Lake District Wedding Photographer

Lake District wedding photography at Underley Grange in Kirby Lonsdale.

Here’s a throwback to my first time photographing a wedding at Underley Grange in the Lake District last year.

I knew from the moment I met Lynsey and Rob that we were going to hit it off and that their day would be mega! Well I was right. We first met up for their Loveshoot (which I will get around to posting at some point) down in Borough Markets London and we had so much fun. But not only that Lyns and Rob were just a DREAM in front of the camera. Total blinking naturals – yay!

So when I turned up to Kirby Lonsdale on the day of the wedding having driven through a pretty crazy storm I just knew the weather didn’t matter as these two were just going to enjoy their day no matter what. And that they did.

The whole day from start to finish was an absolute joy. I know I bang on about how I attached I get to my couples and I genuinely mean it. Lynsey and Rob were no exception to this rule. It’s been over a year since their big day and I’ve loved watching their journey as a couple grow. Not only have they upped sticks and relocated but they’ve only gone and had a little bundle of gorgeousness! Welcome to the world Baby Jemima. I hope one day you’ll get to enjoy looking through these photographs.

Scroll down to enjoy the photographs. x

How they met…

One of our favourite stories to tell.. we met at our best friends wedding! My bessie was the bride and the groom being Rob’s best mate. Our paths hadn’t crossed before the wedding as I’d had been living down in London for the past few years. Rob tells a different story to me of who spoke to who first, but I can firmly say that Rob came up to me at the bar and began chatting me up after hours of eyeing me up. We first clocked eyes in the church during my reading, and I thought he was totally hot. To cut a long story short, we busted some sexy moves on the dance floor that night and Rob came to visit for a full weekend date down in London the following weekend, and we soon began a long-distance relationship. It turns out that we’d been matched up before the wedding day with our friends and family hoping we’d hit it off.

How Rob proposed…
A few weeks before my 28th birthday, Rob told me that he’d be taking me on a surprise getaway for my birthday weekend. Excitement ensued! I guessed the destination constantly for the next few weeks and had been given some very cryptic clues…I’d shared these clues with a couple of my girls and one of them had guessed Paris! I was ridiculously excited at the prospect and on the morning of my birthday I unwrapped a box of more clues which led to the destination of Paris being revealed. Ecstatic doesn’t come close, we were off 2 days later on the Eurostar! The morning of the trip I went to have my nails done, they were painted a pillar box red. Thank goodness I did… On day 2 we were wandering through the Jardin des Tuileries when we stopped to have a sit down, I closed my eyes because the sun was so bright, and no word of a lie, I uttered the words ‘life just doesn’t get better than this, does it.’ I opened my eyes as Rob hadn’t responded and there he was, down on one knee with a diamond that was glistening so brightly in the sunshine, I screamed and cried and could barely hear him ask the question! As you can imagine we spent the rest of the weekend wandering the streets of Paris in a bubble of love, with regular stops for champagne. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.

A bit more about their big day…
I’d had my heart set on a big wedding from being a teen, and having worked in the events industry since Uni, I had plenty of firm ideas of what I’d want from our big day! Obviously Rob’s opinion mattered just as much  but luckily he was on board with all my ideas. The key thing for us was to be able to bring together everyone we love for a full weekend of celebrations. Living down in London we really wanted to have some quality time with our Northern family and friends and allow them a chance to meet and hang out with our London crews. I scoured the country for a venue we could hire for the full weekend in July that allowed for lots of people to stay on site. Underley Grange in Kirkby Lonsdale ticked all the boxes and had the country affair look we were searching for. The Friday was spent with the bridesmaids and brides crew decorating the venue and marquee (with lots of bubbles in between) and the boys enjoyed a full game of cricket followed by evening events for both sides, which was exactly what we’d envisioned; quality time with our favourite people and getting excited for what was to come the next day. The wedding took place on the Saturday with a ceremony at the beautiful St Mary’s church in the centre of Kirkby Lonsdale. A London bus then drove all our guests back to Underley Grange where we enjoyed drinks in the grounds with the sun shining and some fabulous acoustic music. This was followed by the wedding breakfast in a beautiful marquee and a live band for the evening. A highlight was left-over pie which we ate at 5am when we finally called it a night! Sunday was just as important to us, so we had Rowley’s our catering company return to do a big BBQ for all our guests. The weather took a turn for the worst (typical for the Lake District) but we weren’t bothered. We had planned to have a pool party that day with the outdoor pool on the grounds, but instead we all descended back to the marquee and enjoyed some gossip, games and grub. That night, there was just a handful of us remaining and we spent the evening polishing off the remaining booze in the outdoor hot tub under the stars, I don’t think we’ve ever laughed and cried so much since. The whole weekend was just unreal, totally unforgettable.

Favourite parts of the day…
It’s so hard to pick… Walking into the church and clasping eyes on each other, saying our vows and seeing everyone we love spend the whole weekend celebrating our marriage with us. You spend months imagining what your wedding will turnout like, and ours was beyond our dreams and expectations. We still have friends and family saying it was the best wedding they’ve ever been to. It truly was an unforgettable few days, we feel so incredibly blessed.

Fave supplier love…
Ayesha Photography – photographer – bloody brilliant and caring. We feel incredibly lucky to have had Ayesha there on our wedding day. The most talented photographer we’ve come across.

James Wray – videographer – a top bloke who is incredibly talented. Our wedding film along with our photography is one of our most treasured possessions, we feel so proud and full of love when we watch it.

Rowley’s – catering – the team at Rowley’s go above and beyond, and their food is absolutely delicious. I’d 100% use them again and recommend them to everyone.

Advice from the happy couple…
Smile and don’t stress. This is your moment, enjoy every second and don’t sweat the small stuff, the only thing that matters is that you are getting married to your one true love.

Our favourite photograph taken by Ayesha…
That is impossible to answer. We loved every single one, and we’re not lying!

What was your first dance?
We started with 30 seconds of Me and Mrs Jones by Billy Paul and swiftly moved on to You and Me by the Wannadies. We absolutely loved it! We ended up doing quite an unplanned routine with the live band performing, it was unreal, and immediately after everyone hit the dance floor and it was none stop dancing until the early hours.

3 words to sum up Ayesha…!
Talented, energetic, heartfelt.

Finally a little testimonial from Mr and Mrs J. Thank you!

If you’re looking for a photographer who captures the essence of your love, your emotions and the energy of the day, then Ayesha is your girl. A truly talented photographer who really cares for her clients. From the moment we Skype’d Ayesha we knew we’d get on well, she has such a positive attitude and makes you feel completely at ease. She’s not just your photographer, she becomes your friend too.