Yesterday I joined Nicola & Chris to photograph their big day!
They hosted their celebrations at the stunning East Riddlesden Hall, near Keighley. I’m one of the National Trust’s preferred suppliers there, and it’s such a beautiful place to photograph a wedding.
I hope you enjoy this story of a very special day!
I joined Nicola at her folks house in Rawden in impressively changeable weather!
In fact, the forecast for the day had left me with slight cause for concern!
Though the lightning made a change, I suppose!
Here’s our woman of the hour enjoying a morning brew
Nicola’s Mum had created an impressively well organised schedule for the day, and Clare & I were super impressed with how the entire day ran like clockwork! Plus, 15 minutes after I arrived, it was time to ‘Start making pizza’! 
In their beautiful new kitchen, Nicola’s dad (a foodie with an impressive allotment out back!) had prepared & proved fresh pizza dough, leaving the girls to top ’em. Nicola told me about their family system; Dad grows/makes it, mum cooks it and Nicola eats it! Happy days!
Nicola’s old, new borrowed and blue included her ‘old’ bible, her ‘borrowed’ headband, her ‘blue’ “I Do” and…
a ‘new’ dress!
The bridesmaids dresses and calla lily bouquets by the lovely Lynne at Stem’s Design
The bridesmaids arrived
Make-up was applied
And Dad gave his speech a once over.
Meanwhile, Clare joined the Chris & his best man at the Premier Inn
Before suiting up, Chris was also penning a few amends into his speech
A bit of teamwork
and a nice image of Chris fixing his tie
Nicola had bought Chris a Newcastle University tie pin, as they’d met at Uni there.
Best man, check. Rings, check!
Good to go
Back with the girls, Nicola was being helped into her wedding gown by Mum & her bridesmaids
I like this one of Nicola fixing her necklace.
A moment with mum after fixing the veil.
And coming down the stairs to a proud dad!
A quick snap of the bridesmaids outside in one of the many impressively timed sunny intervals!
Nicola decided that instead of a bouquet, she wanted to carry her special bible instead.
She’s always been religious and liked the significance that a bible & its message lasts, while flowers fade and pass.
Twenty to two. Mum & the bridesmaids had headed in the first run to the church and father & daughter had a bit of quality time.
Dad ticked off the jobs done, leaving only ‘Nicola & dad leave house with photographer’!
A quick natural portrait before heading off…
Off we headed in the ace Bentley Silver Spur
Aww
St Peter’s was ready & set
I love this one of Dad helping Nicola out of the car.
At the front waited one excited groom.
And at the back …
Here comes the bride!
Another moment I like, as Nicola looks to a smiling Chris.
It’s always fun watching the expressions as a bride arrives at the front. The heady combination of nerves, expectation, surprise & build-up in a moment rarely encountered before leads to differing amounts of smiles & eye contact & it’s always very sweet to witness.
Nicola’s in a choir up in Newcastle and her choral buddies came down to sing during the wedding and signing of the registers
The giving of rings
Making things official
…and heading down the aisle as man & wife!
During the service you could visibly see the light in the church drop as a rainstorm passed over, and as they came down the aisle it was still tipping it down. But the sun was shining through it, and literally 2 minutes later, it stopped, and we managed to get a quick pic of everyone…
and do a confetti shot!
Over at East Riddlesdon, we arrived before Nicola & Chris and again, it was tipping it down!
But the moment they arrived, it passed and the sun started blazing again!
So I thought that was the opportunity to dive into a quick round of portraits
The parasol was a nice touch!
I’d joined these guys for their pre-wedding practice shoot a month or so previous and they’d got used to the feeling of being photographed.
In fact, it turned out they were naturals, and we got some crackers of them! Check out their pre-wedding images on the blog here.
I was quite stunned by the change in weather!
This might be my fave of the happy couple.
It’s all about capturing relaxed, natural portraits of people.
Nicola had mentioned on the pre-wed that she’d been to East Riddlesdon so many times as a child, and had loads of pics of her in this arch over the years, so we’d done one at the pre-wed and another in their wedding getup!
I also liked the frame of the arch from the other side
The wedding breakfast in the old barn was dressed very beautifully indeed.
Nicola’s mum had continued the organisation with a little fact sheet, menu & schedule for each table!
The newlyweds being announced in!
The grand old timber hall looked great full of guests
Speeches were great (loving the best man humiliation pic of Chris!)
Cutting the cake (hand crafted by mum!)
As a rainstorm had cut shot the groupshots after the family lineups, I took the wedding party outside after dinner for a quick round of pics. 
A bit of fun with the lads.
(Though only 3 out of 5 seemed to understand the idea of catalogue poses!)
A quick lineup of the full wedding team (including 2 special honourary buddies)
The barn lent itself to being a brilliant backdrop for the first dance.
I adore this one of the back flash bouncing off Chris and lighting Nicola’s face.
There were loads of crackers in the first dance.
Then straight afterwards, their Ceilidh band Spinning Jelly got crowds swinging and starring into the night!
Good times!
As the mid-summer sun set over the lake, we left the gang to party into the night.
Thank you Nicola, Chris and your lovely families & friends for making us feel so welcome! We had a wonderful day (though sadly no lightening!) and it seems you guys did you.
These guys must like changeable weather, cos they’re heading up to honeymoon in Scotland! Fingers crossed for good weather!
x
Barnaby & Clare