Louise and Tom are a wonderful couple we photographed in the spring of this year. They held their ceremony and reception at Arley Hall, a Victorian country house located in Cheshire. As this was a venue we had not photographed previously, I decided to go have a look around. Louise and Tom mentioned Arley Hall was having an open day and asked if I would like to go along, this allowed us to look around the grounds and take a closer look at the interior of the house.

When checking out a venue I’m always look for where we can find cover from the sun as this can be one of the main problems during the bride and groom portraits. Trees are often the best cover as they diffuse the light as well as dapple it, creating a beautiful back-light behind the couple. Arley has a variety of different trees, however, it was still early spring and we found that many did not have leaves on them yet. We then discovered a quaint little barn near the venue’s entrance that we thought would be perfect for portraits and would even provide some shelter should it rain (I presume it won’t, but always good to be prepared lol). I love the contrast between the traditional wedding dress and the rustic barn feel.

Louise and her bridemaid’s hair were styled by Clare Reeves of ‘Belleamour Wedding Hair‘ with makeup by Rachael Cahalin. We couldn’t get photos of Tom and the lads getting ready as he was a little too far away from where Louise was. Instead he arrived a little earlier at the venue and we got some traditional shots showing off Arley Halls beautiful character. Colin Cook was master of Ceremonies and did an excellent job of ensuring that the day ran smoothly. His handkerchief, bride and groom wedding breakfast entrance went down particularly well as you can see by the photos. All in all it was just a fantastic day filled with love, laughter and happiness and we’re so glad we got to be a part of it.