A LAKE DISTRICT WEDDING IN ULLSWATER
Elisa & Ben celebrated their Lake District wedding at Macdonald Leeming House by Ullswater in Cumbria on a beautiful day in early autumn.
LAKE DISTRICT WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS
THE MORNING
In a room overlooking Ullswater lake, Elisa and her bridesmaids and her mum spent the morning together having their hair and makeup done beautifully by Laura Mayers, and just generally hanging out! The vibe was fun and relaxed, with a wedding morning playlist providing a soundtrack for the morning. Leanie arrived early to start capturing the girls’ morning prep and the bridal details. Having left her hotel before it even started serving breakfast, Leanie was beyond grateful to Elisa for sharing her cooked breakfast!
A little later, Pete joined Ben and his groomsmen in their room to capture the guys’ morning prep, before heading out into the grounds for a few photos ahead of the ceremony.
Five hours often seems like loads of time for getting ready on wedding morning but it goes by so quickly! Before we knew it, it was time for Elisa’s dress and her bridesmaids helped her into her gorgeous Essense of Australia gown, with custom lace detailing on the train. Elisa looked absolutely stunning and we took a few minutes for some bridal portraits before heading down to the ceremony.
THE CEREMONY
In the half hour or so before the ceremony is due to begin, it’s quite normal at this time for the nerves to kick in, and for bride and groom to take a few deep breaths – we often find ourselves doing this with you! With Ben clearly blown away by how amazing his bride looked, and everyone just trying to hold it together, the ceremony got underway with lovely readings from family and friends.
It was a beautiful and emotional ceremony – it’s always a special moment and a privilege to witness two people in love making their commitment to each other.
After the ceremony, the guests lined up outside with confetti and confetti canons – there was loads of confetti but unfortunately the wind had other ideas and blew it straight over everyone’s heads and away! Though the weather was beautiful, it was also very windy so not entirely compatible with confetti, veils and hats!
THE AFTERNOON
We gathered everyone together for a quick full group photo, then as the guests relaxed in the warm autumn sunshine with champagne and canapes, and a glorious view of the lake and fells, we covered Elisa & Ben’s requested family group photographs before whisking them aside for a few private couple portraits – their first as husband and wife.
As the guests took their seats and sat down to dinner, we positioned ourselves to capture the entrance of the bride and groom and the welcome from their guests – there’s always a lovely energy in the room at this time – everyone’s relaxed, had a little drink and is ready to eat and party! The room looked very pretty and Elisa & Ben had chosen the names of local fells and waterfalls for their table names. We sat down for a short break and some (very welcome!) food in a lovely quiet side room of Leeming House and prepared for the evening ahead.
THE EVENING
We love photographing Lake District weddings – aside from the incredibly beautiful landscape, in a similar way to Scotland there’s something quite magical about the light here. On the evening of Elisa & Ben’s Ullswater wedding, we were blessed with a beautiful sunset sky, so golden and soft – the perfect light for portraits.
So after the wedding dinner and very hilarious speeches were over, we quickly took the new bride and groom outside for a few extra photos. There was very little time, since – as is often the way – dinner and speeches ran a little late – so the light was almost gone by the time we got outside. In late September the sun is setting early, around 7pm (this is something we always check!) so if we plan to do a short evening couple portrait session to make the best of this light, it does very much depend on things running to schedule.
Despite the short window of opportunity, we took some absolutely beautiful portraits of Elisa & Ben with the sunset sky and the lake and fells in the background, once again proving that it really is worth the effort to fit in a short evening session – this time of day regularly produces some of the best (and most relaxed!) photos of all.
After the mini portrait session it was back inside to cut the cake and take to the floor for the first dance. Elisa & Ben had chosen ‘Never Too Much’ by Luther Vandross for their first dance song, so it was a great upbeat choice and everyone joined them on the dancefloor to party away the rest of the evening.
We had a really amazing day photographing Elisa & Ben’s Lake District wedding, and there are many more images that we don’t have the space to show here – it was a day full of all the emotions, fun, laughter and tears, and we know these two beautiful people are going to have an amazing future together – we wish them every happiness xx
ELISA & BEN’S DREAM TEAM:
Venue: Macdonald Leeming House, Ullswater
Photography: Evans & Evans Photography
Bride’s dress: Essense of Australia at Cheadle Bride
Bride’s shoes / Accessories: Rainbow Shoes and Ivory Co.
Hair & Makeup: Laura Mayers & The Bridal Makeup Team
Men’s suits: DKNY at Moss Brothers
Bridesmaid dresses: Emma Bridal at Cheadle Bride
Flowers: W. Lewis Florist
Cake: M&S
Ceremony music: Doug Francis
Evening DJ: Steve Mitchel
“We can not recommend Leanie and Pete enough! Not only are they super talented, they’re an absolute pleasure to spend time with. They’re absolute professionals and their attention to detail is impeccable. Nothing was ever too much trouble and they constantly went above and beyond. ”
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