Meols Hall Wedding Photographer

I loved being the Meols Hall wedding photographer for Violet & Henry’s Meols Hall Wedding. What a day it was! One of the biggest weddings I have ever photographed with 250 guests in attendance it certainly kept me busy trying to photograph as many guests as I could! It’s always such a privilege to capture the day for wonderful couples. I was asked by the Hesketh Family to photograph the wedding completely candidly. All of the images below are real moments with no direction apart from the obvious portraits! I love shooting weddings in the style of a documentary wedding photographer, I get to capture great moments for my clients!

Check out the photo film below!

Photographing the Bridal preparations at Meols Hall

The bride was with her bridesmaids, many little flower girls, and page boys at the main house as I arrived to photograph the day’s events. When I got there, the bride was busy in the kitchens organising place settings for the wedding breakfast. Big sister applied the bride’s makeup up and once she was helped into her wedding dress it was time for the hairdresser to place the most exquisite diamond wedding crown onto her head. With the stunning veil, the bride was ready to head to the church with her flower bouquet as the wedding car waited outside to whisk her to St Cuthbert’s church, where her groom was waiting in a very crowded church. I try to use a large aperture on my 35mm lens to blur out the background in the bridal preparation photographs. I photograph all over the UK but as a Lancashire Wedding Photographer  I get to go home and sleep in my own bed on the wedding day!!

Meols Hall, Churchtown
Bride having her make up applied
Close up of bride having her make up applied
Flower girl being helped into her dress
Portrait of flower girl
Flower girl getting into her dress
Page boy getting dressed with father
Portrait of page boy on stairs
Flower girls holding hands
Hairdresser placing flower garland on Flower girls head.
Portrait of flower girl
Bride being helped into her wedding dress
Flower girls and page boy being photographed
Bride smiling
Hairdresser placing wedding crown on brides head
Bride reflection in mirror
Bride smiling in mirror

Wedding Ceremony at St Cuthbert’s church

After leaving the bride at Meols hall, it’s only a short walk to St Cuthberts church in the village of Churchtown and when I arrived the groom was chatting away at the altar with his best man and ushers. The wedding guests were chatting away excitedly in anticipation of the bride’s arrival. After getting some good shots (using a high ISO on my camera) of the groom I waited outside with the flower girls for the bride to arrive in the wedding car. The father of the groom had passed away, the bride was walked down the aisle by her big brother. Such an exciting time as the groom watched his bride walk up the aisle towards her fiancé

Usher waiting at church entrance
Groom sharing a joke with best man
Flower girls look at bride arriving at church
Bride arriving at church in wedding car
Bride smiling as she leaves the wedding car
Bridesmaids and flower girls wait at entrance to church

Bride holds her brothers arm as she walks towards the church

Bride walks toward the church

Bride smiling as she walks up the aisle with her brother

A church wedding, especially in such a magnificent church as St Cuthberts, is so much more dramatic than a civil ceremony. After the exchange of vows and rings to massive applause from the guests, I captured a fabulous photograph of the happy couple moments after the first kiss. Using a mirrorless camera it’s easy to shoot from a high vantage point using the rear screen. I love capturing real moments like this when you can see the real connection between the couple. After signing the register with the help of the witnesses, it was time for the newlyweds to walk back down the aisle as man and wife to the cheers and applause from the whole church!

Groom smiling as he watches his bride walk up the aisle
bride walks towards the altar
The happy couple smile at each other at the altar
Bride is given away by her brother
Close up of groom placing ring on brides finger
Bride smiles as groom places ring on brides finger
Mother of the bride looks on during the exchange of rings
Bride smiles as she places wedding ring on grooms finger
The newly weds kiss as the church applauds
Brides family applaud the happy couple
Grooms family applaud the newly weds
Best man and usher applaud the bride and groom
Bride and groom walk back down the aisle

Road sign for Meols hall

Drinks reception at Meols Hall

The massive wedding party lined the path back to the Meols Hall waiting to throw confetti over the happy couple. It’s the longest confetti throw I have photographed! It’s important to have a longer depth of field with the camera lens so more guests are in focus. With drinks and canapes waiting on the lawn outside Meols Hall the drinks reception was super lively and it was such fun photographing the guests hugging and congratulating the bride and groom. As it’s bright and sunny I can normally only have my aperture at f2 before the camera reaches its highest shutter speed. So much going on as the guests had fun on a lovely sunny day. We photographed the family group shots and just a couple of portraits for the newlyweds as they wanted the day to be shot completely naturally with no direction, in the style of a documentary wedding photographer. I normally have a shallow depth of field at f2 in my portrait photographs so the background is very blurred.

