Seaton Delaval Hall Wedding

Leanne and Russell were married at St Johns Church, Bedlington Station

then had a reception at Seaton Delaval Hall

it was a glorious summers day.

two lovely people, pretty girl, tremendous architecture at Seaton Delaval Hall .. who could ask for more ?

I turn up at Leannes Mums house and find some flower thingymajigs lurking about

I think that this particular flower thingy is destined to be used as a wristband

or to be clipped onto a handbag . .

or . .

I wander about and find more things which are wedding related

such as some rings . .

then I'm greeted by the loveliest smile from a tiny bridesmaid.

she's called Ellie and she has one of those disarming heartmelting smiles

awww .. she's only 3, bless her.

exploring further . . I locate some shoes . .

then a feller is pouring sparkly stuff

it's Russell. the groom . .. .

it looks as if there are several glasses involved . . .

ah . several men involved . .
that explains the several glasses . .

a toast !

zooming across to the church,

I find an elderly fellow in a black hat,
standing in the doorway, wrapped in some sort of blanket thing . . .

I'm only kidding . . this is the vicar,

and he's a really kindly gentleman.

more stuff happens.

people arrive. you know the sort of thing.

little Ellie legs it up the aisle . .

I sneak about and obtain another picture of our bridesmaid,
she's unaware that the picture is being taken.

the wedding happens . . I take lots of pictures of the wedding happening

then just before Leanne and Russell exit the church, I grab a quick picture of them

you can tell by Russells smile that he loves this girl.

such things are good to see.

then . . everyone hops down to Seaton Delaval Hall

one car swooshing through the gates

I think it swooshed

tyres on gravel make that sort of noise.

or . . maybe it scrunched . .

anyway . . I digress . .

you want to see more pictures of Leanne and Russell and Seaton Delaval Hall, don't you . .

or Tom and Adam

Leanne and Russell emerge from the car

and walk towards the hall - the guests are assembled on the steps waiting for them.

inside . . a hand plays a saxophone

I notice a musical note tattoed on one of the hands fingers.

odd..  but very appropriate.

I think I've seen that hand before at another wedding.

and the person attached to it . . .

Leanne and Russell explain that they'd like some pictures taken in the gardens. .
so I follow them . .

in the garden at Seaton Delaval Hall, is an ancient tree

some folks say that it is as old as the hall

it's held up by poles and all sorts of contraptions supporting it's ancient branches

Leanne and Russel explain that they'd like a picture under this particular tree.

ok . . one picture under a tree coming up . . .

garden explored and photographed . .

Leanne and Russell then make their way to the marquee situated at the front of Seaton Delaval Hall

ah . . you say . . this is not the front of Seaton Delaval Hall,

it's the rear . . . facing the fields . . .

well .. . you'd be wrong . .

Seaton Delaval Hall was built 'back to front'

by a man called Vanbrugh - who incidentally was an ex stage designer

anyway . . the section facing the road, which everyone assumes to be the front,

is actually the back.

the front faces south . . and gets the sun . .

trivia session over . . back to the wedding . .

one marquee interior . . nobody in it . . .

lots of chairs though . . it looks as if they're expecting guests . . . .

ah . . here's a guest . .

this little lady is working out from the seating plan, which table she'll be sitting on.

Leanne - the rather beautiful bride,

leads the little bridesmaid, Ellie - aged 3, to her seat

well . . this is really a picture of a flower arrangement

but with extra things going on . .  I like to do that with pictures

give them an extra dimension . . added interest . . . .

music maestro . . .

this feller played through the wedding breakfast on his keyboard

he was part of a band called

hip operation

I have been told by several people, that the musicians in the band are all doctors,

moonlighting . . . .  :)

well . . not exactly moonlighting . . but making music in their spare time.

hence the name of the band . .

hip operation . .

but if the name of the band followed that sort of logic

it could be called anything medical, couldn't it.

'and here we have . . heart bypass surgery . . .'

or

'introducing the band, liver and kidney transplant'

well . . I've checked . .

and the rumours that these fellers are doctors,

are just that.  rumours.

the name 'hip operation' is just a bit of an odd name, that's all

it would be a good name for an elderly band, wouldn't it . .

I hop outside, then walk backwards down a field, to get a general view of the layout of things

which you will find fascinating . .

the clouds were a tiny bit scary . .

the forecast was for rain . .

when this bunch of fluffy stuff in the sky started to blow over

I thought .  . . oh . . no . .

we do not want rain, especially with a marquee wedding . .

but . . phew.  . the clouds didn't dump their rain,

it fell about 50 miles away apparently . .
which is fine as far as we were concerned.

ok .  .it's an unashamedly posed picture of a pretty girl

I like to make such pictures.

we pick up Russell and wander about Seaton Delaval Hall

making a few pictures of our bride and groom.

why not ? it's a shame to waste such architecture.

just in case you're interested . . .

and I can tell that you are . . .

you might notice that there is a whacking great crack in the stonework of the fireplace lintel

and the fellers on each side of the fireplace

(I think in technical statuary terms, they're called herms)

they're missing their arms  . . .

well . . the damage was caused a little while ago.

the hall burned down, you see . .

so what we're taking pictures in here . . is a burned out interior

it looks very like a stage set, doesn't it . .

well, that's courtesy of the architect, Vanbrugh

who . . as you remember (if you were reading my words above)

was a stage designer.

I zoom in to get a closer image

or more probably . .
simply walk closer to get a closer picture

(my brain just works like that .. . silly isn't it . . a twist of a zoom lens

or walk ten paces,
which would you do . . ?   zoom the lens . . or walk  ?.

I know . . I know . . . but my brain just tells my body to walk . . and I do . .

speaking of walking . . we continue to wander about the place

this place . . is huge . . . .

well, guess who joins us . .
it's little Ellie . . ( remember  . . Ellie, aged 3)

(age is very important when you're three

half years are important too . .

how many times have you been corrected by a child

when you've asked . . 'are you three' ?

and the reply is 'three and a half !!

or 'three and a quarter' !

it's a kid thing, isn't it

you probably did it yourself when you were younger . .

this place is pure theatre - it's simply made for photography

the man gets all romantic and grabs the girl

the reason for taking this picture ?

simple - it's to show off the building

dusk is falling

. .

here and hip operation
(remember . . the band that some folks think are all medics . . but aren't . . . )

anyhow . . hip operation are beginning to play.

and we have the first dance

ooh - that tripod on the right

is not mine.

there was a video 'crew' at the wedding

and they brought tripods and stuff along with them

which they left . . well,

they left it over there . .

dusk falls further . . and the moon rises

we sneak around to the back of the building

(the back that everyone thinks is the front, remember . . )

and nab a quick couple of pictures on the steps.

we're really lucky with the weather.

the lights in the nearby town are sparkling in the distance.

it's pretty darned perfect really.

I produced well over 1000 pictures of this wedding

(which is a lot more than I usually produce)

and there is only a small selection on this page.

most of the images taken were not posed at all

(although . to be fair .. . I've shown quite a lot of the posed pictures here).

I take one final picture outside of the marquee before I leave.

thank you Leanne and Russell, for allowing me to help to document your day