I have known Louise for a number of years now through my work at Lords of the Manor. She has seen me at the end of the longest of days when photographing weddings. Looking like I’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards through putting myself in the most random of places to get the best shots for my Clients. And I was thrilled when alongside her fiancé James she asked me to be her wedding photographer.
Louise is the Marketing Manager at Lords of the Manor. You will most likely have spoken to Louise if you are organising your own wedding there. And Louise is often there on the day itself, ensuring everything runs seamlessly. If a wedding was every going to be perfect it was this one. And it absolutely was!
Choosing the place you work at as your wedding venue might seem strange to many. However the team at Lords of the Manor is like family. Many of them have been there for many years and they all support and look after each other. Its one of my favourite places to be as every time I am there I am greeted and treated like a member of this family. I completely understand why they chose Lords of the Manor. After all, weddings are about bringing your nearest and dearest together to celebrate with you.
Louise and James (who works in property development) are also both from the Cotswolds. And as Lords of the Manor is the most quintessentially Cotswold manor house, the location and style was utterly perfect for their elegant spring wedding day.
“Having worked with Nikki at the hotel, Louise knew immediately that she wanted Nikki to be our photographer. As people who don’t particularly enjoy having our photos taken, Nikki put us and our guests at ease, was friendly and made the whole experience as enjoyable as possible. It was such a pleasure having her there on the day as we knew we could trust her and her team and this allowed us to relax and have fun. And now we have such wonderful photographs to forever remember our wedding with.”
And in their own words, here is their very beautiful wedding story…
A: “James had his suit before Louise had her dress, he had it custom made and was very happy with the end result!”
A: “Our table plan and menus were all designed by us.”
A: “We both went to the same school but were in different years so didn’t really know one another. Then we ‘re-met’ locally a few years later whilst Louise was home from university.”
A: “I wore a pair of diamond earrings as my something old and a ring with a blue stone as my something blue that my grandmother had left to me. She sadly passed away in 2021 so wasn’t able to see us get married, but I was able to include her a little which made me happy.”
A: “Having experience working with Nikki at the hotel previously, Louise knew from the start who our wedding photographer should be!”
A: “I only ended up getting my dress about 5 weeks before the wedding. This was greatly worrying my friends..! I just hadn’t found anything I really loved. Then my Mum and I went on a last-minute shopping trip and I found it! I loved it as soon as I put it on, and it didn’t require any alterations, so it was meant to be.”
A: “We didn’t have a theme as such, we just chose things we liked!”
A: “James popped the question! It was a lovely and private proposal at home, which is exactly how I (Louise) would have wanted it. He had planned to ask when we were going to be on holiday, but Covid changed that!”
A:” ‘Carmen Suite No 1: Intermezzo’. It’s a lovely piece of music.”
A: “Louise works at Lords of the Manor and has experienced weddings at the hotel. Initially we did not consider the hotel as she did not want to be thinking about / associating work with her wedding day. However, other venues we viewed, as lovely as they were, just didn’t really match up to Lords of the Manor . In the end it worked perfectly as Louise knew exactly what works in the room spaces etc and her experience meant the lead up and the day itself was not stressful at all. Plus, all of the staff at Lords of the Manor are so lovely and we know how hard they worked to make the day extra special for us. And having the wedding breakfast prepared by Charles Smith and his team was just the best!”
A: “Roughly 18 months from initially booking the venue etc, but the serious planning was only really done in the last 6 months or so.”
A: “In addition to the jewellery inherited from my Grandma, my something new was my shoes. Then the night before when I was with my family we realised I hadn’t anything as something borrowed, so on the day my nanny gave me her (clean and ironed) handkerchief to carry in my pocket and it was perfect. The fact the dress had pockets was such a bonus.”
A: “As far as we remember, yes it did!”
“Having worked with Nikki at the hotel, Louise knew immediately that she wanted Nikki to be our photographer.”
“As people who don’t particularly enjoy having our photos taken, Nikki put us and our guests at ease, was friendly and made the whole experience as enjoyable as possible. It was such a pleasure having her there on the day as we knew we could trust her and her team and this allowed us to relax and have fun. And now we have such wonderful photographs to forever remember our wedding with.”
A: “Make choices that make you both happy, as opposed to trying to please everyone else.”
“…we have such wonderful photographs to forever remember our wedding with.”
A: “As previously mentioned, working at the hotel and having known all of the professional wedding vendors already, I think they all went above and beyond to make sure our day was truly special. It was really appreciated, and we had such an amazing day.”
A: “It was delicious! We had…”
Artichoke Velouté, Truffle Cream (above)
Brown Butter Roasted Cauliflower, with Pickled Turmeric Yoghurt, Lime, Puffed Rice Salad (above)
Poached Halibut, with Spiced Tomato & Herb Beurre Blanc, Ratatouille, and a Courgette Salad (above)
Cardamom Yoghurt, topped with Alphonso Mango and Fresh Lime (above)
Lemon Tart, with Pine Nut & Honey Mascarpone, and Toasted Meringues (above)
A: “The Wedding Breakfast and speeches. It truly was delicious, all of our guests commented on how much they enjoyed the food. And of course, the speeches were a special moment. James was a tad nervous for his though!”
A: “We had a 3-tier cake, each tier was a different flavour: Lemon & Raspberry, Traditional Sticky Toffee, Carrot, Walnut and Orange. The carrot cake was our favourite!”
A: “We went to Greece after the wedding. It being April meant the weather was a bit up and down, but we simply appreciated the chance to do absolutely nothing. The wedding day was amazing but we were exhausted!”
Photographers: Nikki and Charlotte at Nikki Kirk Photography
Ceremony venue: Lords of the Manor Hotel
Reception venue: Lords of the Manor Hotel
Flowers: Allium Florist – Stow On The Wold
Dress: Anna Sorrano
Bridesmaid dresses: Individually chosen so they would be comfortable!
Groom’s outfit: Moss
Cake: The Vanilla Pod Bakery
Catering: Lords of the Manor – Head Chef Charles Smith
Stationery: We did this ourselves
Entertainment: The Low Down Band
Hair and beauty: Rachael Capocci – Oxfordshire Bridal Hair & Makeup
If you’re getting married at Lords of the Manor and would like to chat about your wedding photography please do get in touch; I’d love to hear from you!
Simply fill in the contact form, call me on 07711 855 845, or email me direct at hello@nikkikirkphotography.com and lets chat. I’d love to hear all about your wedding day plans!