Wedding photography at Stanford Hall
Rob and Laura’s wedding at Stanford Hall in Lutterworth, Leicestershire, was an absolute ripper to photograph! Stanford Hall is a seriously cool wedding venue, and my couple was so relaxed that it was one of my standout weddings of the season. Not least because the videographer was loads of fun to work with, too, because he was very hands-of, like me. Together, these made being a Stanford Hall wedding photographer a fab experience.
When you arrive at Stanford Hall, you are blown away by the size of this Grade 1 listed building, built in 1697, it is older than America, where Rob is from. The grounds of the venue are stunning, featuring the beautiful serpentine lake shore, Georgian stables courtyard and a rose garden. This gives plenty of options for wedding photography at Stanford Hall, there is so much to play with, especially as there are 700 acres that are exclusive to the couple for the day. It is simply one of the best wedding venues near Nottingham.
But enough about the venue, it’s just a setting, what matters are the people. Rob and Helen were the sweetest people and they were mad keen on cycling. They even cycled to Sandford Hall from Oxford ,and Rob had lovingly made Laura a personalised cycle top.
At the start of the day, I caught up with the boys while they played table football or ‘foosball’ for the Americans before I headed over to the bridal suite to capture Laura getting ready with her best friends.
I love the shot of Laura being squeezed into her dress by her mother, and the shot before that of what looks like a very bad hair day, like she’s been electrocuted, oh, it’s painful to look good sometimes. You’ll see those sorts of photos a lot in my work because I shoot things as they are, and my couples love these moments because they have a great sense of humour and they are not afraid to laugh at themselves. Being a Stanford Hall wedding photographer is about so much more than taking pretty pictures of people all day
Their wedding ceremony at Stanford Hall was held in the Ballroom (which later doubled up as the reception space), which featured a magnificent frescoed ceiling and loads of natural light. I think my decision to shoot from above as Laura came down the staircase with her Dad was a good choice versus the standard wait at the bottom photo.
One thing that I’ll never understand is why the maid of honour decided to stand on a footstool. It’s certainly one of the weirdest things that I’ve seen at a wedding. I spoke to her about it before the ceremony, and she told me that she wanted people to be able to see her because she was smaller than the bride. OK… (often at weddings, I need to work around the unexpected to get the photos that I need, but that’s a whole other blog post.)
Guests were invited to the North Lawn for the wedding reception at Stanford Hall, but not before we captured one of the best confetti photos of the season on the steps leading down (link to tips on confetti). I think what made this photo so cool was that in the excitement of the moment, a couple of guests ditched their order of service, and you can see them hit the floor at the same time. Not bad considering ‘Americans don’t understand confetti’ Rob’s words, not mine.
Taking pictures of these guys was so much fun because they were both so happy, making them complete naturals around the camera. This is a perfect example of if you just be yourself, your photos will be awesome. My couple went for a short walk around the grounds of Stanford Hall for photos before getting back to the party.
I found the speeches very touching at this Stanford Hall wedding, particularly given that Rob’s Mum gave a speech at this wedding, and she said, which is a rare thing.
A note on the dancefloor- it was redder than anything I’ve ever shot in thanks to the uplighters. I kept imagining the scene from the James Cameron film Aliens where they come through the roof!
Having s’mores in the courtyard brought the evening to a close for me. Thanks so much for having me join you for your fun-loving party!
Doing wedding photography at Stanford Hall was such a blast, and I can’t wait to be back there very soon. If you want a photographer for your Stanford Hall wedding, get in touch.
I shoot weddings in Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire and throughout the UK.
Cheers!