Seaham Hall, or Seaham Hall and Serenity Spa to give the full name, is quite a venue for a wedding.
Lord Byron married his wife at Seaham Hall (I know that it's flipping obvious that she was his wife,
I'm using the pretty general term 'his wife' because I can't remember her name).

I've had the pleasure of photographing three weddings at Seaham Hall this year.

Anyhow Emma didn't marry Neil here - she started her day at a church,
then scooted down to Seaham Hall for her reception.

Interesting picture,

to the left - man in white gown directs bride to landing spot in the porch.

The way he's pointing his arms - you'd think that the bride was a helicopter.

Oh well, I've sometimes heard of vicars described as sky pilots . . . .

unless his arm signal is a magic spell . . .

you can just imagine . . hocus pocus . .

ok . . that's enough . . don't go there alan . . . .

Emma must have landed in the right place,
cos she found her way to the aisle.

Photographer perched aloft in a loft
(aloft in an organ loft to be precise).
Such places are often dusty and filled with the most amazing junk.

Lurking in organ lofts is becoming my favourite weekend activity,
I even snatched a hurried lunch in one last week.

(I probably shouldn't have mentioned that -
but hey - some church services can last an hour or more . . .
and I have to eat sometimes to keep energy levels high !)

Man in white gown now does tricks with oversized playing cards.

now you see it now you dont . .

the best man to the right, tries to attract everyones attention
with a simple card trick using standard sized playing cards.

but no one looks - you need the oversized ones mate . . . . .

Anyhow -
after the vows and the church thingy are done - everyone scoots down to Seaham Hall.

The family pictures are taken in a trice,
(a trice is a small bicycle)

we pedal the trice so quickly -
that the final picture (of the brides pals) leaves the brides father a little bewildered.
he's the guy at the back, waving his arms in the air, he thought he ought to be on this picture.

nope - family ones all done - we move pretty quickly.

We cant have a wedding at Seaham without involving the magnificent water sculpture.

Seaham hall is filled with modern sculpture.

above, we see a life sized baby elephant

It looks like a bronze casting,
you come across it as an interesting surprise at the end of a curving tunnel,
where you walk on a wooden boardwalk with water running over pebbles on both sides.

Surreal or what !

A reflection in a lily pond above

hints at the frontage of the building.

which features in the picture below.

We return to sunshine,
Emma and Neil become occupied . . . .

Breadsticks . . staple diet of Aunties in Hats nationwide.

good to wave at people when you're making a point too . . .

(could also be used as a weapon in place of a handbag)

A helicopter suddenly swoops past, the pilot took some pictures of the whole scene from above,
which ended up in the wedding album.

Then Emma and Neil calmly walk to the base of a lily pond sipping their Pimms,
as if this helicopter photoshoot was an everyday sort of thing.

The helicopter did really turn up - it looked pretty cool and was a heck of a good idea.

So If anyone wants to hire one for me to take some of their pictures from . . . . I'm game.
I ain't afraid of heights - I've done parachute jumps & dangled from microlights & gliders etc
(when young and daft).

Deep dark reflections in the lily pond.

the pictures that I took on this day were pretty informal
and didn't take up much of Emma and Neils time.

I think that the expression says it all.
she's really happy, and that's the way it ought to be.

Emma and Neil were determined to get down to the beach.

Seaham beach is a little bit pebbly,
so pebbly that you'd have to be careful not to twist an ankle in satin bridal shoes.

It's lucky that I wasn't wearing mine.

I really like this image - even the children in the distance and the rather random lookng seagull to the right seem to create a sense of balance.

We return from the beach and Emma still has a beaming smile.

Oho. . wotsis ?

little pressies. .

signs of the party that's to follow

More telltale signs of a wedding breakfast.

A cake standing in a dominant position.

Staff standing tidily in pairs awaiting the guests.

Yep. I was right.

the signs were read by an expert wedding reception spotter.

this is indeed a reception,

and the guy standing up to the left,
is the best man, whose job is to ritually embarrass the groom.

oops. have you seen his hat ? own goal !

Quite a character this one !

He had the capacity to laugh at funny things but also to laugh at himself.

To the right, Emma is listening attentively to the best mans serious lecture. .

Alas, the day ends all too soon, it fairly whizzed past.

but time flies when you're enjoying yourself.

just as well there are lots of pictures to remember it by.