A winter wedding for Alnwick Treehouse wedding photography.

Gale force winds, no daylight and freezing temperatures – challenge accepted!

So when Amanda & Matt enquired about their treehouse wedding – we were like woo hoo! Awesome venue, quirky wooden treehouse, great people, amazing location in Alnwick – yep lets do this. Oh and there was just the little detail that it was in February and started at 5:30pm, so definitely needed that extra vision (and great camera technology!) to make it all work. But we do like a challenge and Amanda & Matt were fab, so we were sold.

Alnwick wedding preparations

First thing on Saturday the preparations began, so we met up with everyone still in their mufti adding the personalised touches to the treehouse. After lunch we then set off to our two locations for the afternoon preparations. With the boys putting the finishing touches at The White Swan, super cool and trendy turn ups and boots – a dapper look indeed. Then a short walk over to the treehouse, without getting blown over and dodging any falling branches. The girls meanwhile were super keen and ready before Pete even stepped in the door of the teeny tiny Bondgate Boutique Hotel. So Pete had three hours of creatively capturing the girls doing well not much really, although the ghost stories passed the time well :) Whilst the girls were ‘busy’, Matt and his crew were readying the treehouse for the days wedding celebrations – with a few amendments due to the super ferocious winds – balloons outside and gales don’t quite mix!

Alnwick Treehouse wedding ceremony

Fortunately the ceremony had been planned for indoors, so the cosy treehouse restaurant was all set for the ‘I do’s’. This time it was a personal humanist style ceremony conducted by a friend (all the legal bits had been done a few days before) – so with everyone huddled in the treehouse Amanda could make her grand entrance. With an amazing wedding dress to suit the fairytale setting, we had all the ingredients for a super happy joining of two :) Words said, hugs, drinks and congrats in the ‘Roost’ which was super warm and toasty – smiley happy people that what it’s all about :)

Winter Treehouse wedding photography

As you can probably tell from our other blogs, we’re not afraid of the dark and love that moody light. Well today was beyond moody, with night speeding upon us we whizzed round the treehouse making the most of what was left of blue hour (that sexy time when the sky has that deep blue, before it all goes black). Off to the rope bridges, not every wedding has rope bridges, in fact this is the first in hundreds we’ve shot! Fortunately they’d been adorned with some other groovy festoon lighting, helping us see our way in the almost pitch black of a Northumbria night sky.

Cake & party

Whilst we were creatively capturing the essence of a dark treehouse all the guests were enjoying their time testing and scoring the ‘Bake-Off’. Some stunning cakes were on offer, tree houses sculpted from cake and gingerbread alongside the more puerile offerings of the best man and friends ;) Amidst the branches and trunks of the trees, yummy nosh was consumed and a few words muttered of best friends tying the knot and unspoken antics of best man and groom. Back to ‘The Roost’ for boogie, bopping and late night hot chocolate and cookies. How to make your party and dancing go with a bang…invite The Urban Gypsies :) Amanda is part of this awesome quirky alternative super friendly belly dance troupe, so who better to perform at their day. These guys performed and got everyone dancing too, highly recommended addition to anyones wedding :)

Huge congrats to Amanda and Matt, thanks for the night time wedding challenge!

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Venue: Alnwick Treehouse
Bridal prep: Bondgate Boutique Hotel
Groom Prep: The White Swan
Belly Dance troupe: The Urban Gypsies
Light up LOVE & CAKE letters: Coco Luminaire
Flowers & Vintage Bike: Wild With Love
Hair & Make-up: Lisa Jones
Festoon Lighting: Reed Ingram Weir

So you’re looking for an alternative wedding venue?

Alnwick Treehouse could be just the place…if you like all that is trees and nature but without the hassle of building your own suspended house in the trees then check this hidden gem out. The treehouse at Alnwick is great for smallish weddings of around 40-65 or if you’re looking at a summer wedding then you can squeeze in up to 80 and use the amazing courtyard space for a ceremony under the green canopy of the trees. We’d absolutely love to head back up north to photograph a summer wedding at the treehouse and explore all the options that daylight has to offer :)

Our top tips for a treehouse wedding in Alnwick – hmmm lets think. 

•Tell your guests not to wear crazy heels, there’s lots of slats in the main area and if you want to play on rope bridges then well those 6″ stilettos just aren’t going to cut it!

•Embrace the fairy tale magical feel of the treehouse, the more fairy lights the better, we love interesting lighting to add to the feel of your photos. This place is just gorgeous and definitely suits an ethereal alternative wedding vibe – go for it. That being said in the light bright nights of midsummer, the vibe will be more mellow, chilled out surrounded by the green canopy of the trees all around. Go for which ever season is your favourite and this venue will show it off – I mean imagine the colours in autumn too. If you’re looking for autumn colour then check with the venue as it’s further north maybe autumn comes a little earlier than more southern areas of the UK?

•Walk from prep in Alnwick to the treehouse – we love those off the cuff shots as you all walk across town, sets the scene perfectly. Obviously as it was blowing 50mph winds then we’ll let Amanda off this time!

•Make a weekend of it, the Northumberland coast and countryside is stunning – so why not have activities planned for the days either side of your wedding too. We enjoyed almost a whole afternoon in the famous Barter Books in Alnwick, although if you love books this could be an expensive afternoon!