Sunday 6 January 2013

Ballydugan Mill Downpatrick and Woodland themed weddings

Pure Pictures Wedding Photography Specialists.
Award winning wedding photographer covering all parts of Northern Ireland and Border counties.  For our full galleries please have a nosey at www.pure-pictures.co.uk


Ok Ok, so I'm not the best at keeping my original idea of one per month Blog rule BUT.... It's my new years resolution so here it goes :)

I can see a huge turn towards 'Wildflower' and 'Woodland' themed weddings for 2013. 
There have been lots of new brides with funky bold colours and lots of beautiful fresh flowers to make your wedding a touch out of the ordinary.

So I've made a quick trawl of the iner-web and decided that here are a few of my favourite woodland wonderland images thrown in with my lovely wedding at Ballydugan Mill last year for the Fabulous and lovely Mick and Victoria.

Victoria and Mick live in Belfast so the day started here in Belfast at the brides house.  Being from Liverpool there were many a family member on hand even the boys got tucked into the little flower girls rags :)
Family members getting stuck in taking the little flower girls rags out


The brides brother who gave her away seeing her for the first time in her dress and the brides maid still not dressed!!!

Gorgeous mixed bouquet with range of colour pallet to tie in with the brides vintage / woodland theme.

Having a last mi nute check out the window for the rain and quick chat with little flower girl

They got married in the lovlely St Malachy's church just a short drive from the Mill and it is a lovely wee church. Literally after this shot the sky opened and rained for about 2 hours!


 This is the grooms nephew whos dad took him outside to look at the very heavy rain while the church service was happening.

I love these fairy lit birdcages with ivy and woodland flowers ties the theme of the day from the ceremony through to the venue.



The milk urns were outside the church, and then transferred to the reception doors at the Mill.  The woodland theme is both in the texture and mix of flowers in the bouquets combined with the urns a very outdoor item.  It worked well and the room decorators moved all the items from church to venue.








St Malachy's church in Downpatrick was a lovely venue.  Though be warned we drove by it twice!! Its a small church but enough natural light so that I didnt have to use a flash.  But there was no room on the altar for us as there is a large bar on the front of it so all the documentary style images were taken from half way down the ailse about 4 rows back.  They allowed us to use the church for photographs afterwards and so we spent a little time here as the rain was very very heavy and the likelyhood of group outdoor images was looking very slim indeed! 
 This is the lake close to the mill at Ballydugan with the trusted pure pictures umbrella! Unfortunately this was its last outing as it blew inside out!  This photo shows the personality of the couple having fun in the rain big smiles and giggles.
 I really like this image of bride and groom having a natural chat in the back of the car while waiting on the drive back to the venue.  The rain on the window shows the weather in another natural shot that captured a moment of the wedding day that they cant see.
 The lovely Victoria and Mick were brave enough to go out in the elements to a local pond where we managed to get a handful of outdoor images of just the bride and groom there are other locations here for different set ups but the weather was bad and the ducks were hissing at us! So we took the hint and moved on to the venue.
 This is just one image of the room at Ballydugan mill Downpatrick.  It's an L shaped room with stone walls and beams, rustic wooden chairs and small thin windows for natural light that chips into the room at intervals. 
The bride chose a mix of different centre pieces to mix up the tables all differnt heights and some with candles some with tea tree lights and of course fairy lights!






 Ballydugan mill has lots of little nooks and crannys for your wedding photos and they made us tea so we think they are alright!
We had a beautiful roast beef dinner with all the trimmings and would highly  recommend this venue for  a Northern Ireland wedding not too far from Belfast.
If you fancy going down for a nosey here is the link to the website http://www.ballyduganmill.com/weddings.php


 The mill is in the distance of this photo the sun was setting you you can see the twilight colours and a lovely swooshy train of her dress. The next few images are taken at the garden out the back of Ballydugan Mill you can see a slight change in the colour of the leaves telling the season.


Sometimes called the marital arch but a lovely little pop of colour with the roses classic symbol of love.





Some people might not like this shot because you cant see the bride or grooms face but I do, its a simple natural hug that shows passion and love.  Natural and true :) 



 No Woodland vintage woodland wedding would be complete without the boys and a few beers! This was one of the last shots taken on the day and I have to say they made me giggle :)



With the bride being from Liverpool home of the Beatles we tried to do 'abbey road' but one of the groomsmen was a tad inebriated so walking in a semi straight line was the best they could offer lol.


I do love the light in this image pity about the building work on the other side of the road!!
Vintage bike and fresh flowers in the basket is a lovely way to use a prop and soften it with au natural greenery
Using coloured shoes that snug under your long skirt a fab way to to pop a bit of personality and colour into your big day.

I know this is a tad unrealistic with the Northern Irish weather but the lightly strung fairy lights and table centre pieces would hold the look in a hotel venue.


Well if you get married in the woods what best way to do it other than this :) pop up invitations with mini trees :)

For those who dont really want a traditional cake the woodland fruit basket seems like the perfect option to get the theme across.  The little vases of mixed foraged flowers scattered across the venue will mix all the colours into one pallett

Dont you just love this brodal bouquet with the mix of textures, colours, and even uneven stems this bouquet isnt to everyones tastes but for the bohemiam woodland bride this is a must.

Think this is a great idea a banquet in the trees :) the bride and groom are sligtly high up  but still cool idea.

Teepes :) what can we say for the woodland bohemian theme what gets you closer to nature than a bundle of teepees in the daisy meadow followed by singing with a guitar and smores! Oh I can hear 'whiskey in the jar' starting already  :)

I have no idea where this is but WOW! Ideal when you cant bring the outdoors in.