Rudding Park, Harrogate, Yorkshire.
Anne and Tony were married at Rudding Park, a rather stupendous architectural pile near Harrogate.
Rudding Park also has a Church 'on site' which can be booked for a wedding.

Anne and Tony went the full monty, with a civil service inside Rudding Park,
then a blessing by a Bishop in Rudding Park's very own Church
(The Church really is in the grounds, opposite to the restaurant entrance !)

Here we see that the florist has been at work,
winding lots of white ribbon around the stems of lots of cream roses.

Yep - a colour theme begins to form,
to rather stunning effect !

as you'll see later . .

Anne and Tony took the colour theme and applied it in a really tasteful fashion to the whole day !

shoes lurk upon a window sill, the pattern upon them you will note,

is a rather tasteful gold and cream.

In the same window area,
we encounter a really beautiful inhabitant of the room.

what a wonderfully innocent and good natured smile this little lady has . .

she's absolutely beautiful.

the photograph isn't too bad either,

though the photographer, by his own admission,
is a bit grotty and has no actual hairstyle.
(though there is lots of hair there - it defies an actual style).

I digress . . .she's perfect, don't you think ?

The rings are around

(ok we all know that rings are round)

these round rings are rather special and have messages of love engraved within them.

I've seen this on mediaeval rings,
the tradition goes back over many centuries, tremendously romantic !

A lady in a bathrobe appears and just so happens to be Anne, the bride.

I immediately continue the cream and gold theme of these pictures by printing this in black and white,
just like the last one . ..

oops. . . . .

actyally (badly typed actually)

(or it could be actually as pronounced with a Southern American drawl).

actually - this picture and the previous one, both look better in monochrome,

which is the smart word for black and white.

so there . .

Guess what's in this bottle ? guess what happens next ?

Yep, everyone had a little sip of drinkies . . . .

Time has a habit of flying on wedding days.

the final thirty minutes always lasts about six minutes.

Here an arm surmounted by a hat helps Anne to swap
her rather fetching bathrobe for an even more fetching dress.

also cream and gold.

you'll have to trust me on that one, honest, I tell no fibs,

but it really did look good in black and white too . . .

With Anne safely strapped into her splendid dress,
I go in search of the boys and find Tony and the men lurking at the side of the building.

Tony's jacket is also following the cream and gold theme,

but you can't see it on this picture,

honest - it really is . . . . . darn it.

OK I admit it - I actually LIKE black and white pictures.

I think that they almost concentrate the viewers vision in the same way that a drawing does,
whereas a painting in colour quite often appeals to emotions,
a drawing can be appreciated for it's form and shape . . . . .

at this point, I'll cease discussing this as it might seem that I know what I'm talking about.

So . to the left, we have our bride and groom within Rudding Park,
in the process of being married by a registrar, who, incidentally, was absolutely brilliant.

a couple lit from behind

(it's called backlighting)

backlighting is always fun for a photographer . . .
leading to silhouettes and alsorts.

enough of such technicalities,

note the standards of flowers
wrapped in gauze and ribbon,

wow - I love such things,
at once delicate and graceful,
reaching from interior design into the realm of art.

hey - If Joseph Beuys could get away with describing a felt suit as Art,
then I'd absolutely defend the action of wrapping a plant in gauze and calling it Art.

I fit the camera into the small helicopter that I carry around for such uses,

then get an aerial view of a witness signing the register
Anne and Tony are in the foreground

and the rather brilliant plants wrapped in gauze are just in shot.

Here's a sight you don't see often,
the bride and groom arrive at the Church together !

The Church being across the road from the wedding venue.

Your photographer was concealed in the pews and caught them
with the camera as they made their rather grand entrance.

AAAh you say.

at last we can see the cream and gold that this photographer has been rattling on about.


The church looks pretty splendid.

(as do our bride and groom of course !)

I'm not sure if this picture needs a comment.

perhaps . .. long lens held steady by photographer from 150 feet away.

will that do .

does this girl look good in the dress ?

there's only one answer and it's an anagram

sey !

The blessing is over and Tony & Anne exit the church.

little spots of rain fall all around, minimising the time we can spend fussing about.

(who likes fussing about anyway ?)

Confetti makes an appearance as a tremendously happy crowd hurl it skywards
the breeze whips it about in a jolly fashion.

Couldn't show a wedding at Rudding park without the staircase.

erm . . yes, you can photograph it from ordinary angles too.

the hot air baloon in the centre of the picture
isn't actually a balloon,
just in case you wondered.

Splendid cake

and below - being cut in black and white by our lovely couple

the cake is situated in the dining room,
the same room that the Wedding ceremony was held in shortly before.

I locate some rather tastefully wrapped favours

they're lounging about on dining tables,
not suspecting for a moment that they'll be
photographed and catapulted onto the world wide web
and therefore viewed everywhere from South Africa to Alaska.

anyhow - they're wrapped in gauze - a bit like the flowers that I'd been admiring earlier . . . .

you can't learn good taste . . .
you just know when things look right. and this looked right !!

During the meal, a dimly lit creature
lurked about the exterior of the building.

Peeking in at windows and clutching a camera, he captures the couple enjoying their meal !

not a bad image though !

And after the meal,
the party begins.

The maniac with the camera returns indoors
and captures the atmospheric scene as the band begins to play . . .

And this was one of Anne and Tony's favourite images.

It's one of mine too.

Dancing in the dark.

the strange window shapes on the wall are caused by the lights outside of the building.

the room was in almost total darkness.

a perfect ending to a perfect day.