This is my first article on Wedding Venues in the Lake District and Cumbria. These articles I hope will show couples how important it is to have a venue that works well for the wedding photographer.
It will also be helpful for other photographers to know what they can expect and prepare themselves to take the best wedding photography they possibly can at the various wedding venues in this area.
As it is I have been to hundreds of weddings and should be a little bit of an expert on what makes a good wedding venue.
The first Wedding Venue I am going to show you is Dale Lodge Hotel. This is a great place for Wedding Photographers. In a lot of the rooms there is a good deal of natural light, which is fantastic for available light shooters like myself. See the picture below for examples:-
In my opinion as a Photographer the staff have quite a unique approach to their couples. From what I have seen they are always there to help, but give a lot more privacy to the happy couple than I have seen anywhere else.
The grounds are also superb for wedding photography!! No lake on the actual grounds, but a few minutes down the road and you get the views like this:-
A few minutes the other Direction and you have views like this:-
The grounds themselves give a lot of freedom for a photographer as there is very little you need to avoid in the background. There is also plenty of shelter here. Shelter usually comes in the shape of trees, walls, Doorways ect ect.
In my opinion, shelter is a good thing for weddings, as it protects the couple and their guests from the sun and the wind, which are the photographers worst enemies.
Not the Rain! The Rain can be handled!
There is nothing like wind to make someone look stupid! A strong gust can suddenly give a groom a comb over and a bride a mohawk just at the moment you press the shutter. Wind along with rain and to be honest you are better off stopping indoors for obvious reasons. A little bit of shelter in some part of a wedding venues grounds can go a long way though. It can guard against that wind and can stop a fine rain soaking you right through. The element people never think that you would need shelter from is the sun! With no shelter you can have the sun behind you and have your couple squinting like they are trying to read the writing on a midgets tattoo! Or you can shoot into the sun and get more flare than john travoltas pants! Dale lodge however has plenty of great trees and you shouldn't have any problems finding somewhere to soften the harsh sunlight.
The Hotel is great for those with children as they have their own little adventures in the grounds with no worries of them wandering off and falling into a lake.
If by chance bad weather completely prevents you from going outdoors to the lovely grounds and the surrounding areas, never fear!! Inside will be cozy and warm with tea, coffee or something a bit stronger. As I said the hotel gets plenty of natural light so available light photographers wont struggle indoors with a fairly fast lense.
Grasmere is a lovely place surrounded by some stunning views. My dear Photographer friend Marcus Doyle and I once had a mission on finding the finest cream tea in the Lake District. After we both gained a few stone of clotted cream,we found the ultimate cream tea in a small cafe in Grasmere. Scones the size of princess Leia's Hair Buns and clotted cream that could clog an artery with one mouthful! There were many Cream Teas after that one but none compared to it.This brings me on to the food at Dale Lodge Hotel. Let me tell you, the food is outstanding. I gladly got to sample a few dishes after I had photographed them for their website. Oh my word!!! They have an amazing cook is all I can say! Every dish was cooked to perfection and I envy anyone having their wedding reception there.
Something else I love about Dale Lodge Hotel is the bedrooms. Each room is different! I'm sure each guest has a favourite and always books that room. Its something that in theory shouldn't work but it just does! Most Hotels have all their rooms almost identical in decor but Dale Lodge I'm sure pride themselves on the individuality of each room and indeed their Hotel is completely unique. In my opinion Dale Lodge is a wedding photographers dream. Get to know the surrounding area and weather permitting you will get a variety of fantastic scenic shots.
Overall definately one of the best Wedding Venues in the Lake District and I highly recommend it.
Below is a link to a video of Dale Lodge Hotel.
http://paulreidphotography.blogspot.com/2009/03/wedding-photography-at-dale-lodge-hotel.html
Dale Lodge Hotel Website http://www.dalelodgehotel.co.uk/hotels_grasmere_weddings.htm
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