Wedding Photography at Middleton Lodge near Richmond in Yorkshire: Rachael + Chris

Yesterday I joined Rachael & Chris to photograph their wedding up in deepest North Yorkshire!

They hosted their big day at Middleton Lodge, near Richmond – not far from Scotch corner.

Not ideal weather for a wedding, especially when the day before it was glorious summer sun; and the gang were up there playing a round of golf & having an evening BBQ on the lawn outside Middleton Lodge.  We’d visited Middleton Lodge for our pre-wedding practice shoot (check out the post here) and the forecast again was heavy rain all day (& we almost postponed), yet it turned out to be blazing sunshine.

I kept my fingers crossed…

I love this snap of the girls getting ready in the beautiful Oak Room at Middleton Lodge.

 The rooms there are all great, but the light in the room the girls got ready in was magic.

I often add in a bit of cheeky flash to pump up my shots, but I thought this one’d look ace without.The little flower girls came in to have their hair done by the bridesmaids.

(These one’s had a bit of flash kick in em!)Rachael had a really unusual, 20’s inspired dress.  I thought I’d take an unusual viewpoint of it hanging  in the doorwayRachael’s wedding kicks!

While I was snapping the shoes, Rachael popped out and showed me her matching wedding haviana’s flip flops for the evening bash!The beautiful flora on the chaise longue!

Rachael called them ‘garage flowers’, cos they were made from the carnations you get at petrol stations!Chris & Rachael basically booked Middleton Lodge exclusively for the whole weekend (hence the Thursday golf & BBQ) and both got ready in the same building!  So there was some fun sneaking around.  Chris sent over some jewellery for Rach as a present, and she sent him over an amazing watch (cos he’s a proper watch connoisseur)
Rachael also gave the girls some beautiful frames containing their wedding readings, as well as gifts in beautiful wooden boxes made of reclaimed wood from old Thai houses.

[Here a game for the shutterbugs: spot where I cunningly hit the flash unit! Then question why I’ve just had to send it to canon for it falling from great heights on numerous occasions and finally died…]

I like the crop on this one, with Rachael in the bottom third and a neat lines up the shot with a bridesmaid in the background.Bridesmaid shoes!Meanwhile, over the corridor in a distinctly redder room, the chaps were getting their clobber on.Here’s one of the best men helping the groom, Chris, fix his cravatt.Liking Chris’ shoes!The finished combo, pocket watch included!

Chris gave an individual pocket watch to each groomsman as a wedding gift
The guys headed to the Pot & Glass opposite the church before the ceremony…nothing like a cheeky beer to calm the nerves.The church, St John the Baptist Church in Egglescliffe,  was one of those amazing building’s that’s been standing since the 13th Century, and is surrounded by some impressively old gravestones.

All set for a wedding!
Back at the Lodge (sounds good said that way!), flowergirls were armed with wands and the girls were adding the final touches.

I loved the 20s, almost flapper-style vibe from Rachael’s dress. I like this shot of Mum having her corsage pinned to her lovely outfit.

A nice little moment before mobilising for the church!The gang, good to go!A little close up of the dresses & garage flowers!Down the stairs……to meet a proud looking father of the bride.
Awww.  I do like to capture a nice shot of dad taking in how his daughter looks on her big day. They had one of my fave wedding cars, the Jag mark 2.

The Inspector Morsemobile!

They unfortunately had one of those old school vicars who’d only let us snap from the back, but he did let me squeeze off a few frames as Rachael came down the aisle.The rings!and after a cheeky signing, back down the aisle they came as man & wife!Chris’ mum was ace.  I love this shot of her wishing Rachael congratulations outside the church.Back to the dreary forecast, we were lucky enough for proceedings to stay dry for a quick shot of everyone… …a bomb of confetti…(I love how the windows of this car make such a beautiful frame)…and a rain free portrait shoot around the Lodge!Loving this one.  Just need some jazz playing and we’re there.I found out on the pre-wed shoot (check it out here) that these two were so easy to shoot.  Really comfortable with one another.This might be one of my faves from the day.  I love the curvy line through the shot.As the rain started, our couple joined their the gang, and instead of a groupshot outside, we did one in the hall from the stairs.There were loads of creative touches everywhere, including lots of fun little boards with statements for guests to take a silly photo.Brilliant.Oh dear.
I like this natural one of the bridesmaid having a laugh.

One of my photography pals, Olivia Brabbs, is married to Chris’ brother Jonny, and it was great to catch up with them and their dear baby Holly!As it still raining, we did the pics in one of the regal rooms of the Lodge.A cheeky shot of the chaps.

The beautiful ladies!The wedding breakfast & evening reception was held in a marquee in the Lodge’s massive groundsAgain, lots of fun touches around the place, with table names named after New York, where they got engaged.Mmmmm, sweets.Speeches were fab.  Lots of from the heart shaming!And the 2nd best man laid down an impressively blue speech that had many of the younger contingent in stitches!First dance, to a bit of Etta James

And we left them to party into the night as we headed back to Leeds.

Middleton Lodge was one of those perfect grand-but-relaxed venues, letting wedding couples have exclusive full-weekend usage, allowing them to really hang out with their wedding guests and get the most out of their big day.  The fact that it rained on Friday in no way dampened spirits and everyone had a cracking time all round.  As always, it was so nice to shoot a couple that we got on so well with.

So here’s to Rachael & Chris, and I hope they have an absolutely fab honeymoon in Mauritius!

B&C

• 17 September 2011