Tom & Anna got married at Cripps Barn, Gloucestershire, which is a venue I’ve worked at several times previously, but not so much in recent years. They’ve clearly done a great deal of work to improve it since my last visit, with a permanent oak framed reception building, (as opposed the marquee), the option to have an outdoor wedding, plus additional planting (read potential screening options) around the gardens. Hopefully the later will help to tame the wind in years to come :-)
The day started with me pacing up and down Lechlade high street looking for the hidden entrance of the cottage Anna & the girls were staying at for bridal preparations. 15mins and 2 miles of walking later I did in fact come across it, and got on with the job in hand – photographing the wedding. The cottage was certainly ‘cosy’ yet despite it’s size bridesmaids kept appearing one by one, each a fresh face that I’d not yet spotted. Clearly there were a lot of small rooms for folk to hide away in! After a flurry of action with make-up & hair, Anna slipped into her wedding dress which was made by her god mother, who was also on hand to help out.
It was a short trip next over to St Mary’s church in Bibury for the wedding ceremony. Up until this point it had stayed dry (despite the forecast of potential showers) and I really wasn’t sure how the day was going to pan out. Not only was the threat of rain a problem, the wind wasn’t playing ball either (unless you like the windswept look). Anna’s bridesmaids arrived promptly at the church (as instructed by Errol the vicar) but with some threatening clouds overhead. It was at this point I was hoping the chaos with getting the wedding car passed ‘badly’ parked guests cars wasn’t turning into such a debacle, as for each minute that ticked away, I figured we were getting one step closer to a pre wedding soaking. Alas it all turned out hunky dory in the end, albeit it the wind did whip up a storm and take Anna’s veil on a solo mission to the church (which wasn’t to be it’s last outing I later found out).
After this point the day went swimmingly, with no rain to spoil the key times throughout the day and some timely decisions made as to when the critical group shots needed to be executed. It was only later in the day I realised perhaps I should have considered taking the couple portraits a little sooner than I had, as Tom & Whisky are a very friendly combination……..this did however prove to keep things lively!
So without further ado here are a selection of photos from Tom & Anna’s Cripps Barn wedding.
I felt dad should have held up a score card or something at this point. He’d definitely have spotted that fly away piece of hair if the make-up lady hadn’t already done so!
Ummm, not sure…….
….okay, brush it a bit more.
Ahh, more members for the hair style judging panel.
Ohh, I think the hair has passed the mirror test. Good work ladies.
‘Anna & Tom 22.06.13’ – sewn in the hem of the wedding dress, sweet.
St Mary’s church, Bibury.
Bibury is certainly a pretty Cotswold village, but parking however is somewhat a problem when the area is populated by tourists enjoying an afternoon out. A few guests were certainly cutting it fine, many arriving after the bride :-)
Nervous, contemplative….or picking her finger nails? ;-)
Love this photo. I have no idea what five people need to do to a wedding dress at one time, and clearly the Chauffeur doesn’t either, so he propped the wall up and left the rest to get on with it.
Once turning the corner in the church yard Anna was greeted by a rather strong gusts of wind and despite walking faster than the speed of light, her veil had other ideas about getting to the church entrance attached to her head.
Errol is the most entertaining Vicar, but unfortunately for me doesn’t like photography at the front of the church during the ceremony. :-(
Whilst signing the wedding register, Anna had her school choir & other friends sing.
Anna had made a note on her booking paperwork that she wasn’t bothered about so many group shots, but wanted lots of photos of her friends and general wedding guests. This time outside the church after the wedding ceremony is brilliant for informal, natural wedding photography, and really helps complete the feel of the day when included within your collection of photos.
At this point I realised getting a straight face from Tom for any photos wasn’t going to be easy.
The group photo where the girls were involved………and……
….the boys!
Off they go to windy Cripps Barn…..
Anna’s veil wasn’t happy getting out of the car and decided to head off elsewhere for the wedding reception.
Meanwhile I battle on against the wind, on this occasion it won! You are meant to see the brides face in wedding photos right?
Wind 1 – 0 Matt
A highlight of the day (for some guests anyway) was the pairs croquet match……
….all that was needed was a quick brush up on the rules……
….followed by some fine skills on the lawn.
It’s not easy to play a croquet shot one footed and use the wall for a rebound.
How one want’s to imagine their wedding photos……
….what Tom’s really up to :-)
With some Whisky inside him though he knew how to ‘strike a pose’.
Having missed the pairs croquet match, Tom & Anna took it upon themselves to have a quick game before dinner. The technique clearly wasn’t in any rule book we were reading though!
With Whisky & wife in hand it was onto Cripps Barn’s open field for some of the ‘romantic stuff’. The wow photos, where the couple enjoy some alone time, and I get to take awesome photos worthy of a magazine front cover…..
….ahh, hang on, wedding guests photo bombing wasn’t part of the plan :-)
Whisky, wind and a funny walk…..it’s fair to say I struggled to take photos laughing so much at Tom, but did manage this snap as he left the field with a comedy stride. I’ve never seen a wedding bouquet wear a top hat either.
It wasn’t long ’till the food now and Anna had been very considerate in leaving out reading material should guests get bored during dinner.
Ian will be please. I hope he was tested on it later :-)
Like all men who’ve got a cake to cut, Tom approached it carefully.
All that effort for such a slim cut?
With cake cutting out the way it was onto the main event of the evening – wedding speeches.
Heckling from the front row was to be expected.
I think Tom was serious at this moment – I knew he had it in him.
I hope you’ve enjoyed looking at the photos. If you’ve been searching for Cripps Barn wedding photography and are having your wedding here please contact Matt Davis Photography for a chat.