Ellingham Hall Wedding Preview: Helen & James

It's always exciting to work at a new venue, and the visit to Ellingham Hall, Northumberland blew me away. It's a fabulous country house tucked away in rural Northumberland, near the coast (& Not far from other great venues Doxford Hall, Newton Hall and only ten miles from the fantastic Alnwick Gardens.)

Helen & James planned a relaxed wedding with family and friends "We want everyone to feel like they are on holiday" is what they said to me when we met up a few weeks before their big day. Their wedding guests stayed in the hall and cottages surrounding it, so it was a whole weekend of celebrations for everyone to enjoy.

They both admitted to being a bit nervous about being photographed, to be honest, most people I work with are! I don't do high fashion style posing, I work in a relaxed manner capturing natural photographs, so rarely work with couples who are very confident about being photographed...!

I started the day off meeting Helen in the gorgeous older bridal suite, it had a whole room of closets and mirrors, and a huge gorgeous window.... I was in loooove! After a few photos of preparations, I went off to meet James and his friends in one of the cottages. We had such a laugh taking some fun and silly photographs with the treehouse.. his friends were extremely energetic and made suggestions themselves of to what images I should take... James mentioned it was a good way to use up some nervous energy before the ceremony..good news! I always like it when I get the opportunity to meet both the bride and groom shortly before the ceremony, and if the couple like, I try to accommodate this where possible.. usually when they are both getting ready nearby.

I went back to meet Helen and her friends and Mum again (ladies take much longer to get ready as everyone knows!) and the transformation to bride was almost complete... her dress was a stunning floor length dress with a slight train, strapless lace with a bit of bling underneath the bust.. I absolutely loved her dress and it suited her so well.

Downstairs, guests were arriving at the ceremony, so with a bit of planning I got images of James & his best man nervously waiting, and Helen & her Dad proudly walking her down the grand staircase..
The ceremony was beautiful, very personal... vows included 'drinking as many cups of tea as you make me!'.. and it took place in the gorgeous ceremony room which is wood panelled, with a red carpet and was decorated with red roses and candles.

Helen & James danced back down the aisle to 'Bring me sunshine' which was really lovely!

After the ceremony and when the guests had chance to congratulate them with a hug and a kiss,  we got outside to capture the last of the autumn light... with crunchy orange leaves and a blue sky. 

We walked around to the treehouse and I suggested they have a go on the swings - what more do you want on your wedding day?! Thankfully they were completely up for my slightly eccentric suggestions and just went with it and had fun.  The middle image below was suggested by the couple to relate to their aisle song choice :-)

At our pre-wedding consultation, Helen & James mentioned they really liked my 'portrait within a landscape' style images, where the bride and groom are small within the image and then the landscape surrounds them. I chose this tree backdrop to take this style of image and just love the golden light coming through the trees.

We also had fun climbing up into the treehouses within the grounds... I just love that sun!!

Here you can see the stunning Ellingham Hall, the refurbished chapel is just to the right of the photo.

Just before the group photographs, we went to the large window in the chapel, to grab the very last of the light coming through.

After a few group photographs everyone moved into the fabulous chapel for the reception.

Helen's sister had arranged all of the flowers within mismatched vases and the room was lit with a lot of candles giving a gorgeous glow.

My job at a wedding can be very diverse, not just a photographer but as support to the bride and groom, messenger, holding bouquets, calming nerves, bribing children to have their photograph taken, helping with button holes etc.. but at this wedding, a slightly different job: I spent a good ten minutes guarding the cakes! Helen's friends had done a marvellous job, seven of them each baking an individual cake to present on the day as surprise. They looked and smelt delicious and a lot of guests kept coming to ask me if they could help themselves yet or did they have to wait to have a photo... at one point I literally had to hold people back until the couple got there to cut their cake and let people have some... It was really funny! 

After the cake demolition, everyone moved back into the chapel for the celidh... I've not actually experienced one before, so it was great fun to watch.. Just as I was saying bye after photographing a few dances,  I was grabbed by a passing Auntie who dragged me onto the dance floor and made me have a dance with her, me complete with cameras around my neck and a bag on my shoulder.. I laughed so much my sides ached.

I can honestly say... I had an amazing time at Mr & Mrs Holroyd's wedding. Ellingham Hall was AMAZING, but what made the day is the couple and their guests were absolutely lovely. I kept having guests come up to me and being so lovely, they clearly understood what I was trying to do and I spent about 20 minutes saying bye to everyone i'd met, hugs and kisses were exchanged. Helen & James completely relaxed, took my suggestions and trusted in me, which was fantastic. and I went home very tired, but on a complete high.

Thank you so much for having me as your wedding photographer and a HUGE congratulations to Mr & Mrs Holroyd on their big day xx

If you're looking for fun, relaxed wedding photography for your big day, anywhere in the UK, please drop me a message via the website .. I'm currently taking bookings for 2013 and 2014 and would love to hear from you. 

All images (C) Katie Byram Photography.