The wedding photography community can count some extremely talented people in its number, but nobody can be in two places at once!  So when the very excellent Dave Scholes Photography asked me to help him shoot this awesome wedding in the beautiful Ribble Valley countryside, I jumped at the chance.  Whilst Dave was busy shooting Anna’s bridal prep some distance away, I was put to work photographing our groom – Dan – on his parent’s farm as he and the boys got themselves ready for the big day ahead.

Idyllic rural settings

There’s nothing like a deadline to focus the mind, right? With just minutes to go, the fellas were still scrambling about the family estate preparing haybale seats, bathtub drinks coolers and other DIY goodness for the reception later on.  Eventually there was some actual getting ready, thankfully, although I was beginning to wonder!  Up in the farmhouse, there were some fun shards of light for me to play with as suits and ties were finally donned, and flowers loaded into vehicles.  We were off!

St Leonard’s Church wedding, Downham

The Ribble Valley is a pretty special place.  There are so many exquisite locations, hidden valleys, areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and more.  Like the village of Downham, for example, located at the foot of the famous Pendle Hill, in the Forest of Bowland. Widely regarded as the most beautiful village in the whole of Lancashire, Downham is truly a chocolate-box, picture-postcard spot, perfectly unspoilt.  And right in the heart of this idyll you’ll find St. Leonard’s Church – possibly 1000 years old and entirely harmonious with the delightful aesthetic of the village around it.  This is where Anna and Dan had their wedding ceremony and it really is easy to see why.

Tipi wedding reception

After some much welcome ice-cream in the glorious summer sun, and a quick paddle in the stream too, the guests were shuttled back to the family farm.  Surrounded by the rolling hills of the Ribble Valley, Anna & Dan and their guests wasted no time in getting the party started. Drinks on the lawn with sophisticated musical accompaniments soon gave way to a more fully-fledged tipi reception with Brazilian BBQ down by the stream that flows so delightfully through this charming corner of Lancashire.

award-winning image

News just in – I’m thrilled to have picked up an award for my bathtub picture (see below) from the very excellent PKIR collective of documentary photographers.  Their latest round of award winners (Winter 2019) is truly incredible – so to be featured amongst them is a huge honour.  And while I’m having a humble brag (!), I should mention that I actually won TWO awards in that round.  You can see the other winning image in this blog here.

Back to Anna & Dan’s fab wedding – big thanks to Dave for inviting me along and of course huge congratulations to Anna & Dan on their wonderful wedding.  Here’s wishing them a lifetime of happiness.

And below is a small selection of my contributions to this fabulous Ribble Valley wedding…

If you are looking for a wedding photographer for a Ribble Valley location, maybe somewhere else in the North West, or even further afield,  please check out some more of my weddings, my portfolio or my packages & contact page. I can’t wait to hear from you.