Yesterday I joined the very lovely Kirsten & Paul to photograph their wedding at Sandburn Hall Golf Club
The Autumn colours were still clinging to the trees as we drove over to Haxby to join the girls, and an ominous forecast of all day rain was on my mind!
But as is so often the case, forecasts vary wildly depending upon their source (you can generally find a better forecast if you look hard enough!), and fortunately, the actual weather turned out to be nothing like what was predicted!
But Kirsten’s my kinda bride and was prepared for all eventualities!
Loving Kirsten’s dress from Bridal Rogue Gallery, York
The flora throughout the day, by Neve Flowers, were magnificent too, with Sea holly (a nod to Kirsten’s love of marine biology!), freesia, wax flowers and scented lavender.
[ ps. Glad you painted the garage door now Dad?! ]
I never know whether to feature personal wedding cards on the blog, but really like this one Paul sent to Kirsten.
Meanwhile, on another side of York, in Copmanthorpe, Paul and his boys were enjoying a relaxing brew before getting togged up
Love this one Clare shot of usher Andrew helping Paul on with his Bert & Ernie cufflinks…
Go Team!
The third usher Duncan had landed at 6am that morning from Hong Kong and was flying back the next day!
It was touch and go if he’d make the ceremony, but that’s dedication for you!
St Mary’s Church in Haxby looked splendid as guests began to arrive
Back at the girls, the Roller from Cupid Carriages was ready in wait.
And the girls were excitedly helping Kirsten into her gown
I like this little set of mum watching on proudly
Engagement ring onto right hand… check!
As Kisten’s a very organised and punctual young lady, it was great to have a bit of time for a few relaxed portraits before the first run
For some reason, I love this one
Cheers!
While the girls headed off in the first shuttle run, I left dad and his daughter to take a quite moment together.
At the church a slightly nervous groom awaited his bride
But fortunately he had a cheerful best man on hand to keep things light.
The little flower girl was met at the church, and because she wasn’t allowed to swap her bouquet for Kirsten’s big one, she had a loud cry down the aisle! 😉
Love this one of Paul looking back at his beautiful bride
Unfortunately, the church had a bit of a dragon of a verger who gave us the disappointingly strict photography-from-the-back-and-only-when-I-say-so rules.
It’s always a shame not to be able to photograph from the front to see the bride’s expression coming down the aisle and the exchange of rings & the kiss. Â I’ve been in this game for a long time, and respect the sacrament of this religious service, and understand that we’ve all got a job to do – I’ve been booked to document this couples special day, just as the vicar has to wed the couple, and it’s great when suppliers can work together to make each others work easier. Â I wear black so as not to be so visible (an ol’ninja trick!), we have two shooters with silent shutters on our cameras and enough lenses so that we can find a spot and stick to it so as not to disturb proceedings, and I know the only thing not to photograph during a wedding are the words on the register (for data protection).
 So when a verger – who’s role is officially to open & close the church, help run wedding/funeral processions and keep the church & linen clean – severely limits the documentation of the official marriage, essentially all they’re doing is tainting the memory of a couples happy day.  Fortunately, before I arrived Clare agreed with her that we would photograph discreetly from the balcony & the back.  But still in the middle of the service she told me to stop photographing the exchange of rings as it was a ‘legal’ proceeding, so I actually took her aside and spoke to her to say I know the law and all her actions were doing was spoiling the couples memory of the day! Eek.
Anyway – rant over – I just wish these people would sometimes set less stuffy rules for a more modern age.
[ And I wonder if they end up reading these blogs and perhaps make life easier on the next photographer! ]
And back down the aisle came our happy newlyweds!
So much for the rain all day forecast!
Time for my signature confetti bomb!!
Our little flowergirl was rather stunned by this raining paper!
Then with a glass of fizz for the journey, we hit the road to Sanburn Hall
However, after our beautiful pre-wedding practice shoot at Sanburn Hall a few weeks back (blog post here), we decided it would be ace – weather permitting – to get a few photos in the pine woods behind the golf course housing the Griffon Forest Lodges.
So while guests rocked up and got stuck into the canapes and bubbles, we did a quick shoot in the woods…
The light in there was so beautiful. Â I love it when a bride is happy to go a bit off road in the name of stunning photos!
Kirsten said herself that these photographic memories are more important than a bit of muck on the bottom of the dress. Â As I said – my kinda bride!
Magic!
Kirsten and Paul are outdoorsy types, down with nature, and this location couldn’t have suited them better!
And then we were off again… to Sandburn Hall
The heavens had literally opened just before we arrived, but impressively somehow stayed sunny right up until the bride and groom sat for the wedding meal!
After whistling through a quick round of quick family shots
I went to town on the wedding party! Â I always enjoy having a bit of fun with these guys…
This is my fave, as everyone’s got a great expression.
A few more informal matey groupshots were done before heading up to the wedding breakfast
Sandburn Hall is a brilliantly designed wooden structure, perfect for the couple seeking that natural but modern setting for a wedding.
The oak framed Grand Function Hall looked outstanding.
So many wonderful little details everywhere, right down to Kirsten’s handmade hearts burned into little wooden circles.
I love how on the beautiful cake by Rebecca Callow Cake Design (AKA: The Cake Lady!) there’s a little sneaky cat hiding round the back.
[ Kirsten’s family are pretty cat crazy! ]
Speeches were great craic, all delivered with impressive confidence and wit! Â The best kind.
Clearly my referral base is working well, as it was brilliant to see and catch up with two former wedding couples at the wedding – the lovely Bri & Henry, who’ve now got a beautiful little daughter (I still love the pics from their ace 2010 wedding at The Hospitium on the blog here) and Lee & Jenny (Paul’s lovely sister, who we photographed last August at another golf course, Hollins Hall here).
Nothing like a bit of McFly for the first dance!
If you’ve not seen the singer from McFly, Tom Fletcher’s wedding speech/song, check it out here. Â Talk about setting the bar high for budding singers…
Then the dancefloor really got going to the awesome function band The Players!
But as it’s only just gone bonfire night…
They’d brought a few sparklers along to have a bit of fun with, so here’s the chief & best man with our happy couple attempting a ‘K♥P’
♥
But then we decided to get a whole bunch of the guys involved for a big sparkler shot to wrap up the pics – Happy days!
What a cracking day. Â It’s so great that in spite of potential elements stacked against us, we managed to capture such a lovely stash of wedding memories!
Here’s hoping Kirsten & Paul enjoy a relaxing honeymoon in the Caribbean and here’s wishing them a very happy life together indeed!
x Barnaby & Clare x