Thornbridge Hall Wedding

Thornbridge Hall

Thornbridge Hall is a grade II listed stately home in the peak district, set in 100 acres of parkland and 14 acres of formal gardens even inch of the place is oozing with personality. Maybe even multiple personalities, the building has had many owners over the years all with different styles and tastes and this comes together in the most fantastic, spell bindingly way. The first thing I noticed when I arrived at Thornbridge Hall was just how many pairs of eyes there are looking at you for the faces calved into the wooden mantelpieces and fire places, to the garden statues whose eyes follow you around as you make your way around the extensive gardens. All of this character means your wedding guests will have plenty to look at and explore on your wedding day, it feels like being on a film set and the mix of styles makes it a fancinating place to wander around.

The Carraige House; a clock towered, glass walled dining hall even boasts a secret underground night club to spring on your guests later in the evening once the party has already been started, again making the experience of being in this venue an adventure in itself.

Thornbridge Hall is a family home and part of the gardens are open to the public, so it isn’t a venue that you can stay in overnight but if you are looking for something with the wow factor, breathtaking English countryside and a wedding venue that is as beautiful and weird as you are… This might just be the place.

Getting ready at Thorn bridge hall

I knew I loved this venue as soon as I saw the suite Ruth was getting ready in, not only is The India Suite huge giving you and your bridal party loads of room to get ready in but the light coming through the huge leaded glass windows was beautiful and it made for an epic start to the day. Having a nice big room to get ready in can really help take the stress out of the morning, with everyone having enough space to relax, take time out and get ready it can really start one of the most important days of your life off with the right tone, plus with loads of space and light you can get some lovely photos of that morning too.

While the Bridal Party had an epic Bridal suite to get ready in, George’s Lads pad downstairs did take the biscuit with a pool table and private bar, the groom and groomsmen had plenty to keep them busy and calm their nerves in the morning. I always think sometimes if the men don’t have much to do in the morning it can let the nerves set in. George and his groomsmen spent the morning greeting wedding guests, playing pool, having a few beers while planning their hilarious and heartfelt speeches. Two perfect wedding mornings running along side one and other.

The Ceremony

Ruth and Georges beautiful ceremony took place in The Great Hall of Thornbridge Hall, surrounded by stunning Autumnal flower arrangements by the very talented Swallows and Damsons (check them out for some seriously beautiful flowers!). The couples popularity really showed filling the ground floor with guests and then having the rest their friends and family watch the ceremony from balconies over The Great Hall. The ceremony was heartfelt and emotional, with tears and laughter throughout before the couple made their way out of The Great Hall to be met in the back garden by their wedding guests for one of the longest confetti walks I have seen in a while!

After the confetti had been thrown and everyone had had a good old mingle, we grabbed some nice relaxed group shots against the beautiful back drop of the autumnal Derbyshire hills before Ruth and George came for a wander with me through Thornbrigde Halls beautiful manicured gardens to get some lovely relaxed wedding portraits and give them a bit of time out to enjoy each others company of their wedding day.

If you are thinking of having your wedding at Thornbridge Hall there are plenty of different places to hold your ceremony; for couples that want to brave an outdoors ceremony and feel those wonderful Derbyshire manicured lawns underneath your feet as you say I do there is the South Lawn Temple and for smaller indoor ceremonies there is the Music Room or if you are having a bigger winter wedding like Ruth and George you can take advantage The Great Hall and your friends and family watch you for two levels.

The Carriage House

Ruth and George held their wedding reception in The Carriage House an old stable building that has been beautifully renovated and given a glass ceiling and front. On their tables waiting for their guests they had some autumnal flower arrangements, hand calved wooden name places and homemade marmalade!

After the Speeches

After the speeches it was time to get the wedding cake cut and get the party started and Ruth and George didn’t waste any time before they got on the dance floor and started tearing it up.

A Shout Out to Some Awesome Suppliers!

• Flowers: Swallows and Damsons 

• Hair and make up: Jenn Edwards and co

• Groom’s suit: Dooley and Rostron

• Groomsmen suits: Slaters

• Dress: Cheadle Bride

• Bridesmaid dresses: Rewritten Bridesmaids

• Venue: Thornbridge Hall

Mytton Fold Wedding Photographer

Mytton Fold Hotel

Gemma and Ben contacted me after I shot a friend of the families wedding, they wanted a really chilled out affair with friends and family and they had chosen one of Lancashire’s hidden gems, family owned hotel Mytton Fold. Mytton Fold has been run by the Hargreaves family for over 30 years and boasts 43 bedrooms, making it perfect for a wedding party that might want to stay the full weekend. Set within the rolling hills just outside Whalley, Mytton Fold is situated in the Ribble Valley and surrounded by a massive golf course (100 acres if you are interested). There’s ample grounds for guests to roam and plenty of beautiful places for photographs with the sun setting just behind the fields at the back of the hotel. Perfect!

