Yesterday I joined Claire & Steven for their wet but wonderful big day in Wakefield and Denby Dale!

They hosted their reception at the lovely Bagden Hall where they threw a fantastic celebration for their near and dear.

I hope you enjoy this story of a very special day!

I joined Claire & her gang (in descriptive dressing gowns!) at her mum & dad’s place in Durkar in WakefieldFun & fizz was being had in the conservatory while the ladies had their hair fixed

Here’s our happy bride Claire enjoying the fizz!Upstairs hung her beautiful Alfred Sung wedding gownSoon to be paired with these impressively bejewelled kicks!Here’s Claire collecting her veil and having it fittedSteven sent Claire a lovely card and, as she’d said to him not to get her jewellery, he bought her a private plate for her car featuring her new initials!  She loves her electric blue Mazda (the colour scheme for the day) and now they’ve got matching plates (his is A6 SJH)!Upstairs the bridesmaids & a good pal of Claire’s donned jewellery and warpaint.

I thought it’d be cool to catch a quick Team Bride shot before dressing up
I like this one of the preparatory goings on.

Claire rules.  Her and Steven are a lovely couple indeed, and have kept in touch with me, following my blog and getting excited about the photographic element of their big day.  In spite of the damp conditions, they truly made the most of the day and certainly weren’t in damp spirits!I love this one of Dad looking proudly on as Claire had her makeup done.Meanwhile, over at the groom’s parents house…

Steve & the chaps enjoyed a spot of breakfastBefore suiting up

My Clare informs me Steve had brilliant cravat tying skills!

By coincidence, Claire & Steve went to the same place to have bespoke cards made; both requesting to have ‘You are my best friend, you are my rock’ put inside!

Claire gave Steven an amazing pocket watch & a set of ‘Mr Right/Mrs Always Right’ cufflinks to add to Steven’s collection of over 40 pairs!

The old watch belonged to his grandad and was worn in his memory.

Brother & best man Chris was armed with the rings and speech duties.

Steve had done the same for him at his wedding a few years back.

A moment of celebration with Steve’s lovely parents.Team Groom!And a quick portrait of Steve…

…before heading off in the classic MG Steve and his Dad had rebuilt from the ground up!Back with team bride, a beautiful Regent Landaulette (from Catrwright’s Cars) was waiting outsideThe flora looked beautiful, punctuated by flashes of electric blue

Getting into the gown!A few final tweaks……and a special moment from a proud mum!  

It must be super special finally seeing your daughter dressed to go to her wedding!

Team bride…

…ready to roll!Running a little behind schedule, there was a bit of a last minute rush for bridesmaids getting Claire into her dress and getting off.  But as the girls were shuttled in the first run to the church, Claire had some calming time with Dad and a glass of bucks fizz.

We had time to get a few portraitsNeighbours were out to wish Claire well!One proud dad!
Their Church, St John’s Church in Wakefield is a fab building!  I’d joined them for their rehearsal earlier last week, and met their vicar Stefanie, who was really cool about where we could be during the service.Inside waited one cool and collected groom!  

It was drizzling on the walk down to the church, but I love this striking black & white
Happy smiles down the aisle!Clare (all these Clare’s gets confusing!) was upstairs on the balcony.What a great church hey!?  It’s still under refurbishment, and isn’t yet officially open, so these kids were the first in a while to use it for a wedding!The rings!The kiss!Love this one of Claire waving to pals while the official registers were signed.

While they were signed, they had a simply brilliant choir fill the space with some amazing choral singing (as well as an lovely version of The Military Wives ‘Wherever You Are’)

And back down the aisle as man & wife!

A quick blast of themed blue & cream confetti!And back down to the car under umbrellasAt Bagden Hall, the weather wasn’t a great deal better

…but Claire & Steven bravely took advantage of a moment of lighter rain to do a round of portraits!

They knew the drill, after doing a fab pre-wedding shoot around the grounds in blazing sunshine a month or two back.

[ Check out their pics on the blog here ]

Apparently, it was this arch that helped get me booked by these guys!  Because at a past wedding I’d photographed there, there was a patch of hedge missing on the arch and I’d photoshopped it back in to make it look nice.  Steven had liked my conscientious approach!

Aww.Like this one of Clare’s new ring!We even ventured as far as the lake for a smooch!

We did the majority of groups indoors, but there was one special shot we needed to be outside for…

The balloon release!

So just before going into the wedding meal, we got everyone outside and set off 160 blue balloons!

Brilliant eh?!
I like this one from the lineup
The wedding breakfast looked class.

Claire & Steven love quizzes, and had a quiz during the meal.  Their table numbers were the answers to the questions!Being announced inA little cheers!

The quiz!5 of the tables ended up in a tie break, so a representative was called up from each for a nail biting finale!

[ Some of you may recognise the lady in the middle!  It’s Jo, whos wedding to Stephen I photographed a few months back – post here! ]Speeches were lots of funFollowed by the official cutting of the cake!As evening set in over the hall…

…we set up our photobooth for a bit of fun!To make sure we had plenty of portraits, I took Clare & Steve into the old hall for a few more pics…

soon to be joined by ‘the girls’

and the guys!First Dance to ‘The time Of Our Lives’ – which actually works brilliantly for a first dance.Then the gang took to the dance floor!

And the night was wrapped up with some fantastic fireworks, set off over the lake!

What a cracking day all round!  A seriously lovely couple (with brilliant friends and family), who really made us feel part of their very special day indeed!

Thank you Claire & Steve – here’s to a marvellous life together and an ace honeymoon in Singapore & Thailand!

x Barns & Clare x

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