A Joyful Mill Wedding in Rainy Leeds with an Epic Tipi Party

I’m so excited to share this Leeds mill wedding with you! On a very rainy Saturday in June, I made my way over to central Leeds to photograph at an awesome hidden gem wedding venue. I won my first This is Reportage Story award for this wedding and I’m so pleased it did. Their day was full of joy and celebration, with no damp spirits despite the weather. You can see the photos that made up the story below.

Thumbnails of award wedding images from This is Reportage

Thwaite Watermills (unfortunately now closed) is such a unique space for a wedding celebration. It is an industrial heritage site on the River Aire. It was open to the public until April 2024 as a museum and was one of the best examples of a working watermill in Britain.

Industrial Wedding Ceremony

Rose and her wedding party arrived in a VW campervan, prepared with umbrellas to shelter from the rain. Meanwhile, George was waiting in the old mill room which is a unique space packed with industrial features. There were tears from George during Rose’s entrance, and laughter during the vows and the exchange of rings.

Ring exchange with bride and groom laughing in the foreground

Rainy Wedding Portraits

After the ceremony, guests made their way down to the wedding tipi for drinks whilst we captured some natural couple photos, embracing the drizzle and smiling through it the whole time!

Couple smiling next to brick mill windows with umbrella

Cosy Tipi Speeches

All their guests were cosied up in the tipi (courtesy of Bar Events UK) ready for speeches. Rose and George began with their thank yous to their guests and heartfelt words to each other.

Bride and groom giving a speech in a tipi with bunting and paper lanterns

Confetti and Golden Hour Photos

After everyone had eaten, the rain stopped and the sun began to poke out! Rose and George had decided not to have their confetti photo in the rain earlier, so we took the opportunity to get everyone outside once they’d finished their meal and it was such a great way to lift everyone out of their post-meal slump and get ready for the party!

Colourful paper confetti throw outside tipi with bride and groom

Whilst the sun was shining we also took the opportunity to capture a few more portraits. I was so pleased I could get these for this couple as they deserved to have a bit of sun in their photos to match their energy!

Bride and groom in golden hour light with trees in the background

Epic Tipi Wedding Party

My favourite part of the day to photograph, by far, was the epic party later on. You can just tell how much fun everyone was having! They had a brass band, Backstage Brass, to help bring the party to life too. At this particular wedding, I stayed until the very end. The last photos of the night were of Rose and George surrounded by all their family and friends on the dancefloor and what could be better than that?!

Final wedding dance of the evening in wedding tipi

Kind Words From the Couple

“From start to finish, Jenna has been fantastic. The booking process was simple and clear and she had great advice for planning our wedding. She was very professional and well organised on the day and made the photos part of the wedding really easy.

They are so colourful and full of joy, which is exactly what we wanted, despite it being rainy until the evening. Don’t hesitate to book Jenna for your wedding!”

Here are more photos from their awesome Leeds Mill wedding!