Ampleforth Abbey and Allerton Castle Wedding

Laura and Michael were married at Ampleforth Abbey
and had a reception at Allerton Castle

above you see a picture

you will have guessed that the picture is not of Allerton Castle

nor is it a picture of Ampleforth Abbey,

it is a gina shoe.

a detail of a Gina shoe

(for the uninitiated, Gina shoes are rather cool).

above - we see the whole shoe and nothing but the shoe

enough of such wordplay . .

above - we see the lovely Laura, in her parents house

getting ready to go . .

the smiling fellow in the background, is Lauras very proud father

I step into a time machine

(with 4 wheels and an engine)

then emerge at Ampleforth Abbey

where we find the grooms father, Michael

along with the two best men, Steve and Tom,

empewed.

I just made that word up . . . it means, placed in a pew.

actually - since I made the word up . it can theoretically mean whatever I wish

so ... it means, enthroned on a pew.

or . .. relaxing on a pew . .

hey . . since I just made the word up . . do I get copyright . . . ?

I digress . .

on, to the wedding !

Laura and her father plus bridemaids,
enter the door at Ampleforth Abbey

I clamber up to what appears to be a minstrels gallery at the rear of the church

(I'd call it an organ loft . but I ended up in that too.

and the organ loft was somewhere else . . )

anyway - the purpose of my visit to the minstrels gallery

was to make a picture showing the rather large scale of this church

and the pretty spectacular roof.

wandering quietly about,

we emerge, stage right . . and get a view of Father Wulstan,

conducting the marriage service.

stepping back - I find that I can frame this picture
in the splendid architecture at Ampleforth Abbey

I do like architecture

I know little about it, but buildings,

beautiful buildings, sort of speak to me.

I guess it's a little like saying

'I like music'

though I cannot read music . . I enjoy what I hear (usually).

again - moving about and finding more images

showcasing the lovely architecture -
there is a wedding ongoing in the picture somewhere . . .

to be fair - I did zoom in quite a bit for some pictures

but the ones I'm showing here - are good views of Ampleforth Abbey

and I'm putting them here because  . . 

well . . because I like them . .

signing the registry in the vestry

I guess you'd call this a photojournalist or reportage picture

I'd say it captured a moment

the elderly monk to the left, is helping the bridesmaid to witness the marriage register

whilst in the centre and to the right,

the bride, groom and best man, share a joke.

they're extremely happy - getting married is a big thing

and just they did it !

Laura and Michael walk down the aisle at Ampleforth Abbey.

we take a quick picture of everyone,

after which, cold drinks are served to the right of the Church.

then guests hurl confetti

the wedding car is about to leave

I like this picture because it has a lot going on.

the car boot is open, because the driver has reached into it and emerged with champagne

which he is now presenting to the bride and groom

wedding guests mill about, waiting for the car to leave Ampleforth Abbey

(that's the Abbey church to the left)

and move on to the reception at Allerton Castle.

ah - the barman/carman has completed his drinks vending operation

and the car now leaves, guests wave . . which is rather nice !

another picture that I like . .

again, because there are things going on

the wedding cars have left with the couple and family

and the wedding guests, are now making their way back to the carpark

and I also like it . .

because . . it's a good picture. that's why . . !

(you might be wondering what the feller is doing with the big stone block to the right of the picture . .

he's . . . . .

a stature !)

on to Allerton Castle,

Laura and Michael make an entrance down the staircase.

instead of taking the obvious picture . . (by standing in front of the couple)

I stand behind . . and get a couples eye view of proceedings.

the man with the exploding light on his head, just above and to the right of the brides head

is actually an alien.

I sometimes get them at weddings. they reveal themselves on photographs

with a strange ray of light emanating from their head . . .

this is usually invisible to the naked eye . .

but my camera picks it up.

I was only joking . . you realised that it's his camera flash doing it, didn't you . . .

our couple have now descended the staircase

and now make their way into the hall at Allerton Castle

it looks like the guy whose head erupted in a blaze of light in the previous picture
is still taking pictures

I run back upstairs,

thinking - a view of this scene from above might be rather good . . .

and it is.

you can see everything from up here

string quartet in the background

guests mingling in little grouplets

( what the heck is a grouplet I hear you say . . )

another word I just made up . .

it can mean anything you wish . . I haven't decided on a meaning for that one yet . .

guests then spill out onto the Lawns at the rear of Allerton Castle

I also spill out onto the lawn

in order to make some pictures of the guests . .

above. assorted bunches of guests who have spilled out onto the lawns

more guests . . . .

well, the lady in the centre isn't 'just a guest'

she's a bridesmaid

but you get the picture . .

and some more guests . . .

ok . . I'll stop it,

there were lots of such pictures

next . . Laura (our lovely bride)

asked for a handful of pictures with her new husband Michael

can we do that ?

well . . yes, actually . . . that's a bit of a speciality . .

no caption required.

it's Laura and Michael

drat . . I've done it  again . . that was a caption.

Laura, looking extremely lovely.

you are wondering what the front of Allerton Castle looks like

well, you might not have been wondering . .

but you don't need to wonder what it looks like. .

because the picture above

shows . . . the front of Allerton Catle

and two very happy people on their wedding day.

we can't resist making some art images .  . .

hey . . why not . . it's their wedding day,

and the plan is, they don't do this again . .

it's a one - off. so this is our only chance to make this sort of image.

I leave Laura and Michael with their guests

and I go walkabout,

photographing the things that I find . . .

flowers, tables set for a wedding . .

step back and show the scene -

this is the room in which the wedding breakfast was held

i

lights and candles are turned on and the atmosphere changes

this picture shows quite an animated top table

everyone seems to be waiting for the speeches . . .

yes . . speeches

here . .  - Lauras father delivers a quip.

and the two best men deliver a double act

which was absolutely excellent

you can tell by the guest reactions !

dancing ensued, in the great hall at Allerton Castle

and again - I go for alternative viewpoints.

why not !

this looks like Laura taking a rest from the dancing

t

I step outside and find Allerton Castle bathed in some glorious late afternoon light

and a bunch of people at the back of Allerton Castle

pointing . . and yelling at someone . .

they're yelling at this feller

he's barefoot  . . . and it looks like he's preparing to run somewhere . .

good grief . . .

it looks like he's doing a sprint to the bottom of the garden and back

(he was timed at 30 seconds . . or something . . )

one of the lady guests then followed suit

she built up some tremendous speed,

but ending up tripping over, doing a nose dive into the ground and landing in a heap.

it looked painful . .

'did you get a picture of that girl falling over' ?
asked some of the guests . . .

no . I didn't.

funny as it looked, and I like to have a giggle and poke fun at things,

I don't think that it would have been gentlemanly to photograph a girl falling over.

so . . I didn't. .

later - as the sun sank lower, we get a quick picture

and here is the last picture that I took that day.

sun going down, silhouette . . .

I simply need to say,

thank you Laura and Michael, for allowing me to document your wedding day.