On Saturday 8th July 2017, I was at The Great Tythe Barn, a stunning Grade II listed, 16th century Cotswold stone barn in Tetbury, Gloucestershire. Today I was photographing the wedding of Sian and Lewis, a couple who know the secret to hosting a laid back and fun filled wedding day. In the morning I made my way to The Tythe House, the loving restored manor house of the estate, which was the location of the bridal preparations. I also managed to see the groom and his friends a couple of times during this time. As they were on site, firstly constructing the wooden sweet cart and secondly perfecting their ties whilst eating sandwiches and opening beer bottles.
The outdoor wedding ceremony was performed in glorious sun shine in the gardens, where later guests would enjoy refreshing drinks and a bouncy castle, though not at the same time! The wedding breakfast was served in the cool shade provided by the the stone built barn, where later entertaining speeches were delivered byt the father of the bride, the groom and of course the best man (men). I had met some groom’s family before when I photographed his sisters wedding, eight years ago, so it was lovely to see them again.
As a flagrant attempt of self promotion I would also like to share Sian and Lewis’ most gracious thank you note, which I received after sending their wedding photographs. I have been photographing weddings for over ten years now and the vast majority of my work comes from personal reccomendation, so I know I am doing somethign right. But it is always lovely to see your efforts being appreciated and put into such lovely words.
“We were truly so grateful to have you as our photographer on the day.
The photos are absolutely beautiful and exactly the photos we wanted. You’ve captured the joy, love and fun that we experienced during the day so perfectly, and looking at our photos enables us to relive our whole day again.
A huge thing for me was that you made us feel so comfortable and at ease with having our photo taken. I’m often especially conscious of having my photo taken and I had been worried I wouldn’t be able to relax. But I hardly noticed you taking the photos, and yet you still managed to capture me throughout the day. And when I was aware of the photos being taken, you made me feel comfortable and not conscious at all.
My mum is the same as me, and absolutely hates having her photo taken, but she looks incredible in all of them. The fact that there are so many where she was unaware of the photo being taken and looks so natural and happy, is truly a testament to your talent.
As well as taking the incredible documentary style photos that you are known for, you were so good and patient with us and our family, especially the kids, to get some posed ones as well.
It feels a little cheesy to say, but it felt as though you understood us as a couple, our style and the photos we wanted for the day.
As well as all of this, you stayed later to take photos of our first dance and cake cutting after they were postponed to much later on in the day, for which we cannot say thank you enough.
All of our family and friends have commented at how fantastic our photos are and how happy we must be with them.
Sorry for writing such a long message, but I really wanted to express how grateful we are and happy that we chose you to be our wedding photographer.
We would recommend you to anyone”
