Last Wednesday, I joined Clare + Mwansa for their frankly amazing summer wedding photography at The Priory in Syninthwiate, a stylish wedding barn on a working farm near Wetherby in Yorkshire!
Now I’ve photographed tonnes of weddings at Priory Cottages and this had to be one of my faves by far!
Clare + Mwansa are just brilliant; totally in love, quick to laugh and very silly. And hot pair to boot!
Postponing their wedding from a Covid ravaged 2020 (hence the mid-week date) spirits were so high they were kinda hard to describe! I don’t know if it was the perfect storm of latent post-pandemic party potential or Mwansa’s Zambian family and friends injecting dance and energy at every opportunity, but the vibes were electric from start to finish! Team Bride enjoyed a fun morning of fizz and pampering, while the boys messed about kicking a ball around until they had to suit up. The sun was out and a fun day was there for the taking. The chief bridesmaid Lizzie surprised Clare with a gangster Range Rover for their wedding car for their 10 minute journey to and from St Mary the Virgin Church in Boston Spa. A ceremony filled with smiles (and singing through masks!) and out they came into a storm of confetti that even made Mwansa cower!Â
Back to The Priory, and for a change we did a few portraits down the beautiful avenue of trees, before a few pics in front of the old Priory itself. Then a few groups around the pond before delicious nibblies and fizz from Taste Cuisine.Â
I’m informed that in Zambia, a bride and groom never ‘just walk’ into their wedding meal – THEY DANCE! And so did all the bridesmaids and groomsmen, with ribbons, confetti cannons and fancy dress! I even heard the crowds chanting ‘ENERGY, ENERGY!!’. It was all a bit amazing!
Speeches were full of memories, emotion and hilarity, and a Zambian uncle even piped in a video message filled with sage advice from afar. Then after dinner, it was almost impossible to keep guests off the dancefloor! So a quick cake cut and that was it! DANCE DANCE DANCE!
Sometimes I just love my job! This was a blast, straight up.
So, grab y’sen a mug of Yorkshire tea (or a shot of strawberry cream tequila!) and hit play on the slideshow below to check out their wedding highlights slideshow…
I’ll be uploading their full set of images to a password protected client area in just a few weeks, so if you’d like to be notified when all their images go live, register to be notified at: clients.barnabyaldrick.com/ClareAndMwansa
(NB: I’ll only use your email address to notify you about their gallery)
In the meantime, feel free to share this loveliness to Facebook using the buttons at the bottom (or copy and paste the web address URL into a status), via my Facebook page here or hover over the images to pin to Pinterest too!
What a day hey?! And what a wonderful couple!
Here’s wishing these Clare + Mwansa a long and fun marriage, with their cockerpoo Murphy at their side!
Big love,
Barnaby + Joe DÂ
x
The suppliers involved in this wedding at Priory Cottages near Wetherby included:
Makeup @seemaghirmua | Hair @mobilehairdressingbyaliki | Florist: Melanie’s Florist | Cake maker: Rebecca at Yes To Cake | Music/Entertainment: Chris Powell