Around the hotel there are loads of interesting little roads, benches, Lilly ponds and gardens making it an interesting place for guests to explore and beautiful place just to sit back and relax in.

As if things couldn’t get any better the hotel is also dog friendly!!! So if you are thinking of bringing your pooch along on your wedding day, it might be one to put to the top of your list.

Getting ready

Gemma and her family and friends were getting married in a huge room with loads of lovely pockets of light (ask for 228!) and space for them to get ready together. There was hair going on in one corner, make up in the other and everyone seemed really excited for the day ahead. The girls were trying out a new method of taping their toes together so their high heels didn’t hurt, apparently this works?! See the photo in a bit. It was a lovely relaxed morning full of loads of smiles and laughter.

The Ceremony

The wedding ceremony was held in the Abbey Suite at Mytton Fold Hotel. The large room holds some rustic character with stacked stone pillars either side of the room and Tudor style supports holding up the roof. Gemma and Ben chose to decorate the chairs with white covers and blue ribbons and had blue petals scattered down the aisle. Maybe this theme of blue came with Ben’s love of his blue mini?

As Gemma was walked down the aisle by her Dad and looked to Ben she was overcome with emotion. Then once the tears had stopped they couldn’t stop smiling at one and other. It was then out of the Abbey Suite and into Mytton Fold Hotels front garden where Gemma and Ben were congratulated by their wedding guests and pelted with heart shaped biodegradable (important detail) confetti.

After being pelting with confetti and having a drink or two we headed off to grab some photos of Gemma and Ben’s family and friends and some of Gemma and Ben. Gemma and Ben had been worried about both of them being a little camera shy, but as you can see they nailed it!

Wedding guests

While waiting for the Wedding Breakfast and speeches Gemma and Ben’s immaculately dressed wedding guests roamed the impressive grounds at Mytton Fold while enjoying the sunshine and a drink or two.

The Wedding breakfast and speeches

Gemma and Ben had decorated the room with plane models and books and left personalised gifts on the tables for wedding guests. The wedding cake was topped with a model of them both and Ben’s mini of course!

The speeches were a roller coaster of emotion. Getting laughs and tears from many of the guests and wedding party.

The Party

After the speeches as the sun was getting lower in the sky we hoped out for 5 minutes to grab a few more photos of Gemma and Ben together before they headed back in to do their first dance as husband and wife and get the party started, and what a party it was!

Wedding suppliers

I do not currently have a list of wedding suppliers for this wedding. If you were a supplier please get in touch and I’l be more than happy to link back to you.

Venue: Mytton Fold https://www.myttonfold.co.uk

Chetham's Library Wedding Photographer Manchester - Maddy & Craig

Maddy and Craig's Story

"We met at work and had known each other for a while before one fateful night at the Liar's Club sparked the start of something. We had our first date the very next day

We got engaged in Copenhagen, which Craig managed to surprise me with for my birthday - I didn't even know we were leaving the country until we turned off the m56 for Manchester airport. He had even packed miniature toiletry holders so I could repack my shampoo etc without having to tip me off in advance. Craig proposed almost as soon as we got to the hotel, I think the stress of getting the ring through security without me noticing had taken it's toll! It was a beautiful weekend in the snow in January." 

Chetham's Library and Lock 91 as Wedding Venues

Maddy and Craig got married in one of Manchester’s hidden gem wedding venues, Chetham’s Library. It’s a beautiful venue with loads of character and wonderful little pockets of light and shadows that make for a wedding photographer’s dream! So if you are getting married there and reading this, give me a shout! Your wedding guests are also able to wander around the library and explore the stacks of old antique books while they catch up with one and other and sip on their champers. It’s a really unique wedding venue and all in Manchester city centre! Making getting there, staying there or hoping off to somewhere else all super convenient possibilities. In this case Maddy and Craig hopped over to Lock 91 in Deansgate to continue the party, which is another great venue for a lot of the same reasons Chetham’s Library is, without the epic Library to wander though of course!

Here’s what Maddy and Craig had to say about Chetham’s Library as their wedding venue:

"We wanted casual but classy venues for the wedding and we wanted to keep to a strict budget. We visited Chetham's Library and fell in love with how beautiful it was and all of the history behind it. We thought about having the full day there but really wanted to put our own stamp on the party and keep it quite casual and Lock 91 was perfect for that. It was also extremely reasonably priced to have the ceremony at the library's Baronial Hall and we had exclusive use of the library itself for photos and for guests to explore after the ceremony. It turned into a wedding of two halves really, with a fairly traditional civil ceremony at the library followed by a raucous party at the bar!

