West Mill: Natalie & Dan

I can’t believe that I’m still blogging weddings from April this year. That’s how far I am behind with my blogging! I must have at least 20 weddings to post over the next few months, but today, we’re going to start in Derbyshire.

Natalie and Dan live in Sheffield, which as I’m sure you know, is in South Yorkshire. The venue that they chose for their big day though, that was The West Mill, over the border in Derbyshire. It’s easy to see why. The West Mill is a historic old mill next to the River Derwent. It’s been restored and transformed into a contemporary wedding venue and it doesn’t look like they’ve spared the cost – it really is stunning inside.

I met up with Natalie in the morning and it’s fair to say that they were perhaps just a little behind schedule, so there were a few nerves. As the preparations went on, I ran between Natalie & her Bridesmaids getting ready and Dan who was greeting the guests arriving downstairs.

The ceremony was beautiful and a real photographer’s dream with all of the light streaming in through the many windows. After that, there was drinks and conversation and a few photographs. Over the summer, I like to take some shots of the Bride & Groom after dinner to catch the early evening light. In April though, you get those shots when you can. It was a bit breezy, but we got everything we needed before dinner.

Sometimes, the speeches can be a lot of fun to photograph. I’ve shot somewhere the best man was like a skilled stand-up comedian who people would have paid to see. Today, the speeches were delivered by the bridesmaids. All of them. And they did a fantastic job. The speeches were funny, emotional, tearful & I’m sure that it’ll be a long time before everyone there forgets them.

Finally, the party. After meeting Natalie & Dan, I got the impression that this was the bit that they and their friends were really looking forward to, and what a party it was…