Mitford Church and Eshott Hall Wedding

Gillian and Christoph were married at Mitford Church
and had a reception at Eshott Hall

Christoph waiting - not nervously of course. . . in Mitford Church.

still waiting - Christoph moves position to the church doorway

( that's Christoph on the right).

Christoph and his best man outside of the Church

at this point - you've been very polite with me,
but you're now thinking . . . . this silly photographer
has not only mis spelled the poor groooms name at the top of this page

but he's continuing to do it . . . .

there are some letters missing from the end of
Christoph . .

well. this is not so.

the feller is called Christoph, it's a German name, and I've spelled it correctly

:)

and here we have a bunch of ushers,+ best man + Groom

and below - a pile of wedding stationery,

orders of service to be precise

waiting in the church doorway.

and below - a glimpse of our bride, Gillian

below - Gillian and her father

+ bridesmaid Clare hop out of the car,

through the Lych Gate and on to the Church

at this point - where Gillian is chatting with the officiants in the church porch

you suddenly notice

(because you're really observant)

hey - there's usually a vicar here . . . but what's this ?

2 vicars ?

tell me more, you say

wait a moment, I say . . all will be revealed . . .

O.K. at this point

(called the processional)

bride, father and bridesmaid hop up the aisle and meet

a groom and a vicar and a . . .

oh yes . . another vicar,

or to be more precise . . a Priest.

but why ? you ask . . . . 2 vicars at one wedding . . . ?   

well . . . . I won't tell you. . . .

you'll just have to sit there, scratching your head

(or you can scratch whatever else is handy whilst you're reading this).

I'd suggest an ear or perhaps the side of your nose.

that'll keep you occupied until I decide to tell you what's going on . . . .

right. all you need to know at this point is

there are two vicars

it's a wedding

and it's confusing.

so - in the picture below - have a look at some pew ends . . . .

fascinating aren't they . . .

there are flowers on them and allsorts . .

WHAT ? you still want to know why there are two vicars ?

you don't give up easily, do you ?.

bride and groom sitting patiently whilst the marriage service is read out for the second time

and wedding guests holding orders of service

which are in two languages, English and Polish.

the play of softly coloured light upon the paper

is from the ancient stained glass windows . . .

aaaaaah I hear you say . . the penny has dropped.

you've guessed it !

the clue to the dual vicars, was in Christoph's name

y'see he's of German/Polish extraction

and the wedding was carried out both by the resident vicar

(a jolly decent chap by the way)

and a priest from the Polish community.

above, we see one jolly decent resident vicar doing his bit for international relations.

this is the Rev Rowley - and he's a thoroughly nice guy.  in my humble opinion.

this is the serious bit - man takes woman / vice versa / woman takes man

vicar says words / Polish priest on the left does similar - (but in Polish)

bingo - they're married . .

(or something like that !)

in order to occupy myself during the seven hour ceremony

I shin up the bell rope and take this picture from the rear of the church

ah - the civil part of the day . . .

'walk this way' says Christoph

one thing that I have noticed about this feller - he's extremely polite.

(as he ought to be, with the lady that he's just married, of course).

sign here . . . .

Gillian signs the register, watched carefully by Christoph, the Rev Rowley and Gillians parents.

no pressure . . .    :)

then, for some reason, I go all sepia toned at this point

( I don't know why - it just comes over me at times)

and here we see bridesmaid Clare witnessing the marriage register,

watched by . . .

. . oh - Gillian and Christoph aren't watching any more

they're gazing lovingly at each other.

aw. . it's nice isn't it !

admit it. you like the atmosphere.

being nosey - my camera zooms in

(or I walk forward . . I can't remember which . .
I may have actually used my legs at this point).

Rev Rowley checks and signs the register

watched carefully by our Polish priest

unfortunately - I don't have his name

but since he's Polish - it's very likely that I wouldn't be able to pronounce it anyway . . .

we move to the church doorway

and I spot the bellringer, dangling from the bellrope

then . . you guessed it . .

we move out of the church doorway

and a vicar and a priest then hop immediately in front of my camera.

why not ?

they're both a very important part of the day

Gillian has grandparents - they are quite elderly -  and they are very important to Gillian

which is why they're sitting at the front

when the confetti hurlers begin hurling their confetti !.

