Yorkshire Wedding Photography at Rudding Park – The wait was over, months and months of planning finally became reality as Drew and Amy tied the knot last Friday at the gorgeous spa golf resort of Rudding Park, close to the market town of Harrogate. Dating back to the late 1700s, this venue is one of the North’s most prestigious venues and is an absolute beauty to behold.
Our story begins early on Friday morning as I arrived to photograph Drew and his best man making their final preparations – both were in fine spirits with lots of energy sparking between them both – I knew we were in for a fun day with these 2! Drew was finishing his speech when we arrived and the whole prep shoot was very chilled indeed. Drew is very much a family man and the highlight for him was when his daughter Demi came to visit to help him with his tie – a lovely moment to photograph.
Once the boys had figured out their rouche cravats (with a little help from their trusted photographer – not a lot of help though…right Drew?) we made some cool portraits inside their suite before heading out into the grounds to spend some time creating those ‘lit portraits’ we are so well known for. Our connection was growing and I knew we were in for a fab day!
Time was very much of the essence for this wedding, the bride and groom made a decision to pack as much as humanly possible into their big day – including 2 ceremonies – yes – that’s right – 2 ceremonies! The chapel at Rudding Park has been de-consecrated meaning that it is not able to hold religious ceremonies or wedding services but it is a purely magical space so Drew and Amy decided to hold an informal wedding ‘blessing ceremony’ inside at 2pm.
I arrived with Amy just after 12.30 at her suite where the girls were all in the final stages of getting ready. As with the boys, we were met with such a lovely, open friendliness and we instantly felt part of the team! Amy is without doubt one of the funniest individuals I have met for a long time and she had me constantly in stitches with her situational comedy – why she’s not working as a stand up comedienne baffles me! In fact, put her and her husband to be, Drew, together and you have a couple that will have your sides aching with laughter in a very short space of time- surely a great basis to start their married life off together – laughter makes everything better!
Time ticked away and as I’m always very conscious of keeping wedding parties to time, I did my usual checks and clock watching – but….that kinda went out of the window when I suggested it was time to start dressing the ‘mini-maids’ and a certain absence of mini-maids dresses became apparent! Amy had had a ‘Space Cadet’ moment and left them back at her parents house about 20 miles away! Cue ‘The Hero’ that was Amy’s big brother who broke all road traffic laws (hush, hush) to go and retrieve said dresses! Amy giggled and carried on eating her humus and carrot sticks like water off a ducks back!
The dresses finally arrived, the mini-maids were dressed, the bridesmaids slipped into their outfits and Amy donned her incredibly beautiful wedding gown with her biggest concern being ‘bra-or-no-bra’ ! Our bride looked truly stunning – so very elegant – but with a cheeky air of whimsical fun that rounded out every edge of nerves that naturally occur (or seemingly not for this bride!)
Bringing Dad in to see his daughter in her gown brought tears of emotion – as it usually does – and we captured some lovely expressions as the love was shared. Even after the great ‘mini maid dress debacle’ ate into the schedule, we were only a few minutes behind schedule and headed down to the chapel for the first of 2 ceremonies. Drew waited patiently for his Bride with a nervous excitement that was so nice to witness and his face when his bride finally arrived truly was a great picture to photograph. Drew’s sister became ‘The Vicar of Dibley’ as she conducted a very informal promises ceremony with a couple of upbeat hymns rocked out to the accompaniment of Drew’s Dad on guitar – a lovely personal touch!
After exchange of promises – we danced around the grounds to the sound of the AWESOME New York Brass Band – if you havn’t seen these Yorkshire Wedding Entertainers – they will really blow you away – just imagine Aha’s ‘Take on Me’ to brass and you’re in the ballpark – they also lead your wedding party on a brilliant Congo dance – PRICELESS!
We did group shots in record time as the clock ticked towards the SECOND ceremony of the day which was scheduled for 4pm – I’m pretty resolute and calm when it comes to scheduling but i gotta admit this packed wedding day had me on the edge of my red line to bring everything in on time – but without a broken blood vessel in sight – groups were finished, a quick penny drop session down with Bride and Groom and a civil ceremony held on time at 4pm!
Again, Drew and Amy decided to challenge the norm and go down the road less traveled as they had their whole wedding party (including almost 90 year old grandma) dance down the aisle to Clean Bandit’s ‘Rather Be’. The civil ceremony was very light hearted even though it was the ‘official’ marriage and the registrars performed a lovely occasion.
The room was turned around in record time and the guests were sat for 5.15 to be served a sumptuous 3 course meal. I have to say the staff at Rudding Park were absolutely first class and could deffo be described as a ‘brigade’ under the watchful and attentive direction of maitre’d Amy – she really did a fab job!
Speeches were rip roaringly hilarious – the groom was pulled apart from left, right and centre but he took it like a man and even managed to give back almost as good as he got when it was his turn to retort.
The night do flowed seamlessly from the wedding breakfast kicked off by cake cut and the couple’s first dance – the dance floor filled straight away and was banging with writhing bodies as we packed up and left just after 9.30.
I enjoyed Drew and Amy’s wedding at Rudding park so much – they are ridiculously happy together – bound by the commitment of love, parenthood and an insatiable lust for living life to its fullest. I wish them all the very best for a BEAUTIFUL life together and I’m really looking forward to sharing their full story with them when they get back from honeymooning in Jamaica.
We love shooting ‘big venue’ weddings – if you liked this story, you might also like reading about Riccardo and Angela’s ‘big venue wedding’ we photographed.
If you like our style and want to find out more about how Insight look after our discerning wedding clients, check out our website here and also our Facebook page for more inspiration.
RECENT COMMENTS