Lock 91 were completely relaxed and accommodating, which was extremely helpful as we were maybe a bit too laid back with the planning until quite last minute. We had caterpillar cakes for our wedding cake which I completely forgot to buy until I went to drop everything off the night before and Andi (the manager) helpfully reminded me and I made a mad dash to Tesco! Simon at Chetham's was brilliant as well, we were very fortunate with everyone we dealt with.

In choosing the venues (and in choosing everything) within budget we decided to focus on what was important to us and what wasn't. I got a taxi to the venue as neither of us is particularly interested in cars. Our two wedding cakes cost £10 from Tesco and who doesn't love caterpillar cake!? The biggest outlays of the day were on drinks, food and the band and as the aim of the day (besides getting married) was to have a really great time with friends and family, drinks food and music were our priority and therefore where chose to put our money. Craig is a big music fan and spent much of the year building up to the wedding making Spotify playlists for pre-ceremony, ceremony, drinks reception etc."

Suppliers

"I got my dress and hairpiece from case of the Curious Bride in Sale and the dress designers are Hazaar of London (the headpiece was done by Melanie from case of the curious bride). Craig bought his suit online in the sale and the groomsmen wore their own blue suits. Bridesmaid dresses were from Dorothy Perkins (also in the sale!) And Jasmine's dress and shoes were monsoon. Flowers were amazing and were done by Emily at Bloomin Altrincham Market. The food was done by Cafe Mozaic in Ashton and everybody loved it! Mr Wilson's Second Liners were the most incredible band we could have wished for. We bought shed loads of prosecco for the drinks reception at Chetham's from Sainsbury's. Rachel McDonnell did my dress alterations. Rachael Dutton did hair and make up. We had the most amazing wedding night at Hotel Gotham and they were very patient when we completely overslept our check out time.

Also we had THE BEST PHOTOGRAPHER EVER  and I highly recommend her to anyone looking for a wedding photographer!" 

Looking for your wedding photographer? Get in touch!

Dewsall Court Wedding Photographer - Kate & Tim

Kate & Tim’s Story

In Kate’s words….

“We met at a party in London, ended up sitting next to one another on a sofa and that was it! We talked until 4 in the morning and then Tim went home and called his friend to say that he'd met the girl he was going to marry. I wasn't far behind! All our friends thought we were insane but once everyone saw us together they got on board pretty fast. Not long after we met I had a pretty bad car accident and ended up with a broken shoulder, and Tim dropped everything to look after me. I think that's what really cemented my conviction that we would be a wonderful husband - we've never doubted that we are each other's first priorities. I'm very lucky!

Tim proposed at the Botanic Gardens in Oxford about a year after we met - it was a total surprise and very romantic! He involved all of my closest girlfriends which made it incredibly special, and we finished the day having champagne in a gorgeous hotel room. I had already picked out my ring so I was absolutely dying to be able to wear it! Getting all my friends together from various parts of the country was a real feat and he'd spent about six months planning it without me noticing. He's very sneaky.”

Dewsall Court

Kate and Tim got married at Dewsall Court in Herefordshire which is an absolutely epic venue. The house has it’s own private church (that you can get married in if you want to) it is a beautiful stone building and so old it is mentioned in the doomsday book! The venue also boasts it’s own private lake and beautiful grounds and gardens to explore.

The house itself is huge and elegantly decorated with original artwork, hand painted wallpaper, beautiful sash windows letting in oodles of natural light and gorgeous scenery of Hereford’s rolling hills. There is a wonderful orangery where guests can dine over looking the grounds, a big swanky living room and it even has a snooker table in the second floor hall way! Imagine! Between eating the delicious food prepared by the Dewsall Hall staff, exploring what the house and grounds has to offer there is so much to enjoy about this venue Kate and Tim’s guests were truly spoilt for choice, just as well Kate and Tim made it a two day affair!

Getting Ready

When I arrived at the house on the morning on Kate and Tim’s Wedding day, Tim was already suited and booted and ready to rumble! Kate and the girls were up in Kate’s room getting their hair and make up done and having a nice relaxed morning. One of the many great things about Dewsall hall is the space and light, the bed rooms are huge, meaning there’s loads of space for you and your bridal party to get ready in, the sash windows let in loads of natural light too making your make up artists and photographer’s jobs that little bit easier. Plus it’s just bloody lovely!

The Barn

Kate and Tim held their ceremony at the barn at the bottom of the garden and had one of their friends who also worked as a florist (handy!) make their beautiful bouquets and dress the barn in Ivy foraged from Tim and Kate’s garden.

The Speeches and Party!

After some epic heartfelt speeches from Tim and Kate’s crew, the cheese got cut and Kate and Tim shared an emotional first dance, it was emotional for them, for me, for everyone really. Then the dance floor opened and everybody stopped crying and started to throw some serious shapes!

