Hannah & James’ Carlton-in-Cleveland Wedding | A North Yorkshire Marquee Wedding

There’s something particularly special about photographing a wedding somewhere that already holds a lifetime of memories.

Hannah grew up in Carlton-in-Cleveland, looking out towards St Botolph’s Church from her childhood bedroom window. She remembers weddings taking place there and joining the other village children outside afterwards, waiting for the newlyweds to throw pennies over the gate.

This time, it was Hannah who was the bride.

And after years of watching other couples walk out of those church doors, she and James got to make a few more memories of their own there.

A wedding at St Botolph’s Church, Carlton-in-Cleveland

One of the traditions I love at village weddings is seeing what the local children have managed to do to the church gates while everyone is inside.

The idea is that the gates are tied up with baler twine and whatever else they can get their hands on, leaving the newlyweds to negotiate their way out before throwing pennies over the gate for the children to collect. I've seen plenty of tied church gates over the years, but I don't think I've ever seen one quite like this.

It was less tied gate and more enormous spider's web. Hannah and James certainly had to work for their exit!

Knowing that Hannah had once been one of those children waiting on the other side made it even lovelier to photograph.

Celebrating in Hannah’s grandmother’s paddock

After the ceremony, everyone headed just down the road to Hannah’s grandmother’s paddock, where the most beautiful marquee had been created for the celebrations.

One of my favourite details was actually outside it.

Hannah had planted a wildflower pathway leading up to the marquee and had spent the year growing and looking after it ready for the wedding. It looked absolutely stunning, so much so that I've come home thinking I now need one leading up to our barns!

Inside, everything felt elegant without being overly formal. Beautiful flowers and tapered candles filled the tables, with little bottles of sloe gin as favours.

There were personal details everywhere too. James works on the family farm, so each table was named after one of its fields, with a fantastic table plan bringing everything together. These are always the details I love at weddings, the things that could only really belong to that particular couple.

Waiting for the light

It was a fairly dull day weather-wise, but I always like to leave some flexibility around couple portraits rather than deciding they must happen at a particular point in the schedule.

Sometimes waiting pays off.

Later in the day I grabbed Hannah and James for a little wander, and almost perfectly on cue the sun finally broke through the clouds. We headed into the stubble field beside the marquee and suddenly had the most gorgeous light. Within about 15 minutes we'd created some of my favourite photographs from their whole day.

It's exactly why I don't panic when the weather isn't doing what we'd hoped earlier on. A wedding day is long, the light changes constantly and sometimes you just need to keep your eye on it and be ready to go when the opportunity appears.

And Hannah and James made my job particularly easy. They're so lovely together. You can tell how much they genuinely enjoy each other's company, and their life seems to be filled with the friends and family they love having around them.

Which probably explains what happened next...

The Last Anthem, crowd surfing and THAT shot trolley

By the evening, everyone was more than ready for the dance floor.

After an afternoon of eating, drinking, talking and celebrating, The Last Anthem got everyone going and it didn't take long before Hannah and James were up on shoulders in the middle of it all.

Those are some of my favourite photographs from the entire wedding.

There's something about that point in the evening when all the formalities are finished, nobody cares where the camera is anymore and everyone just completely lets go. That's when some of the best moments happen.

Although I think the groomsmen deserve a special mention for possibly one of my favourite wedding inventions of 2026...The shot trolley.

Yes. An actual tea trolley. Filled with shots. Wheeled around the dance floor.

Who would have thought you could reinvent the purpose of a trolley so successfully? Barring the Baby Guinness station I photographed back in May, this might be my favourite wedding feature of the year so far.

Absolutely genius.

A wedding that felt like home

What I loved most about Hannah and James' Carlton-in-Cleveland wedding was how connected everything felt to them.

This wasn't simply a beautiful church followed by a pretty marquee in a field.

It was the church Hannah had looked out towards as a little girl. The same gates she'd once stood outside waiting for pennies. Her grandmother's paddock. A wildflower path she'd spent the year growing. Tables named after the fields James works on. And then a marquee full of the friends and family who are clearly such a huge part of their lives.

It was elegant and beautiful, but it was also fun, relaxed and completely personal.

From village traditions and sunshine in the stubble field to crowd surfing and a trolley full of shots, it was a fabulous day to photograph.

Hannah and James, thank you so much for trusting me to capture it. I hope this little sneak peek brings it all flooding back.

---

SUPPLIERS FROM THIER DAY

Marquee | Abracadabra Marquees Catering | Homegrown Hospitality Flowers | Harriet Jane Flowers Videography | White Horse Wedding Films Band | The Last Anthem

Dress | Elizabeth George Bridal

Makeup | Bethan Burton

Hair | Vicky Siddle, Forty7 Salon

Suits | Humphrey & Tilly