Surprise Blizzard Creates Snowy, Winter Wedding Photos for UK Newlyweds

It was a damp, chilly evening at Carly and Chris Atwill’s wedding on Saturday, December 12, when suddenly a blizzard turned their white wedding into a winter wonderland!

The storm dropped an unexpected 8 inches of snow on the on the grounds of Lartington Hall in Barnard Castle, Teesdale, County Durham last Saturday. The couple’s quick frolick in the fresh snow outside the English castle was captured by wedding photographer Paul Liddement who tells The Knot, “The snow was coming down thick and fast, so we couldn’t spend much time out there, but I was really pleased with the results.”

The strange blizzard seemed to blow out of nowhere just for the newlyweds while they were inside getting getting married, and the photos quickly went viral across the UK and now the US.

“We were absolutely thrilled when we saw the snow, it felt so magical,” the bride Carly, 30, tells The Knot. “We stayed at Lartington Hall overnight and when we woke up it was spitting with rain and grey and miserable, so we weren’t expecting much from the weather.”

But the weather started to change from sleet to snow around 10am, Carly said, and the newlyweds were shocked when they stepped outside after the ceremony to find 8 inches of snow on the ground and even more still falling from the sky thanks to the freak blizzard.

It was up to Liddement to capture a fast photo session of the new husband and wife, their wedding party, and other guests playing in the white stuff and he did an incredible job. In one photo the couple are perfectly framed by snow-covered trees with Chris, 31, dipping his wife and stealing an intimate kiss amongst the glistening white landscape.

“Everyone was very willing to participate,” Liddement said, telling The Knot, “The bride and groom were very excited to see the snow and keen to have their photos taken.” He added, “It was rather cold for Carly,” who wore a sleeveless white wedding dress with a lace bodice, “but she was able to warm up inside afterwards.”

“All our guests couldn’t believe it when they saw the snow, we could see them all lining up taking photos of us,” Carly recalled. In reiterating Liddement’s comment about the cold she said, “It was cold in my dress, but I loved it as it was so magical and special.” Luckily the chill was worth it, and after drying off and cuddling up in a big fur wrap, and celebrating the rest of the afternoon, the bride and groom have these stunning photos to look back on.

But the photographer won’t take all the credit for his blizzard photo shoot. He gave ample thanks to his tools of the trade for helping illuminate and capture these magical moments, saying, “It was very difficult to take the photographs as the snow was very heavy and coming down thick and fast. Luckily I had the right tools so I was able to pull it off.”

Sharing a bit of advice for fellow brides and grooms wanting to take photos in a blizzard Liddement tells The Knot, “You need to use a tripod to keep the camera steady and use manual focus, otherwise auto-focus tends to lock onto individual pieces of snow. Using a flash is also a big help in getting good results.”

Carly and Chris, who dreamed of having a white wedding got far more than what they wished and were grateful that their wedding day was made all the more special by the blizzard.

“We had really hoped it would snow but we knew the chances were very slim as there hadn’t been snow like this for five years,” Chris tells The Knot. “It all worked out perfectly as it stopped snowing by late afternoon so the guests could all get home.”

The couple are continuing their wedding celebrations on their honeymoon, and Chris tells The Knot, “It all feels like a bit of a dream now as we are on honeymoon and there is no snow about.”