“We love all the photos!”
A wedding with part-day coverage at St Peter’s Church Bourton-on-Dunsmore & Bourton Hall, photographed by Robin & Sarah
September brought us to Warwickshire for our first ever visit to the wonderful Bourton Hall, located in the village of Bourton-on-Dunsmore, a few miles south-west of Rugby. We had wanted to work here since it opened for weddings a few years ago, so we were really happy when M&L got in touch earlier in the year to ask us about photographing their day. We came back with a really positive impression of Bourton Hall as a venue, in terms of the building itself, the grounds and of course the staff. Over the years, Warwickshire is the county we’ve worked in more than any other You can see more on our Warwickshire wedding photography page.
Part-day coverage for a beautiful September wedding
The couple didn’t want the entirety of the day photographed, but did want the two of us to cover the most important parts, starting with the latter part of the bride getting ready, the wedding ceremony at St Peter’s church in the same village and the afternoon reception all the way to the start of the meal. In total this was 4 hours of coverage but we packed an awful lot into that time and we were able to deliver a varied and balanced set of photos for them. If you’d like to read more about our part-day service, you can do so here.
We arrived at the venue nice and early to have a thorough look around the house and gardens, get some important establishing photos and say hello to the staff we’d be working alongside. The staff can make or break our impression of a venue and we have to say that the Bourton Hall team were outstanding – especially the coordinator who was helpful, generous with his time, knew every detail of what was happening and was always on top of everything.
Bride preparations in the Lady Bourton Suite
Bourton Hall has 21 bedrooms and the largest is the Lady Bourton Honeymoon Suite. It’s a beautiful room, with tall windows, a high ceiling and a separate dressing room and large ensuite bathroom. It also has a lovely balcony that overlooks the beautiful grounds of the venue, across the countryside to Draycote Water and beyond. This is exactly the kind of space that works well for photos of the bride getting ready for the day, with plenty of space and beautiful natural daylight.
Here, M and her three bridesmaids had a relaxed, quiet morning and Robin joined them about an hour before they were due to leave for ceremony. Ample time to photograph some of the key details, the general atmosphere, the dress being fastened and of course a handful of portraits and a quick group of the girls together before they left the venue for the church.
Wedding ceremony at St Peter’s church Bourton-on-Dunsmore
Bourton-on-Dunsmore is a small, rural village and the next most prominent feature after Bourton Hall is St Peter’s church. We’d actually photographed a wedding at St Peter’s a few years prior – though with a different reception venue. It was while searching online about the church that the couple found us – you can see that other wedding here.
St Peter’s is a beautiful countryside parish church and is one of eight churches that make up the Draycote and Leam Valley Benefice, under the guidance of Reverend Phil Price who also conducted M&L’s ceremony.
The groom didn’t need photos of him and the groomsmen getting ready, so instead Sarah met him and the other fellas at the church, shortly before the guests were due to arrive. This actually happens quite often when the two of us are covering a wedding and it gives Sarah chance to get some thoughtful establishing details of the church before people start to arrive.
The bride and bridesmaids chose to walk from Bourton Hall to the church – it’s only a short walk down the main high street of the village, but even so, fair play to them for doing this in their dresses and heels!
The ceremony itself was lovely and we were able to photograph it from the front and rear to cover the proceedings in detail. Of particular note was the reading from the bride’s sister and a wonderful performance by one of the bride’s friends, who sang while the marriage register was being signed.
Church weddings make up an important part of our work. You can read more about how we approach church weddings here.
Confetti & hugs outside St Peter’s
The part of the day immediately after the wedding ceremony is always one of our favourites. On this occasion the couple took a few minutes for themselves inside a quiet corner of the church, while the guests made their way outside and got in place for the confetti throw. St Peter’s has ample space outside for people to spread out and once everyone was in place we gave the signal and the couple made their way out of the church while everyone through confetti over them. Again, we were able to cover this from two angles – Sarah stayed back just inside the church entrance while Robin tracked backward as the couple moved forward. Always a lovely moment to capture!
There then came a few minutes where the couple were able to mingle with the guests. This is the first chance the guests have to speak to the couple once they’re married, so it’s a really important time, full of unguarded moments as everyone congratulates the newlyweds.
Wedding drinks reception at Bourton Hall
With the church ceremony complete it was time for drinks back at Bourton Hall. This start in the main entrance hall of the venue and gradually moved outside as the sunshine improved.
The couple wanted a little bit of time to themselves at the venue before joining the drinks reception and asked for a few photos on the balcony of the Lady Bourton Suite. Robin covered this on his own while Sarah stayed with the drinks reception downstairs.
The balcony is a feature of the venue that will probably be used in every wedding and the views across the grounds and into the Warwickshire countryside are beautiful.
The couple wanted a few arranged group photos but they were simple and easy to manage and just felt like a natural part of the afternoon reception.
Couple photos at Bourton Hall
As the couple had planned for more time during the afternoon reception than is often given, we were able to photograph a varied and detailed session of the two of them together, using most of the key areas of Bourton Hall’s house and grounds. Had we been there for full-day coverage we probably would have split the couple photos between afternoon and evening, but with us covering a short portion of the day it was a high priority to get really use the time well during the afternoon.
When it comes to the couple photo session, we try to show off the venue as much as possible, while still keeping the pictures about the couple. It means rather than keeping the cameras up-close all the the time, we let the scene breathe. We still want the photos to be personal and to capture the couple’s personalities, but we try and include as much visual context as we can. Choosing a wedding venue is the largest single decision a couple will make for their wedding, so it stands to reason that this choice is complemented with the pictures.
