales material!
