Wedding photography at St Stephens Church and Aldwark Manor

Familiar faces and familiar places – Clare and Wayne were recently married at Aldwark Manor, Aldwark, just North of York.  We photographed Clare’s sister Maria’s wedding a few years ago, and it was lovely to see everyone again.

We know Aldwark Manor very well, and also St Stephens Church, although it’s a while since we have photographed a wedding there.  Things haven’t changed much, these are still both gorgeous settings for any bride to enjoy their wedding day.

For Clare and Wayne, the sun shone all day, not quite clear blue skies but not far off!  Wayne’s groomsmen were treated to a surprise helicopter flight grand entrance at Aldwark on the morning of the wedding – the first they knew of it was when their taxi seemed to be heading more for Leeds (airport) than for York.  The views over Yorkshire must have been fantastic for them.

Clare was driven to church from Aldwark Manor to church in a classic Beauford, and the bride and groom returned to Aldwark in the same after the wedding ceremony.  Clare’s dad read out a lovely poem outside church, before the couple released a pair of white doves.

Altogether a glorious day, and congratulations to the newliweds!

Bridal preps in the Wensleydale Suite, Aldwark Manor

The groom and groomsmen arrive at Aldwark Manor

The gents arrive at Aldwark

The lads arriving at Aldwark pre ceremony

Wayne by the helicopter

Wayne with his family by the helicopter

St Stephens Church, Aldwark

Clare arriving at St Stephens prior to the ceremony

Clare arriving at church

Clare with her dad, walking to church

Inside St Stephens Church

Wayne and Clare release the doves

Family group shot St Stephens

Clare and Wayne head for their reception

The bride and groom cutting their cake just before first dance

Bride and groom’s first dance

Autumn weddings at Rudding Park – Sarah and Tim

All we ask at autumn and winter weddings is that the weather will hold for us and hopefully we can secure some lovely photos outside.  Such was the case at Sarah and Tim’s mid November wedding at Rudding Park, and yes!!  we did manage to get some lovely photos outdoors as well as some absolutely gorgeous darling images inside.

Sarah and her bridesmaids got ready at Rudding Park itself, with flowers supplied by the ever efficient Colette.  The first part of the day was a civil ceremony held in the Radcliffe Room, for 130 family and guests, followed by a blessing in Rudding Park’s glorious chapel.  Drinks and canapes were served in the Drawing Room, Blue Room and Library, before guests were invited to take their seats for dinner back in the Radcliffe Room.

Centre Piece was a magnificent Cake of Cheese, as Sarah and Mark shared their favourites cheesy indulgences, with the table names also called after their favourite places and cheeses.  The night was finished off with a good old Scottish Ceilidh.

Here is a selection of my favourites from the day, with a few more over on my Steve Ramsden Photography Facebook Page.

Rudding Park Wedding – Nicole and Ally

Such a fabulous day we had last weekend photographing the wedding of Nicole and Ally at Rudding Park Wedding Chapel in Harrogate, followed by a very relaxing wedding reception in Rudding Park itself.

Ally got ready at dads house in Harrogate, with her bridesmaids, before traveling over to Rudding for the ceremony itself.

A strong music theme ran through the day, with Nicole being piped up the drive at Rudding Park by a fully kilted Scotsman, and Chris Hilton supplying live music in many guises throughout the day – a musical trio in the chapel itself, a string quartet to entertain the guests in the afternoon, and a more jazzy/mixed style of music was played during the wedding reception itself.

The Radcliffe Room at Rudding Park looked brilliant as always, Nicole was absolutely thrilled when she walked in and saw how the room had been laid out and decorated, with Flowers by Collette .  Collette also provided stunning bouquets for Nicole and her bridesmaids, a well as dressing the chapel wit some fabulous displays.

Nicole was driven to church with her dad in a 1930s style Beauford Tourer by Lavelles Cars of Rothwell, Leeds.

After dinner guests were treated to a fantastic evening of dancing by Rudding’s resident DJ, the dance floor was ram packed as soon as Nicole and Ally had finished their first dance – the guests were obviously raring to go.  Half were celebrating major success on the football field, half were commiserating, but I’m not supposed to mention that!!

I’ve added a selection of teaser photos from the wedding below, and more can be found on my Facebook Page here.

Such a fabulous day, congrats go to Nicole and Ally, can’t wait to show you the rest of your photos asap!!

The Emma’s Diary scheme is a fantastic opportunity for mums to have a free photo session with their babies, and includes a free photo gift courtesy of Steve Ramsden Photography.   There is no obligation for mums to buy extra photos, but many do once they have seen the quality of our work and what we produce.  Also, each month, we offer the mums the opportunity to include a photo of their choice in the Baby of the Month competition, with five monthly prizes of £100 and a prize of £5000 for the overall winner of Baby of the Year.

We recently photographed Leila at the studio, and mum Bethany has purchased one of our 30″ framed composite images, with a selection of images from Leila’s photo session.  I can’t tell you how fabulous this looks, you really need to see it in the flesh, but here’s a shot from my iphone when mum Beth called to collect it.