Gillian and Christoph hop back inside the church

we take two pictures - then hop back outside again

they then hop into wedding cars
and everyone immediately
hot foots it over to Eshott Hall for the wedding reception.

at Eshott Hall - here is more stuff that would confuse you
if you weren't having things explained by an expert in weddings such as my good self . . .

the Grooms father ambushes the bride and groom as they emerge from the wedding car

and makes the traditional presentation of bread and salt.

traditional . . .  presentation of bread and salt . . . ..

what ? you're asking ?

I've never heard of this

well - that's what you're thinking

but me - being a smarty pants, I have actually heard of this . .

(don't you just hate a know it all)

I believe that it's a German / slavic tradition

to offer a gift of bread and salt to the bride and groom

having said that - you will immediately google it

and find out much more than I've said -

you'll emerge as a total expert
and tell me that I've got it all wrong

actually - there is a chance I might be a little incorrect here and there . .

as I've just noticed that the wording in German on the sheet of paper carried by Christophs father

actually says Pfeffer and salt

I think that Pfeffer is Pepper . . .

ho hum . ..

well - you get the gist of it anyway

it's some kind of wierd tradition . . . .

I get out of explaining more about traditions that I don't fully understand

by immediately photographing Gillians wedding flowers.

pretty aren't they !

(note the quick change of subject !)

and . . this being half way through October

the weather is awful . .

actually . . no it isn't awful !. . .

we're very lucky with the weather today and the guests mingle outside of Eshott Hall

a couple of posed pictures here and there . .

the picture above is taken here.

and the picture above is taken there

and this one is taken there too . . . .

(in the garden at Eshott Hall)

right - you would like to see the dining room at Eshott Hall,
set for a wedding breakfast.

lovely isn't it !

what's that ? - you'd like to see a table close up

heck - you do take a lot of pleasing , don't you !

alright - one picture of a table - above.

Gillian and Christoph looking to the right

and in the mirror

Gillian and Christoph looking to the right

what's to the right . . you ask ?

its Gillians father making a speech.

then we move on to cutting cakes and things.

whilst Gillian and Christoph cut their wedding cake

one of the wedding guests (behind the bride and groom - in the black dress)
pulls back an imaginary bowstring on her bow and arrow

and fires her camera towards the cake

well - she might not actually be doing that

but you have to admit - it's an unusual picture taking style !

ah - the lady in black has adopted a more conventional picture taking stance

and in the foreground - Gillian and Christoph slice deeper into the cake

or to be more precise

the knife does

below - we see a knife and a cake

(below - we see a knife and a cake . .

who writes the flipping captions for this thing, you ask . .

' I don't know' mumbles the photographer).

Gillian swooshes through Eshott Hall

(I like that word . . swoosh . . )

Eshott Hall isn't too bad a word either, (2 words you say)

but swoosh has a certain . . swoosh to it . .

I really like this picture

at one point - Gillian asked if I'd get a picture of the lace on the back of  her dress

I immediately took a picture of the lace on the back of her dress

but then I stored the request in my subconscious

(I keep loads of random stuff in there)

and at one point - everything came together and I spotted this picture and went click.

so we not only have a picture of the lace

but Gillian looks absolutely dream like too.

e the above picture shows Eshott Hall

you'll notice that it is a bit darker than it was earlier . . .

this is called dusk.

and as it gets darker outside

it gets more atmospheric inside

here the dining room at Eshott Hall is set out for dancing

but first - the bride throws her bouquet

you can see it mid air if you're observant

it stayed up there for about a minute whilst I focussed the camera

then it descended into the hands of the little girl in the foreground

well - nearly . .

ah - the ultimate gentleman asks his lady to dance

various twirls and dance floor acrobatics take place

and that's it - that was the first dance chaps.

e the evening concludes with music from the band

(this is the Paul James Band. . they were good.
when I get time - I'll look them up and put a weblink on here for them).

that's it folks

Gillian and Christoph have many more pictures to play with

what you saw here was just a little taste of their lovely wedding day.

Thank you Gillian and Christoph - for trusting me with your wedding pictures.