Drenagh Estate Wedding | Rachel + Mark

Rachel & Mark got married on the 14th of August with both their wedding ceremony and reception taking place at Drenagh Country Estate in Limavady. They had originally planned to get married in early April but had to make the difficult decision to postpone due to the Covid-19 pandemic only a few days before the big day. They first changed the date to October but decided to bring their wedding forward to take advantage of the easing in lockdown measures.

As well as being our first visit to Drenagh, it was also the venues first wedding since the lockdown began and it was also the first wedding performed by Rachel & Mark’s Humanist celebrant Stewart Holden since the start of the lockdown. As I am sure you can imagine we were all very excited to spend the day with Rachel & Mark and be a wedding photographer in Limavady for this amazing wedding day.

Drenagh Estate Wedding Photos

We arrived a little early at the venue so that we could have a look around. We already knew that Drenagh has a reputation for being a wonderful venue that photographers love due to the beautiful grounds surrounding the main house, but we were still impressed.

Rachel and the rest of the ladies arrived first in a huge stretch Hummer limousine having spent the early part of the morning in their favourite salon. They finished of getting in ready in the beautiful bridal suite at the venue. Rachel didn’t seem nervous at all and spent most to the morning helping everyone else get ready and organised. Mark and the boys arrived a little later in an awesome Camaro and seemed pretty relaxed although it was easy to see he was feeling a bit stressed just before the ceremony.

The ceremony itself took place in the rustic Moon garden at the venue which provided a beautiful setting for Rachel & Mark to say I do! The weather on the day was glorious, but is was super warm to the point of being uncomfortable so we split Rachel & Mark’s bride and groom portrait session in half and finished it later on in the evening after dinner. Rachel & Mark decided to go the slightly unconventional route of not having any speeches on the day so that they could maximise their time enjoying themselves with their family and friends.

Drenagh Estate Wedding Photography

We have a photographed a few weddings since the lockdown began but this was the first time one of our couples have been able to have a full wedding day including the first dance. The guys stepped out on to the dancefloor to Christina Perri’s, “A thousand words”. Rachel was also able to have a dance with our Dad before some of the other guests hit up the dancefloor within their social bubbles.

It felt so good to experience a full wedding day again. Rachel, Mark and their family and friends were a pleasure to spend the day with. While the pandemic is not far from everyone’s minds and of course some safety measures had to be taken during the day like for example lots of hand sanitiser, the band playing behind perspex screens, guests dancing within their social bubbles etc. none of this in anyway took away from what was a very fun day.

If you are trying to find a wedding photographer for for your own Drenagh Wedding and you would like to view other weddings we photographed there, check these out. Drenagh Estate Weddings