Healey Barn - Jessica and Michael

A gorgeous Healey Barn wedding with Jessica and Michael. Pretty pastel florals, a gorgeous countyside location, woodlands… what’s not to love?

Chinese wedding at Matfen Hall - Fiona and Rico

We are no strangers to photographing Chinese weddings in Newcastle. Over the years we have had the joy of attending and photographing countless Chinese weddings for local couples, and we have had the pleasure in creating long lasting friendships within the Newcastle Chinese community. We know and understand the traditional Chinese wedding customs, the fast paced fun of the day and we know that they are never the same twice.

Fiona and Rico’s big day was one such wedding. It was a feast for the eyes, Chinese wedding customs were combined with English wedding traditions resulting a multifaceted wedding day of fun and silliness, emotion and sincerity, elegance and romance.

The day started at Fiona’s family home. Inside, the ladies were busy getting ready, while outside, the street filled with family and friends, waiting for the boys to arrive. Moments after stepping out of the car, Rico was presented with a series of tasks set by the bridesmaids before being allowed entry into the house to collect his bride. The boys really got stuck into the challenges and luckily, they suitably impressed the girls. Once allowed inside, they all took part in the traditional tea ceremony before heading over to Rico’s parents home to perform the same ceremony with his family.

Later in the day, everyone poured over to Matfen Hall in Northumberland for their elegant and very English wedding ceremony and wedding breakfast.

Here are a few images from their day.

A 'home made' wedding - Ashleigh and Richard

Filled with so many personal touches and sentimental mementoes, planned and formed with careful precision, along with a lot of creativity and a whole lot of hard work, Ashleigh and Richard's 'home made' wedding was a joy to attend and a highlight of our year.

The Proposal

'Richard and I met on a night out in Newcastle and were introduced by friends. Richard proposed in 2016 during a weekend away in Warkworth, one of our favourite places in the North East. We were walking our Border Terriers, Penny and Ellie, on the beach and he suddenly got down on one knee. I said yes immediately!'

The wedding

'There was never any doubt about where the reception for the wedding would be. With Ashleigh having grown up on the family farm and being somewhat obsessed with gardening, nothing would make her more happy on the big day than being able to pull on a pair of wellies and being surrounded by flowers which she had grown herself. We were looking for something classy whilst also being relaxed at the same time. Having the wedding reception at Ashleigh's family home meant that we had control about every aspect of the day - styling things in our own individual way. Ashleigh had a crazy idea about erecting a wall of flowers and after many months in the plannng, packets of seeds and hours spent watering.....the dream became a reality. It was truly stunning. Of course, Ashleigh insisted on making all of the wedding stationery, chairbacks, table-centres and many other things. This involved drafting in a number of very hard-working bridesmaids and famly members!'

Favorite moment

'Ashleigh carrying a tree over her shoulder through the marquee the day before the wedding was pretty memorable..... she got told off by pretty much everyone as they were worried she'd be covered in scratches!! '

'The whole Wedding Day was fabulous from beginning to end. Being surrounded by family and friends meant so much to us and we have special memories to last a lifetime. After a super busy week with very little sleep trying to get the venue and grounds ready we were just so pleased for everything to turn out just as we'd planned. All our hard work paid off and seeing everyone enjoying the day meant so much to us! The children spent hours running around in the meadow and the day was topped off by Storm Function Band getting everyone up on the dancefloor and we partied until the early hours..... after all that dancing we were ready for some sleep!'

The Photographers

'Capturing special moments to create a long-lasting memory of our Wedding Day was very important to us. 2tone had photographed our friends' wedding and we knew that there was no one else for the job. From the first moment that we contact Chrissie and Nigel we knew that we were in safe hands.'

Any advice?

 'We knew that we could 100% trust everyone involved in our wedding to deliver and to make our dreams a reality. You just get that gut feeling when you meet people that these are people you can work with and rely on - trust your instincts! We were lucky to have attended quite a few weddings over the past few years and that really helped us with our wedding planning..... we knew who had done a good job for our friends!'

THE SUPPLIERS

The Venue - Whitburn Parish Church. Reception - bride's family home. Marquee provided by Fairbairn Marquees

The dress - A Pronovias gown from Mia Sposa, Newcastle

Hair and Make-up - Wedding Hair and Make-up North East

Venue styling -  The bridal party

The suits - Moss Bros

The cake - The cake was made by a family friend, with real flowers provided by florist

The flowers - Blossoms and Bows - East Boldon

The music - Jessica Avison

The band - Storm Function Band

The videographer - The Big Day Productions

The dessert - Afternoon tea - with all cakes provided by Beckleberry's

The rings - Both Ashleigh and Richard's wedding rings were made from their respective grandfather's wedding rings.... 'it was lovely to know that they were with us on the day and will remain with us throughout our married life!'

Wynyard Hall - Joanne and Lee

Joanne and Lee were married just a few weeks before christmas at the parish church of St Mary and St Cuthbert in Chester le Street, heading over afterwards to the stunning Wynyard Hall.  Here is a glimpse of their day...

Matfen Hall - Danni and Paul

Danni and Paul were married last summer at St Patrick's church in High Spen heading over afterwards to the stunning Matfen Hall. All of their family and friends came together for their big day, even Daz, Danni's horse made an appearance.

Congratulations once again to you both and thank you for inviting us to join you both on your special day x

The Parlour at Blagdon - Victoria and Andy

The Parlour at Blagdon has always held a special place in Victoria and Andy's hearts.  For many months they would visit as a treat for their two children to enjoy some of the best homemade ice cream in the North East, for the children to play in the courtyard and Wendy house, and for some good old fashioned county side fresh air.  When the time came to begin planning for their wedding they as all couples do chatted about what they wanted their wedding to be.  They wanted their wedding to be relaxed and informal for their guests and wanted it to be somewhere quirky and fun and a little bit different.  At the time the Parlour was not open as a wedding venue but they decided to have a chat with Nigel the manager of the about the possibility of using it for their wedding reception, an idea that he took up whole heartedly.  Two years later the big day arrived. 

Victoria and her bridesmaids got ready at Haselor House, one of the gorgeous cottages at Burradon Farm before heading over to St Nicholas Church in Cramlington.  The sound of the church bells accompanied by a steel band set up on the lawns of the church created a wonderful atmosphere as Victoria arrived and equally as she and Andy, and their guests exited the ceremony.  I could never have imagined how wonderful it would be to hear 'Under the Sea' from the disney film 'The Little Mermaid' played on steel drums, the last piece of music played as they left for their wedding reception.

The Parlour at Blagdon certainly didn't disappoint, it delivered every hope that Victoria and Andy had for their wedding day.  The staff did a wonderful job, working together ensure that everything went perfectly and looked stunning. The Willow room was dressed to perfection for their wedding breakfast, the courtyard was filled with fresh flowers and of course ice cream was provided to all of the guests.  A small but perfectly formed wedding venue and we loved every moment working there.

Having seen some of Victoria and Andy's wedding photographs, Nigel got in touch.  We are now very proud to now call ourselves a recommended partner of the Parlour at Blagdon and look forward to lots more weddings at this quaint and quirky venue.