LeopardPrints Weddings: North East summer wedding at Gisborough Hall

Rachel & Gavin 24th August

Gisborough Hall

Rachel and Gavin chose us to photograph their wedding day at the gorgeous Gisborough Hall in Middlesbrough. We met them at a wedding fair in Hartlepool we were exhibiting at. They were having the whole day at Gisborough Hall.

Getting Ready

Rachel was getting ready at the hotel with her bridesmaids who were her friends and her daughters all dressed in matching tracksuits with their roles for the day written on the back. Everyone was quite calm when we arrived, Rachel was having her hair finished by the hairdresser and then expertly applied her own make up, and even had time to help the bridesmaids with theirs! The children were in high spirits and very excited! Rachel had an amazing wedding dress to wear and the bridesmaids were dressed in gorgeous gold dresses. Little Amelia, Rachel’s youngest couldn’t stop looking at her mums pretty wedding dress!

There was a little bit of drama around the venue dressing (this was the second wedding in 4 days that we saw have venue dressing issues with companies which shows how important it is to book someone with a great reputation and reviews) but friends and family quickly sprung into action (including Nick) to help get the covers and sashes on in time for the ceremony.

Gavin had arrived, he was waiting with Rachel’s dad and stepdad and was looking fairly relaxed and waiting for Rachel to arrive. On a quick check of his watch Gavin realised the bride was running a little late, this is quite common, it’s a bride’s prerogative on her big day!

The Ceremony

The bridal procession entered the room; Rachel was walked down the aisle by her dad and stepdad who both looked very proud.

The couple made their wedding vows to each other then exchanged rings. Gavin got to kiss the bride then the usual formalities of signing the register were done and they left the room newly married as Mr & Mrs Johnson looking very happy as they walked back up the aisle!

The Bride and Groom Photographs

We went out to the orangery for a drinks reception and the formal family photographs. The weather was beautiful with the sun shining and a gorgeous blue sky. We stole the couple away from their guests for a short time to get some romantic husband and wife photos taken away from everyone else. This makes things a little less intimidating and means our couples can relax more in front of the camera. We had a walk round the amazing grounds of the hall. We used some of our favourite props and the couple had our Mr & Mrs sign and even a walk with our fab lace parasol. Not to be outdone by the bride even Gavin had a run with the parasol! We even got to spend a bit of time with the guys for some jumping and posing.

The Speeches

Guests headed back in to get ready for the speeches before the meal. There were speeches from Rachel’s step dad, the groom had some entertaining tales to tell and the best man got the biggest amount of laughs! He was having a few issues reading from his notes and repeated the same parts a few times much to everyone else’s amusement! Rachel’s stepdad dissolved into laughter. With a few gifts of thanks given out everyone settled down to enjoy their meal. We sat out enjoying the sunshine in the orangery and swiftly got a selection of the photos from the day so far edited into a slideshow to go up on our projector the evening reception. We squeezed a quick cutting of the beautiful cake in after the meal was finished.

Party time!

After the meal the guests made their way back to the bar and orangery area and were enjoying the weather outdoors. There was lots of fun entertainment for everyone to keep them amused, guests played blackjack and roulette, there was a magician that the children loved and also a caricaturist walking round drawing funny sketches of everyone! They were brilliant likenesses of people!

Then the room had been transformed, the DJ was set up and we had our projector set up in the room displaying some of the photographs from the day for everyone to enjoy, the party was ready to begin.

The newlyweds hit the dance floor for their firs t dance together. Rachel and Gavin had a great band The Beer Pigs to perform and they really got the guests up on the dance floor and having a great time. The party was still in full swing with lots of dancing to the band’s music when we left!

Overall it was a wonderful day for everyone and we had fabulous time as well. This couple have a gorgeous set of photos from their wedding day. We hope they like them as much as we do! Thanks Gavin and Rachel for choosing us to be your photographers for your action packed day and capture those memories for you to keep and look back on over years to come. We wish you all the best for the future as husband and wife and a family together!