Cripps Stone Barn Wedding Photography – Rachael & Adam

Til Death Do We Party
Rachael and Adam’s main criteria for their big day was food, booze and a great band. So it was no surprise that their dance floor was the craziest I have ever witnessed. Congas, spins, knee slides, dance offs… at times it was like being caught amongst an explosion of limbs and I loved every second of it.
The day began with the girls breaking out the bubbly whilst the boys were given an impromptu flower arranging course so that they could ‘help’ create the table centre pieces… both of these activities involved plenty of spilling. It was soon time for dresses to be put on and suits worn, and a quick trip into town as the best man had left his shoes back home a few hundred miles away, oops!
With crisis averted the families and friends arrived at the stunning Cripps Stone Barn where Rachael and Adam made their vows under a beautiful flower chandelier by the super talented Beth at Go Wild Flowers (seriously check that bad boy out below! Amazing!). Wonderful speeches, and a three course meal, that got the guests involved in the serving, set the scene for an incredible evening. The second the band played their first note the dance floor erupted and did not empty until the very end of the night.
It was clear to see that Rachael and Adam had well and truly smashed their food, booze and music criteria… it was an incredible privilege to be able to capture it for them.
Below is a little of what I saw along with some quotes about the big day from the bride and groom themselves:
Thank you for checking out Rachael and Adam’s wedding story, it was a real pleasure to be able to capture their big day for them and I thoroughly enjoyed my time as a Cripps Stone Barn Wedding Photographer. If you are planning a wedding at this stunning venue and looking for a photographer then I would love to be able to chat to you and find out about your plans.
Bride & Groom Q&A
Where did you guys meet?
We met in Newcastle University (Adam’s third year and Rach’s second) after being place together on the same freshers crew team – many a cherry VK and some dodgy dancing later we became a couple!
How did the proposal go down?
Adam proposed on a trip to Barcelona for my birthday. But it wasn’t quite as straight forward as it may seem. After telling me I was heading to a theatre show on the first night it turned out Adam was taking me for a special birthday treat to the NouCamp for the first Barcelona game of the season..!!
After that and on my actual birthday, Adam had the perfect day planned. A lovely breakfast, a romantic bike ride and a fancy picnic in the botanic gardens. Then I nearly ruined it with a considerable fall of my bike, but after picking myself up, dealing with the scrapes and bumps and recovering with a lovely picnic Adam popped the question and it was all a bit of a blur but of course my answer (despite the football and the bike fall) was an immediate yes!
How did you decided upon Cripps Stone Barn as your wedding venue?
We fell in love with the venue immediately and it was the only one we saw! After deciding a fancy house or a hotel wasn’t for us we decided on a barn for the more relaxed atmosphere. We saw Stone Barn online, arranged a visit (with a small hangover due to the engagement party the day before) and booked it there and then on the day – the focus on food and fun and the beautiful setting made it perfect for the day we wanted. Stone Barn were amazing in all the organisation but to this day people still talk about the food, how amazing it was and how much there was of it!!
What sort of experience did you want your guests to have?
From the outset we had three main focuses – food, booze and a good band! We didn’t have a colour theme as such or a feel planned for the wedding but wanted everyone to feel relaxed and, most importantly, wanted to make sure the dance floor was full!
Can you describe some of the details and stylings, did your wedding have a theme?
We wanted everything to feel really quite simple but personal to us. We spent a number of years back packing and decided we’f base our table plan on this with tables named after our favourite places. Capturing people having an amazing time was also important to us so selfie stick on the table were a must and some of the pictures (including a selfie stick conga on the dance-floor) were hilarious!!
What was the best decision you made in your planning?
To not get too caught up in the detail!
We attended 11 weddings the year before so where lucky enough to be able to reflect on the things that we remembered most and incorporate them into the big day. It was also the main piece of advice most of the 11 couples gave us and we managed to keep each other on track it we id get carried away … apart from the week where we nearly bought a tandem bike to drive off on which luckily we missed out on because we’d have nowhere to store that now!
What was the hardest decision during the planning?
We decided from the outset that planning a wedding had to be fun and it we both didn’t agree on something then we wouldn’t include it, so I can genuinely say, hand on heart, there were no really hard decisions!
What are your favourite memories of the day?
Our favourite memories would have to be
- The Ceremony itself as after 10 years together and 10 months planning it was amazing to finally be husband and wife!
- The Speeches because making people say amazing things about you is always good
- The dance floor and the amount of crazy moves
- The times we managed to steal a few moments away together to see reflect over all our favourite people in the world being in the same room
What advice would you give to couples planning a wedding?
To have fun all the way through! Pick three key important things and don’t loose sight of them – there are a lot of instagram and pinterest accounts that can send you off course if you’re not careful!
Most of all, remember it’s one big party and enjoy it, even the bits that may go a little wrong!
Loving the marshmallow moments! Great set of photos.