Wynyard Hall Wedding

The wedding of Lynsey and James at Wynyard Hall.

Wynyard Hall is in Cleveland, sort of between Middlesborough and Darlington

or maybe just north of Yorkshire . ..

whatever . . it's a lovely place.

OK. this is a straightforward view of Wynyard Hall

but if I didn't show you this - you wouldn't know what the place looked like . . .

and there are clues in the picture that tell you the time of year . . .

is it spring ? summer ? . . . . c'mon you can guess . . .

Lynsey told me beforehand to be on the lookout for lots of things that she might have made . .

she must be a bit of a craft person . . . .

I spot this card on the bedroom door. . .
it doesn't look like standard Wynyard Hal issue,
so I photograph it.

shoes take a picture of shoes . .. . girls like shoes . .

the hangers give the names of the bridesmaids

I can make out natalie and gemma

but for the middle one . . I'm a bit confused . . I can't read it . . . can you ?.

one of the bridesmaids named on the coat hangers
is sitting on the edge of the bed.

at this point -  a card arrives from the groom, along with a present

this is read with many smiles . . I wonder what he'd written ?

there's definitely some kind of reaction going on here . . .
one lady enters the room, to the right.
a bridesmaid (in the checky shirt - she was on the edge of the bed in the earlier picture)
explodes in laughter.

I leave the hilarity in the brides room - and wander downstairs,
then find some orders of service in a basket . .

I wonder if they are some of the handmade things I'd been asked to photograph ?
they don't look handmade . . but you never know . . . .
I photograph them anyway . . . and move on . . .

the men are having a conference in the doorway.

I like the doorway

so I make a picture including the doorway (and the men).

and then we go back upstairs . . .

Lynseys father enters the room and sees his daughter in her wedding dress,

no comment really needed here . . the picture tells the story.

I run back downstairs again . .

this is getting close to the time of the wedding

I then decide that I like the ceiling.

so I take a picture, showing the ceiling

(and the groom and best man waiting for the bride).

he looks absolutely happy.
and he was ( and he is ! ).

here she comes - looking a tiny bit shy
as she rounds the corner and enters the room with her father

I find a good spot and begin to photograph the proceedings

this picture shows the notes that the registrar is using

(there is a hand below this book, holding it upright
and behind the book, is, you guessed it . .

a registrar lady, reading the book)

just for info (because I know you'll be interested in this . . )

if you look closely at the page of the book,

you'll find that the registrar has typed her notes over a very faint picture of two teddy bears . .

awwwwww.

I pointed this out later on with a grin,
and the registrar got 'all embarrassed'    :)

(the registrars were lovely people . . genuinely lovely).

this guy can hardly believe his luck - she's gorgeous.

and at this time of the year . . mid November !

we're extremely lucky to have brilliant warm sunlight

which is made all the warmer (in appearance) by the golden colouring in the room decor.

I'm not going to insult your intelligence by explaining that this is a bouquet . .

oh . . I said it's a bouquet . . .
sorry . . hope you don't take offence . . .

this is a ring.

'yes. you fool - I know it's a ring, you say . . '

well - this ring is held by the best man

notice how he's cradling it in both hands.

he does not want to drop this little box  !

ok here's the ring. I didn't drop it, thinks the best man

look - it's that thing in the box, you can put your finger in it,
like this . . . see . .

I take a quick picture with the remote camera that I have attached using a plastic sucker thing
to the wall just above the doorway

I promise that by attaching cameras to bits of Wynyard Hall walls, I didn't damage anything . . honest . .

it's only a sucker thingy . . the kind of thing that you'd get on the end of arrows when you were a child,

or the kind of thing that holds a satnav onto a car windscreen

(then releases it with a crash into your lap when you're driving . . . ).

the register is signed - in the mirror room at Wynyard Hall. guests take pictures . . .

this isn't the actual signing of the register - it's something that the registars set up

because . . well because it's something that registrars do, that's why . . .

guests immediately recognise this as a photo opportunity
and spring forward, brandishing cameras, mobile phones, sketch pads,
you name it . . anything that makes a picture . .

ok. after the wedding thingymajig is concluded,

the guests then congregate in a place called, The Statue Gallery

a man tinkles the keys on a grand piano

which has some lovely lettering on it

(I think the letters look lovely anyway - they look like something from about 1890,
German or Austrian maybe . . ?

they're from that decadent age, before the world went mad.

(or has the world always been mad ?) 

gosh these questions are too deep . . for heavens sake, just look at the pictures and stop thinking.

it's much easier, and your head won't hurt afterwards . . .

