What made this Tutbury Castle Wedding so amazing?

Rachel and Ian’s Tutbury Castle Wedding was just so brilliant in so many ways I’ve had to resort to using bullet points to make sure I include everything I loved about it!!

• The venue! The opportunity to take photographs for a Tutbury Castle Wedding was one that I knew I would absolutely relish. The castle which dates back to 1071 and is pretty much dripping with history from the Stone Age to Mary Queen of Scots to Civil War destruction. In fact, the Great Hall where the marriage ceremonies take place was where Charles I stayed during the Civil war! Outside the ruins and views across the River Dove almost gives a photographer too many options (I said almost!) when it comes to guests portraits and couple shots. On the day of Rachel & Ian’s wedding the sky was such a beautiful shade of blue it almost made the castle appear to sparkle – perfect for a fairy-tale wedding of a princess to her prince.
• The couple! When I first met Rachel & Ian I felt that they were so perfectly made for each other, particularly with their ability to take the mickey out of each other and not take life too seriously. Their long standing joke of planting, shall-we-say, ‘risque’ items in each others’ possessions to be discovered later at inappropriate moments, their planting of something equally inappropriate in Ian’s daughter’s university packing, Ian’s Facebook post the night before the wedding about just getting off a boat and hopefully making it to the castle in time, Ian even get dressed into his stag do outfit to try and wind up Rachel that he was going to turn up to the wedding in it! Their general banter with each other displayed two people who had definitely found their soul mates! So on the wedding day it kind of took me by surprise how romantic the pair were, about how emotional they both were during the ceremony and how touching Ian’s speech was. They are a perfect blend of love and humour and making the most of their life together, it was beautiful to be a part of their day.
• The dress! A seriously stunning dress supplied by my absolute favourite wedding dress shop Alison Evans Bridalwear (who I will always bow down to when it comes to describing dresses!!!)

“Rachel’s dress is by Sincerity. The beautiful lace is point d’esprit, with appliqué enhancement. The dress has a Queen Anne neckline and a deeply scooped illusion back, with tiny covered buttons running down the back seam. The cut of the dress shows Rachel’s slim figure off a treat – the running Rachel does definitely paid off!”

• The Transport! A 100 year old van  belonging to the best man’s family (complete with wind up handle and oil leak), a coach ferrying guests from the farm to the castle and then on to Hanbury and a 7-seater Daimler limousine – think it safe to say that Rachel & Ian had thought of everything with regards to the transportation at their wedding! Whilst it might sometimes feel like an added cost which could be avoided, there really is nothing better than your guests travelling together between the various stages of your day. It makes sure that the transition from prep to ceremony to reception is seamless and the party never stops!
• The flowers! Supplied by Jo Beth Floral Design they were elegant and simple. I loved them so much that I got in touch with Jo the florist to give them the description they deserve! Of the flowers, Jo says

“Rachel wanted to base her wedding flowers on the coral colour which she had picked for the bridesmaids and so the beautiful Miss Piggy Rose was an obvious choice of flower to start creating the overall look.  Rachel was keen to keep the flowers as British as possible and wanted flowers which you would find in a country cottage garden so we opted for roses and spray roses in coral, peach stocks (which smelt absolutely divine,) white peonies, white hydrangea, coral germinis and pittosporum greenery.”  

• The decorations! Never before have I seen such an amazing transformation of a village hall. Walking into Hanbury Memorial Hall and seeing the drapes from the ceiling and down the walls, the beautiful coloured hanging lanterns hanging down and the gorgeous tall vases as centerpieces continued the feeling of opulence from the Great Hall at Tutbury Castle all the way through the whole evening.
• Speeches BEFORE the Wedding Breakfast! From personal experience, I don’t know why this doesn’t happen more at weddings! I guess it depends on how well-received you reckon your speeches will be when your guests are a bit peckish (!) but to me it’s a no-brainer. Rachel’s Dad, Ian and his best man all delivered speeches which were perfectly balanced with emotion, humour and anecdotes and then could eat, drink and be merry throughout the feast without having the speech looming at the end of the meal! Like I say, a no-brainer for me! 
• Daughter of the groom’s speech! I could have included this in the above bullet point but thought it deserved a separate mention. It was just a touching, heartfelt speech which definitely made quite a few people come close to tears. Big thumbs up from me, it was a beautiful speech 🙂 
• The aprons! During Ian’s speech he presented a nominated carver from each table with their very own personalised apron. Loved this for many reasons but the reactions from each carver upon receiving their aprons (including Ian’s very apt “Just married” cartoon one from his daughter) were priceless. I’ve been to a couple of weddings now that present meat on the table to be carved and it’s always been a great way for tables made up of different groups of people to get to know one another (although I’m not sure I could cope with the pressure of making sure everyone got the same amount!!)
• The entertainment! Why choose between a live performer or a DJ when you can have both! Joe Seagar, a talented guitarist and songwriter, performed beautifully before and after the wedding breakfast and his version of ‘All of Me” by John Legend for the first dance was spine-tinglingly good (have a watch of the slideshow below and you will be able to hear it!)

So you see, there was plenty of things that made Rachel & Ian’s wedding at Tutbury Castle and Hanbury just brilliant but I have yet to mention the most important one:

• The people! So much time, effort and money goes into planning every single detail of a wedding but without a fantastic group of people, all there to celebrate the couple’s love for one another, it would mean nothing. At Rachel & Ian’s wedding they, and all their guests, just looked so happy, so content and were enjoying the day to the absolute max and that, when push comes to shove, is what planning a great wedding is about! Well done Rachel & Ian, it was an epic one!

If you’re interested in booking me for Tutbury Castle Wedding Photography then please don’t hesitate to get in touch here.