So much more than just an “OK” Wedding
I love nothing more than a rustic wedding venue and Mikey and Rachael certainly chose well.
Mikey North (AKA Gary Windass from the one and only Coronation Street) was set to marry his lovely fiancée Rachael Isherwood at the stunning Curradine Barns in Shrawley.
Their chosen venue was the perfect setting for their intimate celebration set in the Worcestershire countryside.
So, the couple first enquired back in April 2015 after Mikey emotionally proposed to Rachael up in the Lake District.
At first I didn’t suspect anything out of the ordinary, until I had the pleasure of meeting them at the food tasting event held by in house caterers, Galloping Gourmet, at the beautiful Curradine Barns.
It was only then that Mikey dropped the bombshell of his public profile and that he was an actor on Coronation Street. Having not seen the show for quite a while, combined with my ability to put my foot in my mouth and say things without thinking, my first thought was, hey its Chesney… but I thought no I shall stay professional and hold back…Thank goodness!
It was so lovely to have been chosen by such a wonderful couple and an honour to be part of their special day that it didn’t even dawn on me that I was about to cover a celebrity wedding.
A few months passed and Mikey got in touch casually asking if I would mind my photos being shown in OK magazine. I was absolutely gob smacked but at the same time, super excited. I really admired them both as all they wanted was to have just a normal romantic wedding without all the fuss.
So the day had finally come for Mikey and Rachael to get married. Being a January wedding, we were a little apprehensive about the weather and hoping for some sunshine or at least for the rain to hold off (fingers crossed). Luckily, we escaped the rain until the early evening and by then all the guests were far too busy dancing the night away.
The day was full of happy tears, hugs, kisses, excitement, laughter, amazing food, an EPIC Best Man speech, crazy dance offs and much much more.
It has been such a pleasure to meet and work with the awesome Mikey and Rachael and all their family and friends and I can’t thank them enough. Here is a selection of my favourites from Mr & Mrs Norths big day.
Enjoy 🙂
The flower arrangements and bouquets for the wedding were supplied by the very talented Jackie Eddy at Flowerstyle. Some of the centre pieces and table decorations were also beautifully decorated with hessian and lace by the Bride and Groom’s family along with some handpicked flowers from their garden.
Rachael had been searching for her dream dress for some time but finally set her eyes on a stunning subtle cream Elbeth Gillis wedding gown from The Wedding Club in Edgbaston. With stunning lace features on the front and back, this certainly was an amazing choice.
All the bridesmaids including Mikey’s sister wore elegant teal dresses from the Debut range at Debenhams. Rachael went for a bit of extra sparkle when it came to her shoes and chose a Stuart Weisman pair from Russell and Bromley.
Emotions ran high when Mikey was presented with a wedding day card from his bride to be. It’s a good job best man Ian Puleston-Davies was there to give him a hug.
Mikey and his groomsmen looking very dapper in their dark navy blue suits with matching teal and ivory cravats. Still no sign of any nerves at this point…
Make up artist Chloe McCall and hair stylist Sally Thomas were up at the Barns first thing to get all the girls ready for the big day adding the finishing touches to an already beautiful bride. Chloe and Sally did such an amazing job and stayed around for the whole afternoon to top up lipstick and arrange hair after the gusty winds during the group photos outside.
Just the finishing touches and doing up of the dress left to go with a very relaxed bride and raring to go bridesmaids. There were so many laughs in the morning with the bridal party and they made me feel right at home.
Rachael looked truly stunning and came down the aisle to Police’s “Every Breath You Take” performed by friend Elliot Whitty.
The “I do’s” and vows are the most important part of any wedding ceremony and for Mikey and Rachael, the love and emotion was clear for all to see.
As the wedding was going to be featured in OK! Magazine, we had a few formal group photos to capture along with Mikey’s on screen cast members. These included John Michie, Sair Khan, Debbie Rush, Ian Puleston-Davies, Cherylee Houston, Bruno Langley and Ellie Leach.
A big thank you to all the guests who braved the wintry cold winds outside on this January afternoon. The Barley Barn at Curradine always looks stunning with its twinkly lights, exposed beams and candle lit tables. Mikey and Rachael kept it simple and rustic with jam jars with hessian and lace along with vintage sweets for favours for their guests.
I managed to steal Mikey and Rachael away from their guests for a little while to get some romantic shots of them on their own in the beautiful gardens at Curradine. They are such a stunning couple and so natural with each other that I was never short of a photo opportunity! They couldn’t take their eyes off each other.
The happy couple were announced into the Barley Barn for their wedding breakfast by old school friend, Ben Sadler. Please be upstanding and give a warm welcome to the new Mr and Mrs North!
Roger Isherwood and Mikey both gave a wonderful speech full of fun, emotion and sincerity. There was laughter and tears of joy all around the room as well as a few surprise heckles thanks to the Best Man’s 4 year old son.
Then it was on to the long awaited, best man speech from Ian Puleston-Davies.
This really was a treat and at just over 40 minutes long, Ian really did Mikey proud. The attention to detail was amazing and even Mikey’s school teachers and professional sportsmen made an appearance with the help of Ian’s power point presentation and video messages.
After the epic speeches and amazing food I took Mikey and Rachael back outside for a few more photos. By this point, the evening was quite wet but the gazebo provides such a beautiful photo opportunity in any weather. I arranged 60 metres of twinkly lights down and around the gazebo and found the perfect position (this just so happened to be a giant puddle) holding a massive umbrella in one hand and my camera in the other. The things us photographers go through just to get the perfect shot.
Mikey and Rachael had thought of so many personal details throughout their wedding day including their home bought cheese cake platter from the Lake District which had been prepared by the very talented chefs at the Barn.
All the wedding guests were entertained in the Granary Barn by the extremely talented Dean Mac. Dean sang a few of the bride and grooms favourite songs and then ended with Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” which was performed flawlessly.
After their gorgeous first dance and a few surprise moves from Mikey, the evening entertainment began. I arranged with resident DJ Dave Woodward for a dance off to Run-D.M.C’s – “It’s Like That” where he looped the song until all the guests had joined in. We had robots, worms, body popping, moonwalking, disco dancing, somersaults, head spins and much more.
After an amazing day it was time for me to say my goodbyes. Mr & Mrs North posed for their last photo in the rain outside the beautifully lit Curradine Barns.
So much more than just an “OK” Wedding
The day wouldn’t have been the same without the help from all these fantastic people and suppliers:
Wedding Venue – Curradine Barns
Events Manager – Lauren Maugham
Brides Dress – The Wedding Club
Make Up Artist – Chloe McCall
Hair Stylist – Sally Thomas
Bouquets and Flowers – Flowerstyle
All the Catering Staff – Galloping Gourmet
DJ – Dave Woodward
Wedding Singer – Dean Mac
Rings – Hancocks