Spring Wedding at Heaton House Farm – Bethanie & Liam

Bethanie and Liam’s spring wedding at Heaton House Farm was a brilliant mix of family, friends, beautiful Cheshire countryside and a party that went from lively to completely bonkers.

Both Beth and Liam spent the morning getting ready with large groups of their friends and family. There’s something I really like about a wedding morning when everyone is together. It can be a bit chaotic, but it’s the good kind of chaos — people helping out, catching up, laughing and generally trying to make sure the bride and groom actually get to the ceremony on time.

For Beth, one of those moments came when her mum helped her into her wedding dress.

With the dress finally on and everyone ready, it was time to get married.

Beth and Liam’s ceremony brought all their family and friends together before everyone headed outside to celebrate. And instead of confetti, they chose bubbles. Lots of bubbles.

As Beth and Liam came out of the ceremony, they were surrounded by a cloud of bubbles as their guests cheered them on. It looked fantastic, and it was a brilliant alternative to traditional confetti.

We then gathered everyone together for the big photograph in front of the entrance. This is always one of my favourite photographs from a wedding. It’s the one that gets everyone in the same frame — grandparents, parents, siblings, mates, kids and everyone else who has come along to celebrate. It doesn't need to take ages either. We get everyone together, take the photograph, and let everyone get back to the important business of enjoying themselves.

For Beth and Liam’s couple portraits, we started in the farmhouse garden.

The large pond gave us some gorgeous reflections, so we took advantage of the setting and made some portraits of the two of them there. It’s one of those places where you don't need to do much — the surroundings do a lot of the work for you.

We then headed out onto the lane. Now, this was where things got interesting. Every time we stepped out into the road, a car seemed to appear from nowhere. We would get into position. Car. Move. Try again. Another car. Eventually, though, we got the photograph Beth and Liam were after. And sometimes that's what wedding photography is about — being patient, having a laugh and not giving up until you've got the shot.

Once the portraits were done, Beth and Liam were back with their guests and ready for the wedding breakfast. The grand entrance was loud. Very loud. There was cheering, plenty of noise and the sort of reception that tells you this particular group of friends and family had been waiting all day to let loose.

After everyone had eaten, it was time for the speeches. And then came the surprise. Beth and Liam had secretly arranged for singing waiters to appear after the speeches, and when they burst into action, the whole room went from wedding breakfast to full-on party in about thirty seconds.

Everyone was singing. Everyone was bouncing. And judging by the reaction, absolutely nobody had seen it coming.

It was a brilliant way to kick off the evening celebrations, and the room was completely up for it.

Bethanie and Liam’s wedding had everything I love about photographing weddings: big groups of family and friends, plenty of personality, moments that happened naturally and a couple who wanted to enjoy their day rather than spend it posing for photographs.

We got the important family photograph done, made some beautiful portraits around Heaton House Farm, dodged the traffic, photographed the bubbles and then got out of the way so everyone could get on with the party.

Exactly as it should be.