It was a lovely sunny afternoon at St. Elizabeth's Church in Minsteracres, Northumberland. Many guests had arrived by coach from various pick up points that afternoon as the venue was in a fairly rural location. The arrival at the retreat is quite spectacular. It is entered via a single track tree lined driveway after passing underneath an old stone archway. The bride and her sister Justine, (the bridesmaid) her groom and his best man and the bride's parents arrived in classic vintage cars. The church interior was home to ancient stained glass windows and guests were seated on cushions on antique pews which added to the lovely ambiance inside. Kari looked absolutely amazing as she walked down the aisle on the arm of her father Tom, to a waiting and increasingly nervous Matt. After the couple were married they received a lovely blessing from Father Jeroen the priest who conducted the ceremony and then everyone spent some time outside in the lovely church grounds which were surrounded by beautiful lawns and gardens. After we had taken photographs everyone left for the Marriott Hotel near the Metrocentre in Gateshead for the Wedding Breakfast. The meal was delicious, consisting of French onion soup with cheesy croutons, a traditional roast chicken platter with all the trimmings and a fabulous dessert of profiteroles with real chocolate sauce and toffee popcorn. After the cutting of the beautiful chocolate and fruit wedding cake and the speeches, the evening continued with an evening disco and hot buffet for additional guests of the couple who arrived later. We took our leave of the happy couple around 10.30pm, tired but having had a great day!
