On the 15th November 2014, Sarah and myself had the pleasure of photographing the wedding of Ben & Samantha.
Upon entering a packed house full of an excited bride to be, father of the bride and the entourage of ten bridesmaids, there was a calm full of excitement around. The bottles began to open, the hair and make up in full swing, and time was ticking before the grand unveiling of the dress. Meanwhile 40 miles south west, in the beautiful Armathwaite Hall, Sarah was frantically running around trying to find the gents during their morning session of clay pidgeon shooting, alas to no avail, eventually she did however find them ‘relaxing’ in the spa!
As the bridal party gathered at the bottom of the stairs, anticipation reverberated the air. Samantha glided down the stairs in her wedding dress, bouquet in hand and accessorised in Jenny Packham. There a short gasp, tear, and a wall of iphone’s snapping the joyous moment, I’m sure you’ll all agree how wonderful Samantha looked. Then it was time for the exchanging of presents, including Ben’s treat of Michael Kors & Miss Dior. This done, the bridal party stepped on the concrete red carpet, awaiting paparazzi, before heading off to Armathwaite Hall, where the grooms party were all ready and dressed, meeting and greeting the many wonderful guests that came.
The rest of the day unravelled with ease and fluency. After a beautiful service, overseeing the crisp autumn gardens in the fore & Bassenthwaite Lake in the far, it was time for a few photographs outside, throwing of the confetti, mulled wine, before the cold took over and we headed in to the drinks reception with all the guest indoors. As Harp notes filled the air, and the grandparents had all found there way to the venue, everyone filtered to another room, as it was time for the wedding breakfast & speeches.
The speeches as always were full of hilarious moments as well as touching sentiments. This included a nervous groom & best man, a few heightist heckles, a very proud dad, and a lovely tribute to a mother who would be equally, if not more so, as proud!
The light drew in, as Armathwaite Hall illuminated, as the newlyweds stood there in the crisp air, I ran frantically around them with sparklers, before running into a unseen shrubbery, the things you do for a shot. With this done, we ventured inside to join the rest of the guests throwing shapes on the dance floor, but not before the first dance under a ceiling of crystal cascading lights.
The day was full of love and laughter, the largest entourage of bridesmaids to date, a great flower girl, mulled wine, a very dedicated bridal party (especially after picking out every last speck of confetti from the hair, due to some unforeseen mischievousness) a beautiful couple, and a many lovely touches and tributes throughout!
On behalf of myself and Sarah, We would like to wish Ben and Samantha many congratulations, for now and many years to come!
I hope you enjoy the photographs, the full gallery will be available to view soon, please follow the link on their wedding website (link below) to pre register to see the photographs when ready.
Until then, enjoy the snippets below, and many thanks!
Gavin & Sarah
