Many of my wedding clients are visitors to the area, but Sonja & James are local. Which meant that lots of other local people were there. I’ll confess to being more nervous than usual about the weather – as there were 100+ people squeezed into the Merewood Country House Hotel, between Windermere and Ambleside. If it had rained all day, it would have been a little more ‘intimate’ inside. But we were so lucky…

Can’t leave any of your mates out? Put them all in a suit.

Final adjustments.

The old “Why’s there a man with a camera in mummy’s bedroom” look.

What everyone was there for.

Spoilt for beautiful backdrops.

Top class punchline from the best man.

(Almost) the end of the day.

October weddings are a bit of a gamble – you hope they’ll be ‘autumnal’, but are aware the weather could be rubbish. And in the morning it was. Wind, rain, cold, the lot.

But as I spent an hour or so with Sophie and her hairdresser and make-up team, it got brighter and drier outside. By the time the ceremony was over, we even managed a walk alongside the river. OK, it was a tad nippy and the wind was whipping around, but that’s ‘autumnal’.

A last look in the mirror.

Not your average wedding car.

See? It was a beautiful day.

And not a bad setting if you have to be inside at the Swan either.

I once overheard a wedding guest say, “You can feel your blood pressure drop when you come up here.” At the time we were on a boat on Coniston Water, but whichever lake you choose, it’s got to be a good way to spend the afternoon or evening.

So, after a ceremony and meal at the Langdale Chase on Windermere, Helen & Andy took their guests out on ‘Silverholme’ for an hour or so.

Anna-Kate tunes up before the ceremony

Don’t drop the camera, Don’t drop the camera, Don’t drop the camera…

Bride & Groom in the gardens at Langdale Chase

It’s like waiting for a bus…only nicer. And how many buses have bars on board?

It’s no use, she asked for Guinness

Off to the bar…probably

USA-based Anita & Dan were married in the States in August, but came over to Dan’s parents’ home in Cartmel for a blessing a couple of weeks afterwards. It was effectively a wedding without the ‘I now pronounce you husband and wife’ bit. Because they already were.

The weather looked ominous, so we did some shots in the grand setting of the Priory before the ceremony took place

Followed later by the ceremony itself

Which was watched over by these guys

And their carriage to take them to the reception…

On the day when the Great North Swim came to Windermere, it was lucky to be able to walk to work, about a quarter mile down the road at the Hydro hotel. Even luckier was the weather – a proper scorcher, in September.

Liz & Paul chose some instantly recogniseable music for the ceremony which raised a chuckle or two.

Confetti…gets everywhere

Not a bad backdrop, just a short walk (or drive) up the hill behind the hotel.

A walk in the woods on the way back.

OK, it’s an advert for Kodak but I like the sentiment.

Normally when someone asks if I’m available in August, they mean next August. Not Karen & Simon. They meant ‘in three weeks time’. And why not?

It was a Monday and thankfully I was free because it was  a lot of fun.

Cute kids, a good start…

Forget ‘Bownessie’, this is photographic proof that August wasn’t a washout.

…which made the trip on the lake even better.

Although you do get chased by random strangers

The Beautiful gardens at the Broad Oaks hotel in Troutbeck near Windermere gave us a great backdrop, but first things first…

This could almost be a checklist: Make-up – check, Hairdresser – check,  Shoes – check, Jewellery – check.

Please don’t drop her, Please don’t drop her, Please don’t drop her….

The post-confetti clean-up begins