Wedding photography at Slaley Hall

Amy & Steven

Slaley Hall, Northumberland

Amy met us at a wedding fair at Gosforth Racecourse. After a chat with her on the day she contacted us soon after to book for her wedding photography at Slaley Hall, Northumberland. She loved our relaxed style of photography and we were really looking forward to the couple’s fun filled day!

Getting Ready
Amy chose to get ready with her family and the couple’s children at their home. Hair and makeup was well underway when we arrived and everyone was in good spirits for the day ahead!

The groom’s father arrived as he was driving the bride to the ceremony in his Jaguar. He looked very proud to carry out this role and was dressed for the occasion including a chauffeur’s hat.

The theme was a pretty lilac and all the dresses looked great on their personalised hangers Amy organised. Amy’s dress was a true princess dress with lots of layers and lace. Amy’s daughter Neve was super excited to get ready.

Amy was ready to get into her amazing dress, she was helped into it by her bridesmaid. With her look complete by adding shoes and jewellery and a gorgeous bouquet she looked like a princess and was ready to go!

Everyone else was ready so it was off the hotel to see the groom!
We arrived at Slaley Hall ahead of the bride so went to see the groom and his right hand men before the ceremony was to begin. The weather was doing well and looking lovely, the couple had originally planned an outdoor ceremony but unfortunately with rain scheduled to arrive at any moment they agreed to move things indoors. But for now Steven was enjoying the sunshine greeting guests.

He was a little nervous and trying not to show it! We grabbed few shots of the groomsmen and also of the kids who had arrived. Then the weather started to turn and it was time to head in.

The Ceremony
Steven greeted guests as they took their seats and took his position at the front of the room for the ceremony to start. We could see he was a little emotional as he waited for Amy to come down the aisle, he was really trying to hold it together!
The bridesmaids went first down the aisle followed by Amy who was walked down the aisle by her dad to meet her groom.

The couple made their wedding vows to each other and there was lots of laughter and some tears throughout after a bit of funny word fluffing! They exchanged the wedding rings and Steven was then announced to kiss his beautiful bride and they were officially married!
The formalities of signing the register were completed and we took a few shots with the register then everyone headed to the bar area for a drinks reception and to congratulate the happy couple!

We grabbed the group photo as there was a break in the rain then had to do the rest of the family portraits indoors. We try to keep the family formal photos brief so guest don’t get bored, it usually takes around half an hour. Once they are out the way guests were able to head back to the bar. This is then a great time to have your photos done together as a couple as guests are less likely to miss you as they will be getting a drink, freshening up, and chatting about the day so far.


The Romantic Husband & Wife Photographs
Slaley Hall is set in beautiful grounds for your wedding photography- unfortunately the rain stopped us getting out to enjoy it. This isn’t too much of an issue there though as inside the venue is amazing. We had a walk through the hotel using the different areas, like the whiskey snug, to get lots of different shots and even got to use our brand new I DO prop sign. This was a couple that embraced their day and had a blast doing their portraits! You can tell they had a lot of fun and are so happy and in love. One of our favourite photos is Steven deciding to remove Amy’s garter with his teeth, which you can see below!.


The Speeches
By the time we were finished with all the photo fun it was time to head to the main room for the speeches and wedding breakfast.

The room looked fab decorated with pretty centre pieces and a giant illuminated LOVE sign.
Amy’s dad gave the first speech and did a great job. Steven was up next and gave out thanks to everyone for helping and said how lovely the bride looked (Well done Steven- extra brownie points for you!) and then it was time for the best man’s speech. The best man had some tales to tell and got some laughs from the audience and some funny reactions from everyone at the top table. Steven was also proud to show off his Breitling watch he received as a gift from his new wife.

We then took a break to let everyone enjoy their food and we got to work on a selection of the images from the day so far so they could be ready to go up on our projector for the evening reception guests to see! We love our Image Projector service as it’s a wonderful way to include evening guests in everything that happened during the day time and a great talking point for guests too, as well as giving the Bride and Groom a sneaky peak at what’s to come!


Some extra pretty couples portraits!
When the meal had finished the sun had come out and it had begun to dry up! Of course we couldn’t resist the opportunity to go out onto the green and into the Chinese Gardens to get some more pretty portraits of these gorgeous guys. We also took the chance to get a few extra family portraits outdoors with the better weather!


Party time!
The guests made their way back out to the bar area while the room was set up ready for the evening celebrations. The DJ arrived to set up and ready for the party to begin, the projector was up displaying the images for guests to see, we used the venue’s built in projector which displayed the images a lot bigger than usual so it ws amazing to see our work blown up so large! It gave the guests a great view of the day so far! There was a fab photo booth for silly pictures for the night! We also had a signing frame out as a guest book alternative for everyone to leave messages to the happy couple, and there was a big candy ferris wheel out filled with treats.

After the cutting of the cake was done Mr and Mrs Hunton took to the dance floor for their first romantic dance as newlyweds then Amy had a special dance with her dad.
A lot of people were on the dance floor and everyone was having a lot of fun! They were still enjoying themselves when we headed off home!

Overall it was a really fun day for everyone involved. We hope they like their photos as much as we do! Thanks to Amy & Steven for choosing us to photograph their wedding day and allowing us to capture their memories to keep- it was emotional, entertaining and overall full of fun and happiness!

We wish you all the best for the future together as Mr & Mrs Hunton!