CLAIRE & ADAM - A SUMMER WEDDING IN CHESHIRE
HEATON HOUSE FARM WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY
In their own words, Claire & Adam had a wedding day that was ‘fun, filled with happiness, and just perfect’. Pretty much how every wedding should be!
Claire & Adam chose to get married at beautiful Gawsworth Church in Cheshire, followed by a reception at Heaton House Farm. As well as being a great wedding venue, Heaton House Farm is still a working farm and is surrounded on all sides by the beautiful Cheshire countryside. It’s a wonderful setting for a wedding and, whatever the season, a gorgeous backdrop for wedding photographs too.
THE MORNING
Claire got ready with her mum and bridesmaids in Heaton House Farm’s Hen House Pamper Room. It’s a great space, purpose-made for the girls to get ready in the morning.
Leanie arrived early to capture the hair and makeup artists working their magic, whilst Pete headed over to join the guys at Claire & Adam’s house and document their preparations, which included various speech rehearsals and the usual battle with buttonholes!
THE CEREMONY
The minutes leading up to a wedding ceremony are one of our favourite times as photographers – there’s so many emotions evident: excitement, nerves, happiness... and lots of deep breaths!
The bridal party arrived and Claire looked absolutely beautiful in her Rebecca Ingram dress. Claire and her dad paused at the threshold – another deep breath – and our cameras were poised to capture this incredibly special moment.
A live string quartet filled the rafters with music for the bride’s entrance and as it soared and Claire walked down the aisle towards her future husband, Adam was beaming and looked so proud and full of admiration.
It was a lovely and touching service, with readings from family and an entertaining delivery from the vicar. And a lot of laughter, as so often happens, when the ring wouldn’t go on! Pete covered the view at the front of the altar, whilst Leanie got a great workout running up and down the bell tower at the back of the church to cover the rear and elevated shots.
The new Mr & Mrs Day were played out to Take That’s ‘Greatest Day’ (pun intended!) as they walked back down the aisle together.
After the service we gathered the guests for a confetti shot in the lovely church grounds leading down to the lych gate, where the bride and groom’s fabulous wedding car was waiting to take them to Heaton House Farm.
THE AFTERNOON
Once everyone had arrived at Heaton House Farm, we dived straight into action covering Claire & Adam’s requested group shots. Thankfully, the weather was kind and stayed fair and dry, despite the forecast thunderstorms! So we were able to do the group shots outdoors while the guests enjoyed their drinks and canapes.
After the group shots were done and Claire & Adam had spent some time with their guests, we whisked them away for a short 10 minutes for some couples photos. We didn’t have much time in the afternoon but we knew we’d have a little more time with them in the evening, and this is the best way to do the bride & groom portraits – the afternoon is when you want to be spending time greeting your guests and catching up with them, as well as spending a few really important few minutes alone with each other just to catch your breath and remind yourself you’re now husband and wife!
After the very entertaining speeches, where Adam regaled the guests with the story of how he and Claire met, it was soon time to cut the cake, crowned with a ‘Best Day Ever’ topper (again, pun intended!) and it was delicious (we know, we were the first ‘guests’ to get a taste!) – top marks to Cherry Blossom Bakery!
THE EVENING PARTY
After the dinner service was cleared away, and in the minutes before the evening guests started to arrive, we took the opportunity to have another 10-15 minutes with Claire & Adam for some more bride & groom portraits in the grounds. Claire & Adam are a fun couple and wanted at least one silly shot with ‘Mr & Mrs Strawson’ – Heaton House Farm’s Mr & Mrs mascots. On a wedding day, they’re usually moved to the front of the driveway to greet the guests! As the sun was much lower and the weather was still clear we were lucky to have some lovely soft, golden light to work with, giving us gorgeously rich colours. We had a lovely few minutes getting some extra photos before it was time to head back inside to get the party started!
The dancefloor was surrounded as Claire & Adam began their first dance to Coldplay & Chainsmokers’ ‘Something Just Like This’ – a great choice and it really got everyone up dancing.
After the first dance, because it was still a lovely fine summer’s evening, a lot of people headed back outside and we stayed to capture some of these late evening shots as the sun went down completely, including Claire and her cheerleading friends somehow managing to pull off a lift in a wedding dress – now that’s bride squad goals right there!
We had an amazing day with Claire & Adam – their day had obviously been really well planned and so on the day everyone was really relaxed and enjoyed themselves. It was a joy to photograph them and we wish them a lifetime of happiness together J
CLAIRE & ADAM’S DREAM TEAM:
Ceremony: Gawsworth Church, Cheshire
Reception venue: Heaton House Farm, Cheshire
Photography: Evans & Evans Photography
Bride’s dress: Rebecca Ingram at Maria Modes
Bride’s shoes: Dune
Hair & Makeup: Faye Kenyon
Men’s suits: Peter Posh at Cheshire Menswear
Bridesmaid dresses: Oasis
Flowers: Prestbury Flowers
Transport: American Wedding Cars
Cake: Cherry Blossom Bakery
String quartet: Balfour Quartet
Evening DJ: Tom Finkill
“The whole process from first meeting to receiving our final album was fun, friendly and with an amazing standard of quality and care towards us. We will never forget how special our day was and how much you were a part of that and have helped to capture that for us.”
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