Lianna and Joe’s wedding shows a very different side of Wootton Park to the warmer weddings I’ve photographed there.
The trees were still bare, the temperature had dropped and their ceremony had originally been planned for outside beside the water.
Everything was set up and ready to go.
The weather had other ideas.
With the cold setting in and rain threatening, the registrars made the call to move the ceremony indoors.
That is always the gamble with a winter or cold-weather wedding. A bit of rain in the middle of summer is one thing. When everyone is going to be sitting still outside in genuinely cold weather, moving things indoors can very quickly become the sensible option.
The morning started with Lianna and Joe both getting ready at Wootton Park.
There were a few details worth picking up along the way, including a small photograph attached to Lianna’s bouquet, alongside everything else happening as everyone got themselves ready.
Outside, the venue looked completely different to the middle of summer. The trees were bare, the colours around the grounds were much more muted and everything had that unmistakable cold-weather feel to it.
The ceremony had originally been planned for outside beside the water, and the outdoor space had already been set up ready for everyone.
Unfortunately, cold weather and increasingly questionable skies meant the plan did not survive.
When the registrars arrived, the decision was made to move everything inside.
One of the useful things about Wootton Park is that a change like this does not suddenly wreck the day. The weather made the decision, everyone moved inside and the wedding simply carried on.
Joe waited at the front while Lianna made her way down the aisle, and from there I mostly left them to it.
There were plenty of smiles between the two of them, the rings, the first kiss and then the two of them heading back down the aisle together.
Once the ceremony was over everyone could head outside without having to spend half an hour sitting still wondering whether they could still feel their fingers.
It was straight into confetti, hugs and drinks rather than turning the reception into a photoshoot.
We did make use of the grounds for a few photographs of Lianna and Joe together.
Nothing complicated. A few around the trees, down by the waterside gazebo and sitting together on one of the benches before getting them back to everyone else.
Winter gives you a completely different version of Wootton Park to the middle of summer. The trees are bare, the colours are quieter and the grounds feel much more stripped back, but that does not mean they stop working for photographs.
Then it was back inside for the wedding breakfast.
The speeches brought plenty of reactions around the room, with Lianna and Joe spending a good chunk of them laughing at the top table.
They had also gone for a doughnut tower rather than a traditional wedding cake, which I am completely on board with.
Once the formalities were finished, the room changed completely for the evening.
Lianna and Joe had their first dance surrounded by everyone before the dance floor properly got going.
Then everyone headed outside for something slightly less conventional.
A fire dancer performed in front of Wootton Park for the guests, which was not a bad way of bringing some heat back into a wedding that had started with an outdoor ceremony being abandoned because it was too bloody cold.
Lianna and Joe also came outside with me for one quick photograph in the circular tunnel in the gardens before heading straight back to the party.
By the end of the evening they were doing shots at the bar with their guests, which seems like a considerably more accurate place to finish their wedding story.
If you want your photos to feel like your day actually did.
No awkward posing. No staged moments. No turning your wedding into a photoshoot.
Most couples I work with want to spend the day with their people, not disappear for hours taking photographs. So I keep things simple. I document what’s happening, step in when you need me, and get you back to your wedding.
Big country house, registry office or somewhere in between, the job stays the same. Honest photographs of the people, atmosphere and moments that made the day yours.
Years from now, I want the photographs to take you straight back to it.