Sandhole Oak Barn wedding photography

Sandhole Oak wedding barn wedding by Ayesha Photography

This little beaut of a wedding has been sat in my increasingly large ‘to blog’ pile for a little while now and I thought it was about time I shared it with you all. Tasha and Dave had a beautifully personal day surrounded by their loved ones at one of my favourite Cheshire venues, Sandhole Oak Barn.

I knew the second I met Tasha and Dave that we were going to hit it off immediately and that we did!! I know I ramble on about this in most of my blog posts but I honestly love getting to know my couples who ultimately end up becoming friends and so when I turn up to capture what happens on the big day I’m already welcomed and fit in perfectly.

I have so many favourite parts of this day that they’re too long to list but my highlights have to be meeting Tasha and Dave’s gorgeous little boy Finnley who was more than a little taken by my camera (photography is clearly in the blood), the relaxed build up during the morning was super lovely, Dave’s fabulous granddad who I had a little soft spot for and the awesome 90’s rave with  neon face paint and glow sticks!! I even came home with green gloop all over me and my camera – so good. Adam Carr did an awesome job of nailing that dancefloor!

Make sure you scroll down right the way to the bottom to read what Tasha and Dave had to say about their day. It really is worth the read 🙂

Before I leave you to enjoy the photos I have to say I was so sad to hear that Dave’s granddad sadly passed away this summer. He features in one of my favourite photos ever (the one with the glasses) and it was lovely to hear that all of the family have this image of him as a little tribute. It goes to show how important my job is and its all about the little moments.

Much love. x

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Here’s what Tasha and Dave had to say….

How they met… We met through friends and quickly became best mates, when we couldn’t go a day without seeing each other it quickly became apparent we were meant to be together!

The proposal…  My (Tasha) favourite place in the world is the west coast of Scotland; I spent a lot of time up there as a child and it’s just magical to me, so it was only right that we started travelling up as a couple several times a year and Dave fell in love with it as much as I am. As we do every year, we went up on my 21^st birthday to make the most of the January snow, and my parents came along too. At midnight Dave woke me up by pulling me out of bed (which was met with a torrent of abuse! He should have known better than to wake me up!). He marched me downstairs to find the hotel doors locked, swore a lot, marched me back upstairs and ordered me to stand outside the bedroom door. Just as I was about to start whining about being made to stood in a freezing cold corridor in my pyjamas, Dave opens the bedroom door. The lights were off and there were lit candles everywhere as he walked me onto the balcony that overlooked a stunning moonlit Loch Leven and got down on one knee. It was the best way he could have proposed to me. He’s earned life-long Brownie points for that epic show!

Here’s a bit more about their day… We fell in love with Sandhole immediately, I don’t think many wedding venues can boast the beauty of the barn and the lake. We wanted the theme of the wedding to match the charm of the barn and the surrounding Cheshire villages and countryside, so we went for a village fete theme. It helped that I’m a serial Cath Kidston/Emma Bridgewater addict, so we had plenty of floral fabric to hand to run up meters of bunting (with the size of the barn we ended up having to buy extra in!). We’re a really laid-back couple so for us, it was important that there was none of the pomp and ceremony that weddings often have! Ladies rocked up in summer dresses and our Bridesmaids wore 50’s style floral dresses. We said our vows by the lake in the glorious sunshine and had G&T’s afterwards. Everything was perfect!

Favourite parts of the day… Bloody hell, I don’t think we could chose just one!

Seeing our little boy in his little suit and dicky-bow! The look on my Dad’s face when he saw me in my dress. Ice cold Gin & Tonic after all the nerves of the ceremony. The food! Especially the halloumi canapés! Seeing everybody looking gorgeous, chilled and happy (merry might be a more appropriate word!). Without a doubt the moment we all laughed till we cried when the lads climbed onto the tractors in the barn! And the UV-face paint, glow stick and tequila-fueled 90’s rave!

A few favourite suppliers and why…  Ayeshaaaaaa! (You can give me that bribe money now…!) Without a doubt. Everybody fell in love with you, you stayed, you raved, several people thought we’d asked an old friend to take pictures and were shocked when we told them you were our photographer! You just fit in so well, like one of the family!

We have to also give a massive shout out to Top Table Catering; the food was phenomenal without question, but more over they were with us in planning from day one. They were awesome, it felt like we had a gang of girlfriends ready on standby to sort everything and anything out for us! Let alone the fact that 12 months on people are STILL talking about the food!

I can’t round this off without a word for the snake-hipped legend that is Adam Carr. We explained our wish to have a 90’s rave and he just ran with it and went above and beyond anything that we imagined. Everybody was up boogying! The phrase “Dance like nobody’s watching” was based on Adam! He threw the best shapes of anybody that night!

Advice from the happy couple… Say ‘I Love You’ every night without fail, try not to go to bed on an argument, kiss and cuddle often, pick your battles wisely and remember life’s too short to sweat the small stuff. Roll with the punches as a team!

Our favourite photograph taken by Ayesha… Far too many to choose! The one of all three of us (Tasha, Dave and Fynnley) was so special, it just captured our little family unit so wonderfully. The Grease-style shots in the tractor barn still make me cry laughing every time we see them! Especially the boys with their cigars looking so handsome.
There’s a brilliant picture you took of Dave’s Grandad with his glow stick glasses on. He happily told us all he was quite smitten with you afterwards! Sadly, Grandad passed away suddenly in July and we’ve all got a copy of this picture up to keep us smiling. It means a lot to us now.

Their first dance… Dave and Adam hatched a cunning plan! We had agreed that, because it’s Dave’s favourite film and our dog is named Baxter after a four-legged character, we’d have the Will Ferrell version of Afternoon Delight from the film Anchorman. Although I agreed it’d have everybody laughing, I did have small hopes to have something a little more meaningful but went along with it.
When the time came, Adam introduced us onto the dance floor and the opening chords of a different song started playing. It took me a half a minute or so to clock that it was Run by Steven Fretwell (AKA the Gavin & Stacey theme song!). It also took about half a minute for me to burst into happy tears! We’ve spent the last 7 years watching Gavin & Stacey through good times and bad, it sort of became our thing. Besides, I’m bloody good at doing a Nessa impression and I was marrying a man named Dave…! Dave won double-lifetime Brownie points for that.

Me summed up in 3 words… (well kinda)! Just three?!
Larger than life! Bloody amazing woman! Made our day?

Finally, a beautiful testimonial!!! You’ll wear your wedding dress, tails and top-hat once, the cake and the food will be eaten, the venue will go on to host other weddings and you might even fancy a new wedding ring in a decade’s time, but your wedding pictures will stay with you for a lifetime. Second to the dress, it’s the most important part of your big day and it’s worth every penny you’ll spend on it. If you’ve browsed through her pictures, they speak for itself that Ayesha has photographic talent by the bucket load. But more than that, she’s not about the business. She’s about the people. I’d bet any amount of money that if you asked every couple that she’s worked with, they’d all tell you that she’s become a friend, not just somebody you paid to come and take photographs. There’s no formalities, no pomp and ceremony, nothing staged, nothing strained with Ayesha. She hovers round the guests like an old friend and manages to take the most intimate shots. Please, please without hesitation book this woman! Or don’t even book her right away; go for a glass of wine and a chat like we did. You’ll fall in love with her!

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Thank you for the gorgeous words Tasha and Dave. I’m off for a little cry now!! x