Rachel & Josh’s Wedding at Home

Rachel & Josh both live just outside Northallerton in a rural area of North Yorkshire.  I met up with them a few months before their wedding so that they could show me the plan for the day.  Photographing a wedding at someone’s home isn’t something I normally get the chance to do.  Their home however, was a lovely farm, with beautiful views of North Yorkshire & Northallerton and their reception venue was to be a massive Marquee in one of their best fields, to make the most of the views.

I grew up not too far away from Northallerton, so  was pretty familiar with the area.  It was nice to go back there.  I still have some friends who live around there and we get back there whenever we can, but, you now how it is with busy lives, kids, work etc.   I was also familiar with the North Yorkshire weather.  To paraphrase the nursery rhyme, when it’s good, it’s very, very good. But when it’s bad…

Unfortunately, when it came to the wedding day, the weather was not good.  Windy with some rain thrown in for good measure.  I spent the morning with Rachel and her family as she got ready.  A lot of the flowers for the day were home grown by Rachel’s sister.

When it came to the service, the weather luckily gave us a break, at least the bride got to the Church, St. Eloy’s Church in Great Smeaton, without getting soaked.  By the time we left the church though, the rain had started.

Wedding Weather…or not

When it comes to rain on a wedding day (Alanis Morissette earworm for the rest of the day now – sorry.), there’s two types of people.  You can let it get you down, which sort of spoils the day a bit. Or, you can just crack on and enjoy the day.   Not only were Rachel & Josh the ‘Crack on and enjoy it’ type.  All of their family and guests were too.  It would have been nice to enjoy the outdoor games and the views in the summer sunshine.  As it was, everyone stayed in and had a great time.  Friends caught up and had a good chat, kids played – everyone had a great time.  Sometimes, when it’s sunny, guests can spread out a bit.  When it rains and everyone’s in a Marquee, everyone’s squashed in together and everyone’s close.  The atmosphere was brilliant.

As it turns out, we did get out a bit later for some portraits and the dramatic sky really added to the shots. When you get to the shots of rachel & Josh toward the end, just look at the state of the bottom of the dress.  That’s a bride who knows how to enjoy the day, whatever the weather.

Bookings for 2021

2021 is filling up now, but I still have plenty of weekend and weekday dates available.  If you’d like more details or to meet to discuss your big day, please feel free to get in touch.

If you’re booked for 2020…

Obviously, it’s a worrying time.  No one expected that we would be in the situation that we are in.  If you have a wedding booked with me in the first half of 2020, you can get in touch with me and we’ll go over the options.