Kinga & Sean | Gisborough Hall Wedding

Kinga and Sean got married at Gisborough Hall in Guisborough on a hot, sunny day in August, and it was a wedding that was full of the two of them. The flowers were ones they had made themselves, the colours were burnt orange and pink, and a harpist played music from their favourite games during the ceremony.

It was a relaxed, happy day with around fifty of their favourite people, lots of laughter, a few happy tears and a twilight session on the lawn to finish. Here’s the story of their day.

Meet Kinga & Sean

Kinga and Sean met in their first year at Teesside University back in 2016. As they put it, they met “at Costa coffee (aka Tinder)”, which made me smile. The following year they moved into shared student housing together, and when they graduated in 2019 they both moved back in with their parents, 80 miles apart, and carried on dating anyway.

Then the pandemic arrived. Rather than being cooped up apart for who knew how long, Kinga “temporarily” moved in with Sean in March 2020, into the little bungalow they still call home. Those quote marks around temporarily are theirs, and I love them.

They are parents to two daft rescue cats, and for several years they kept pet rats together, including, they admit, hiding them from various landlords at university. Archery, gaming and Dungeons and Dragons are the hobbies they share, and once you know that, lots of the little touches in their day make perfect sense.

The Proposal

Sean had a good plan. Just after Christmas in 2023 they went for a meal at a steakhouse in Middlesbrough, with the town lit up with Christmas lights and an ice rink set up in front of the town hall. Good food, a good evening, and then a proposal by the ice rink.

Kinga knew a proposal was coming, and had even suspected it might be that night, but on the evening itself it completely slipped her mind. When Sean nervously asked her to keep an eye on his jacket while he stepped away from the table, she told him, “it’s not like anyone is going to steal your jacket.” They still laugh about that one.

Then it started to rain. Kinga, completely oblivious, ran back to the car to get out of the classic British winter, so the proposal happened there instead, in the car. In their words, it was “very fitting for us.”

Personal Touches

Kinga and Sean put a lot of themselves into this wedding, quite literally. They took a weekend trip down south to a florist’s supply shop so they could make their own bouquets, and most of the decorations and centrepieces were handmade too. Burnt oranges and pinks ran through everything, from the bridesmaids’ dresses to the chair sashes in the glass house and the bouquets full of orange, pink and yellow flowers.

They painted their own welcome sign on a mirror to match, set out a Polaroid-style photo guestbook for their guests, and booked The Harp Lady to play arrangements of some of their favourite game music during the ceremony. For a couple who love gaming, hearing those tunes played on a harp in the glass house was such a thoughtful touch.

Getting married at Gisborough Hall? I’d love to hear about your plans.

Bridal Preparations

Kinga and her bridesmaids got ready at Gisborough Hall, starting the morning in matching pyjamas, the bridesmaids in burnt orange satin and Kinga in white. It was a calm, chatty morning, with big windows letting in plenty of soft light, which is exactly what you want for make-up and getting-ready pictures.

One of my favourite moments of the whole day came before the ceremony. Kinga’s grandad was walking her down the aisle, and they had planned a reveal once she was dressed. The hug he gave her when he saw her says more than I ever could, so I’ll let the picture do the talking.

Sean and the boys got ready away from the hall, and my second photographer was with them for the shirts, cufflinks and jackets before they headed over.

Once the bouquets came out, those handmade flowers really came into their own. Next to the bridesmaids’ burnt orange dresses, the colours were just right.

The Ceremony

The ceremony was in the glass house at half past one, and it looked beautiful, with orange drapes on the chairs, flowers down the aisle and sunlight pouring through the glass roof. It is a room that fills with light, which makes it a joy to photograph.

The bridesmaids walked in first, then Kinga on her grandad’s arm, with the harp playing and everyone turning to watch. Kinga and Sean said their vows under the glass roof, the best man handed over the rings, and once they were married their guests cheered them back up the aisle and out into the sunshine.

Drinks Reception at Gisborough Hall

Outside, the sun was properly out and the gardens were full of hugs, laughter and clinking glasses. The drinks reception spread out around the fountain in front of the glass house and into the rose garden, where a few guests found a bench and made friends with a very relaxed golden retriever.

We did the group photos on the lawn in front of the hall, including an everyone picture with all the arms in the air, and one from up high with the whole wedding lined up in front of the ivy-covered hall. The bridesmaids and groomsmen were great fun, and walking them across the lawn together had everyone laughing.

Couple Portraits at Gisborough Hall

For Kinga and Sean’s portraits we wandered through the gardens and under the big trees, where there is lovely shade on a hot day, and then out onto the lawn in front of the hall. By then the sun was dropping behind the roofline, which gave us a warm glow around them with the ivy-covered hall behind.

We finished beside the glass house, where a set of garden steps under a tree makes a perfect little spot to sit, and then on the stone steps in front of the hall itself. They were so easy together that I mostly just had to keep out of the way.

Kinga and Sean’s twilight pictures are further down. If you’d like to know more about twilight portraits, have a look here.

Wedding Breakfast and Speeches

The wedding breakfast was in the ballroom, with the grand staircase dressed by Sheer Elegance and Kinga and Sean’s own centrepieces on the tables. The speeches came before the meal, and they were a lovely mix of heartfelt and very funny.

Kinga gave a speech of her own too, which I always love to see, and it had one of her bridesmaids wiping away a happy tear. There is a picture from the speeches of two guests in absolute fits of laughter, and that sums the room up nicely.

The Evening Celebrations

As the evening guests arrived, there was a cake from Burnett4Cakes to cut and a dessert table from Sugar Rush Loftus to raid. Kinga and Sean had their first dance in the ballroom with the lights glowing behind them, and it is one of my favourite black and white pictures from the day. Then the dance floor filled up and the party carried on into the night.

Twilight Portraits at Gisborough Hall

As the sun went down, the sky behind the hall turned orange, which matched their colour scheme perfectly. I took Kinga and Sean back out onto the lawn for a quick twilight session, with a little light painting, a couple of hearts and the word love written in light, before Sean finished things off with a spray of champagne.

It only takes about fifteen minutes, and it gives you a completely different set of pictures to end the day with.

Gisborough Hall Wedding Suppliers

Kinga and Sean, thank you so much for having me along. Your wedding felt like the two of you from start to finish, from the flowers you made yourselves to the game music on the harp, and I loved every minute of it. I hope the cats approve of the pictures.

Planning your own wedding and would love pictures like these? I’d love to hear from you.

Getting married at Gisborough Hall? Have a look at my Gisborough Hall wedding photographer page for more about photographing a wedding there.