Highlights from Jess & Rich’s awesome wedding at this stunning Lake District barn venue

Paddock Barn Wedding Venue

Paddock Barn is a unique family run wedding venue just outside Kendal in the Lake District. This was to be my first visit as a Paddock Barn Wedding Photographer at this exclusive, rural retreat. Basically, the venue is a barn, and a field….well that’s how the Paddock Barn owners describe it…

“Paddock Barn is a beautiful, rustic family run wedding venue situated in 35 acres of The Lake District.

Our threshing barn has exposed beams lit with fairy lights, a log burner for chilly evenings and a home made wooden bar serving delicious drinks to your family and friends.

Outside the field offers a perfect setting for outdoorsy, festival style weddings with plenty of space to pitch a tipi or marquee. As the stars start to shine why not gather your friends and family around fire-pits for a sing song or even a toasted marshmallow or two.

It’s your day, so you chose your own catering, entertainment and decorations.

Put simply, we have a barn and a field set in some of the most beautiful surroundings The Lake District has to offer which you can rent exclusively & have total creative control over your big day”.

I have to say, it is a stunning, very organic wedding venue. Down to earth (no pun intended!), beautifully managed and run by Megan

Bridal Preparations at Cleabarrow Cottage

Jess and the girls were getting ready at Cleabarrow Cottage, literally across the road from Windermere Golf Club. A private, secluded holiday home, with lots of space for the girls (and a couple of lads) to get ready. I arrived a little early for the Bridal preparations, walking into the mild chaos of hairdryers and steam irons removing the odd wrinkle from the bridal dresses. Jess was in great form, chilled…very chilled in fact. Its been a while since I had such a chilled client. All the flowers were laid out on the kitchen worktop, waiting to go. The queue was carefully forming for hair and makeup, and dealt with military precision, quietly throughout the morning. My day as a Paddock Barn Wedding Photographer was going well.

Groom Preparations at The Punch Bowl Inn

Rich and the groomsmen were getting ready at The Punch Bowl Inn, about a ten minute walk away from Paddock Barn. I had a second photographer on board for today, and Martin covered the groom preparations while I was five miles away with the girls. Martin and I work together quite a lot throughout the year - sometimes I’m his ‘Wingman’. As a Paddock Barn Wedding Photographer, both of us knew exactly what we wanted to do. We used the same cameras and lenses for the day, so everything matched, looking perfectly film-like for the final wedding photos.

Paddock Barn Wedding

The weather was typical for the Lake District, overcast, but luckily NO rain (yay!) But…we did have wind…lots of it, and it played havoc with the bridesmaids hair and dresses as they emerged from the minibus. But this wedding did’nt care about the weather. This was one full day long party - no cake cutting, no formalities, just a wedding ceremony filled with laughter and, I suppose outtakes if we were recording it on video. It was brilliant fun to be a Paddock Barn Wedding Photographer for Jess & Rich’s big day in the Lakes.

Celebrant Wedding Ceremony

Jess & Rich did the ‘legal bit’ a few days before their Paddock Barn celebration, back in York. As a Paddock Barn Wedding Photographer, I was really looking forward to this wedding. Why? One of their best friends was going to be in charge of this Celebrant wedding ceremony, with another wedding guest doing the main reading. Though they had legally married a few days previously, the day was full of emotion - especially our reader who stalled when the emotion became a little too much and needed a hug.

Wedding Photography at Paddock Barn

I had seen a few photos from Jess & Rich’s civil ceremony in York, and decided to step away from my usual style of wedding photography for my being a Paddock Barn Wedding Photographer. I opted to be a lot more documentary with this wedding, coupled with a rather nice Fuji film simulation. For the photographers out there, we used Nikon D780 & D750 cameras with 24mm, 35m, 50mm and 85mm lenses. A nice simple setup, allowing us both to move around quickly and effectively. The end results look great-live, organic, uncontrived and perfectly natural, with no ‘polishing’. A perfect look for this first time working as a Paddock Barn Wedding Photographer.

Here’s some of my favourite photos from the day…