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Lynsey & Tony were married at the Merewood Hotel near Windermere this weekend. The weather did its worst and kept us all indoors, except for one ten-minute spell just before everyone sat down to eat. It stopped raining for just long enough to get the bride & groom outside.
Meanwhile, inside, photographing the details is just as important…
After getting married, in Kendal, Kate and Chris just had to get some photos down by the lake last week. The snow was still on the mountain tops and gave us a fantastic backdrop.
Kate’s daughter & bridesmaid Jess…
Just to prove you can get outside, even in November… in the fog. Lots of credit to everyone who braved the temperature, particularly Ceri who must’ve been a bit colder than everyone else. I must add that I didn’t twist anybody’s arm – they were all volunteers, honest!
A few minutes before the ceremony…
Just so I knew who everybody was…
Any wedding in late afternoon in November is going to be an indoor wedding. Luckily, Glaucia’s Brazilian family were never going to let things slow down. In fact I can honestly say this was the first wedding I’ve been to where everybody was dancing within 20 minutes of the service! I think the brazilian band had something to do with that too.
I’ve had some good luck with weather before, but when Gemma & Duncan married at the Merewood last Saturday, the only half hour of blue sky was just after the ceremony, meaning we could at least get outside for some photos, despite the stiff breeze.
It was warm and dry inside, during the ceremony
But there was confetti carnage outside
‘Wet’ doesn’t adequately describe the day before Hollie and Matthew’s wedding at Storrs hall last week. But we got lucky and spent plenty of time outside on the lawn and in the hotel grounds.
Fantastic dress…
A few minutes away from the crowd.
Down by the ‘Temple’ on Windermere, the blustery wind adding to the mood.
Imagine a grand hotel, dropped into one of the most remote valleys of the Lake District and you’ve got a rough idea of the Gatehouse at Eskdale. The village of Eskdale Green otherwise has little more than a school, a pub and a postbox (all you need perhaps?) and The Gatehouse, which isn’t actually a hotel, but is used by Outward Bound for various events, as well as weddings.
Despite the forecasts and a little shower, the weather allowed us outside to make the most of the views. That wire at the top is a zip-wire. No, really, a proper zip-wire across the tarn. Unfortunately, none of the wedding guests fancied trying it out.
Lots of people think that it does nothing but rain in the Lake District, and lots of people might be right…or wrong.
I can’t argue that it seems to rain often here, but as a nation of weather-pessimists, we do tend to exaggerate a little and make it sound worse than it is.
I’ll give you an example: between April and October 2007 I photographed 18 weddings. How many do you think were spent mostly indoors because of bad weather? Five? Ten?
One.
Yep, no joke. Just the one. And even on that day I got the umbrellas out and got the bride and groom outside for some shots in the garden.
You see, the reality is that yes, it does rain, but rarely for long, and pretty soon there’ll be a sunny spell to follow it up and make everything OK again. On 17 out of 18 occassions last summer, I was able to spend as long as we liked outside with a wedding party taking photos on their big day.
I’d love to say I’m a lucky photographer but I won’t because then it’ll rain for six months.
Another thing I’ve learned since moving here five or so years ago is that the BBC weather forecast doesn’t apply to Cumbria. It’s like we have our own microclimate provided by the mountains – weather can stay longer or go sooner than the BBC say it will. This week, the BBC – even Look Northwest – have been telling us all to expect heavier and heavier downpours all week. Not here. In fact it’s been improving every day, and I’m not just saying that so you’ll pay us a visit. Honest
Possibly the hottest day of the year so far – even at 8:45 when I arrived to photograph Kara’s preparations I was sweating, which probably made me look nervous!
In fact everybody was remarkably relaxed, no doubt aided by the champagne and Bucks Fizz flowing from the start (yes girls, I saw the one that overflowed out of the window!)
It was nice to be involved from the beginning on such a special day, and everybody had a great time. The boat trip on Windermere provided a challenge to all the high heels that had to get down the jetty and back again.
Thanks guys, see you soon.
People often bring their pet dogs to weddings, but swans are not quite as common. A short walk from the church down to Windermere there are a few jetties to get shots of, with the lake and mountains in the background.
Of course, not knowing exactly what ‘wedding’ means, the swans just assumed we’d come to feed them and probably weren’t too impressed at the distinct lack of bread thrown at them. This one decided to see if me or my camera was edible.
