Harrogate is my favourite town in Yorkshire to photograph a wedding in. Green space everywhere, parks you can walk to, and a spa town's worth of old hotels and halls to get married in. I had driven past Cedar Court plenty of times on the way to other jobs without ever going inside.
This one was also personal. I have known the groom for more than ten years, from back when we worked at the same company. We both got out and did something else with ourselves; he is now one of Wakefield's leading driving instructors.
"I saw the fountain when I arrived in the morning. I knew right then what I was going to do with it after dark."
The VenueWhat Cedar Court gives a photographer
- iA ceremony room that used to be a ballroom. Cream and gold, ornate plaster roundels across the ceiling, chandeliers, and tall arched windows down one side pouring in light. You do not need flash in there and you do not need to hide anything. It is the best-lit ceremony room on this list.
- iiThe fountain. A tiered stone fountain is the centrepiece of the grounds and it works twice: once in daylight with the roses round it, and once after dark, which is the frame at the top of this page.
- iiiLawn enough for everybody. Mature trees at the back and grass enough to line up the entire guest list in one frame without anyone standing in a flower bed.
- ivSize, if you need it. Licensed for up to 250 at the ceremony and 200 in the evening, which is bigger than most places on this site can go. Much of the hotel looks out over the 200 acres of the Stray, and town is a walk away rather than a drive.
The ShotHow the fountain frame was made
I do not usually explain the technical side, but this one is worth it because it is the whole reason to book a venue with a feature like that in the garden.
I put a flash behind the fountain with a red gel on it, pointing back through the falling water. Then the two of them in front, bottle going off. The gel turns the water magenta and separates it from a black garden, so the fountain reads as a shape rather than disappearing into the dark. Without that light it is just two people and a bottle at night.
It takes a few minutes to set up and you have to be willing to go back outside after the dancing has started. Both of those are worth it.
A Real Cedar Court DayMr & Mrs Townson
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The ballroom
Foliage garlands hung from the ceiling, lanterns down the aisle, grey suits with sage green ties and sage bridesmaids. Big room, and it still felt full.
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Everyone on the grass
Whole guest list out on the lawn under the trees for one frame, then the couple down to the fountain while the light was still up.
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Letters and cake
MR & MRS in lit letters, a semi-naked cake with white flowers on a silver stand, and a first dance in front of the letters that I shot in black and white.
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Back out to the fountain
Then the one I had been planning since nine that morning.
"If your venue has a fountain, a folly or a lit tree, hold ten minutes back for it after dark. That is where the frame you hang on the wall usually comes from."
PricingA full day at Cedar Court Harrogate
A full day of Cedar Court Harrogate wedding photography starts from £1,800, with no travel charge anywhere in Yorkshire. The pricing page has what's included and the shorter options.
SuppliersWho made the day
Venue: Cedar Court Hotel, Harrogate. The Townsons' other suppliers weren't recorded at the time, so the list stops where I can stand behind it.
