Weddings as we know happen all year round. Though some months have many more weddings than others. January is, well at least from my perspective, the quietest moth for weddings. Followed closely by February. I’m hoping this blog post will question why there are less weddings this time of year given the joy and happiness in this February Cotswolds Wedding. Obviously reasons for the summer are obvious, though this here is to give you a little winter wedding inspiration.
As a Cotswolds Wedding Photographer I was delighted when Laura + Charles asked me to photograph their wedding at he fabulous Cripps Barn located just outside Cirencester. I hope you enjoy these images just as much as I enjoyed making them.
Mid Cotswolds Bridal Preparations
I get asked sometimes if I get bored just going to wedding after wedding after wedding. The truth is, every wedding is so so different. The people are different, the light is different, the atmosphere, the energy. I could go on and on about how different they are. Using the bridal preparations as an example. Sometimes I just arrive and there are 3-4 people (including the bride) just hanging out and taking it slow. Sometimes I arrive and there are 12 bridesmaids, 6 hair and make up, 6 close family family members all crammed into a hotel room.
Lauras bridal preparations where far from the latter with a little more than 3-4 people hanging out. Laura got ready for her wedding in a really nice cottage not to far from the wedding venue. The mother of the bride and Lauras bridesmaids all present and the morning was really calm and relaxing. The cottage had low ceilings and small windows, this made most of the rooms look a little dark. Though it also created the most beautiful light when near the windows. It was a really nice, calm and relaxed start to an incredible wedding.
Sometimes barn wedding ceremonies can be tricky as the light isn’t always ideal. The wedding ceremony location at Cripps Barn is simply gorgeous. Always helps having a really nice couple getting married right in front of you in Laura + Charles. You can see from the feature photo at the top of the page how good the light is here. One of the downsides you might say to a February wedding is that it’s likely to be cold. You’d be right. The good thing about that though is people get closer together, hug more and make everything more intimate. You can see from this first image below showing the power of a good hug. There was non stop smiling during this magical barn ceremony for these guys. Including myself smiling from behind the camera. I really proud of this Cripps Barn Wedding Photography and I can wait to make more magical wedding photos for more happy couples in the near future!
There are so many wedding venues in The Cotswolds and as far as I’m concerned, they’re all great for making portraits of couples. This is because my approach to making photos of just my couples is to just allow them to be themselves. I give some minor direction and then capture the personalities together. It was really cold and bitter on Laura + Charles wedding day but you can just see in these wedding photos how happy they are together. Like I said earlier too, its nice they get to keep each other warm for their brief walk outside.
Another down side to a winter wedding is that you lose the light pretty early. So for Laura + Charles I set up some Off Camera Flash (OCF) to add some dynamics to the look of the photos. I feel like the flash really freezes the moment. So when there are reactions etc happen during there speeches the lighting really helps with this. You can see how dark the rooms are here at Cripps Barn so doing the cutting of the cake and the first dance I have again used OCF to make the images look a little more Dynamic. In my early years of shooting and not understanding OCF, a February Cotswolds Wedding may have been intimidating with light being limited. Though having a good understanding of using OCF I’ve made these images look pretty cool. At least I think so!
If you’re having a winter wedding in The Cotswolds and you like what you see across my website and social media, I’d love to hear from you. It would be great to hear what type of wedding you’re planning. I have limited availability now as I’ve reduced the number of weddings I take on each year by almost half. You can email me about your wedding at ste@stewalkerphotography.co.uk or complete the short wedding enquiry form using the button below.
