Falling Foss Tea Garden with Poppy & David

I knew when I first met them that I’d get on well with Poppy and David. We spent an evening talking about the Sci-Fi shows and Studio Ghibli films that we liked when we should have been talking about weddings and photography. Then we met up for their Engagement Shoot and again (learn more about my engagement shoot), we had a plan, but we deviated from it and we got great results and had a lovely afternoon wandering round Cod Beck near Osmotherley. It’s fair to say that I was really looking forward to their outdoor wedding at Falling Foss Tea Gardens near Whitby.

Whitby is one of my favourite places. I used to work on cruise ships, so I’ve seen more than my fair share of ports and harbours around the world, but Whitby is still the top of my list. I arrived nice and early to photograph Poppy and her bridesmaids getting ready at The Marine Hotel, right next to the harbour. There’s something special about being somewhere like Whitby first thing in the morning, having the whole place to yourself before the crowds arrive, the only thing interrupting the peace and quiet being the seagulls. The perfect start to any day. That’s when I met up with Poppy and David at the hotel. David was just preparing to leave when I got there, so I got a couple of shots of the emotional farewell before David left for the morning.

So the ladies all got ready at the Marine, with a beautiful view of the harbour and the Abbey for the morning. Then it was off to Falling Foss Tea Gardens for the rest of the day. Every so often you find a place that you feel really comfortable in.  That’s how I felt about the Tea Gardens. Just outside Whitby, down a steep hill and in the middle of a thick woodland in the grounds of Midge Hall, someone a long time ago (during the 1780’s) built a house for their gamekeeper. That’s the house that is now the Tea Garden. I love woodlands and I can wander for hours as long as I’m surrounded by trees. This place has plenty of trees. It also has a river and a waterfall, although due to recent rain, getting down to the waterfall in a wedding dress would prove too difficult. We did manage to give Poppy’s bright yellow wellies a thorough test in the river though. I’m really glad that she had them, I think they really add to the river photographs.

I think that the Tea Gardens were the most tranquil and peaceful venue that I’ve ever shot a wedding and they were the perfect setting for Poppy and David. I’ll definitely be heading back there to take some more photographs of the waterfall and the woods soon.