Crathorne Hall - Lesley and Matthew

Lesely and Matthew's wedding took place at the beautiful Crathorne Hall near Yarm.  I asked Lesley to tell us more about their day...

"Matt & I met on a friends 21st in Durham, in 2011.  From our first date I knew he was the one, I have had butterflies ever since."

"Christmas 2014, Matthew proposed to me in the most amazing way! We’d finished opening our presents on Christmas morning sat by the tree, he said to me “Do you think that’s everything?” He passed me a large, flat box. I thought “what on earth could this be...” it was a Millie’s cookie with pink writing asking me to marry him! First thing I did was question “REALLY?”, I couldn’t believe it, so excited! I Immediately said YES after that!  I was pregnant when Matt proposed to me.  Millie was born in 2015, she will always have the story that she was named after a cookie!"

"We wanted our wedding to be a happy and unforgettable day.  It truly was one of the best days of our lives, we had everyone around us who cared, friends and family, each other and our little girl, Millie.  Unfortunately we have lost some loved ones over the years we have been together and beforehand. We wanted to try and include as much as we could so they were with us that day also."

"There was so many memorable parts to the wedding!  Walking down the aisle and seeing Matthew standing there, and our first dance.  At the end of the night feeling accomplished, we had the most amazing day and I’d like to think everyone had a great time!"

"Photography was massively important to us.  We wanted to treasure our memories and what better way can we do it?
We chose 2tone photography as both Chrissie's and Nigel's photography skills are brilliant. What a lovely couple to work with, they listened to everything we wanted and they followed through with it on the day. The quality and thought that goes into their work is unbelievable. I recommend them to friends who are getting married all of the time."

"My piece of advice to couples getting amrried is don't get stressed. Your day will be amazing.  Everyone says it but it’s completely true.  Your day goes so quick, so make sure you take five minutes just both of you to take it all in."

Here is a look at their amazing day...

Venue: Crathorne Hall Hotel

Venue styling: The First Class Wedding Company

The wedding dress: Northallerton Bridal Outlet

The men's suits: Bakers Tailoring

Wedding cake: Mother in Law

Flowers: Claire Metcalfes

Hair and Make up: Hair: Ashleigh Bennett. Makeup: Emma Christie

Entertainment: The Ultimate wedding DJ

Jesmond Dene House - Ashleigh and Neal

It was the perfect winters day for Ashleigh and Neal's wedding at Jesmond Dene House in December.  Crisp and cold with a light dusting of frost, and that oh so gorgeous low winter sun.  Ashleigh's Pronovias wedding gown and lace cape were a sensation, she looked every bit the perfect bride.

The venue fully decorated for christmas looked fantastic alongside Ashleigh and Neal's own decorations.  Fairy lights were strung up across the hall and within the trees in the grounds, willow entwined with even more fairy lights lead the way for the bride down the aisle, and for an added bit of festive cheer, Ashleigh's dad even made sure that there was snow!

Congratulations to the both of you, it was an honour to be a small part of your special day.

Suppliers:

Dress by Pronovias, Flowers by Floral Quarter, Magician - Paul Lytton, Electric Violin - Lauren Charlotte, Evening music by Bay6  

The Ramside Hall - Sarah and Stuart

Sarah looked picture perfect as she walked down the aisle of St Josephs church in Stanley to be married to Stuart in July this year.  The ceremony was beautifully traditional and was attended by all of their family and friends.  After having spent some time with their guests after the ceremony, we all headed over to the Ramside Hall near Durham for their wedding reception.  The Bishops suite was dressed to impress for their wedding breakfast back lit by the stunning giant light up letters reading their names supplied by the fab Coco Luminaire. As a surprise to the groom, Sarah splashed out on the brand new bridal suite, the Celebration suite for the pair of them to enjoy for a few days following the weddings so after the meal the four of us headed upstairs for a few photographs.  To say I was impressed with the room would be understatement, it's stunning decor and mood lighting created a wonderful atmosphere and was ideal for a short portrait shoot.  The evening began with the traditional first dance, however Sarah and Stuart surprised and enthralled their guests with a fabulous choreographed first dance which was followed by a special moment for the bride and her dad on the dance floor.

Here are a few of my favourite images from their day.

Eshott Hall - Rachel and Ben

It was a joy to be heading back to the Parish Church of St John the Evangelist at Killingworth for our last wedding in May for Rachel and Ben's wedding.  

We were welcomed with open arms - literally by the church's lovely vicar who has a real knack of making everyone feel at home in his church.  It was really enjoyable to see him insisting that everyone fully take part in the ceremony by putting a microphone in front of random guests while they were singing hymns which resulted in lots of giggles throughout and certainly eased the nerves of the couple.  

After a really wonderful ceremony and a few pictures in the grounds of the church, we all head north for the wedding reception at the gorgeous Georgian country house, Eshott Hall in Northumberland.