Bride and groom confetti throw
Bride and groom walk towards Meols Hall
Happy couple smiling as they walk towards Meols Hall
Glasses of champagne
Guests congratulating the groom
Wedding guest hugs the bride
Bride chatting to guests during drinks reception
Iced biscuits
Flower girls playing
Bride laughs while chatting to guests
Guests share a joke during drinks reception
Wedding breakfast place settings
Flowers on table
Flowers and place setting at wedding breakfast
Place setting with name of guest on table mat
Wedding guests chatting
Page boy being thrown in the air
Father throws his son into the air
wide shot of Wedding guests
Wedding guests having fun

Speeches outside the Summer Marquee at Meols Hall

Absolutely hilarious, heartfelt and emotional speeches by the bride’s brother, the best man and the groom. With so many guests and great speeches, I had plenty of laughter and tears to photograph. It’s important to focus on the mother of the bride and groom and the fathers of the bride and groom during the speeches to capture their reactions during the most emotional parts of the speech. I have a telephoto 85mm lens to capture things far away and a 35mm wide-angle lens to capture things close to me. The happy couple cut the cake outside on the lawn before heading into the summer marquee where I was able to take some summer marquee wedding photos

Brother of the bride gives his speech
Bride laughing during her brothers speech
Bride sheds a tear during her brothers speech
Bride hugs her brother

Groom giving his speech

Guests enjoy the grooms joke
Bride laughs during grooms speech
Ushers laugh at grooms joke during his speech
Bride cringes during grooms speech
Guests applaud grooms speech
Best man giving his speech
Guests laugh at best mans joke
Groom laughs at best mans joke
Guests laugh at grooms speech
Guests toast the happy couple after best mans speech
Bride and groom cut the wedding cake
Bride and groom simple portrait
Newly weds portrait
Wedding cake

First Dance in Marquee at Meols Hall

The bride and groom wanted a more relaxed evening and decided not to do the first dance. This gave the wedding guests extra time on the dancefloor to the tunes of the most amazing band. The dance floor was genuinely bouncing all night! I normally set up my off-camera flashes to light up the first dance and the evening dancing. They can be triggered by remote flash transmitters on my camera.  Capturing great moments on the dancefloor kept me busy with my cameras!

Meols hall with uplights
Band entertain the guests
Guests dancing
Wedding guests having a great time on the dancefloor
Guests dancing
Bride dancing on the dance floor
Guests with hands in the air on the dancefloor

Meols Hall is the perfect Wedding Venue

I love being a Meols Hall Wedding Photographer. Meols Hall is Southport’s oldest manor house and dates back to the 12th century. Set in 100 acres of parkland and just on the edge of Churchtown it’s the perfect Lancashire wedding venue if you love Barn wedding Photography , they have a beautiful Tithe barn to have the most wonderful wedding ceremony. Meols Hall is a fantastic stately home venue if you like a grand wedding!

The Tithe barn has been fully renovated by Local craftsmen, keeping all original features, also adding a fully fitted kitchen, bar facilities and a PA system. The Tithe barn can host 120 wedding guests for the day and 140 guests in the evening. Larger numbers can be accommodated by the addition of a marquee on the lawn.

I hope you enjoyed my Meols Hall wedding photos. It was such an honour to shoot  Henry and Violet’s Meols Hall wedding. I loved photographing such an amazing wedding. If you are looking for a Meols Hall wedding photographer for your wedding at Meols Hall, please Get in touch to tell me more about your plans for your special day! I would love to hear more about you!