I step back and get a general view of the Statue Gallery at Wynyard Hall

this puts the piano player and the mingling guests into some kind of context.

the huge ball of light in the centre of the picture is caused by

the sun

(what did you think it was, a nuclear bomb or something ??)

it's only about 3pm . but the sun is going right down toward the horizon

which explains why the sunlight is coming in through the doorway almost horizontally.

hey - with an early sunset - you get an atmospheric wedding

you also get darkness.  so I'd better hurry up if we're to get any pictures out of doors.

I hurry. they hurry. we hurry.

and we get some pictures outside before it gets dark

this time of year is lovely if you're lucky with the weather

crisp light . .
golden leaves remaining on the trees . .

perishing cold . . . 

Lynsey and James ask for a picture 'on the bridge'

what do you want in the picture ? I ask . . .

(not a silly question if you think about it).

they answer.  'the bridge'
and 'that' James waves toward the setting sun.

oh well, I'll do my best . . .

the cold. and the fading light get the better of us

so we hop back to Wynyard Hall - taking pictures as we go

hey - just a minute - I yell, as they almost disappear into the doorway

the wind catches the veil and I go click

(we've had this discussion before . .
it's the camera that goes click, not me, but of course you realise that. . .)

and we go into the ballroom at Wynyard Hall,

which is set out for Lynsey and James's wedding breakfast,

the sunlight, which was in short supply on the front of the building

is now streaming in through the ballroom windows in a last blaze of glory before it sets.

Lynsey chats to the lady who is organising things on behalf of Wynyard Hall.

she's happy. everything is good, and even better than expected.

yes. the room looks good.  the golden light on the wall to the left

is evidence of the last rays of the setting sun

I spot more things on the table . . this little prompt card

has been left with a 'wedding camera' on one of the childrens tables

it should keep the little feller occupied . . .

night descents with a thump.

all of a sudden. all is black

so I figure - it's time to take a picture. (why not . . it looks different . . ).

there's a bit of a pause here,
because Lynsey and James had organised a meal for me

(that was totally unneccessary - but delicious, and the company was good, thank you !).

anyway - as I was saying . . bit of a pause, (munch munch) then speeches . .

above we see James making his speech

I wander about the room, taking lots of pictures

this is a general view of the room - guests listening to the best man's speech.

after the speeches - guests retired to the bar - relaxing before the evenings entertainment.

strictly speaking - this isn't a picture of the guests . . but I saw Lynseys wedding dress through an open door

everything seemed to fall into a perfect little compositon . . .

which made a rather nice little picture.

once inside the bar - we find James relaxing.

he's simply sitting on the edge of a sofa, chatting to friends

I think he's just noticed the camera

then Lynsey says - 'please get a picture of that fellow'

so . . I do . . the picture looks posed, but isn't.

he just kinda stood around like that . ..  honest !

I go walkabout - and find that the room in which Lynsey and James were married,
is now empty. it feels quite odd to revisit the room at night.

but I'm odd.  I like to do things like that . . .

you might notice that the picture is taken from a very elevated position,

there is a story about this picture that I could tell you,
involving a very narrow escape from a broken leg

but - - I'll only tell you that one if I meet up with you.

it's a bit embarrassing . . . or could be . .  :)

ah - the wedding cake. . the cake is on the dance floor

as the bride and groom are about to dance with the cake.

( really - this is not as difficult as it sounds, when the table has wheels)

note the medical type white jackets on the bride and groom figures atop the cake . .

shadows on the wall of the conservatory at Wynyard Hall, indicate that a band is playing . .

I hop around the back of the people causing all of those shadows

and notice . . yes . . there is actually a band playing . .

and . . in front of the band - a couple are dancing . .

(where did the cake go ?  I hear you ask . . . ).

moving around again

(I'm quite mobile - despite being 124 years old in December,)

we get pictures not only of the shadows on the wall, and the band causing the shadows

but we focus on the bride and groom, they're having their first dance . .

and some final pictures

the wedding party (well . bridesmaids, best man . . that sort of thing)

play outside with sparklers . and make heart shapes

most are quite good heart shapes . . .

(not that I'm an expert judge in such things)

the one on the right needs a little extra practice though . . . .

I wasn't sure where to put this picture.

it's simply a picture of Lynsey and James's wedding and engagement rings . .

they are resting on a page in a very old treatise on chemistry . . . .

both Lynsey and James are Doctors of chemistry . .

the picture kinda makes sense - in a funny sort of way . . .