wedding photography at East Riddlesden Hall Barn wedding
East Riddlesden Hall Weddings: A Charming Historic Wedding Venue
If you're searching for a wedding venue that exudes historical charm and breathtaking beauty, East Riddlesden Hall is the winner. It is renowned for its enchanting ambiance and captivating architecture. The ancient timber frames, and elegant gardens create a romantic backdrop that will leave a lasting impression. In my 10 years of being a wedding photographer, East Riddlesden Hall remains my favourite local wedding venue in West Yorkshire. I love the stunning Great Hall, with its high oak beams and stone-flagged floor, but for me I’m in love with the intimate gardens and the historic hall. It really is a wedding photographer’s dream.
It’s been a couple of years since I photographed a wedding here, so I was delighted when bride to be Val, contacted me enquiring about wedding photography as said she was getting married at East Riddlesden Hall.
Here’s some highlight and a lovely interview with Val and Will after their stunning wedding at East Riddlesden Hall
Tell us about how you met and the proposal
How we met – after I had moved to Leeds, I decided to join Bumble. Will was the first person to ask me out on a date – we planned dinner, but spent too long chatting (and drinking!) It was a great first date and I saw him 4 days later and both of us came off dating apps pretty quickly! We’d only been together for 5 months when lockdown happened, and since we both lived alone we decided to take the plunge and move in together (and he never left!)
Proposal – Jan 1 2021, Will promised that this would be the year that we bought a new house together, and that he wanted to make things ‘official’. 3 weeks later we found out we were having a baby which changed our plans somewhat – the house hunting became priority, and I was pretty sure the proposal had been forgotten about while we focused on more pressing matters. Little did I know he was waiting till 11:59pm NYE to ensure that he’d fulfilled his promise. Unfortunately I ruined his plans by inviting close family members for an impromptu New Years celebration so, while testing out cocktail recipes on the 30th December 2021, he dug out his grandmother’s ring from his hiding place and got down on one knee.
What were your first steps for wedding planning?
I think we both decided that we needed to find a wedding venue first that we loved, and everything else would fit around that. I knew I wanted quite a rustic /casual setting, so started researching barns and similar venues. We also knew we didn’t want a really long engagement, so somewhere with availability within the next 2 years was pretty important to us. We also both love food, so the catering was going to be one of our main focuses.
The dress, why you picked it, how you felt when you tried it on?
For me personally, I hate that wedding dresses are so expensive to be worn once and then quite often kept in a cupboard forever. It seems quite wasteful! I had looked at a few online and wanted something a little understated but with some embroidery (some sparkle!) I had looked at Monsoon’s wedding dresses and loved the designs and actually thought they were reasonably priced; but decided to have a look and see if there was anything pre-loved available. I ended up finding one of my favourite Monsoon designs on eBay, in my size, and when I tried it on I instantly loved how it looked and made me feel.
How did you feel in the lead up and as you walked down the aisle/ waited for your bride?
Will – While I was waiting for Val, I was never nervous – just hot (don’t wear a tweed suit in July!) I was just ready to see Val and wanted to get married. I was really excited.
Val - We’d both been pretty busy during the lead up, so I think it snuck up on us slightly! For me, I was never nervous about the day, I was just really excited to see Will at the aisle and experience the day that we’d planned to the fullest.
Any advice you can share with couples planning a wedding?
Will’s advice (which I completely agree with!) is to take some time, if only a few minutes, to look around and absorb it all, but also take some time together as a new married couple. Although it’s brilliant, the surge of people wanting to be with you straightaway is a bit overwhelming. After the ceremony, having 5 private mins together while everyone congregated outside for our confetti shots was really precious.
I would say stick to your guns, and don’t feel like you have to please anyone else during the day. Some of our decisions were questioned by family but we knew what we wanted and it was our day to do as we wanted! Everyone was happy with how it turned out too.
What did you love about East Riddlesden Hall and why did you choose it?
After dismissing a few venues due to availability, preference and budget, Will remembered attending a friend’s wedding at East Riddlesden Hall and suggested it. We went to view it as soon as we could and I fell in love with the place! I really loved the setting of the grounds, and felt like we’d be able to get some beautiful pictures in the gardens. We liked that everything would be in one large room so that there would always be a great atmosphere. Will liked the exposed brick and wooden beams, and I liked that these features added to the rustic feel that I had envisioned. However, pretty much every surface is covered in fairy lights which makes it feel really warm and intimate as well. I also liked that you could really dress it up as much or as little as you wanted – we knew at this point the wedding was going to be DIY to a certain extent, and the fact that the East Riddlesden Hall’s Barn needed very little dressing up was a big bonus.
What made your wedding original? Was there aspect important to you?
We wanted the whole day to feel more like a party than a formal day with our closest family and friends, and we really wanted to focus on the food. We chose sharing platters for our whole wedding breakfast with Hog & Apple, which went down a storm. I wanted to ensure that I had all of my favourite flowers and had chosen individual stems from the Flower Shop in Keighley rather than more formal bouquet /centrepieces. We were members of Craft Gin Club and had quite a selection of beautiful bottles which became part of the centrepiece vases (and the work to collect more bottles over the year wasn’t exactly taxing!!)
What was the most important investments for you and why?
We had both said at the start that we wanted to invest the majority of the budget on good food and wine, as we both love to eat and drink and we wanted to make sure that that part of the day stood out for everyone. East Riddlesden have contracts with catering suppliers so our search was kind of done for us – after looking at the menus, we knew Hog & Apple were the company for us, and they didn’t disappoint.
Will doesn’t wear any jewellery, so he knew that he wanted to get a ring that was a little different. We found a company in Sheffield, Flinn & Steel, that make rings to order from unusual metals. He was able to visit the workshop and really be involved with the design.
Did the day go as expected? Is there anything you would do differently?
A few people had commented on the weather – after the heatwave we thought we were guaranteed sun but we had rain most of the afternoon. However, you can’t control the great British weather and it didn’t affect anyone’s spirits and there was plenty of umbrellas around. Will was pretty happy to go outside and have the rain cool him off after the ceremony!
All I’ve been saying since the wedding is that I wish I could do it all over again! If I could slow down time to really take it all in I would. I think everything went perfectly, and if it didn’t, I had no idea about it (massive thanks to Agatha at National Trust for co-ordinating our day).
A few people had commented on the weather – after the heatwave we thought we were guaranteed sun but we had rain most of the afternoon. However, you can’t control the great British weather and it didn’t affect anyone’s spirits and there was plenty of umbrellas around. Will was pretty happy to go outside and have the rain cool him off after the ceremony!
Was there a moment that really sticks out during the wedding day?
Will – our first dance was completely unrehearsed but it was a song that really meant a lot to us, having that moment together was really memorable.
Val – I can’t pick one moment that was my favourite – there were so many parts of the wedding day that stick out. Walking down the aisle and seeing the biggest grin on Will’s face, after the ceremony when we actually got to talk to each other properly for the first time, going off with Gemma to get our photos done without organising everyone else, dancing the night away… the list goes on!
Anything you’d like to add
I really want to thank Gemma, our wedding photographer for making us feel so at ease during the day. We appreciate that we weren’t the most organised getting the photos and we really didn’t have an idea of what we wanted from our photos, but she made us, and our guests, feel comfortable throughout the whole process. Thank you so much again!
A huge thank you to Val and Will for choosing me as their East Riddlesden Hall wedding photographer. What a magical day!
If you’re looking for a wedding photographer at East Riddlesden Hall, feel free to get in touch. It’s my local wedding venue and I absolutely love photographing weddings here.