Peterborough Wedding Photographer | Keri & Stuart | The Bell Inn Stilton

The Bell Inn at Stilton is a 17th Century Coaching Inn that is actually on part of the Great North Road that the Romans built.  Being a Peterborough wedding Photographer, I do love venue’s that have a history with them and this is a perfect Peterborough Wedding Venue. It’s well worth a visit to find out all about it’s famous visitors like Dick Turpin.

I don’t think Keri & Stuart chose the Bell for it’s links to history but more because of how gorgeous it is, particularly the courtyard around the well.

Their wedding took place at All Saints Church in Sawtry. There is always a friendly welcome here from Gill the local Vicar.  With a slight detour to take some photographs of the newly married couple at a local farm, we headed to The Bell for the reception.

Friends and family were enjoying drinks in the Courtyard before heading inside to enjoy dinner and the famous Stilton Cheese.

Speeches took place and were a wonderful mix of laughs, love and one or two tears of emotion. With the rain starting earlier in the day the confetti canons were held back for First Dance.

Rainy days often lead to amazing sunsets and we weren’t disappointed. Grabbing the newlyweds, I lay on the floor to get a silhouette shot of them.

Congratulations guys, it was such a beautiful wedding and I loved being a part of it. Thank you for letting me share your day.

In their own words

 Where you first meet

We first met many years ago in Art class at Abbey College Ramsey.

 Who asked who and how?

Stuart proposed to me on a weekend away, we had gone to visit our new tiny nephew in Huddersfield. We decided to break up the journey and stay in a lovely hotel in Sheffield. Just before going out for dinner I turned around to find Stuart on one knee with the most wonderful ring. Of course, I said yes and the rest is history.

Wedding planning, good, bad and fabulous

Overall, we really enjoyed planning the wedding. We attended lots of wedding fayres in Cambridgeshire with close friends who had also just got engaged! From early on we decided to do a lot of the decorations and stationery ourselves. This meant lots of long hours of art and crafts, making candles and hot penning wood. This went down really well on the day and everyone loved how personal everything felt. We had about 20 months to plan the day which helped tremendously with the stress!

How was day through your eyes?

The day went so quickly, everyone had warned us this would be the case, but we had no idea just how true this was! It was the most amazing day celebrating our marriage vows with all our friends and family and seeing everyone get on so well made the day perfect. We loved every second and wish we could go back and do it all again.

What was your favourite part of the day?

We had two stand out moments on the day when we look back. Firstly, sitting at the head table after the ceremony as husband and wife, watching all of our guests enjoying themselves knowing all our hard work had paid off. Secondly the first dance, we were busy laughing and wondering when our groomsmen were going to let off the confetti cannons as this had not been practiced! Dancing away with everyone watching but feeling like the only people in the room was magical. Eventually, the cannons went off and we were surrounded by our nearest and dearest.

 Any tips you learnt along the way which may be useful for other brides

We would recommend when sending invites with RSVP’s secretly put a number on the back which coordinates with your spreadsheet or list. As you can’t always rely on people to put their name on the card, even if you leave a space! Secondly, drink plenty of water on the day especially in the morning or even have a bottle waiting in the car! After meeting and greeting all your guests you will need some H20 it’s thirsty work!

Who were your suppliers? Florist/Flowers, Dress (Shop & Designer), Hair, Make-up, Suit, Car/Transport, Wedding Cake, DJ/Entertainment, Venue Stylist

Venue: The Bell Inn Stilton and All Saints Church Sawtry,  Dress and Veil: Brides by Solo Newmarket,  Hair: Little Hair Boutique St Ives,  Make Up: Lucy Anne Make Up Artist Suit: Moss Bros Wedding Cake: Celebrate with Cake– Willingham,  DJ: Martyn Booth Powerhouse Roadshows,  Brides and Bridesmaid Bouquet: Passionate Flowers – Over Cambridgeshire,  Buttonholes and Table flowers: Bride and Groom Chairs and Post Box: Ambience Peterborough Car: Pete ( Friend of the Bride’s Father)

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