Matara Centre Wedding Photography

Leah & Amelia

Shortly after the law was passed allowing same-sex marriages, we were booked for a wedding nearly two years ahead.  Right from the first time we spoke to them about their wedding plans, we knew theirs was going to be a dazzling, emotional and deeply personalised day.

The Matara Centre, which lies on the edge of Kingscote Park in rural Gloucestershire, was the venue of choice.   Created around a Grade II listed mansion house, the venue boasts a wide variety of spaces, woodlands and stunning formal gardens.  The Matara Centre is an eclectic, beautiful but slightly different wedding venue.  And it suited Leah and Amelia perfectly.

There were two wedding ceremonies.  The first –  the legal one – was held outside in the venue’s main courtyard.  This is a gorgeous space, with its large pond (complete with Koi) and a myriad of ornate structures and plants.   There then followed a short pagan blessing hosted by Matara’s owner, Geoffrey, followed by the tying of ribbons onto a wish tree and the planting of a rose bush bearing the couples’ names.   This is something the venue do for every couple who gets married there.

The crowd then relaxed into the drinks reception- a nice couple of hours where everyone could just chat and mingle before moving onto the meal.  As the guests enjoyed drinks and canapés, acrobat and performer Rachel Baird entertained the guests on stilts while magician Josh Brett of Deceptive Arts amazed everyone with his magic – he was really good!   :-)  The room set up for the meal looked simply stunning, with real trees provided by Enchanting Trees forming the centre-pieces for each table.  The venue’s own ‘wall of light’ provided the backdrop for the speeches, which were witty and heartfelt.

Following a spot of impromptu singing and dancing (!) the time came to take Leah and Amelia off for their second photo shoot.  After the earlier events it was nice to get away for a little while and enjoy the quiet evening air around Matara’s grounds, but the day was far from over.  Still to come was the acrobatics, Leah and Amelia’s first dance (with live music by iRock) and the final event for the day – the fire performance!

This was a HUGE day with so much to see and enjoy, but at the centre of it all was Leah and Amelia, who are just the happiest, liveliest and most sincere couple you could ever meet.  We absolutely loved working on their wedding and feel very privileged to be invited to photograph it all.  Thank you ladies!

This was a longer day for us than we normally work so there’s  ‘a few’ more pictures than usual.  Enjoy

Matara Centre wedding photography by Rob & Sarah Gillespie.  Husband and wife wedding photographers based in the Midlands, near Birmingham.