Kate and Tim thank you so much for having me you absolute legends! What a bloody wedding! xxxxxxxx

Shout Out to Kate & Tim's Awesome Suppliers...

• Dress: Claire Pettibone, 'La Belle' in Blush, from Exquisite Bridal Winchester. https://www.exquisitebrides.co.uk/

• Shoes: Pink Paradox London. https://www.pinkparadoxshoes.com/

• Veil: Ellie Sanderson Oxford. https://elliesanderson.co.uk/

• Hair and makeup: Em Grove, Instagram @em_hairandmakeup

• Flowers: a wedding present from our friend Amanda Mason.

• After dinner elderberry port: Demijohn Oxford. https://www.demijohn.co.uk/

• Cheese cake: Oxford Cheese Company. http://www.oxfordcheese.co.uk/

• Book: First edition of WB Yeats poetry, antique.

• Stationery: all designed by me, printed with printed.com. https://www.printed.com/

• Engagement ring, wedding rings, and antique earrings all came from DB Gems. https://www.dbgems.com/

“THANK YOU for being such a fantastic photographer and lovely human. You made our day so special and you caught so many brilliant and sweet moments, like my half-eaten toast on its tray during the morning!

We knew we loved your style, but when we got our images back you’d surpassed what we had expected. You captured the essence of the whole day - the warmth, the laughter, the tears, the awful dancing. It was a privilege to have you involved.

The parcel that came in the post was perfection - we put the slideshow on and immediately burst into tears. And the prints you’d included of my lovely grandad were a beautiful and thoughtful touch. We are so very glad we found you.”

— Kate and Tim

Why I Love This Photo Series 1.3

 

This photograph might not look like much at first. A family sitting at a table together in an empty room… But this moment was more than that. This was the moment when June and Steve took time out with their daughter Rosie during their wedding day. Rosie was overwhelmed. She didn’t really understand what the wedding was about and somehow thought that Mummy and Daddy getting married meant that they didn’t love her anymore. She was inconsolable. So deeply upset, it was hard to watch. After the ceremony was over June and Steve took her to one side to make her feel loved and spend some time as a family unit without the busy commotion of their guests around them. It was a beautiful, private and tender moment between the 3 of them and as it happened I managed to capture this little photograph of the 3 of them being a family.

Documentary Wedding Photography

Part of being a documentary wedding photographer is looking out for the small moments in between the bigger more obvious ones. Rosie will grow up and probably forget most of this day, when June and Steve tell her that she was so upset she may not even believe them! When I look at this photo, I see Love. The unconditional love that June and Steve have for their daughter. One day she’ll be older, she wont need them to hold her hand any more, she’ll make friends, move out, travel, become independent, but there will always be this little moment frozen in time when all this little girl wanted was a cuddle from her mum and Dad and that’s beautiful…

To view my full Wedding Portfolio click here.

Katie Dervin is a Documentary Wedding Photographer based in Manchester.

Why I Love This Photo Series. 1.1

Why I Love this Photo 1.1

So I thought it would be a nice exercise to pick out some of my favourite photos over the past year and explain why I love them, which brought about the Why I Love This Photo Series.

Details

I thought I’d start with details, as a lot of the time that’s how I’ll start my day photographing a wedding. I’ll often photograph the exterior of the place I’m about to enter and then usually the first few pictures I will take will be of details the couple have requested or things of interest around the room that I think add context to the story, this gives me some great photos to help me put together the story of your day for the couple, it also gives the people around that morning a little bit of time to relax and get used to having a photographer around before I start taking photographs of them.

Why Wedding Shoes?

Today’s photograph is maybe a strange one to start with… I am a documentary photographer yet the photo might not so obviously be in that style.

You’ve probably seen a photo like this a million times before. Detail shots are done in windows a lot because of the quality of light, it’s an easy go to shot, it looks nice, but it’s nothing ground breaking so why choose this photo?

The reason I love this photo is that it shows the brides beautiful shoes and the setting off, but it also adds some context to the day. You can see the delicate rain drops on the thin paned glass of the windows, a hint of the beautiful gardens of Middlethorpe Hall in the back ground and that’s why I love this shot. It isn’t just a shot of Donna’s lovely shoes it adds to the story of the day Donna and Kev got married by reminding them of those extra little details of the morning that otherwise would be long forgotten.

When shooting detail shots, I’ll always look around for different ways I can add context to the photograph, sometimes the best way to shoot these items is to photograph them where you find them, other times it can be nice to find somewhere that helps add another layer to the story.

To view my full Wedding Portfolio click here.

Katie Dervin is a Documentary Wedding Photographer based in Manchester.