Marsden Grotto Wedding - Rave in a Cave!

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Well, I say rave but this north east wedding was a very civilised and chilled out affair.

Having walked the dog at Marsden Grotto many times and enjoyed a refreshing pint at the beach bar, I was genuinely delighted to be asked to shoot Ian and Vicky's low key wedding reception.  As a wedding photographer, it's always brilliant to try a new venue in the north east or beyond and especially one as unique as the Grotto.  Our lovely couple had already tied the knot earlier in the day - as always, flexibility is my middle name and I was happy, as always to tailor a timescale to suit!

The grotto itself is at the bottom of a huge cliff and there are a few sea stacks just offshore.  It's the perfect venue for a reception, or any other party come to that.  Is it raining?  No problem, use the surprisingly bright and airy bar built into the cliff face.  Is it just too hot?  Then retreat into the caves further into the cliff - lovely and cool.  And for all the other times, your guests can just go wild and have a paddle in the sea.  The history of the place is fascinating - do head over to Wiki if you get a moment...  Linky.  

On the day, the weather was pretty dull but the vibrancy of the couple and their guests more than made up for that.  A good number of children livened everything up nicely and gave me something to point the camera at when the small wedding party were static.  On that note, I really, really enjoy very compact weddings.  Huge weddings supply endless photo opportunities but very cosy ones do force me to slow down a bit and have an end goal for each press of the shutter.

Anyway, I'll stop before I rattle on any more - here are the photos of the north east beach wedding at Marsden Grotto...

So, just a lovely, short cover wedding with some great characters and all round brilliant people.  If you're on the lookout for a fabulous and very experienced north east documentary wedding photographer for your big day, do head over to the main website or feel free to call me on 07866127732.  As mentioned above, I'm always happy to discuss short cover, especially on weekdays and through the Winter.  And I'll be especially excited if you get married in a cave :-)

Whitworth Hall Hotel - A Fantastic, Summer, North East Wedding

Emerson Photography at Whitworth Hall

Over the last eight years, I've only been lucky enough to end up photographing a Whitworth Hall wedding a handful of times.  As north east wedding venues go, it's hard to beat.  Some absolutely beautiful decor and furnishings inside, a brilliant outside area for guests if the weather is good (it was for this wedding!) and the icing on the cake is the beautifully kept sunken garden, complete with water wheel, pagoda and tropical plants.

Catherine and David had a really touching, traditional church service with some genuinely heartfelt readings.  The ceremony had all the right ingredients - plenty laughter, a few tears and a stunning interior - the latter is always helpful but the first two are essential!

Then after a bit of champagne, our couple were swept off to Whitworth Hall Hotel near Spennymoor, Durham.  I was absolutely determined to honour Catherine's wishes and get a photo of the pair of them in front of some deer (easier than it sounds as Whitworth has a large deer park surrounding it!).

After the speeches (there were a few and again, all the right ingredients were present in abundance) the guests sat down and happily started the celebrations.  As mentioned earlier, the weather was just brilliant, so the guests were turfed outside straight after the meal, where they enjoyed a few drinks in the sunshine, in between a few choice formal photographs.  Whilst I am primarily a reportage wedding photographer, I'm also not a snob about it and will happily set up and light some beautiful formals - often very important to the older generation.  Same goes for all the little details - if you've made an effort to produce them, of course I'll photograph them.

But I digress.  The guests had a blast with the caricaturist, whose business card I sadly, failed to get a hold of, and I sneaked off with our couple to get some photos in the beautiful sunken pleasure gardens.

And the day meandered pleasantly onward in a relaxed, sunny fashion until the first dance was over and the dance floor started to fill.  Lovely day with lovely people!

Dogs at weddings.  Love it.

This ray of light cutting through the darkness came in handy later too, when Catherine walked down the aisle.

Wedding reflections!

Detail photography at a Whitworth Hall Wedding.

That joke wasn't risque at all then...

 The pagoda at Whitworth Hall's sunken pleasure gardens.  They are just beautiful.

Deer shot at Whitworth.  Nailed it!

If you're looking for a very experienced photographer to take photos like these at your wedding in the north east or beyond, please do visit the website - North east reportage wedding photography or feel free to get in touch - contact documentary wedding photographer north east.