Wedding photography at Berkeley Castle from Dominic & Jannene’s wedding in Septemebr 2012.
If you’re looking for a quintessential Cotswold village for your wedding, then look no further than Naunton in Gloucestershire, which literally glows golden as a result of the sandstone that makes up it’s building stock. It oozes charm, yet is slightly off the beaten track from the well known tourist spots such as nearby Bourton-on-the-Water. This beautiful village is where Dominic & Jannene live, and chose to get married in their parish church before heading off to Berkeley Castle for the wedding reception.
I originally met Jannene several months ago when she first booked, but she’d been keeping Domnic a secret from me at this time (okay, so he was busy no doubt). I therefore only got the full low down from Jannene’s perspective.
Fast forward to 2 weeks before the wedding and I finally got around to meeting both of them. It was at this point I realised Jannene liked writing lists and struggled to let go of the reins, whilst Dominic on the other hand had a far more laid back approach and very much favoured my documentary wedding style. This wasn’t going to be a straight forward wedding I concluded: not due to bad weather or a grumpy vicar, but the need to please two different viewpoints when it comes to the photos. Firstly Jannene’s list of multiple group shots, blended with Dominics requirement for me to capture the day as it really is.
Thankfully, my diplomacy (my wife will laugh at that) paid dividends and between Dominic and myself we managed to tailor the day a little less around ‘posed photos’ and more about an informal wedding day to be remembered.
There’s lot’s to say about this wedding day, so take a look at the photos below, and hopefully you’ll enjoy them.
The picturesque church of St Andrew’s in Naunton, Gloucestershire……with the beautifully mown pathway that leads to Dominic & Jannene’s house (literally behind me in this photo) – how perfect is that for a wedding set up?
The house that’s impossible to photograph! This is such a lovely house, but has many different parts to it, it’s really hard to do justice to in just one photo.
Who ended up wearing that red dress….I don’t recall seeing it in action?
So this moment is all about ‘mum’ who came in all a fluster. Never fear, ‘Rescue Remedy’ is here!
Yeah, just a couple of drops, not the whole bottle.
Ahh that’s better. Now let’s hug it out!
This was the day of discovery: apparently you don’t need a belt when wearing braces – got it folks.
Some’s pleased with the back of their hair – did you do that hairdo too Adam?
Such a great hairstyle – especially for B&W photos.
I’ve had to show these two photos consecutively, otherwise the one blow could look a little odd. Adam wasn’t in fact just peering at Jannene’s bum, he was actually ‘doing up the dress’.
Dominic’s son, rolls up with a smile…..
…shortly followed by Jannene’s mum (working the slippers look pretty well, even if I do say so myself).
It’s the slightest of touch that makes the difference. I love this photo where Jannene kisses her head and also holds her had when they meet for the first time in the morning.
A short stroll from the house to the church, simply through their garden gate……..how good is that?
Another ‘touching’ moment. I also love the fact Jannene’s brother shares a smile as he watches on.
If you’ve been keeping up on FB, you’ll have seen this photo above before. I love the reassuring gesture from Dominic’s son as they both watch Jannene walk up the aisle.
If I can have a favourite photo from the wedding, this is most probably it. The Church of St Andrew’s has the best light I’ve come across in a long time. The vicar even pointed out how light the church was…..and this sweet spot lighting up Jannene’s veil is fantastic. So ladies, veil up or veil behind – its a no brainer surely……how could you not want it down – ohh the drama, love it.
Just look at those super size windows…..come on in beautiful light and make my day a dream come true.
I’ve included this photo above (and below) as it’s probably one of my favourite reasons for being a photographer…..and that is, noticing other peoples expressions that surround a moment. Observing people is a big part of documentary photography, and whilst you could crop this photo tightly (just to emphasise the relationship between Dom & his Mother In Law), I much prefer to see the people around them at that time too. These are often the photos you’ll look at for much longer afterwards too, as they include people close to you, and are real moments, not posed or staged.
Check out the tilted head from Jannene’s mum…priceless.
This wasn’t set up for me, but I snapped it anyhow. You couldn’t ask for a better photo of various interactions between different people all in one frame – amazing.
Before we left for Berkeley Castle Dominic & Jannene wanted a couple of photos around Naunton village. Although idea sounding (in advance of the wedding), on the actual day a big red bus and many guests cars parked along the road meant it wasn’t quite as straight forward as we’d hoped!
Inside Berkeley Castle, set ready for the wedding breakfast.
Flowers were done by Maria of Sorori Design.
At this point I wondered exactly why the cake table was all alone, not tucked into the window spot as it normally is. Following a quick chat with Emma (I think that was her name) who made the cake, she decided it needn’t be quite so on show, and they both decided to just move it to a new setting. Gotta love a bride who’s happy to help out,….whilst I watch on, hoping the cake will fall in some spectacular style making photo history! Alas, unfortunately that didn’t happen.
Yeah, lovin’ that :-)
The start of the speech was the simple bit…….
….but it got a lot harder later on.
Dominic’s son stood in for support and handily produced my second favourite photo of the day. Gotta love emotion at a wedding.
If you are having a wedding at Berkeley Castle and looking for a photographer please get in touch. I am a recommended supplier here and have many examples of wedding photography at Berkeley Castle on my blog.