Wedding Photography at Shottle Hall

Laura and Jason

29th January 2022
Peak Edge Hotel wedding photographer, Chesterfield wedding photographer

"Shottle Hall wasn't our first choice for our venue. Unfortunately, our original venue closed down. When this happened my mother-in-law suggested that we paid Shottle a visit as she had been to weddings there before. On the day of our visit, I remember crying in the drive way before even entering as it was just perfect! It was everything we were looking for, rustic and exclusive. Then we saw the Orangery and I was sold. The whole venue is absolutely stunning and Lois, Helen & Nathan (with the rest of the team) were amazing through the whole process from start to finish! After our first visit, I cancelled viewings with other venues as I knew nothing would compare!"

The Dress, Shoes and Flowers

"My dress and shoes were from Scarlett Poppy in Yorkshire (where I live). It was heavily altered by their inhouse seamstress, Louise, who helped bring my dream of a dress with a 3 quarter length sleeve to life! I also had parts of my mum's wedding dress added into the design to make it ultra special. I visited Scarlett Poppy first and then a number of other shops. But unfortunately, I had already fallen in love with Mai and so returned to Scarlett Poppy and made my wedding dress dreams come true!"

"My flowers were from a small business, Pretty Perfect Bouquets. Rebecca was amazing and helped me every step of the way. It was important to me that I could keep my flowers after the wedding so I wanted to go for an artificial bouquet. Rebecca helped me choose the perfect style and found the most amazing roses to match my pastel green and white colour scheme. She also helped me to incorporate daisies and lilies into my bouquet, which was important to me as my daughters are Daisy and Lily and I really wanted to include my flower girls in my flowers."

The Make up and Hair

"I am not a very girly girl so hair and make up was where I struggled. I wanted this process to be as straightforward as possible with lots of guidance. I booked my hair and make-up through Absolutely Flawless and Emma (make-up) and Oksana (hair) helped me to make decisions on what I wanted very easily by asking all the right questions and guiding me. They did an amazing job on the day of getting all 6 of us ready.."

"On the day of the wedding, I surprised most of the bridal party and myself! I'm a very anxious person and a control freak so normally I would want everything to be running perfectly and need to know what is going on at every moment of the day. But I felt so relaxed and Emma & Oksana helped to guide us through every step of the morning. "

The Groomsmen Suits

"Our suits were purchased from another small business 'Rural Threads, Bakewell'. Garry and the team were amazing throughout the whole process. I found them online as a supplier of the brand of suit we wanted to purchase so I walked in off of the street and asked if they could help us kit out the groom's party for the wedding. They helped us to arrange fittings and placed the order for us. It was the easiest process and they made everything a breeze! I knew from the beginning that I wanted the Grooms party to all wear the same suit, children included so this made our choices slimmer. I also knew I wanted grey, something different to the traditional black with a pastel green tie to match the colour scheme."

Jason "Getting ready I felt a little bit nervous, but excited. I wasn't very well the night before the wedding so spent some of the morning trying to sleep it off. To this day, I'm still unsure if it was genuine illness or nerves that made me feel ill! "

How did you feel walking down the aisle?

"I was shaking walking down the aisle. With our wedding being rescheduled due to Covid, we did get to a point where we were unsure if we would ever make it. It was the longest journey to get there but worth every tear and second of frustration once I started walking down the aisle towards J. Unfortunately for me, that resulted in ugly crying walking down the aisle but they were 100% the happiest tears of my life!"

What did you think seeing your bride for the first time?

"I was absolutely gobsmacked when I saw Laura walk down the aisle. She looked absolutely beautiful. I couldn't believe that she was about to become my wife!"

"I remember waiting for Laura to walk down the aisle for what felt like a lifetime! I was desperate to see her because I'd not seen her all morning. The thing that sticks in my mind the most about the ceremony was when Laura couldn't get my ring on my finger!"

Laura "For me, it was the happiness I felt seeing all of our family and friends together to witness us committing the rest of our lives together. Plus having to clean red lipstick off of J's face! "

Celebrations

"Seeing our guests after the ceremony was amazing. It was so nice to have so many people show up to share our love."

"This is our favourite confetti photo, the depth that Frances managed to capture is amazing.

I love how you can see how happy my mum is in the background."

How did you feel during the bride and groom photo shoot?

"Like a model and excited!! And I’m not a photogenic person but felt really at ease and enjoyed every moment.

After the wedding has ended and your left feeling a little disappointed that the day is over, you think about your photos and suddenly there is something else to be excited about"

"We contacted Frances Milburn Photography based on a photograph on bridebook of a couple in a sunflower field. The picture was stunning and represented everything that I wanted in our wedding photos. Then we met her and the rest was history! She is the loveliest person and so friendly and made the entire process so easy from end to end."

Do you have a favourite photograph?

Jason "This is my favourite photo. I love the view of the fields and trees on the horizon with the bandstand. I loved picking Laura up and giving her a kiss."

Do you have a favourite photograph?

Laura "This is my favourite photo. I love how happy and absorbed in each other we look. Like there's no-one else, just each other."

Did you have a wedding theme or colour scheme?

"The theme of the wedding was rustic with lots of wood, hessian, lace and wisteria. All of the stationary was made by ourselves so we wanted a professional finish but something that we were able to put together ourselves. My favourite colour is green so I always knew that I wanted to incorporate this into my wedding. We added details to the stationary with eucalyptus and watercolour leaves as a design to tie everything together."

What are your stand out moments from your speeches?

Laura "My dad's speech was the highlight for me. I'm very much a daddy's girl and knew his speech had, had a lot of thought and time put into it. It was a very special moment that I will remember for the rest of my life."

Jason "The thing I remember the most was my dad calling me by my brother's name! But the best part for me was my son standing up and giving a speech of his own. I have never been so proud!"

The cake- Who did you choose to make your cake and why?

"Our cake was made by Beaurepaire Patisserie, a patisserie in Belper, local to Shottle Hall. We wanted to support as many small local businesses as possible and their bakes are amazing so for us it was a win win!"

The first dance

"Our first dance song was Teddy Swims - You're Still The One. It's a song that means a lot to the both of us due to the lyrics. We both adore Teddy Swims and so his cover of the song was the perfect first dance song for us! We have since seen him live in concert and were able to dance again as Husband and Wife as he sang it live! "

Laura "Dancing with J for the first time as Husband and Wife felt like we were the only ones in the room. A moment I will never forget!

Jason "It was one of the things I was dreading the most of the day. I'm not a dancer and hate being the centre of attention but once I looked into Laura's eyes the fear just disappeared."

Standout memories from the day

Jason "The most memorable moment for me was looking back at Laura walking down the aisle towards me."

Laura "The most memorable moment for me was sitting down on the top table, at the side of my Husband and looking out at all of my family and friends there to support and share in our love."

Any tips for future brides and grooms?

Jason "Let your fiance do it all!! On the day, don't stress and enjoy every min for what it is because it all goes in the blink of an eye!"

Laura "Budget and be savvy with finances. Spend on the things that matter - The Photographer being THE most important! Take time on the day to make sure that you get 10 mins to take it all in together! Savour it!"

Any suppliers you’d like to recommend?

Photographer: Frances Milburn Photography

Venue: Shottle Hall

Dress: Scarlett Poppy

Suits: Rural Threads (Gary)

Cake: Beaurepaire Patisserie

Flowers: Pretty Perfect Bouquets (Rebecca)

Hair & Make Up: Absolutely Flawless (Emma & Oksana)

Decorations: Weddings by Dragonfly (Hazel)