Yesterday we joined Clair & Matt to photograph their wonderful relaxed wedding out in the Yorkshire Dales!
They had their ceremony at the simply brilliant gastro-pub ‘The Angel Inn‘ at Hetton and hosted their afternoon reception at Cracoe Village Hall.
I’ve been up in the Dales a whole bunch recently and it’s always great to be back up that way.
I hope you enjoy my story of their lovely day!
The Angel Inn is such a great place.
It’s the kind of fooderie out in the back of beyond that my mum know’s about. Â They’re always the “something” at “somewhere”.
Joining Clair I liked the handwriting on this wedding card. Â A nice scene setter I thought!
The girls had a very relaxing morning, doing their nails & drinking tea & champagne (in that order, not together)
Logistically all was good too. Â Clair & her gang got ready above the Angel’s ‘Wine Cave’ (where the ceremony was held) and Matt & the dudes got ready over the road at one of the Angel’s adjacent swish properties.
Matt’s surprise present to Clare was a lovely Mulberry handbag.
As opposed to many brides essentially telling their men what to get them as a ‘present’ (justifiably, it’s often to match their wedding outfits), Matt bought this after hearing Clair saying she’d liked it when they were shopping.
Top marks Matt!
When I met these two for their pre-wedding meeting I could tell they were a stylish couple (check out their sunny pre-wedding shoot blog pics here).
So I expected Clair’s dress to be quite special, and wasn’t disappointed. Â I’m usually pretty bad at noting down who the dress & shoes were by, who did the flora etc, but this sleek almost 50’s style designer dress was by David Fielden (his name was on the hanger!)
I always like to get some natural catches of the girls story
And the details.
Clair & Matt’s flora were quite incredible. Â Really unusual work by (I believe) Hedgerow Florists in Skipton.
I love the creativity that can be put into floral design.  I often point people to Firenza Floral Design for interesting vintagey flowers, but this comes close!
A few other shots I liked form the girls end was this set of dad quietly running over his speech in his dressing gown…
And these little scamps outside playing horsey with some walking sticks they’d found!
Meanwhile, over with the chaps…
El Groom, Matt, decided to go for a spot of Fell Running to clear his mind & practice his speech.
Clare told me that the groom & best man (his bro) had had their suits specially created for them, and here they are, suit bags signed by the tailor!
The rings
Again, there’s a bit of a 50s flavour to Matt, rocking slightly Don Draper hair!
A finely cut suit indeed, that can no doubt be used for other occasions! Â Cunning.
This little chap looked a bit sharp too, cutting his own ‘one-cuff-out’ style.
Every time someone put it back in, he tucked it back out again.
The chaps joined their guests outside the Angel for a cheeky pint
The ceremony was in the Angel’s ‘Wine Cave’, and living up to the cave vibe, it was possibly THE darkest room we’ve ever shot in!
I fired up the roof lights for this snap, and during the ceremony it was pretty much candles only! Pass me the 50 f1.2 please…
But it looked sweet and they only had a few seats, so they could pack their standing mates in at the back.
The beautiful bride slips into her gown
Joined by a proud, teary father
A quick shot of the bridal party on the way to the ceremony
I love the colours & flowers…
…tied in with interesting gent button holes
Here comes the bride.
I never forget how special that first look is a wedding day.
I love this shot, on the 35mm f1.4. Â A lovely moment.
And one of Clare’s from the back on the 50mm.
After signing the register, in front of another interesting floral display!
Being able to bounce a bit of flash in makes all the difference!
Outside we caught a quick shot of everyone…
before drowning them in some special French dried rose petal confetti a friend of their had sent over from France!
The afternoon reception was a nice relaxing affair, with tasty Angel Inn canapes and a vintage bus to play in!
The extended family in their finest!
Then I took them off for a wee portrait shoot around the village of Hetton.
It certainly wasn’t the sunshine they had at their glorious pre-wedding shoot (here), but the overcast light was still great to play in & it was great that the drizzle held off!
We did a similar shot to this on the pre-wed and I wanted to recreate it.
They liked this green door we found in the village, so we rocked on over & did a few in front of that. 
It was also cool to use the Hetton Village signpost for a few.
I’ve shot in Cracoe village Hall a few times before and it’s an amazingly versatile space.
I love how they filled it with white bunting, pompoms & their fab flowers.
Mmmm, hog roast for dinner!
The brought in their own bar and got to choose the menu!
Guests were shuffled 10 minutes through the dales to Cracoe in a few runs on an impressive 50’s bus!
The last run was for the bride & groom alone!
Before dinner we squeezed off a few snaps of the wedding party. Â One semi formal…
One semi-not.
Speeches were before the meal and both father of the bride & father of the groom got their chance to rib their kids!
Then after his bro had suitably taken the mick, Matt made a lovely speech to his new wife.
I love the reaction “My wife & I…” gets at the start of the grooms speech!
Afterwards, mr Pig was served! Â Mmmm, crackling.
Evening set in
The ‘cheese’ cake was cut
and the party was started, played in by the amazing Leeds-based function band ‘Rhythmatic‘
Jagerbomb time!
Before launching about 100 lanterns into the night!
Some would argue that giving drunk people an exercise involving fire & co-ordination was a bad idea, but much fun was had all round
And there’s something quite special about the moment when you launch a lantern into the sky to join a load of others sailing off into the night, as I overheard a mum said to her little girl “to become stars”.
Awww.
Great day all round.
Thank you so much Clair & Matt for asking us along to join you to document your stylish & relaxed wedding!
x B&C x