Dissington Hall, Dalton, Ponteland hosted the wedding of Michelle and Steven.

they were married in a rather grand Cathedral in Newcastle upon Tyne, then everyone decamped to an equally grand setting - Dissington Hall, which is just to the west, well, North West, of Newcastle.

anyway - here are some pictures from their day !

above, we find a garter, and a locket containing something precious, attached by something blue.

(you'll know the rhyme . something old, blue, borrowed and . . . .heck - I forget . . .)

shoe.  that's it, something old, something blue, something borrowed, something shoe . .

it' rhymes. . . still sounds a bit dodgy though . ..

above, we see Michelle (Shell to her friends) being adjusted before launch,
by a skilled pair of hands. bridesmaid to the left - also being tweaked . . .

also - just before launch - we find the groom and his rather hairy best man

the groom is Steve, and somewhere under the hair, is the best man, John
(who also happens to be Steves brother)

bridesmaids arrive - I glance down and check the name on the block - yep - we're at the right place

(I have heard stories of photographers turning up at the wrong wedding . . . true ! )

an old photographer once told me that he did just that . . .
two villages, similar sounding names, Eglington and Eglingham (or something like that)

there were weddings in the village churches in both villages . . he just happened to go to the wrong one,

what's more . . . the folks there didn't have a photographer, so they let him get on with it  . . .

he doesn't do weddings anymore . . . oddly enough. . . .

hah - back to our Cathedral - and the bride has slipped past us whilst I spoke to you about
some old duffer photographing the wrong wedding . . .

(only kidding . . she didn't slip past, however - there she goes, in front of the bridesmaids)

do you . . .  I do . . .

(you guys will know the words off by heart I'm sure)

I step back and put on a different lens - to pull in more of the building and to show something of the sheer scale of this place

If you were American you'd say it was 'ossum'.

but, being English, we'd use twice as many words to say it's rather grand.

singe here (mis spelled sign)

and off the chap goes, bride on his arm . . . down the aisle . . .

but - we hear some distant (and not so distant) crashes, and rainy sounds.

yes  . .. you guessed it . . it's an English summer, so its a

go on . . . guess . . .

the word that you're looking for is . . .

T  H  U  N  D  E  R  S  T  O  R  M

so we take some pictures inside the cathedral until the rain and thunder and assorted stair rods pass over.

yep - this is taken inside. not outside, otherwise they'd be wet, and it wouldn't look like it was inside.

(you guessed all that didn't you . ..  you're not silly . . . )

wet road - patches of road drying up - we can come out now

bride and groom leap into Rolls Royce and swish down the road

(you can see that this Cathedral is in the busy heart of the city centre . .
assorted traffic and random pedestrians wandering aimlessly about,
what you can't see is me terrified that I'm going to get whacked by a bus . . .
the road is flipping busy !  )

speaking of buses.  Michelle and Steve laid on this bus for their guests,

so that you don't need to stare at your screen with a magnifying glass . . .

the sign on the side reads Dreadnought coaches.  yep. if you want one of these,

Dreadnought are the chaps to ring . . . and . . no I don't have their number, you'll have to look it up.

ah - a plan - a cunning plan involving tables . . . .

err . picture at the front of Dissington (or is it the side ? I'm never sure at Dissington,
the main doorway is around the side to the right,
but the nice decorative part of the building, the sunny side - is round here . . . .

this is round the front . or the side, depending on your own personal compass . . .

but this is inside. (yep . . you knew that bit didn't you)

but I bet you didn't spot the hand on the door handle.

it's him again. that chap who keeps on grabbing this particular woman . . . .

you'd think they'd just been married or something . . .

ah - back of the dress.  staircase . . . flowers . .
(you wanna list or a subject for the picture)

you need captions ? sorry. none for these pictures.  they're pictures to enjoy without words.

bridesmaids grab bride.
it looks like a lot of love

(or a strange wrestling hold . . . we'll go with love shall we . . . ! )

now tell me you need a caption for the picture above and I'll tell you it's the bride and groom being pelted with marshmallows.

no . . can't be marshmallows you say.

youre right . . you really dont' need a caption see !

marquee - this cunningly increases Dissingtons seating capacity.

what's more - you can't see it from the front or side of the building

(front or side being optional - it confuses me . . . )

back to the marquee . . it's cunningly concealed in a courtyard, and guests make their way from the billiard room at Dissington Hal - through a doorway and suddenly find themselves in here.

these little birdcages with butterflies on them and film titles also went through the same doorway and found themselves in the marquee too . .

above - the billiard room.  . receiving line . . guests greeting the bride and groom and going through a doorway to the left and finding themselves in the billiard room, surrounded by little birdcages and butterflies and . . . . .

meal - cut cake - speeches - smiling - socialising, I'll leave that to your imagination . . .

our friends Shell and Steve, sneak out for a moments calm at the front (side) of the building,

later, we also find the guests outside enjoying the summer evening.

milling about on the lawns at the front (side) nope - it's definitely the front, of the building.

as the evening light fades - the guests take to playing games.

a number of children find a football, skipping ropes, croquet.

and the grown ups find giant dominoes.

as you can see - the clearest mind in the picure below belongs to the eleven year old.

(eleven year olds don't drink !)

ah - back inside to the billiard room (you saw it earlier with a receiving line in it)

below - first dance.

yep - that's it folks. 

a summers day at Dissington Hall.