Haf & Lewis - Vale Country Club | North Wales Wedding Photographer

Towards the end of September I was back at one of my favourite local venues, the Vale Country Club in Ruthin, for the wedding of Haf and Lewis. Before heading to the Vale, though, the day started at the lovely Llanrhaeadr Church, a small and incredibly picturesque church tucked away in the North Wales countryside.

This part of the Vale of Clwyd is full of the sort of scenery that makes North Wales such a great place to photograph weddings, with rolling hills, quiet country lanes and plenty of character. Llanrhaeadr Church fits perfectly into that setting, and it was a great place for Haf and Lewis to get married before heading over to the Vale Country Club for the rest of the celebrations.

The only problem was the weather. September clearly hadn't quite made its mind up, and we had plenty of showers to contend with throughout the day. Thankfully, there were enough breaks in the rain to get outside when we needed to, and we just worked around the weather rather than letting it dictate the day.

It was an amazing wedding to be part of, with a great mix of family, friends and plenty of natural moments throughout.

Wedding Prep at Mum's House

The morning started at Mum's house in Llanrhaeadr, where things were already well underway. There was plenty of interaction between Haf, her mum, the bridesmaids and the rest of the family, which is always what I like to capture during the morning rather than spending too much time on staged photos.

Hair and makeup were being finished off by Ceri Wynne and Rhian from Siswrn Aur, while I concentrated on Haf getting ready and the dress from Laura Bay Bridal.

There were a few final alterations to sort out with Mum, before the dress reveal with the bridesmaids, flower girls, Mum and StepDad. Plenty going on in the room and some great reactions as everything started to come together.

The Gents at Llanrhaeadr Church

Over at the church, the lads were getting ready for the ceremony. The suits from Dyfed Menswear were looking good, so I grabbed a few buttonhole and jacket details before getting some solo shots and a few natural group photos.

I wanted to keep things fairly relaxed rather than spending ages lining everyone up, so there were plenty of shots of the brothers and the rest of the guys just chatting and naturally mingling around the church.

The flowers from Firth Flock Flowers looked great around the church archway too, adding a nice bit of colour to the setting.

Haf and her family then made their way to the church, arriving by car before walking the final part of the journey together.

The Ceremony at Llanrhaeadr Church

The ceremony was held inside the beautiful little Llanrhaeadr Church, which was a brilliant setting for the day.

Haf's entrance was followed by the usual mixture of nerves, smiles and plenty of emotion from the guests. The vows and rings went smoothly, followed by the first kiss and the signing of the register.

Confetti & A Quick Couples Shoot

The weather was doing its best to interfere, but thankfully we had a load of umbrellas to combat the showers for the confetti walk. Timing was everything!

We then grabbed a quick five minutes for some photos of Haf and Lewis together around the church and surrounding area. With the weather threatening to change again, there wasn't any point hanging around for too long, so we made the most of the gap in the rain and then headed over to the Vale Country Club.

Drinks Reception at the Vale Country Club

The Vale Country Club is one of those venues I always enjoy coming back to. Set on the edge of Ruthin with the North Wales countryside surrounding it, there's plenty of space for photographs and a good mixture of indoor and outdoor options, which was particularly useful on this day.

Once everyone arrived, the drinks reception got underway with guests catching up and enjoying themselves. Firth Flock Flowers had also done a great job with the flowers, and I took some time to photograph the venue details before getting back amongst the guests.

Dave the Sax provided the soundtrack to the drinks reception, which added a great atmosphere while everyone mingled.

We managed to find another break in the showers for the main couples shoot. Around 15–20 minutes was enough to get Haf and Lewis away from everyone for a bit without keeping them away from their guests for too long.

The weather meant we had to be a little flexible with where we went and when, but that's part of photographing weddings in Wales! We simply kept an eye on the skies, grabbed the opportunities when they appeared and carried on.

Once back inside, we worked through the group photographs before everyone headed in for the wedding breakfast.

Wedding Breakfast & Speeches

The wedding breakfast was a little different, with everyone being treated to one course before the speeches.

When the speeches were up and there was a good mix of laughs, stories and reactions from the room. These are always some of my favourite photographs from a wedding because there's very little posing involved—just people reacting naturally to what's happening in front of them.

Evening Do

There was no cake to cut, so once the evening celebrations got underway it was straight into the first dance.

Haf and Lewis took to the floor and the rest of the guests gathered around them before the dancefloor started filling up. After everything we'd had to work around with the weather during the day, it was great to see everyone relaxing and getting stuck into the evening.

A brilliant late-September wedding for Haf and Lewis, and another great day at one of my favourite local venues.

The weather certainly made us work for some of the photographs, but that's wedding photography in North Wales for you. You can't control it, so you just have to keep an eye on the skies, make the most of the gaps and carry on.

Haf and Lewis were great to photograph, the atmosphere throughout the day was spot on, and Llanrhaeadr Church followed by the Vale Country Club made for a really memorable combination.

An amazing wedding to be part of and a pleasure to capture from start to finish.

North Wales Wedding Photographer

As a North Wales Wedding Photographer, who works all over the country (and even overseas) I'm fortunate to work with some incredible wedding suppliers. Here's a list of all of those who featured to create Haf & Lewis's special day.

Venue - Vale Country Club

Make up - Ceri Wynne (@cwtchceribach)

Hair - Rhian (Siswrn Aur)

Flowers - Firth Flock Flowers (Ellen)

Dress - Laura Bay Bridal (Cardiff)

Suits - Dyfed Menswear