A Wedding at Hales Hall, Cheadle | Jade & Aaron
A DIY Hales Hall Wedding
Myself and Jade went to the same Primary school together. Mid way into primary school she just seemed to vanish though. What I didn’t know then was she’d just relocated down the road to another school and not disappeared into the ether. When meeting people I’ve known before I always try not to make my first meetings a nostalgia trip as I don’t like leaving, Aaron in this instance, out. If you’re as inquisitive as me you just need to know how said person left your timeline and then rejoined it again. Aaron was actually super interested to hear the alternate version of a younger Jade he’d never known. After the first meeting we were both so excited about the day it seemed almost written in the stars that I’d have the honour of shooting this awesome boho wedding day.
Straight from the start Jade and Aaron wanted a relaxed affair with just a few key elements. They planned to get ready super close to each other making it super easy for me to capture both morning preps. Jade & Aaron’s home where Jade would get ready in the morning is a beautifully curated place. They’ve taken an old unloved terrace and been slowly converting it into their artistic homestead. When it came time to photograph her Rainbow Club Shoes and her Martina Liona dress from Emily Bridalwear I didn’t struggle at all to find a stunning backdrop. Photographing the bridal prep was also super awesome as I worked around Trim Hairdressing and Tahirah Nadia MUA to capture some stunning portraits.
They then had orchestrated a wedding service at Pugin’s Gem in Cheadle town centre which is actually a short walk from their home. Walking between venues always gets me super excited as it rarely happens.
Following the service we had a short wedding shoot at Les Oaks Architectural Reclamation Yard before rejoining the guests at the Coach House at Hales Hall for the wedding reception. Prop the Question, Jade and her family and friends had transformed the venue into a Boho wedding reception. Having a wedding reception Hales Hall is a real DIY affair as they just provide the room, the bar and amenities. Everything else you have to provide yourselves. With so many guests it was going to prove impossible to do the speeches inside the Coach House so I came up with the novel idea of outdoor speeches. Ushering everyone around to the back of the coach house we then had a real unique environment for speeches and I was able to capture some stellar photographs.
With the rain settling in and the night drawing to a close we only had a short window to do the final shoot idea of the day which were smoke bombs. Following previous uses of them I decided to have the smoke bombs inside a drained swimming pool for this moment and Jade and Aaron stood above meaning they were encompassed by even more smoke making the photographs that much more effective.
A real incredible day which I was sad to leave.
My First Wedding at Hales Hall
Living just down the road from Hales Hall in Cheadle makes this a convenient local wedding venue for me to get to. I love boho weddings with an edge as they’re always so beautifully cultivated. Since this wedding, myself and Natalie, the events manager at Hales Hall, have met up again to capture them some promo photographs of the hall in all it’s glory during the 2020 Covid pandemic. I love photographing at new wedding venues. I especially like those which are close to me and being positioned across from Les Oakes makes it a dream.
My style of wedding photography is built on a great relationship with my couples. All of my weddings are different and unique; even if I was to shoot again at the same venue like Hales Hall. Time on your wedding day is really important to me as I’m sure it is to you too. So if I can help it I don’t really want you to miss a thing and would love you to remember as much as possible. This caring and relaxed approach to my wedding photography is the reason why so many couples recommend me. They always say it feels like a friend is taking their photographs and not a photographer.
Wedding Ceremony at Pugin’s Gem, Cheadle
Jade and Aaron managed to book their super local church, St Giles’ Catholic church in Cheadle, also known as Pugin’s Gem. It’s an incredible masterpiece of architecture designed by Augustus Pugin, an 18th century architect, designer and artist famous for his involvement in the design of the interior of the palace of Westminster and Big Ben to name a few.
Being such an incredible structure I was concerned about gaining a great enough vantage point to capture the key moments of the service. Luckily for me the Father leading the service gave me great access where I could slip in and out without notice to capture great angles the whole way through. Shooting down the aisle for the kiss was always going to be on the cards here as the aisle was decorated with beautiful jam jars with flowers in from Varnish and Sprigs.
Reclamation Yard Wedding Portraits at Les Oakes
Originally they had planned to go straight to Hales Hall from Pugin’s Gem with their guests until I threw a spanner in the works. Being from around the area I know there is an incredible architectural reclamation yard called Les Oakes right across from Hales Hall which would make some incredible back drops for photographs. Many years ago I’d thought of doing the same thing for a couple also due to have their reception at Hales Hall. Unfortunately the Hall had some issues and they changed their location. The excitement to shoot at Les Oakes though still remained deep inside me. So I suppose you could say this moment had been building within in me for so long. Jade & Aaron loved this suggestion and they were all in for my dream.
Jade chose this moment to don her black leather jacket which she’d painted the back of it herself. A truly striking jacket with the white dress. Jade is an incredible art teacher and artist in her spare time.
I don’t usually have the whole bridal party on hand for this portrait time but Jade and Aaron really wanted them to all be here for some more portraits of them all together. It made it interesting as they were distracted by more people to take their mind off of the couple photographs.