A romantic micro-wedding at Didsbury House, Manchester – Lauren & Harry

Stunning Didsbury House wedding with a wander through Fletcher Moss park.

Lauren and Harry found me via Instagram, we had a lovely consultation at my office in Ancoats, which was originally for their New Years Eve wedding at the end of 2020 at Didsbury House Hotel in Manchester.

Unfortunately the pandemic had other plans and the couple initially reduced the size of their wedding to 15 but then at the last moment, the day before the wedding, the news came that weddings would not be allowed at all. When they called me to share an update I was out exploring Lyme Park in Cheshire in snow, queue a heartbroken couple and a gutted wedding photographer.

Lauren and Harry were the most beautiful couple, super friendly and great fun to be around. After we had all taken a breath and accepted that the wedding day wasn’t going to happen on New Years Eve as planned I concocted a plan to cheer us all up. I didn’t want to end (such an awful year) on a downer and I really didn’t want the bride and groom to be heartbroken any longer than they should have been, so I concocted a plan. A few emails and text messages later we were in business.

On New Years eve, what should have been their wedding day at Didsbury House, all 3 of us headed to Macclesfield Forest for what ended up being one of my favourite engagement shoots of all time. Lauren and Harry were made up at the idea of being able to do something fun and take their minds off, what should have been, their wedding day.

We hiked up from Trentabank to the top of Shuttlingsloe, in thick snow with almost zero visibility in freezing fog. I had my trust Campaignon backpack with me, filled with some surprise Prosecco for a treat at the top, which made for a nice surprise for Lauren & Harry, and some great shots at the top – with a backdrop into the abyss!!

After we had clambered to the top and enjoyed the bubbles we realised getting back down wouldn’t be quite as easy, it was sheet ice at this point. The only way down was shimmying on your bum, I had waterproof pants on, Lauren and Harry didn’t!

VENUE

Fast forward 5 months to the 2nd May 2021 when Lauren and Harry could finally get married. I arrived at Didsbury House hotel to photograph their low key wedding ceremony, bridal prep and some portraits after the ceremony – the big party is still in the works but in 2022.

Lauren looked incredible, she had a dress from ASOS that sparkled beyond believe, Nala & Knot did her make-up to complete the look. I captured some pre ceremony photos of Lauren around Didsbury house, utilising the natural light streaming through the windows.

It was a sweet ceremony, with Harry’s niece playing around the venue the whole time, really helped to break the covid tension. After the ceremony the niece and nephew also had a ball collecting pine cones and gifting them to pretty much everyone.

Before the bride and groom headed off to their garden party I took them for a wander around fletcher moss park, capturing them amongst the tall trees.

THE DAY

After such a long wait for this day it was an absolute pleasure to photograph Lauren and Harry’s wedding at Didsbury House Hotel. It was the perfect Manchester Micro-wedding, everything was personal and intimate with a little bit of fun injected along the way.