Sam and Lou's Wedding at the Chilli Barn, Yorkshire

Well, where do I start with this wedding. Its been over 2 years in the making and I even shot a short ceromony in the middle of Covid for Sam and Lou, you know, for good measure (See blog) . However, finally after all the planning, blood, sweat and tears, Sam and Lou got their day to celebrate with everyone they loved...and believe me they deserved it.

For me, the day started at the venue, Sam and Lou were lucky enough to have love gets sweeter filming the day, so it meant giving the girls some time to get ready before the ceromony without too many people and cameras.

The venue was the impressive Chilli Barn, near Yeadon in Leeds. What a gorgeous place, with a great open and light barn decorated to perfection. A fantastic Yurt for the guests to chill out in, hay bales and festoon lighting for that awesome authentic look. The whole wedding had a fantastic glamping barn feel to it , add Lou and Sams choice of Rainbow colours, representing pride and it was perfect. I just loved it.

Sam arrived first with her Dad, setting up camp in the up stairs section which overlooked the barn. Lou would be arriving last (who, we had been warned can struggle with time management). As Sam composed her self It was great listening to Dad tell his stories about his pocket watch, given to him by his grandfather after managing to keep it safe throughout WW2. As a photographer you can often get lost in your lens, but I love to take a second to listen to guests and hear stories, I think knowing a little more about the wedding party can help you focus on what shots to take to tell the right story.

As you can imagine on a day like today, even the slightest story can trigger tears, so this one was no different (and Im only talking about me ;) ). Anyways, as we move past the emotional stories it must be said that Sam looked just stunning. As she took time to compose her self, with the help from Mum, Nate (son) and Dad she glanced just past me at dad for one of those shots you ( a wedding photographer) dream of.

Then before you knew it everyone was in position and with one or two more glances at that pocket watch we awaited Lou (See note about time keeping ;) )

Some time later (Only joking of course, If you cant arrive fashionably late for your own wedding, when can you) Lou arrived in style in the retro Mini. She managed a smooth exit which was very impressive and after a some nice hugs and hellos to the bridal party, Lou was soon ready for the big moment. Then, as I ran in to prepare for that walk, I snapped everyone lining up outside with the bridal party. In that moment, I took a moment to listen to the chatter of the bridal party and look at the nervous/ excited bride. Its right then, in that calm before the storm moment that there's something even a photographer cant capture. That feeling of electricity moments before the door opens, it really is something unique, and believe me, todays electricity could have powered the whole of Yorkshire for the day.

If a picture paints a thousand words then this one of Nate needs no words, taken right before the ceromony.

The Ceromony was beautifully personal, with readings from family and friends and 2 gorgeous speeches by the girls. It was one of those days that I was glad I could hide behind the camera and hide the welling up of my own eyes once again.

Afterwards we all made are way outside to the sunshine and across to the Yurt for drinks, sweets and a couple of speeches. Again, the speeches were fantastic and in-between the laughs I didn't see a dry eye in the Yurt. The theme today was definitely tears of joy!

Then after the speeches, the guests and the couple relaxed (after some formal portraits of course).

As the sun started to set Lou and Sam wanted to some private shots up in a local look outpoint over looking the Yorkshire countryside. So, we hopp theed in my car and went chasing that golden hour! I'll let you decide whether spending that extra time with the gorgeous couple was worth it :)

After capturing these sunset shots, we returned to the Chilli Barn for the guests to enjoy the evening sunshine with the happy couple, and with that, I'll pass Sam and Lou's story back to them to continue.

I hope you enjoyed this little wedding blog and all that it leaves me to say is, thank you Sam and Lou (Or more formally Mrs & Mrs Fryer Butterworth) for allowing me to be apart of such a special day. You both deserve all the happiness in the world :)

Wedding Day and Evening

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