M&L were a lot of fun on their couple shoot – and they genuinely seemed to enjoy the bit of time away from the crowd. One of the bridesmaids offered to help with arranging the dress – honestly, one of the most helpful things a bridesmaid can do on a wedding day!
The couple photos started in the beautiful Italianate Gallery – a curved walkway between the main house and the chapel used for civil wedding services. The gallery is a really unique feature of Bourton Hall and is a great spot for photos of the couple, especially with the sunshine filtering through the ornate windows.
We then took the couple on a tour of the grounds, using the rose garden and working out way down to a spot that is left to grow a little more wild, which is always a nice contrast to the neat, formal part of the gardens.
Garden games and entrance for wedding meal
By this point in the afternoon the guests were enjoy garden games in the sunshine and although we got many photos of the couple around the grounds we were always conscious of getting them back to their wedding party as soon as we could.
Our coverage was due to finish at the entrance for the meal so before guests started to take their seats, we got a few detail photos of Bourton Hall’s Banqueting Hall while it was still empty. Then with the guests seated, a quick announcement was made and in the couple came to claps and cheers from the crowd. A lovely way to finish off our coverage of M&L’s day.
Planning your wedding at Bourton Hall?
We were really impressed with our first experience of working at Bourton Hall. If you like the look of our photos at this venue, you can read further about the way we work, check pricing and make an enquiry.
Thanks for looking. We’d love to hear from you.
See our other weddings in Warwickshire
Wedding at The White Swan, Stratford-upon-Avon
See More“We are THRILLED. Thank you so much again for all your work and preparation”
Wedding at Old Rail Farm, Warwickshire
See More“We are forever grateful and we will cherish our memories in photo form for life”
Wedding at The Henley Room & The Barn at Berryfields
See More“We had a real laugh with Robin and we trusted his creative photography fully. He pays huge attention to detail, aiming to really incorporate the surroundings in our photos, and his perfectionism really shines through.”
Wedding at The Henley Room with River Cruise
See More“Thank you so much for sending these over! They’re beautiful! We love them so much!! Thank you so much for everything on the day (and all your work afterwards). They’re perfect!”
Wedding at St Botolph’s Church & Coombe Abbey
See More“Time has been a blur so we’ve not had the chance to say thank you for how great you both were on the day, making us feel super comfortable. Thank you so much for our photos we love them!!!”
Wedding at St Peter’s Dunchurch & Wethele Manor
See More“We have been so impressed by Robin and Sarah’s creativity, using the lighting on a very hot day to create the most beautiful photos. We will certainly treasure our photos forever!”
Intimate Wedding
at Coombe Abbey
See More“Thank you SO MUCH. We absolutely love them and you have captured the day so beautifully.”
Moxhull Hall Wedding
See More“Thank you so much for the wonderful photos – we are both completely bowled over by just how many there are and the quality is outstanding.”
Wedding at St Pauls Leamington & Dorothea Mitchell Hall
See More“We are absolutely lost for words – you have captured the day so beautifully!”
Wedding at Cider Mill Barns, Warwickshire
See More“Absolutely love the photos, you captured the feeling of the day so well! We’ve had lots of compliments on the photos from the people we’ve shared them with so thanks again for doing such a good job of capturing everything!”
Wedding at St Faiths Kilsby & Wethele Manor
See More“Thank you so much for these and for all your help and work on the day! We did as you advised and watched the slideshow last night on a proper screen and it was like being back there! The photos are amazing. We have no idea how you seemed to be everywhere all the time! We really love them!”
Wedding at Long Buckby & Warwick Castle
See More“Thank you so much for the photographs, we absolutely love them!”
Micro Wedding in
Stratford-upon-Avon
See More“The photos themselves are absolutely stunning, and everyone who sees them comments on how gorgeous they are. “
Small Wedding at Mallory Court
See More“We were really happy with the photos Robin took and moments that he captured of our big day. Highly recommended for a personal and outstanding service.”
Summer Wedding at Gorcott Hall
See More“On the day they made us feel completely relaxed and captured the mood of our incredible (hot) day at Gorcott Hall! Would recommend highly to all.”
Wedding at The Henley Room & Cox’s Yard, Stratford-upon-Avon
See More“Thank you so much, they are brilliant!”
Wedding at St Peter’s Bourton & Coombe Abbey
See More“The photos are absolutely fantastic, thank you so much”
Wedding at St Giles Packwood & Wethele Manor
See More“Thank you both so much for the absolutely incredible photos you took on our special day; they completely surpassed what we thought possible!”
Wedding at The Henley Room & The Townhouse,
Stratford-upon-Avon
See More“Those are amazing! Thank you so much! Can’t express how fantastic you guys have been – thanks for shooting our day!”
Summer Wedding at
Swallows Nest Barn
See More“They know what they are doing!! They manage to capture the atmosphere, the expressions of friends and family and all the things it is so easy for the bride and groom to miss on the day.”
Wedding All Saints Church & Sherbourne Park
See More“Everyone commented on how hard Robin and Sarah worked. They fitted in perfectly with the flow of the day and we were pleased to have them join us as guests. Robin and Sarah have truly made us feel like friends rather than customers and that is also something we are really thankful for. We wouldn’t hesitate in recommending them!”
Wedding at St Mary Magdelane & Home Reception
See More“We are so excited and beyond happy with the photos they are incredible neither of us have stopped looking at them yet even on our honeymoon whenever we got wifi we were looking through them!”
Coughton Court Wedding
See More“We love the pictures. seeing the different perspectives we would have otherwise missed. We are so pleased and excited to have looked through these.”