TOWNHEAD

Katie and Jonathan married at Townhead on Saturday. 

They chose Townhead because it held a very special place in their hearts as they watched it being built from scratch alongside both of their mums who absolutely loved the renovation updates and got giddy thinking it looked just like their holidays in France in their earlier years. Their mums were both with them on the day in September 2020 when they booked their wedding day. 

It was a beautiful emotional celebration of their nearest and dearest after a really tough year so this was a really special wedding for me to capture. The family had been through a terrible time last year when Jonathan’s mum sadly lost her battle with cancer. At the time, with covid restrictions in place, myself and Townhead worked closely with Katie to see if we could quickly scramble an intimate covid wedding together so Jonathan’s mum Sue could witness them marry. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be and they decided to stick with their original date of April 2022.

The day came and while not physically present Sue was there in every single detail. It was clear that she was a huge influence in their wedding day and it made it all the more special. Sue had been drawing Beatrix Potter illustrations for Katie and Jonathan’s wedding before she passed and these were used as their table plan and table names. The confetti was Sues funeral flowers and had been dried out by their family and friends over the last year so a confetti photo was super important to them and finally the Bee represented Sue after her passing, this was evident in their stationery drawn by Sophie (Jonathan’s sister) and made by Fifi Designs. It incorporated a bee wearing a flower crown of forget-me-nots.

Katie got ready in bridal cottage on Townhead Estate with her girls and daughter Lacey, her hair and makeup done by the wonderful ladies Poppy Pearson, Kelsey Brown, Nadine Pratt and Beth Taylor. Katie’s stunning dress was from Ava Rose Hamilton, a beautiful lace princess style dress with pastel appliqué coloured followers delicately sewn into the lace. Her beautiful hair piece was by Vivi Embellish and her shoes were Gucci. Although she later told me she wished she’d worn her converse all day! 

The boys got ready at nearby Hill of Oaks in a large cottage overlooking Windermere. Teddy, their two year old son was happily throwing stones at ducks (luckily for the ducks he was a terrible aim) and walking with his grandad on the jetty. The boys wore green tweed suits from Slaters with pink bow ties and looked fabulous.  

They married in the main townhead barn under the beautiful lights of Eden Event Hire and stunning floral installations by Brackens of Bowness. Katie’s maids wore beautiful pink and green embellished dresses with stunning bouquets. The ceremony was incredibly emotional, made even more so with Katie’s grandparents watching over zoom from home and Jonathan’s watching from hospital as they were unable to attend. After their beautiful ceremony a huge confetti tunnel was formed and then a drinks reception down at the two hat tipi by Special event Tipis by the lakeside and boat house with the wonderfully talented Emma Howarth playing two sets of saxophone. She even played the wedding party down to the jetty for an epic group shot. 

Back to the main barn for the speeches and meal where things got a whole lot more emotional, and hilarious…. (We won’t mention the bit about willies - ooops) ….. a lovely beef dinner served by the fabulous Danchef and then the party got into full swing. The outdoor cocktail bar opened and the pina coladas were in full flow. A little bit of time for some more group shots, couple shots and a last minute bouquet toss which resulted in some fabulous photos and then the party started.

Before this though, Katie had requested a Disney esk lantern shot on the Lake at sunset. Unsure what on earth she was on about I needed to swiftly research Moana, or some other film which completely baffled me but I got there in the end (after some rather technical attempts to throw lighting in the Townhead trees) we got the shot. At least I think I did? I still haven’t watched Moana.

Kicking off the evening do with the cutting of the cake (a beautiful 5 tiered colourful sugar flower creation by Happy Tiers) and then a first dance kicked off the party with the wonderful band - The Sweeney. Then a few hours of bad dancing, split trousers and spilt drinks commenced. Overall happy smiles and sweaty faces - always a sign of a good day.

An absolutely gorgeous day for a beautiful couple so full of love. The sun shone and the smiles wore wide. It was officially the largest wedding I’ve captured since covid began and I couldn’t have thought of a better one to ease me into larger weddings again. Over 17,000 steps on this wedding and only a slight bit of sunburn. It was so lovely to work alongside Craig from CW Film Productions and my business sista from another mista - Erin Browne and also the lovely wedding co-ordinator Amy from Sure to Surprise you, as well as the wonderful staff at Townhead including the lovely Tanya. Always always a pleasure to work there and forever thankful it’s on my doorstep.