I've known Kevin for years. We go back to drinking in town together, and we both follow Wakefield Trinity, so I was never going to be a stranger at his wedding. Kevin and Emily are a Wakefield couple, and that's how they ended up booking me. They chose Woodstock Weddings & Events near York for the day, and I photographed it on Saturday 25 April 2026.
We'd done their engagement shoot in Harrogate first, in weather that did nobody any favours. The wedding day was the opposite: clear blue sky from the morning, and sun that stayed with us through to the evening. Matt Nichols second-shot with me.
"I've known Kevin for years, so this was one I really wanted to get right."
The DetailsWhere I always start
I start every wedding with the flat lay, and this is the one I made for Emily: the invitation, perfume, jewellery and a few spring flowers laid out from above, before the morning gets busy and nothing sits still any more.
Her bouquet was soft pink, yellow and blue with eucalyptus, tied with white ribbon and a keepsake pinned into it.
The VenueWhat Woodstock gives a photographer
- iTimber, and a lot of it. Warm wood on the walls and the beams, which puts a glow on skin and white dresses without any help from me.
- iiA ceremony room that opens onto the fields. The aisle runs towards glass doors, so the couple stand against daylight and the room is lit from the far end.
- iiiGreenery overhead. Garland along the rafters and a chandelier hanging under them, so even the ceiling is worth pointing a camera at.
- ivWater, willows and bluebells. A pond with a decked edge, a weeping willow and a bank of bluebells, all close together, so portraits don't eat into the day.
- vA boulder water feature by the entrance. A stack of boulders over a pool, which gives the last portraits of the day something solid and sculptural behind them.
"The ceremony room does half my job for me. Glass doors at one end, timber all the way round, and a chandelier over the top."
The practical side: Woodstock is on Corban Lane, York YO32 2AA, a former horse stud on twenty acres, and it's exclusively yours for the duration. Catering comes from their in-house partner, F4D Events, and four en-suite rooms are included in the hire. Prices, what's included and the questions I'd ask on a viewing are all on my Woodstock Weddings & Events wedding photography guide.
The PortraitsDogs, pond, willows and boulders
The portraits started with the dogs, because they were always going to be in them. Kevin and Emily took both for a lap of the field on their leads, then sat them on a bench against the barn wall, squeezed in between the two of them.
Later in the afternoon the bridal party had the pond, and the pair of them had a brick wall with a trellis and a planter of red tulips, then the lane that runs down past the willow.
The best light came late. At about half past five the sun was low and warm enough to glow straight through Emily's veil, so we stood her and Kevin in the field and let it.
I kept the boulders by the entrance for last. A stack of rock, a pool of water and a terrace for the veil to catch the wind on.
The DayA bit of how it felt
Emily got ready in a green-walled room with her bridesmaids in sage green and two hair and make-up artists, her dress hanging by the door. Kevin and the lads were in a room with a four-poster bed, in tan suits and sage-green ties, and Kevin couldn't stop laughing long enough to do his tie up.
The ceremony was in the barn, with lanterns down the aisle and petals on the floor. Afterwards the guests lined up outside with confetti, and Kevin and Emily walked through it.
The cake was white with a gold E & K on the front and small jars of gypsophila around it. In the evening a singer with a guitar and a percussionist played in the barn, and the first dance went ahead with the whole room watching from the edges.
"Save the evening for outside. The barn is lovely all day, but the pond, the lane and the field are where the late sun does its best work."
Ask ThemFour things worth asking on the viewing
- iThe guest limit. Woodstock doesn't publish a capacity on its site, so ask what the barn holds for the ceremony, the meal and the evening.
- iiConfetti, candles and drones. The rules aren't published either. Ask before you order anything, and before you ask your photographer for aerials.
- iiiThe wet-weather plan. Much of the best portrait ground here is outdoors. Ask where the pair of you go if it rains.
- ivThe rooms. Four en-suite rooms come with the hire. Ask which nights they cover and who gets which room.
PricingA full day at Woodstock
A full day of Woodstock wedding photography starts at £1,800: solo, from morning prep onwards, 900+ edited images, and no travel charge anywhere in Yorkshire. The pricing page has the shorter options and the add-ons.
