Yesterday I joined Hannah & James to photograph their big day!
They hosted their celebrations around Headingley & Kirkstall in Leeds, with the ceremony at St Stephen’s Church, portraits in the beautiful Kirkstall Abbey, and hosted their reception at the infamous Headingley Cricket and Rugby Stadium, where Hannah & James originally met!
I hope you enjoy this story of a very special day!
I joined Hannah & team bride at Oasis Hairdressers in Headingley
Here’s our happy bride Hannah, watching her bridesmaid Tamsin pouring fizz before her regular hairdresser Paula set to work!
Their bubbly little flower girl Holly, not content with ribbons and plaits, decided she wanted some curls putting in like Tamsin!
Meanwhile, down the road at Hannah & James’ pad, the chaps got their game faces on (including donning cricket stump cufflinks!)Here’s one of the best men, proving he’s got the rings!
Flora was applied
And the chaps were good to go!
Hannah’s gang wrapped up their preparations in the Headingley Lodge Hotel, on the famous Headingley Cricket stand…
…overlooking the pitch! Â So it seemed wrong not to hang Hannah’s beautiful Justin Alexander dress in the window.
Having a laugh with Dad, while putting on the warpaint!
Hannah’s flowers were a beautiful bunch of peonies, lilies & eucalyptus by The Butterfly Orchid.
Hannah’s sister Amy sadly passed away 7 years ago, and because she loved anything pink Hannah had a pink flower in her bouquet in honour.
James had sent the girls special wedding teacups!
Here’s Tamsin helping Hannah into her dress, supervised by little Holly!A quick shot of the wedding shoes!
One happy bride!
Hidden on Hannah’s garter was a poker dot knot &, also a sports fan, a Man U crest!
One blushing bride, good to go!
Cheers!
A quick teamshot of the girls before hitting the road.
Over at St Stephens in Kirkstall the masses arrived.
I loved how they’d done their Order of Services, with ‘Tying the…’ and a poker dot knot.
While they waited for the car to return, Hannah & Dad had a moment over a cheeky drink, before heading downstairs…
…to the amazing 1960’s Austin Princess wedding car!On the way to the church!
Anyone else think this church looks like Thunderbird 3?
Running 26 minutes behind, I found one slightly nervous groom at the front!Â
Aww
Love this one.With this ring I thee wed…You may kiss the bride!While the bride & groom signed the register, their buddy Sam played a few acoustic numbers – including that “I like you so much better when your naked!” tune! Â I’m not sure the vicar will have heard that one in her church before.
Down the aisle as man & wife!
Well-wishing!A quick shot of everyone…before heading down to the church gates…
…to bomb the  happy couple with confetti!
Hannah & James had arranged to do their portraits down the road at the beautiful ruins of Kirkstall Abbey.
We’d already explored the Abbey on their pre-wedding practice shoot and found some great spots for portraits
(Check out the images on their pre-wed blog here)
A shot of the new rings!
Under the high vaulted arches of the main Abbey, I snapped them out of the sun (because hard sunshine can cast contrasty shadows).
After an overcast Friday and Saturday, and a rainy Sunday, these guys were absolutely blessed with the weather!
Afterwards, I decided to use the bright sunshine for an image between the pillars, and this one is probably my favourite of the day!
This was another I liked in the sun
I like how the arches frame these guys on this one.AwwWe found a few steps for a seat
And this fun double arch as another frame.
It’s not hard finding frames in Abbeys!
We then drove back to the reception at the Headingley Cricket stadium, awash in beautiful sunshine
Helping Hannah out of the Princess
Their reception was held in the Taverner Suite, the bar where Hannah & James originally met (as bar manager and bar maid!).
It’s one of very few rooms (possibly the only one in the world) to overlook two professional sporting stadiums (The Leeds Rhinos and The Cricket stadium.
Hannah & James joined their pals for a catch up…
…before being announced in for dinner!
I like this image. Â I’m rarely happy with pictures of newlyweds walking into their wedding breakfast, as the couple are generally only walk through a door together, then progress single-file through a packed standing crowd (more often than not with the groom stepping on the dress or veil)!
Speeches were fun (with an impressive array of humiliating images of the groom in various states of nakedness)!
Cheers!
As we’d not found time to do groupshots before dinner, we got involved afterwards, making use of the stadium seating!
Then I took the wedding party around to the Rugby pitch for a few relaxed teamshots.
I liked the old wooden Rhino’s seating! As dusk settled over Headingley…
…the cake was cut (impressively made by James’ niece Beth!)…
…and first dance was danced (with their song choice ‘You & Me’ by Lifehouse being expertly covered by their buddy Sam)!
Then we conducted our photobooth with a new array of fancy dress props I’d recently rounded up!
Click below for a flash slideshow of the highlights! Â (I’m not sure this’ll work on iPhones/iPads I’m afraid!)
Fun times!
The evenings entertainment was supplied by Blackpool based band ‘The Dead Beats’, who did a fantastic job rocking covers from all eras to really get the dance floor going!
A massive thank you to Hannah & James for asking us to join you guys for your fun-filled (& sun-filled!) big day!
Congratulations to you both and here’s to a fabulous mini-moon ahead of your Honeymoon adventures in September
Party on,
x Barns & Clare x