Rutland Hall Hotel Wedding Photography

As you might have read last time, the formal part of Sara & Josh’s wedding day was conducted at St James the Great Church in Gretton. After that they moved on to their Rutland Hall Hotel wedding reception.

Rutland Hall Hotel – Post Facelift

At the time of Sara & Josh’s Rutland Hall Hotel wedding, the venue had recently undergone a massive rebranding and facelift. It had previously been known as Barnsdale Hall Hotel. In fact, so recent were the renovations, that the room itself had only been handed back to the hotel’s staff a handful of days prior to Sara & Josh’s big day.

While I had never photographed a wedding there before, I did conduct a site visit with a couple who, sadly, never did actually get married. The difference between then and now was like night and day.

The exterior space had received a complete makeover, too, and I can only imagine how good the pagoda would look decked out for an outdoor Rutland Hall Hotel wedding ceremony!

Drinks Reception

We did pictures outside while the guests enjoyed welcome drinks and canapes

Pianist James Roscoe played keyboard (and later piano) with Kate Brown on the sax providing the background music.

The children played, and a great time was had by all.

As guests slowly made their way inside, I grabbed Sara & Josh for a few quick couples pics.

Rutland Hall Hotel Wedding Breakfast

The Wedding Breakfast kicked off with a hilarious speech from the Father-of-the-Bride, which generated some brilliant crowd reactions.

After the amazing food had been consumed, magician Ricky Locke arrived to wow the guests – and boy did he wow them!

Before groom and best man speeches, which were equally brilliant.

While everybody else chilled out a bit, I’d noticed that the light was starting to get nice down by the Rutland Hall Hotel pagoda.

Rutland Hall Hotel Evening Reception

The stunning wedding cake had been made by one of the guests. Incredibly, it’s not something she does for a living, but she undoubtedly has the talent for it!

Another guest who was very much involved was “Dave from next door”, who was a cracking guitarist and vocalist who played a brilliant set of covers to keep the dancefloor rammed!

We had hoped to catch a sunset, but alas, it wasn’t the day for that.

With darkness now having fallen, I took the newlyweds back off to the pagoda for a quick play around with the lights before it was time for me to clock off.

It would be just four months later that I’d see Sara, Josh & the clan again at another wedding I’d photograph!

Wishing them every happiness for long and healthy lives together.

SEARCHING FOR YOUR OWN WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER?

If you’ve not already done so, please take a look at my WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY PACKAGES – Karl Drage, Northampton Wedding Photographer.

For more information on what happens when you decide you want me to photograph your wedding, please see: WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY by Karl Drage – How I Work

While every wedding is different, there are certain elements which are usually broadly similar. Take a look at a typical wedding day to get a feel for the primarily documentary wedding photography style I’m likely to employ for your big day.

There’s much more work involved in photographing a wedding than just rocking up and taking the pictures. I’ve put together this guide to explain why wedding photography can seem expensive but it’s really not.

I’ve also put together this wedding photography FAQ list and my responses – Questions you should ask a wedding photographer!