studio 12 Goose Hill, Morpeth, Northumberland. NE61 1TL

email masonstudio@tiscali.co.uk

tel (01670) 783357

Ellingham Hall

Ellingham Hall, which is in Ellingham (surprise surprise), in Northumberland.

no . silly. surprise surprise isn't in Northumberland . . . Ellingham Hall is in Northumberland.

Surprise is a city in Arizona . . (and you can believe that one if you wish . . .)

then again . . there might actually be a town called Surprise. .
it sounds possible doesn't it . . . . . nah. it couldn't be true . .

when you get time - have a look on the internet and find out. . . .
stranger things have been known . .
anyhow - back to planet earth for a moment,
this is the lovely wedding of Vicky and Graham, at Ellingham Hall.
(as if that hadn't sunk in yet !)

What . . you actually want to see the place ?

ok then

it's the building above. . up there above this text . . . this is my first glimpse

(as I staggered up the drive
weighed down by camera stuff)

a quick sneak about the place revealed a beautiful girl in one of the upstairs rooms.

hah .. Vicky .. . getting ready by the looks of things.

Vicky cunningly brought a twin sister, just to add some confusion into my brain.

but the twin sister wasn't wearing the big white dress - (clue number one).

this isn't the big white dress folks,

*just in case you wondered.

Vicky's twin sister finds an old helmet.

it looks like a conquistadors thingymajig. (technical term).

no .. I didn't try it on .

no it didn't get jammed on my head.

no . .
the blood on my forehead wasn't caused by getting the helmet off.

(oh god . .secret now out .. )

well . . I couldn't resist trying it on.
I could still take pictures with the helmet stuck on my head.
it didn't slow me down . . . .

Totally oblivious to the photographers jammed helmet disaster,

Graham is outside -
and looking extremely happy !

wots this.

an old bus appears to have bot stuck (sorry - mis spelt got stuck) in a time warp
and landed outside Ellingham Hall.

It being a hot day.

Graham and his squad of ushers are found on the shadow side of the bus.

the bus had dropped off lots of guests

(bet you never guessed that bit . . )

l pop back inside Ellingham Hall,
basically looking for people . .

the place is quite large and they're difficult to find.

some men upstairs playing snooker,

others wandering about all over the place

AHA - - a little bridesmaid.

very very shy this one...

I was lucky to get a picture of her,

In the same suite of rooms where the little bridesmaid was found.

I also came across Vicky.

all dressed up and somewhere to go . .

Wow. time flies

VERY helpful registrars, let me take pictures during the ceremony.

(thank you ladies)

everything goes spectacularly well.

(I got dozens of pictures of the wedding,
but this website is only big enough for a few).

After a quick stroll down the aisle.

Vicky and Graham have a couple of pictures taken with family.

Then mayhem ensues
as the guests all try to get on the bus.

look who's driving.

well you would, wouldn't you ..

what's the point of hiring a flipping great bus if you can't do some wheelies and handbrake turns with it ?

A very sombre looking chappie provides some background music

but I fear that almost everyone is outside nejoying the sunshine.

(oh gawd - my typing is terrible)

enjoying the sunshine. not nejoying.

(I could get a job as an inventor of new words at this rate)

an elderly gentleman demonstrates his enthusiasm for the proceedings.

sorry. I'm being cheeky here.

it was a very hot day
and he looked like he was taking a breather inside,

then he found a map of the local area . .

as one does . . .

I knew they wouldn't let me get away
without taking some pictures of 'em

this picture I like a lot

but I'm not sure about the picture frame behind Vicky

but then again, I love her expression . . and Graham is just a very happy man in the background.

oh. . stuff the technicalities,

I like the picture because I like the people,
and the picture looks like the people

hah

I'm getting into this picture taking thing.

to the left we have Vicky and Graham . ..

actually you'd have to be a bit dim not to realise
who is in it and what they're up to.

anyhow. It's another picture that I like.

I hope they do too . ..

The building has a staircase,

(with some rather quirky flags and dressy up things dotted about)

we avoid getting the dressy up things and flags in the pictures and make a few images for Vicky and Graham.

the dressy up things seemed to be medieval
suits of armour type stuff.

no I didn't climb into one . . . honest . .. . .

Wotzis ?

a pile of white suitcases . .

or a very creative wedding cake ?

(with a story attached to it)

I've never actually seen a couple cut a cake quite like this.

in went the knife,
the knife went down . .. .

Vicky and Graham turned to face each other,
paused a moment then . .

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH !

they yelled aaaaaaaaaaagh (very very loudly)
at each other..

afterwards, they assured me that this is quite normal
where they come from . . .

something to do with the knife cutting right through the cake

guests hop down to the hall

well not actually hop,

sort of walk really. but that doesn't sound so interesting.

anyway they hop down for a bite to eat.

and to hear some speeches.

as one does.

(well . . because it's a wedding, that's why)

Grahams debut on the speech circuit . .

Graham bearing up well under an onslaught of mickey taking ..

The perpetrator . .

much merriment ensued

a guy above, looked to be about a hundred, clearly enjoying the day.

No . barbie isn't a doll

barbie is a thing that provides very tasty food . .

here's the barbie . .

Oh yessss.

Peacocks.

wandering all over the place.

guests chasing aforementioned birds with cameras.

this lady found that if she sang to the bird, it put it's feathers up in display

like so.

(I'm just showing off here)

I'm a veteran of hundreds of pet portraits

no point in being a flippin photographer if you can't take some decent pictures.

BUT IT'S' A WEDDING
WE WANT TO SEE SOME WEDDING PICTURES, NOT FLIPPIN WILDLIFE.

ok then. I abandon the peacocks

and take pictures of Vicky and Graham again.

we look up and there are wonderful trails in the sky - very high cloud,

we try to incorporate them into a picture.

along with Ellingham Hall

and - oh of course

we try to incorporate Vicky and Graham too . .

The picture above . .I'm not sure about .

I like it, but what I'm saying is, I'm not sure why. .

it could be that the tiled floor reminds me of Flemish 17th century paintings

(which I used to love, still do really)

or it could be that the girls are placed almost like chess pieces, not quite on the squares,

but so carefully placed, it looks like some sort of game or strange arrangement

surreal . . stuff the 17th century analogy,
what about surrealism - Rene Magritte anyone ?

I'm still in art mode here

this is Vickys twin sister,

and it's a

well it's a picture, silly.

a guest signs the wedding guest book in the hallway.

dancing . . boy could they dance,

after Vicky and Grahams first dance,

the whole place seemed to erupt with dancing.

clearly party people !.

it's nice to see it - everyone was clearly out to have a flipping brilliant time.

and they did.

As the day draws to a close, I slide off, tired but happy.

tremendous wedding, with some seriously happy guests.