Highlights from Alicia & Oliver’s wedding at Stirk House by Mick Cookson

Stirk House Wedding Venue

Stirk House is one of my favourite wedding venues to work at. Located up the A59 just outside Gisburn, the venue is a perfect Ribble Valley wedding venue. The venue is a total Tardis, looking quaint and small from the front, but opens out to an almost defying size at the rear and side. As a Stirk House Wedding Photographer, I get to work at this gorgeous venue a few times every year.

Recommended Stirk House Wedding Photographer

I am also a recommended Stirk House Wedding Photographer, too. Proud to be on ‘the list’ and have been for a few years now, my role as a Stirk House Wedding Photographer is to work naturally and unobtrusively. No posing, or staged photos in particular, I let the day flow and capture it naturally for my clients. This blog post is a recent wedding; Alicia & Oliver, though I have re-edited the photos to have more of a documentary wedding photographer feel. An almost 100% black and white coverage wedding, with a few colour photos to punctuate the colours of the details from their wedding. On the whole though, the collection is almost all black and white photos from this Stirk House Wedding Photographer.

Weddings at Stirk House

Alicia & Oliver booked me as their Stirk House Wedding Photographer, to capture their day live, with nothing contrived or forced. The full day booking took me from preparations to beyond their first dance at this Stirk House Wedding. With a pre-agreed schedule, I was able to photograph both Alicia and her girls, plus Oliver and the lads getting ready, in plenty of time before the wedding ceremony. Again, I chose to document their day using small lenses on my two Nikons, so I could easily move in and out of the proceedings with no interruption from my being in the room. For the photographers out there, I used 24mm, 35mm and 50mm lens for the preparation photos, with the odd 85mm shot thrown in too.

Wedding Ceremony at Stirk House

As the ceremony approached, the guests were kindly ushered in by ‘Legendary Dave’ to take their seats. Alicia and the bridal party made their way downstairs after an emotional first look with her dad. Oliver was interviewed in the small TV Room near reception, for a little privacy with the registrars. I still managed to sneak a shot though! As the wedding ceremony begun, the emotions were raising too. Oliver was very excited to see Alicia in here dress….likewise for an emotional Alicia, walked down the aisle by her proud dad. Oliver’s mum read one of the readings, and it was a very emotional moment for us all. Me too, but I have to be impartial and carry on as the couple’s Stirk House Wedding Photographer. From an emotion ceremony came the fist pumps and excited confetti throwing outside. The weather was fairly dull and wet, but we didn’t care!

Authentic Wedding Photography at Stirk House

From the confetti throwing, to a few family group photos - heirlooms in the making for this young couple. As the guests went indoors (to the bar, obviously!), Alicia & Oliver stayed out for a few minutes’ couple photos - nothing cheesy, just some lovely photos for their album. My day as theitr Stirk House Wedding Photographer was going to plan, and the authentic results from the Nikons were keeping me very happy. After a while of guests’ mingling, hugging, kissing and endless selfies, it was time for the speeches. Stirk House looked stunning, as Alicia and her ‘team’ had designed and setup the reception for all the guests. A brilliant job! The speeches were brilliant and heartfelt, while the two best men slowly ‘destroyed’ Oliver, then built him back up again for a final hug. With a couple of night photos outside the venue, we were off for the cake cut, first dance and general mayhem on that dance floor - again all photographed in my authentic style, but in black and white!

Here’s some of my favourite photos from the day…hope you like them!