Sabina & Ben — A Waterton Park Hotel Wedding

Some venues make you work for the photographs. Waterton Park Hotel is not one of them. You cross the bridge, the lake opens up on both sides, the hall sits in the middle of it all, and you have a day’s worth of pictures before anyone has even had a drink.

Sabina and Ben were married there on a 1pm ceremony, and it turned out to be one of those days where everything landed in the right order. Here’s how it ran, and what it looks like when you photograph a wedding at Waterton Park.

Getting ready

We started with prep. It’s my favourite part of any wedding day and the part couples most often underestimate. Dresses on hangers, shoes lined up, someone’s mum trying not to cry, the rings sitting on a windowsill in good light. It’s quiet, it’s a bit chaotic, and it sets the tone for everything that follows.

Sabina’s morning was full of people, which is exactly what you want. I work quietly through this part, with very little direction and mostly just being in the room, so that what you get back is the morning as it actually happened rather than a set of poses.

The ceremony at 1pm

A 1pm ceremony is a gift to a photographer. It leaves the whole afternoon open, which means no rushing between the confetti and the wedding breakfast, and it means the light is still good when you finally get the couple on their own.

Sabina and Ben’s ceremony was warm and short, in the way the best ones are. Afterwards we moved straight out for confetti and let everyone find each other for a while, which is when most of the natural pictures of a wedding day get made.

Group photographs, done quickly

Group shots have a reputation and it is mostly deserved. The trick is a short list, a named helper who knows who everyone is, and somewhere sensible to stand. We had all three.

We ran Sabina and Ben’s family groups in about twenty minutes, in open shade with the grounds behind, and then let everyone go back to their drinks. Twenty minutes of organised photographs buys you two hours of relaxed ones.

The lake, the bridge and the hall

This is the reason you book Waterton Park.

The hall sits on an island, and the bridge across to it is one of the best pieces of wedding architecture in West Yorkshire. We took Sabina and Ben out for a proper walk, to the water’s edge first, then the bridge, then back with the building behind them.

I keep this section of the day deliberately short and deliberately unfussy. Ten or fifteen minutes, a bit of walking, a few things to do rather than poses to hold. Couples who tell me they hate having their picture taken almost always relax within the first two minutes, and these are usually the photographs they end up hanging on a wall.

Speeches

Back inside for the wedding breakfast and speeches. Best man on good form, a father of the bride who held it together longer than anyone expected, and a room that laughed in all the right places.

I shoot speeches from the side and from the back, so you get the person speaking and the faces reacting. The reactions are the photographs you’ll actually want.

The evening in the boathouse

The evening moved to the boathouse, which is a lovely way to finish a day at this venue, by the water, with the light going, and a room that fills up fast once the music starts.

First dance, the party, and the kind of pictures that only happen after dark. I stay on for a decent chunk of the evening so the gallery doesn’t stop the moment the cake is cut.

Thinking of getting married at Waterton Park Hotel?

Waterton Park Hotel sits in Walton, just outside Wakefield in West Yorkshire, with the Georgian hall on its own island in the lake. If you’re planning a wedding there, here are a few things worth knowing from a photographer’s point of view.

Give yourself an early ceremony

Anything from midday to 1.30pm works beautifully here. It leaves room for the crossing, the lake and the bridge without anybody watching the clock.

Build in fifteen minutes on the island

You don’t need an hour. You need fifteen unhurried minutes somewhere near the water, ideally not straight after the wedding breakfast when everyone is full and sleepy.

Talk to the team

The wedding team at Waterton Park know the grounds better than anyone and will tell you exactly where the light is at four o’clock. Ask them. A venue that talks to its suppliers makes a noticeably better day.

Your Waterton Park Hotel wedding photographer

I photograph weddings across Yorkshire, the Midlands and the East of England, and I travel for venues like this one. My approach is relaxed and documentary-led, with a short, well-run set of group photographs and a bit of proper direction when the couple want it.

If you’re looking for a Waterton Park Hotel wedding photographer, or you’re still choosing between venues in and around Wakefield, I’d be glad to hear about your plans.

• See more of my work in the wedding portfolio
• Have a look at wedding packages and prices, all listed openly with no “from” figures
• Read the most common questions I get asked
• Or just get in touch and tell me the date

Congratulations Sabina and Ben. Thank you for a genuinely good day.