Some weddings are all about the build-up: months of planning, a long list of locations, a running order timed to the minute. This one wasn’t that. This was a quick registry ceremony at Kendal Town Hall, a couple of hours out in the fells while the light was good, and then everyone sat round a table at a pub in Crosthwaite eating, drinking, and not moving much because it was roasting.
It’s one of my favourite kinds of day to shoot, and a good example of what a Kendal Town Hall wedding can actually look like once you get it out the door and into the Lake District.
The Ceremony: Kendal Town Hall
Town Hall weddings. Everyone’s a bit nervous, a bit giddy, and it’s simple and joyful
I always keep half an eye on the building itself here too. The staircase, the registrar’s room, the light coming through the windows because it’s part of the story of the day.
Portraits in the Fells
This is where the heat really made itself known. It was one of those rare properly baking Lake District days, not much mercy for anyone in a suit or a full-length dress. We kept things efficient: found shade where we could, worked quickly, and didn’t drag anyone round the landscape for longer than they could handle in the sun.
Even with the heat, this is always the part of the day I look forward to most. Getting a couple out of a hall and into open country changes the whole feel of the photos, it stops being “wedding photos” and starts being photos of two people who just got married, standing somewhere they actually chose to be.
Dinner in Crosthwaite
By the time everyone made it down to the pub in Crosthwaite, the priority had shifted from photographs to shade, drinks, and sitting down. Which is exactly as it should be. This part of the day isn’t really mine to direct. It’s family and friends round a table, plates coming out, the couple finally getting to enjoy the day rather than perform it. I hung back, shot what happened naturally, and let the evening do its happy thing.
The Takeaway
You don’t need a big production to have a brilliant wedding day. A registry ceremony, some hillside, and the right pub at the end of it is a solid formula. Heat wave or not! If you’re planning a Kendal Town Hall wedding and want the rest of the day to feel like this, get in touch, I’d love to hear what you’ve got in mind.