Getting married in Alderley Edge in Cheshire
I am fortunate to photograph weddings all over the UK as well as my home neck of woods, East London. Lily and Joe asked me to photograph their wonderful countryside wedding in Alderley Edge. Alderley Edge is a pretty and rural town near Manchester. A huge marquee sat in a field behind the family home decked out and ready for the wedding reception. The wedding ceremony was in a super cute, old parish church. It was a bit of a squeeze to get everyone in and unlike the marquee you couldn’t take the sides off so it got a tad warm in the peak summer heat!
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I travelled up to Alderley Edge the night before the wedding. I like to be fresh and rested for a full days photography, believe me, its worth the extra expense for one night in a basic Travel Lodge style hotel. Joe and his Ushers were all staying in the Alderley Edge Hotel where I met them on the morning of the wedding. The fellas were enjoying a cheeky pint and joking around, early signs of a few nerves from Joe and the best-man! I was on hand for when Joe opened a wedding gift from his beautiful bride to be; floating and documenting is what I love most about wedding photography.
Marquee Countryside Wedding Photography in Alderley Edge
Lily was getting ready in the family home surrounded by her family, very excited flower girls and bridesmaids. There were a few bottles of champagne knocking about but cleverly there was a ton of food too. Eating before a wedding is VITAL! I have seen so many brides forget to eat and find themselves in a pickle later in the day when they’ve had a cocktail or two. I swung by the St. Catherine’s Church in Over Alderley first thing in the morning to meet the priest and check out the space. St. Catherine’s in Over Alderley is gorgeous and bloomin’ tiny! I realised I would have to find the best spot and stay there as there was no room to move around the church without interrupting the ceremony. Interrupting a wedding is an absolute no no for me – I am always discrete and low key in a church.
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The Alderley Edge wedding was beautiful and moving. A stunning live rendition of Leonard Cohens ‘Hallelujah’ sung almost stole the show and before long it was confetti and celebration time. Joe’s ushers were ready with wheel barrows of booze (literally) for the guests and their 10 minute walk back through the Cheshire fields to the wedding reception. The bride and groom and I took a more leisurely stroll back to the party. I used the walk to grab some natural portraits as Lily and Joe larked about. My Style page describes the way i like to capture portraits -natural and unposed.We stopped in a particularly beautiful spot where the light was amazing for a more classic portrait but in all we only took 15 minutes for the ‘official portraits’. I am not a fan of taking a bride and groom away from their own wedding for long.
Wedding speeches and dancing at Marquee wedding in Alderley Edge
The sun was setting as guests made their way to the marquee ready for speeches and a feast. This ‘golden hour’ is a gift for wedding photographers. I live in London and many of my weddings are in built up areas where low sunsets are blocked by buildings. Therefore it was a joy to be in the countryside with big skies and a ton of horizon. As is often the case, some of Lily’s fave images from the day came from the short walk to the Marquee with the setting sun. The speeches were a riot. I love to photograph guest reactions to wedding speeches, my cameras are more often than not pointed at the guests rather than the speaker. As the night progressed fire pits were light and the band started. The first dance lasted about twenty seconds before the entire wedding party invaded the dance-floor – safety in numbers right?!
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My Cheshire wedding adventure finished around ten thirty when I left the noisy marquee. If you are planning your own countryside wedding with marquee, fire pits and espresso martinis on tap then I would love to hear from you. You can get in touch to check my availability through my Contact Page. I live in Stoke Newington but am always happy to meet you somewhere convenient to you or jump on a Zoom or Teams call. I hope you have enjoyed these Alderley Edge weddings images, check out my Portfolio for more of my UK weddings. I cant let you go withoput sharing some final portraits and a crazy dance-floor. Enjoy. x
Golden Hour Portraits in UK Countryside
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John Sanders is a London-based wedding photographer with over 10 years of experience. He specialises in non-intrusive documentary photography that captures raw emotions, stories, and stunning locations across London and the South East.
