A Relaxed Summer Wedding Shoot at Tickton Grange

David Adams

Sep 28

5 min read

On Sunday 5 July 2026, I spent the day at Tickton Grange, a beautiful wedding venue just outside Beverley in East Yorkshire. The colourful summer shoot was filled with confetti, wildflowers and smoke-filled bubbles.

Styled shoots give everyone involved a little more time to experiment, but my approach to wedding photography remains the same. Even when every detail has been carefully arranged and the dress is sitting perfectly, I still want the photographs to feel like people rather than mannequins.

Styled shoots also give all of us suppliers a chance to catch up. With the fast pace of wedding season, we often only see each other at wedding fairs or shoots like this, so it is always nice to see so many friendly faces.

Wedding couple running with a pavilion behind at Tickton Grange.

Wedding preparations at Tickton Grange

We began with the quieter side of the story.

Wedding preparation photographs are not only about makeup, hair and dresses. They help set the pace of a gallery and give the story somewhere to begin before everything becomes busier.

The light-filled interiors, warm brick, open grounds, outdoor pavilion and the amazing wildflower field behind the barn all feel completely different, while still belonging to the same place. I photographed the dress and its details without turning the morning into a catalogue shoot. Those details deserve their place in the finished gallery, but they are always strongest when they sit alongside faces, expressions and the person actually wearing them.

Exploring Tickton Grange

One of the lovely things about photographing at Tickton Grange is the amount of variety available without needing to disappear for an hour-long portrait session.

The light filled interiors, warm brick, open grounds and outdoor pavilion and the amazing wildflower field behind the barn, all feel completely different, while still belonging to the same place. It meant we could create a varied set of photographs without every portrait becoming an expedition across East Yorkshire.

Frankly, Tickton Grange is a dream to photograph. Around every corner there seems to be another hidden gem, whether it is the wildflower field, the old brick of the barn or another little pocket of beautiful light.

Charley and Paddy are engaged in real life, although this was not their actual wedding day. I still had to share these photographs because the happiness on their faces is exactly why I love being a photographer.

Confetti, colour and organised chaos

Then came the confetti. I brought along a small bag and roped the other suppliers into throwing it. Our first attempt was about as coordinated as a drunk uncle at a wedding. Thankfully, the second attempt worked considerably better, even with only a few of us available to throw it.

There is a very small window between “not enough has been thrown” and “I can no longer see either of you”.

The kiss beneath the confetti is one of the most striking photographs from the entire shoot and one of my personal favourites from the day, alongside the walk towards the pavilion.

The dress Charley chose from Elizabeth Hall Bridal was stunning, with two huge ribbons flowing behind her as she walked. Rachel, the videographer, and I almost sprinted towards a patch of flowers when we saw what the dress was doing, both determined to capture it.

After that burst of movement, the wedding breakfast styling gave everything a chance to slow down again.

I wanted to show the work that had gone into the table without making it feel disconnected from the people it had been created for. Details are important, particularly when so much thought has gone into them, but I think they are always stronger when they feel like part of the day rather than something photographed separately for a catalogue.

A second bridal look in the wildflower meadow

When I was invited to the shoot, Elizabeth Hall Bridal asked in the group chat how many dresses she should bring.

The answer was a fairly unanimous: “All of them.”

So she brought at least seven, giving Charley plenty of options. The short ruffled dress was brilliant, especially in the July heat we had this summer.

When we suggested a lift, Paddy and Charley were immediately up for it. The joy on their faces shows exactly how much fun the day was for everyone involved.

It also gave me an excuse to break out my 16-30mm lens, which I usually save for the dance floor. There is something about an enormous open sky that makes me want to capture as much of it as possible.

We then moved on to the meadow.

Tickton Grange has an entire field hidden behind it, complete with a hill in the middle. It is beautiful to wander through, and the wildflowers were an utter joy to photograph.

We also spent some time wandering around the grounds for a quieter stretch of photography, letting Charley and Paddy talk to each other and giving them a little breathing room away from the bustle of the shoot.

Both Rachel and I captured some lovely views of the backs of their outfits as they walked away.

I’m a big fan of finding a good wall for a portrait. I love how the lines can pull your attention towards the couple, but it was Charley and Paddy’s eye contact that really made this photograph. Sometimes that quiet connection can say far more than another kiss

Ending with smoke-filled bubbles

We finished with a brand-new toy of mine that creates smoke-filled bubbles, which are considerably less predictable than they look.

They drift in the wrong direction, disappear before reaching the couple and occasionally land directly in the middle of somebody’s forehead. They also have a strange ability to make fully grown adults stop whatever they are doing and stare at them. Between the chaos of trying to get the bubble sizes just right and the laughter whenever one burst against a twig, we eventually found our rhythm and everything came together.

Rachel promptly dubbed me “the bubble photographer”, which is a title I will happily accept.

Couple hugging and kissing with smoke bubbles in front of them

The final cheek kiss is another of my favourite photographs from the shoot. It is close, affectionate and wonderfully playful, making it the right place to finish the story.

What I loved most about this shoot was its balance. It could be polished without feeling stiff, romantic without becoming generic and playful without turning into a performance.

That is the balance I want in every wedding gallery I deliver.

If you are planning a wedding at Tickton Grange, or anywhere else in East Yorkshire, and want photographs that feel relaxed, honest and unapologetically you, I would love to hear what you have planned.

Tell me about your wedding