Hilltop Country House Wedding

Hilltop Country House Wedding.

I met Jo and her Mum at the very first wedding fair I ever did……at Hilltop Country House – which as it turns out, ended up being the venue that Jo and Luke decided to have their wedding.
It was quite a meeting actually.
I was away on holiday at the time the email from Julia at Brides Up North, came through. There was a last minute spot available so I jumped at it. Now being on holiday, quite a long way from home it was difficult to do much to try and get ready for it. I got online and ordered some prints of my favourite images and then when I got back, went into my garage and dug out some things. I arranged the ‘things’ to look like they belonged together and put the prints into some frames picked up from a charity shop.
Having never been to a wedding fair before I just went with what was ‘me’…..flowers in bottles, wood slices and tea lights in jars. Natural and simple. Throw in some pictures which show what I do best, think outside, natural, laughing, unposed, real moments. I didn’t know if people would like it or get it……
One of the images I chose to use, was that of an old couple laughing that I took at one of my early weddings. I got this one printed big.
It’s not an obvious choice as it isn’t of a newly married couple, but for me it perfectly sums up what the whole marriage thing is all about.
They have been married for 60 years, he has his arm around her and they are both laughing.
When Jo’s Mum saw said picture, she started crying, which I took as a good thing!
Jo and I then got talking about where my business name had come from. (Now I’m not sure she will thank me for telling you this, but it’s all part of the story!) When she was younger she was quite a fan of the tv programme ‘Rosie and Jim’. Rosie and Jim lived on a narrow boat called ‘The Old Ragdoll’, and because I am called Rosie (and growing up people were always asking me where Jim was) I took Ragdoll for my business name from the tv programme.
We arranged to meet up for tea and cake (a mutual love) with Luke and before I had driven home they had messaged me to say they wanted me to be their photographer! Happy days.

Hilltop Country House wedding.

Hilltop Country House is a beautiful wedding venue in Cheshire. It’s a family run business with Claire and Martin at the helm. The marquee provides a perfect blank canvas for making your wedding totally personal and is set in grounds that have been really well cared for and planned out. There are even three locations where you can choose to have your ceremony, with Luke and Jo opting for the intimacy of the Garden Room.

A Kate Beaumont dress and lots of cake.

Their wedding day featured a lot of cake, was very relaxed and Jo wore an amazing dress made by the very talented Kate Beaumont. There were flowers in jars, confetti canons and a picnic lunch. The rain even held off every time we popped outside for photos.
Good times for sure!