Kirsty & Paul’s Wedding at Le Petit Château in Otterburn
We didn’t know it at the time but Kirsty & Paul’s wedding at Le Petit Château in Otterburn, Northumberland was going to be our last wedding for nearly 6 months. In a little over a week, the whole country would be shut down for the first Covid-19 lockdown. There were reports of UK cases but the most anyone was worried about was whether we should shake hands or do elbow bumps. Kirsty & Paul had a fabulous day, oblivious to the storm heading our way.
The calm before the storm at Le Petit Château
We were looking forward to a bumper year for weddings. Kirsty & Paul’s was only our second of 2020 and like the morning of their wedding day, it was the calm before the storm. Otterburn is a beautiful area but the weather can change within minutes. That morning the sun was low but shining and Le Petit Chateau looked fabulous. Lisa was having fun with the girls and I met Paul and the lads as they arrived at reception with their dog.
This created the first challenge of the day. Who was going to look after the dog while the lads got ready? I gladly volunteered and he was as good as gold for me and passing guests that made a fuss of him. Then the lovely receptionist decided to say hello to him. He suddenly went nuts and scared the poop out of her. I shouldn’t have, but I was in fits and she was thankful to still have fingers. I was later told it was totally out of character for him.
Room No.1 at Le Petit Château
It’s so useful when a venue like Le Petit Château let you use a separate room for the bride to finish getting her dress on. Place a few of the female species into a room and add a scattering of children and they tend to produce a lot of stuff when getting ready. So, being able to leave all that stuff behind and, moving to Room No.1 is a joy. Shabby Chic and sophisticated come to mind.
Here Comes a Storm
As Kirsty & Paul’s beautiful service concluded the blue skies turned to rain clouds and the wind picked up to a small gale before we could get started. So we used the chapel for family groups and ventured under the patio canopy to keep them warm & dry, hoping that there would be a break in the rain for them. Normally, rain wouldn’t stop us but the wind was turning our brollies inside out. We had to use the wonderful interiors instead.
The Big Squeeze
By the time the wedding breakfast was over we knew the weather wasn’t going to break and we all resigned ourselves to staying indoors. Kirsty & Paul really wanted a group photo with everyone on so we were up to the challenge. The new portable flash units really saved our bacon. We warmed everyone up with some fun bridal party pics and then added everyone else. It had been about 12 years since we’d had to squeeze this many people into an indoor shot. We even got the dog in.
As our time at Kirsty & Paul’s wedding came to an end. The wind dropped a little. Just enough to keep the brollies up in a fashion. We all braved the rain to get just a few shots outside the chapel. It ended a heartwarming day. The weather may have spoilt our fun but it didn’t spoil Kirsty & Paul’s day. They are a fab couple and it was such a shame we couldn’t present their photos to them.
Just a few days later the studio was closed as everyone was told to “Stay at Home”. We thought it would only be a few weeks at first, but weeks stretched into months. Our time was spent rescheduling weddings again and again. Fighting to keep the business going without actually being able to go to work. When your work is what makes you happy it’s hard when you’re forced to stop. Our next few weddings would feel like a different world.
