Belsfield Hotel Lake District Wedding Photographer

Summer Wedding at the Belsfield Hotel in The Lake District

We’re Hannah and Callum from Macclesfield, Cheshire. This is our wedding photography story from our special day at the Belsfield Hotel Bowness on Windermere in the Lake District.

We met at high school, and we were good friends for a few years before we started dating in 2014! Hannah works in marketing and Callum is a software engineer. 

The proposal was a complete surprise! We went for a spa weekend in Keswick and Cal proposed at Friar’s Crag on Derwentwater, I had no idea it would happen. My first response was ‘Oh my god you’re joking!’ to which ‘YES’ followed. We then went to Lodore Falls Hotel which will always be a special place. 

Our wedding was at the Belsfield Hotel in Bowness, in The Lake District in September, exactly 11 months after Cal proposed! The proposal (we’d been together almost 9 years!) As soon as we got engaged we knew we didn’t want to wait long to get married. 

As soon as we came home from getting engaged we started looking at venues, we both unknowingly sent the Belsfield hotel to one another so we booked a viewing… 

Sage green wedding theme at the Belsfield Hotel

We took my mum and dad and as soon as we stood down at the pier and looked up at the venue in all its glory we just knew that the Belsfield Hotel was the wedding venue for us. Sage green wedding at the Belsfield Hotel

Our wedding colour at the Belsfield Hotel was sage green, we thought this fitting for the idyllic lake district setting. The groom’s party wore dark sage green herringbone tweed suits, country style, and the bridal party wore sage green tulle dresses. 

My dress was Anna Sorrano, but I had it customised to make it unique. I knew I wanted to add bespoke statement sleeves and my seamstress did just that! 

I also added an extra special touch on the inside of the dress, a bow from my mum’s wedding dress that she wore over 30 years ago. 

My something blue was a pair of Manolo Blahnik designer shoes inspired by Sex In The City. 

The wedding day was a complete dream come true, the best part for me was having my mum and dad by my side. Both of my parents have been diagnosed with cancer in the last few years, having them there on our wedding day is a moment I’ve dreamed of forever, but it is not one that was promised. 

Belsfield Hotel wedding special moments

There were so many special moments throughout the day from our Belsfield hotel wedding, but the memories of seeing the pure elation on my parent’s faces throughout it will stick with me forever.

…Even better that they have been so beautifully captured by Wes our wedding photographer. Memories we will cherish, forever!

Wedding details and vendors

Another personal highlight was the surprise of Jack Buckley performing! Jack served us on our first date in Pizza Express in 2014, we then found out he was an incredible musician and went to watch some of his live gigs throughout the years. 

Music is a key part of any wedding and one thing that guests remember. We also had an incredible sax player in the evening, Ben Lester, paired with our DJ DFC. They took the roof off and every single person was up dancing. 

We also had surprise fireworks in the evening, which set off over Lake Windermere. This was an extra special moment for me, as I’d had my grandad’s ashes made into a firework so he was there on our special day. 

Telling my nan was a moment I will never forget, there were lots of happy tears and Wes caught the moment beautifully. 

Wedding planning tips

For future couples, I would say to try and enjoy the planning process as much as possible and on the day just enjoy every second. The planning process is stressful, but it goes by so quickly so try to enjoy it. 

On the day, no one notices if any small things go wrong, because no one knows what to expect, you’re the only person who has meticulously planned it all. 

Another tip would be regarding your wedding photography, 1: Book Wes Simpson (haha!) and 2. Listen to your photographer and trust them. When they want to take you away to get precious moments of just the bride and groom, just a couple of 20-minute slots work perfectly. 

At the time you feel like you’re leaving the wedding party, but now looking back on our day they are some of our favourite pictures, and we have the memories to cherish forever in a photograph. We wish we could do it all again. Enjoy every second! 

A very special Belsfield Hotel wedding photographer Testimonial – 

We struggle to put into words just how over the moon we are with the wedding photography from our special day at the Belsfield Hotel in the Lake District. 

We met a couple of photographers before finding Wes, all of which made us feel a bit ‘meh’, we aren’t big fans of being in front of the camera. So photography is something we were slightly anxious about, and we knew the person behind the camera had to be right. 

We knew it was meant to be as soon as we had our first call with Wes. We felt so at ease, so comfortable, and so confident that we knew we were going to get the very best outcome from our day. 

The most important part of the wedding photography for us was capturing the raw emotion of the day, this was something we had seen throughout Wes’ portfolios. 

Both of Hannah’s parents are cancer patients, so to have them there on our special day was the greatest gift of all and we wanted those once-in-a-lifetime moments captured, Wes did exactly that. 

Throughout the day, we kept thinking ‘We hope that was captured’ and lo and behold, Wes captured every moment we could have wished for. 

Wes also captured so many moments of the day that we didn’t see ourselves, there isn’t a second of the day which is missed. Our gallery blew us away. 

There were so many ‘wow’ moments it’s hard to count, and we both said how incredible Wes is at putting a story together.

Going through our gallery is just like reliving the day moment by moment which is a dream come true. It makes us think how lucky we are to get to feel like we are doing it all again. 

Our pictures from the day are a beautiful balance of natural documentary-style photography and editorial-style images. Some of them look like they could be in a magazine. 

There were times when we thought oh no, what do we need to do now, but they have turned out to be the very best shots. We are so very glad that we put all of our trust in Wes Simpson to photograph our Belsfield Hotel wedding in the Lake District. 

Celebrity Calling 

Any emotional video call from celebrity singer Russell Watson to the father of the bride during the wedding weekend. (View the emotional video above at the start of this blog story.)

We would also like to give a special mention to what Wes did for us the day after our wedding at the Belsfield Hotel…

Hannah’s dad, John, is a huge fan of opera singer Russell Watson, Russell has been an inspiration to our family for several years now. Before the wedding, my dad was impressed to hear that Wes had previously worked with Russell Watson on many occasions and had photographed Russell Watson’s wedding which appeared in Hello! Magazine. 

The following morning, Wes asked me where my dad was, little did I know, he had organised and received a video from Russell Watson sending a special message to my dad. 

This is something we will never forget and we are forever grateful to both Wes Simpson and Russell Watson. We don’t know anyone who would go above and beyond like this, it truly is a moment we will treasure forever and it finished our wedding weekend at the Belsfield Hotel perfectly. 

Links:

Russell Watson wedding.

50 Most Memorable Celebrity Wedding Of the Decade in Hello! Magazine (Russell Watson wedding by photographer Wes Simpson.

Celebrity Photoshoot for Hello! magazine – Russell Watson Farm feature.

Wedding Photography 

Wes is a true master at what he does, and we would thoroughly recommend him to all couples to shoot their big day. Suppose you want an expert in capturing raw emotion, who has extensive knowledge of editorial and is a genius at documenting your day. In that case, Wes Simpson is the wedding photographer for you. 

Thank you for everything Wes, our wedding day at the Belsfield Hotel in the Lake District wouldn’t have been as perfect without you capturing it. 

Love Hannah and Calum. 

Belsfield Hotel Wedding Photographer. Hannah and Calum’s emotional wedding photography story from Bowness-on-Windermere at the Belsfield Hotel by Wes Simpson.

If you are getting married and are looking for a wedding photographer to capture the magic of your wedding day, I would love to hear from you. Contact me today to be your wedding photographer.