When Andrea first got in touch with me she said that their wedding would be happening in Nick’s parents garden located in the Warwick hamlet of Beausale, Warwickshire, it would be a very relaxed affair, and that they were looking for a wedding photographer who would capture their day in a subtle and untraditional way. I love to unobtrusively capture the wedding day as it happens and my style is definitely not traditional so it sounded like a perfect match.
Festival Wedding
I met up with Andrea & Nick at The Barn (Nick’s parents’ house) where the wedding was to be held, and we chatted about how they wanted the day to have more of a party / festival feel than a traditional wedding atmosphere. We talked about how they were going to have a massive marquee in the garden, have Fernando from Suculento Catering arriving in the morning to cook up fresh paella for the wedding breakfast, and how they were going to have an amazing band called Swing Zazou performing throughout the evening. After the meeting, I couldn’t wait for the wedding!
It was a summer wedding and, as we had all hoped, the day started off with sunshine and beautiful blue skies. I arrived at The Barn to take some photos to set the scene and a few photos of Nick and his ushers setting things up for the day before heading over to The Globe in Warwick where Andrea was getting ready with her mum, her sister (who was one of her bridesmaids) and her other four bridesmaids.
When I arrived at The Globe, Andrea was having her hair done in her room. As soon as her hair was ready she joined her bridesmaids in the function room where the girls drank Champagne, Andrea handed out presents to her bridesmaids and everyone was laughing and having a good time. I stayed until everyone was ready to take some photos of Andrea and her bridesmaids and then headed back over to The Barn so I could be there for when they arrived.
Humanist Ceremony
It was a fun and relaxed humanist ceremony where Andrea and Nick had planned some very untraditional but great songs such as Stand by Me by Ben E. King and Is this Love? by Bob Marley and The Wailers. They included an old Scottish tradition of drinking whisky from a quaich, which is a small silver dish with two handles. This was shared with Andrea’s sister and Nick’s best man. The ceremony finished with lavender confetti being thrown as Andrea and Nick ran back down the aisle hand in hand!
After a group shot of all of the guests straight after the ceremony it was on to the drinks reception. Canapés, including freshly sliced Serrano Ham, were served along with glasses of fizz as everyone enjoyed the summer sunshine. After a short while, I took Andrea and Nick off for a few photos of the two of them together. They didn’t want anything too posed or formal so I just took a few nice shots of them in the garden on the other side of the barn so they didn’t feel uncomfortable being watched by their guests. We then did the family group shots with The Barn proving to be the perfect backdrop.
The wedding breakfast started with a speech from the father of the bride before the starter of cured meets, olives and bread. Then the groom’s speech followed before the main course of freshly cooked paella! After this it was the bride’s best man’s speech before finishing with the groom’s best man’s speech. The speeches were great and had family and guests all laughing together.
Outdoor Wedding
Shortly after the wedding breakfast, Andrea and Nick cut their wedding cake – a stunning cake covered in summer berries! Then they had their first dance – not the usual awkward shuffle, it looked like they’d been practising! Plenty of people joined them to have a boogie afterwards before heading back outside to enjoy the remaining evening light. I was going to take a final few photos of the happy couple together, then, as darkness set in, the tree lights were switched on, candles lit and fire pits started up, I ended up staying fairly late as I was enjoying capturing everything that was still going on. As I left, the band Swing Zazou were sounding incredible and had a full dance floor in front of them. An amazing wedding!
I hope you enjoy the photos…