Liz and Chris got married on the 23rd of August at Salt House in Staffordshire, and if you want proof that a wedding day doesn’t need to be flawless to be brilliant, this is it. Overcast skies, glorious gardens, eighty of their favourite people by day and forty more for the party, and two kids, Indie and Theo, front and centre for all of it. Exactly how it should be.

Salt House does a lot of the work for you as a photographer. Those gardens are stacked with grasses, hydrangeas and dahlias all summer long, and the honey coloured stone of the house gives you a backdrop that looks the same whether the sun’s out or not. Liz and Chris used every bit of it.

The ceremony

Liz walked down through the garden on her dad’s arm to Chris waiting at the top, already grinning. Ceremonies outdoors always carry a bit of extra nervous energy, weather, guests, the whole lot watching, and you can see it melt off both of their faces the second they’re stood together.

Rings on, promises made, and not a single dry eye among the family in the front row.

Confetti and celebrations

Newlyweds get about four seconds of peace before the confetti starts flying, and Liz and Chris walked straight into a wall of pink petals with the biggest smiles on their faces.

Family, friends and the little ones

Liz and Chris made a point of telling me they wanted plenty of shots of Indie and Theo, and this pair did not disappoint. Little suits, little dresses, and absolutely no interest in standing still.

Getting a big group photo to actually work takes some doing, wrangling that many people into one frame while keeping the energy up is a job in itself, but this lot made it easy.

Golden hour portraits

This is the bit I look forward to on every wedding day. Guests are off enjoying drinks, the pressure’s off, and it’s just the couple, the gardens, and whatever light the day’s decided to give us. Staffordshire delivered a proper golden glow for Liz and Chris, and these grounds are made for it.

Speeches, cake and the party

Inside for the wedding breakfast, under a very impressive cherry blossom display, and straight into speeches that had the whole room in stitches. I won’t spoil the cardboard cutout gag, you had to be there, but the groomsmen absolutely committed to the bit.

Then it was cake cut, first dance under the disco lights, and a room full of people who’d clearly been waiting all day for the band to start.

By the time the sparklers came out, Liz and Chris had been Mr and Mrs Steele for a matter of hours and looked like they’d known it forever. That’s the thing about the right day with the right people, it doesn’t feel like a performance. It feels like exactly where everyone’s meant to be.

Congratulations again, Liz and Chris, thank you for having me.

With huge thanks to

Venue: Salt House at Standon Hall, Staffordshire
Florist: @theflowerroomstone
Catering: @forkandfieldcatering_
Cake: @emmashaficakedesign
Magician: @closeupchrismagician
Band: @77livepartyband
Hair: @meggrayx
Makeup: @_jessiestudios

If you’re planning a wedding at Salt House, or anywhere else in Staffordshire and Cheshire, and fancy a photographer who’ll happily hide behind the hydrangeas for the perfect shot, get in touch, I’d love to hear from you.

More from Salt House: my Salt House wedding photographer page has more real weddings from these gardens, plus what the venue is actually like to get married in.