It happened totally by chance and sometimes the best things do... Louise and Andrew heard the dreaded news that their original venue was cancelling all it's weddings earlier this year, after being taken on by new management. Yet, it worked out better than expected for this lovely couple, who later stumbled up on the Hospitium in York city Centre.
After they got the news, Louise started frantically calling around different venues nearby, so many of them were booked up already, so when The Hospituim told Louise they had their date free, she booked there and then. At this point neither Louise nor Andrew had seen to The Hopsitium before. After booking, they were invited to an open day, which they went along to. Louise told me, "As I walked through the door, it took my breath away! I was so glad our wedding would be here! The decorations and high ceilings were stunning!"
Because Louise and Andrew both attend a church, it made sense to them that they say their, "I dos" in a church too. Due to their actual church not having it's own building they decided on St Everildas, as they regularly walk past it when out and about with their dog. It's a stunning building, inside and out, plus it's next door to Tithe Barn Gardens where Andrew proposed to Louise.
Being their first gathering in over 18 months Andrew and Louise were pretty excited about their day to say the least. They'd had to plan for several different dates, so the fact that it was actually going ahead made it all the more spectacular and all the more enjoyable.
THE DAY ITSELF
Louise began the day being pampered with two of her nearest and dearest people, they leisurely got ready together here at The Grand hotel in York.
Louise hadn't realised the races were on at York the day of their wedding, this made her a little late but she confessed afterwards. "It wasn't a problem to be running late as I'm usually early for absolutely everything! It made a change to be stylishly late! Kept Andrew on his toes!!" I like your thinking Louise. 😂
The pair decided the best place for photos would be in Tithe Barn Gardens, given their sentimental connection to this pretty little area.
There's something I haven't told you about the photographs taken so far...I didn't actually take them myself, I sent my good friend a colleague Natalie Coultas as an associate photographer. This isn't something I've done ever before, but due to the dreaded 'C' word and the fact that pretty much everyone last year had to reschedule their wedding days it was inevitable that some dates would cross over at some point. Unfortunately, Louise and Andrew were one of my couples effected in this way. So whilst Natalie was capturing this day for me and for the lovely couple above, I was on a steam train going from Pickering to Grosmont with Teresa and Jonathon....
Why did Louise and Andrew choose to stay with me? Well, I'm guessing there were a few reasons. When searching for your wedding photographer, you are searching for a certain style and approach, when you find it and love it you stick with it. Sometimes it's like finding a needle in a haystack and when all of that energy and effort is thrown right back at you with the rest of it, it can be overwhelming and draining, because of this, I offered to take that away from them. They'd told me so much about their day and plans, plus we had a plan together, so what I did was take all of that, find someone who works like myself and transferred all of the information to them, I chose Natalie for the job. Natalie knows how I work as we've worked together before and she took the information I gave her as a brief and worked as I would. Louise and Andrew were guaranteed a photographer and didn't need to start over again, they paid what we'd originally agreed and they will get what I promised them to start with. I got to keep my booking when things were tough financially last year and maintained my relationship with the couple. Natalie did a cracking job for me too.
So how can I say these are my photos? Well, it's technically like getting someone to 2nd shoot for you, they take the photos and then I'll edit and deliver as I do usually, this in turn puts my stamp on them, making them mine. I was nervous about this whole set up as it's not something I would have chosen to do, but as a profession we were pushed in to this last year. I'm pleased to say it's all turned out singing and dancing. I'm so pleased with Natalie's work, I have 3 more weddings where I will have to work in this manor. I hope being able to show my other couples how Louise and Andrew's day turned out will fill the with a sense of comfort and reassure any worries they might have had. I'd like to thank Louise and Andrew for trusting in my services and sticking with me, thanks guys!!
Here's some more from their day.
THOUGHTS AND MOMENTS FROM THE COUPLE
What was you favourite part of the day?
Andrew: the moment Louise walked in the church, it just blew me away! Seeing all our guests after such a long lockdownwas just amazing. Best day ever!
Louise: I loved every second! All the pamper and getting ready with my two bridesmaids was so relaxing. Walking in the church and seeing andrews reaction was priceless! I loved having all our friends and family around us- this was the first gathering in over 18 months so just lovely to see everyone.
Any tips in planning for other couples?
Plan longer travel times between locations! We had the races on which we hadn't accounted for! Have really well organised best man and bridesmaids. Ours were so amazing which meant we weren't tangled up in lots of details on the day.
Credits to suppliers...
Photography: Shot by Natalie Coultas and edited by Anoif Photography | The dress: second hand! You don't need to break the bank! | Shoes: JJ house | Flowers: Fiona Hogg | Hair & MUA: Sonia schofield | Wedding singer in church: Jenna Shingleton | Jewelery: Bradley's in York