A black-tie wedding at Hobbit Hill in Lancashire
There’s a photograph from Sophie and Jack’s wedding at Hobbit Hill where the wedding party are walking in both directions across the frame and Sophie and Jack have stayed exactly where they are for a kiss. I rather like this as a solution to group photographs. Usually a certain amount of my time is spent persuading everyone to stand still. Turns out I only needed two of them.
Sophie and Jack got married in September, in the Lancashire countryside, with black tie, pale green bridesmaid dresses and a bridal gown with lace sleeves that I’d have been quite happy to dedicate a separate blog post to. They also have a dog called Nellie. I appreciate some of you are here for the bridal fashion, but there’s a subsection of my readership that likes the dog’s name confirmed early. I’m in it.
Getting ready at Hobbit Hill
There was music playing while Sophie got ready, with her friends around her and plenty of laughter. One of my favourite photographs from the morning is actually of the dress on its own, hanging in front of the window. You can see the lace all the way down to the edge of the train. Then there’s Sophie wearing it, holding her bouquet and smiling at someone just out of frame. I’d put those two together. You get a good look at what she chose and then you see what everyone who was there will remember about it. Her.
The shoes had bows. So did Jack, technically, although I suspect he’d prefer me to describe his as a bow tie. There’s a close-up of him straightening it, then a wider photograph of him in his dinner jacket with the lads. They look particularly smart. I’d keep that one handy for any future occasion on which one of them claims he hasn’t got a decent photograph of himself.
A ceremony and a little time in the woods
I loved the way Jack looked at Sophie as she walked in. It’s one of the few photographs from a wedding that you can anticipate quite precisely and still have no idea what it’s going to look like. You know where to stand. You know when he’ll see her. The expression itself is entirely his.
Later, we took a little time for portraits among the trees at Hobbit Hill. One of my favourites is the wide photograph of the two of them in the woodland, where you can see the full sweep of Sophie’s train across the leaves. There’s another, much closer, with the veil around them as they kiss. I like that you can go from an entire Lancashire woodland to just their two faces without either of them having to go very far. Particularly considerate of us all, given the shoes.
Dinner and a dance floor with the WOODWORTHS
At dinner, Sophie and Jack sat beneath a flower arch and a sign that read The Woodworths. In the photograph, they’ve leaned in to kiss across the table. I love that one for how neatly it sums things up. You can see exactly who’s just got married, and should anyone require a spelling, it’s conveniently displayed above their heads.
By the evening, there were guests waving glow sticks, Jack’s jacket was off and the two of them were wrapped up in each other on the dance floor. There’s a quieter photograph outside that I’d put beside that one. It’s black and white, with little lights behind them, and Jack is dipping Sophie so far back that her dress nearly reaches the grass. Full marks to Jack. It’s one thing to promise to support someone for the rest of your life and quite another to have it assessed by a photographer that same evening.
Sophie and Jack, thank you for having me there. I’m glad you’ve got that look from the ceremony, the two of you under the veil and the evidence of just how thoroughly everyone committed to the glow sticks. I’d love to know which one you’ve put up at home.
If you’re getting married at Hobbit Hill, tell me your date and which bit of the day you’re already looking forward to. I’d love to hear what you’ve got planned.
