Wedding photos at Nostell Priory, near Wakefield: Louise + Paul

Yesterday I joined the very lovely Louise & Paul to photograph their big day at Nostell Priory, near Wakefield.

It’s the first time I’ve photographed there and it’s a simply brilliant venue for a wedding, all the more so when it’s beautifully sunny as it was yesterday.

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

I joined Louise & the girls at The Gamekeeper’s cottage in the grounds of Waterton Park near WakefieldThe morning started very chilled out and Louise was impressively relaxedHere’s the lovely bride having her tiara placed by her chief, before literally having it sewn in!The flowers were insanely lovely; whimsically bursting with David Austin roses, Rice flowers, Veronica & Stocks.

The beautiful bridal gownAnd the lovely bridal footwearPaul sent over a little gift and card to his wife to beTears were soon to follow!Here’s Louise being made up as the rest of the entourage turned the house into a hive of activity!

Generally I shoot with my girlfriend Clare, but as she couldn’t make this one, my good pal Tim Atkinson of Stott & Atkinson photography stepped in on second shooter duties!  It’s always refreshing to shoot alongside another pro, and we had a cracking day.

Tim joined the boys for their preps at Kings Croft Hotel in Pontefract.

Here’s the man of the hourBeing helped into his togs by his bezzy man SeanLooking sharp!

I hear there were a few nerves in the air…A hug between father and sonLouise had Sean deliver Paul a card… 

…and a locket containing pics of his mum who sadly passed away when he was just a teenager; so she could be with him on his wedding day.While Tim had the chaps sporting some Olympic Bolt poses, a surprise was just round the corner…

Louise & Paul are massive fans of Only Fools & Horses (to the point that that was the name of their top table!), and while Paul was expecting a Rolls Royce to take them to Nostell, that distinctive horn went off and Del Boy’s yellow Reliant pulled up!

The driver even had a Del Boy sheepskin, cigar & ‘mobile’ phone!

Must have been quite the sight seeing the chaps peel out of the Robin in front of the grand Nostell Priory!

The ceremony room was ready and set.

I like this little supportive moment of the chaps waiting on guests to arrive.

Meanwhile, the girls helped Louise into her lovely Maggie Sottero gown.Louise ended up putting her earrings in, as the girls were complaining about her hole being too tight.

[ Cue much sniggering ]  

Veiling up

Dad waited at the bottom of the stairs to catch his little girl all dressed for her weddingOutside we had a minute for a few informal shots of the girls

and a few quick details of the beautiful floraLouise pinned an old, blue broach borrowed from her gran, to a new clutch bag.  All the bases covered, and a nice way to have gran to hand.
No Robin Reliant for the girls!  Instead they rolled in Wolsley Motors.

With the gang inside and set…

…through the stunning acres of national trust grounds came team bride!

Heading up the grand staircase…

…and about to head down the aisle.
The veilThe rings

Pronounced man & wife

The kiss!And back down the aisle as man & wife!I thought it’d be pretty cool to do a full teamshot scattered around the grand Priory front!  This looks ace in large!

After a few quick family shots, we did a few wedding party groups, with the girls looking beautiful

…and the chaps looking cool!

Then as friends and family shuffled off for drinks in the Rose Garden, we did a few bridal portraits around the hall

I like this tender little detail of the new rings

I’d joined these guys a few weeks back for their pre-wedding practice shoot at Nostell to show them how it feels to be photographed, and to scout the venue for cool spots for portraits.

They brought along their lovely (if borderline mental!) red-setter Hudson, and as is often the case with dogs brought to the pre-wedding shoots as a test to see how they’d fare at a wedding, he ended up having his invite revoked.

But he was a little legend and if you’d like to see more pics of their pre-wed, check out the blog by clicking here.

I rather like this one of them walking along with the hall and car in the background.

The full dress shot!

Aww

They really were very sweet together, and clearly both love one another’s company.

After the portrait shoot, they’d scheduled in a little drive together for some solo time with a bottle of bubbly.

Guests were relaxing in the rose garden, enjoying a few drinks and lawn games in the sunshine

Before going in for dinner little confetti hearts were thrown

I like Tim’s alternative angle!Inside the bright and airy wedding breakfast room, the tables were set and named after their fave comedy series.

Flowers looked fab and Louise had included lots of little ‘Love’ & ‘heart’ touches around the place before dinner.

Dine Catering did a fab job at running the reception and serving up a delicious meal (we know because we were kindly supplied with all 3 courses!)

Speeches were great fun.

And after dinner the light was just lovely for more chilling outside.

After I’d wrapped the slideshow, Tim & I took Louise & Paul for another round of snaps in the golden hour sunshine.Apparently, all you need is love.

And water.

And perhaps cake.

I love the waistcoat grip on this smoochWe got SOOOO many lovely shots in this light it’s untrue. Can’t wait to process them all.

Inside I borrowed the rings for a ‘Lost in Translation’ Tokyo lights inspired ring shot on a mirrored table by the bar.Later on we did a pic with Louise & the girls

Once the evening got going we cut the cake (by Maria Webster).

[ See!  All you need is love and cake! ]

Plenty shapes thrown during first dance to Buble’s ‘Everything’!AwwThen we left the gang to enjoy more fantastic live music from Chris Hilton’s Big Band

And after doing a few dusky shots around the grounds, we bid our farewells to another fantastic wedding!

Massive thank yous to Louise & Paul for asking us along to capture the story of your brilliant wedding.  Here’s hoping you have both a fantastically happy life together and a brilliant honeymoon in Singapore and Bali!

Party on!

Barns & Tim

• 11 August 2012