Barnsdale Gardens surprise wedding

Kate and Andrew, when you first contacted me back in March to see if I was available to photograph your surprise wedding at Barnsdale Gardens I was so excited!

Barnsdale Gardens is such an incredibly beautiful place for a wedding ceremony and is made even better because you can now legally get married outdoors (at least we can thank covid for one thing).

The first task was to secretly photograph the dinner where you would announce to a close group of family and friends that you would be getting married the next day, and they were all invited. I think we managed to achieve this pretty well, no one managed to cotton on to the fact that I was there just for you.

The emotions on everyone’s faces were so incredibly beautiful to witness, pure elation is one way to sum it all up. Having been engaged for 7 years and not able to see your family at all for the last two this really was something special and something I am sure they will all talk about for years to come.

Your wedding day was just as perfect as the surprise before it. The boys all met to play mini-golf in the morning at Rutland Water and the girls were all pampered by the wonderful Alice Snell and Liz Staniland at Barnsdale Lodge before being transported to the magical garden wonderland that is Barnsdale Gardens.

Being a Daddy’s girl myself, I will never forget the way your Dad looked at you when he saw you in your dress for the first time, or how proud he was as he walked you down the aisle. You shared a secret look as he left you to stand with Andrew and when I was editing that image I smiled to myself, wondering how many times you had looked at him that way and what it meant to him.

Your ceremony was beautiful and personal, everything about your wedding day was relaxed and peaceful, there were no speeches, no last-minute panics, no cake cutting or dancing and to me, that is what made your day just that, YOUR DAY.

I hope you enjoy your images and please don’t be strangers when you are next back in the UK.

To all my couples who love this wedding and this venue simply head to the bottom to see their list of suppliers.