Malvern College Wedding & Home Marquee Reception

Hannah and Nick found us online. They were very clear on what they wanted from their wedding photography – no fuss, minimal formalities and as much relaxed, candid coverage of the day as possible.  It’s always great to meet people who know exactly what they want from their photography and given our love of working in a more ‘documentary’ or ‘photojournalistic’ style, we were really chuffed when they booked us :-)

Hannah and her two bridesmaids got ready at her father’s beautiful home just outside Worcester.  Special mention must be made of Hannah’s fantastic bouquet.  Made entirely from old metal brooches that Hannah had gathered over the previous months, the arrangement was quite heavy but looked absolutely stunning.  Wedding flowers are always nice to photograph and we see just about every different type going, but this was a real departure from the norm.  Beautiful.

The actual wedding took place in a really lovely building on the Malvern College campus.  The Memorial Library, with it’s beautifully light interior, provided an ideal setting considering the couple’s love of literature and this theme continued with the specially-designed Order of Service cards, made to look like a classic Penguin novel.  Subtle and very nicely done.

The garden party reception was also held at Hannah’s family home.  We’d paid a visit a few weeks prior for their pre-wedding shoot and at the time we couldn’t quite envisage how the marquee was going to  sit in the spacious garden.  A supporting platform raised the marquee above a slope and the edge of reed beds at one end of the large pond.  Clever, and very effective, giving the guests a higher than usual vantage point across the water and the gardens.  The marquee looked fabulous from the outside but under the cover were several comfy sofas, a properly equipped bar and also several large wooden tables which Nick had made himself in the weeks prior to the wedding.  We can honestly say this is the first wedding we’ve ever worked on where the groom made the furniture :-)

The table setups were again simply done, but just looked gorgeous.   Each guest had a name tag made in from a small paper boat – each one made individually by hand.   Of course, many of these ended up being ‘sailed’ on the pond later in the evening.

The couple wanted to keep the photo session of them alone quite short so they could spend the maximum time with their guests possible.  We kept things simple and used our favourite spots around the garden in time for the meal to be served.  We were very kindly sat with the guests which meant we could enjoy the food and soak up the atmosphere along with everyone else.  The fabulous catering was provided by Kemp & Kemp.

This wedding was an absolute joy to photograph.  Many of the time restraints we normally have to work under were not present and the focus was very much on capturing the day in a discreet, candid manner.  Very often, these kinds of pictures are done in-between the more important events of the day, but here, the ‘candids’ took priority and we absolutely relished the opportunities.   To Hannah and Nick – thank you.  We hope you enjoy your pictures as much as we did taking them.