Wedding Photography at The Inn at Whitewell, Lancashire

Our final wedding of the weekend turned out to be the most difficult we have shot in a very long time.

The bride and groom were lovely, as were the venues – but is not often that it rains so hard that we struggle to take photographs. With 14 years experience in the wedding photography industry we have become used to photographing in the rain and it doesn’t usually detract from the photographs. We bring along plenty of umbrellas for the guests (and even spare shoes for the bride) and try and feature the weather in an artistic way. But on Sunday it wasn’t just rain…….it was a monsoon!  …. and it didn’t stop all day, not even for 2 seconds.

It was a real shame because the groom had hired a lovely vintage E-type Jaguar to drive his new wife from the church to The Inn at Whitewell – what should have been a great drive through Lancashire countryside in a beautiful car turned into an adventure, with the car driving through some huge puddles of water on badly drained country lanes, windscreen wipers only just keeping up with the rain falling from the sky.

Another reason it was a difficult day for us was the attitude of yet another Church of England Church. I understand fully that a wedding photographer should not intrude during the ceremony, and I personally don’t think it necessary to photograph at all during the important exchange of vows etc., but so many churches are just so rude in the way they treat photographers. I have lost count how many times I have been rudely told I MUST NOT PHOTOGRAPH in the church when a simple, polite request would be sufficient. On one occasion  I was met at the door to the Church by a verger who , before I had even set foot inside, threatened to seize my camera if I switched it on inside the building.

What should be a  happy day for the wedding couple needs to be recorded. When memories fade it is the photographs that will remind them of the ceremony. For some reason the more ‘modern’ churches (Evangelical etc) don’t mind photographers at all , and it doesn’t seem to lessen the religious aspect of the wedding – and these Churches always seem to be full, whereas the Church of England, who impose more rules than a golf club, are struggling to put ‘bums on pews’! I wonder why ?????

Anyway, enough of my rant. It was such a shame about the weather. The Inn at Whitewell would have looked lovely on a sunny day, but Helen and Simon took it all in their stride and ended up with a great wedding. They are now off on honeymoon cycling around France! Enjoy.

A few pictures from the rain-soaked day are below.