Wedding Photographer Oakwood Hall, Bingley - Sophie & Mike

The start of our 2013 season saw us as wedding photographers at Oakwood Hall in Bingley which had a completely different appearance from the last time we were there. Sophie and Mike chose January to tie the knot because, although this isn't the most popular month for weddings, it's certainly a good choice when you want a skiing honeymoon!

Apparently, Sophie and Mike managed to avoid any broken bones before they headed off to Boston on the second leg of their honeymoon and where the amount of snow there at the moment makes that on their wedding day look like no more than a sprinkling!

Although we usually try hard to avoid listening the the weather forecast, taking a "look out of the window" approach, with heavy snow you have to be prepared and because of this, we set off much earlier than originally planned to ensure we arrived in plenty of time, which turned out to be a good idea as the road into Oakwood Hall was very tricky to negotiate.  We did wonder how the guests would fair!  

We caught up with Sophie and the girls as they got ready and there was an efficient production line of hair and make-up going on.  The colour scheme Sophie had chosen in teal, hot pink and orange looked spectacular and was a perfect choice for a winter wedding.

We met Mike and the boys for their photographs, some of which we took inside in the warmth, but some just had to be taken outside in the snow which was pretty deep so a track had to be made for Mike to walk through and stand in.  Don't think he would have been too happy getting married in soggy trousers!

This day full of fun and laughter went without a single hitch.  The registrars were fantastic, allowing us to capture the civil ceremony without restrictions, every single one of the guests made it despite the snow, no one complained about being asked to go outside for photographs and Sophie and Mike were stars, trudging enthusiastically through the snow so that we could get the beautiful photographs we had imagined for them, showing off Oakwood Hall and the stunning winter landscape, before we headed off for a short walk along the drive to get the last few photographs before they began their receiving line and wedding breakfast.  This was break time for us and a chance to dry out our soggy trousers!

With loads of free time after dinner, the couple had plenty of time to mingle with their guests and then enjoy a second couple photography session where we used the lovely staircase for some romantic photos and bridal portraits before the evening party, including a casino, started.

Thank you Sophie and Mike, your parents, family and friends for being fantastic and a pleasure to work with.  We look forward to seeing you on your return from honeymoon.

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Wedding Photography Oakwood Hall | Claire and Andrew

         
We arrived at Claire's mum's house which has stunning views over the moors.  She said that it was wonderful watching the seasons change and what a spectacular view!  

Once we'd photographed Claire's preparations, we left to meet Andy and the guys at a cafe bar in Baildon, just down the road from the methodist church where he and Claire were getting married.  We walked the short distance to the church where we met up with Terry and Lauren from Picture House Wedding Films who were the videographers for the day and who we like working with a lot as they are a lovely father and daughter team and extremely good at what they do.

We managed to get all the boys' photographs before the rain started just before the bridesmaids arrived, resulting in brollies at the ready and photographs in the church porch and it was still drizzling when Claire arrived with her brother, James, who gave her away.

Claire and Andy had decided against having photographs taken from the front during the ceremony so we stayed at the back, along with Lauren, whilst Terry captured the proceedings at the front.  The flower petals in the aisle made a beautiful feature in the photographs.  

A peek outside at the end of the ceremony confirmed that it was still raining and so we took the close family group photographs inside the church and, unusually, the confetti shots too!  It's not often you get a vicar agreeing to allow this as they usually insist on it being thrown once everyone is off the church premises!  We don't envy the person who had to vacuum all the confetti up afterwards!

The decision was taken to risk going to Oakwood Hall for the rest of the photographs which included some large family groups and a big group shot of everyone.  These pictures were very important to Claire and Andy.  Apparently, Claire's uncle Steve has an iPhone app which is very accurate when it comes to the forecasting the weather and his call was that we should risk it as rain was forecast for only half the time during the afternoon.  Wonder why the weather forecasters can't manage to be anywhere near as accurate because he was spot on and we managed to get the rest of the groups done without another rain drop plus a few pictures of newly married Mr and Mrs Pitts before everyone sat down for the wedding breakfast.

There was a bit of a Disney theme going on which was evident during Andy's speech and there were some lovely details like big jars of sweets on the tables and the couple's table plan which was beautiful and very original - a string of pastel coloured cards hanging across the fireplace.

Claire and Andy joined us for a few photographs on the staircase after dinner before their first dance together.  Our thanks to them for asking us to share their wedding day.