Tracey and Brendan

Cotswold wedding photography at Hyde House and Hyde Barn, Stow-on-the-Wold. Gloucestershire.

Many professions rely on kind weather, and photography definitely prefers good weather. It doesn’t have to be beaming sunshine, in fact we hate bright sunlight, not to the point we disintegrate like Dracula, but we do like the sun hiding behind a cloud or two. So given the choice, we ask for fluffy white clouds and blues skies please!

During the week leading up to the wedding I was watching the weather forecast as I do with all weddings, hoping, praying even sun dancing for the best conditions. I am wishing this for the bride, groom and selfishly for myself too, for the camera of course! However this Saturday was not looking great and when I woke up in the morning, the torrential rain, grey to black sky and the BBC’s weather app validating rain till 8pm it confirmed my doubts. I must admit, I was determined to stay optimistic, maybe we’d get a little break or two in the rain, even a hopeful sunset? So my first impressions of what was going to be a photographic nightmare, actually turned in to one of my favourite Cotswold weddings for a long time! In your face rain!

One of the things I love about Hyde Barn, is the bridal suite, no matter the weather it oozes natural light and there is plenty of room to swing a cat and it’s family, giving the bride and bridesmaids space to get ready and do their stuff. I love the mirrors in there, great for catching reflective photos during the bridal preparations, and a snatching a few sneaky candid shots without people realising.

Tracey and Brendan are supercool and have impeccable taste, the decor, the details and pretty much everything about the wedding was extremely stylish. The vintage theme was very apparent, from the dress, the flowers, the shoes right down to the hangers and names tags, and wait till you see the cake table,  hmmmm the cake table! The stationary, tables settings, oh and lets not forget the bicycles outside, the old typewriter and what wedding wouldn’t be complete without a polaroid style camera? It was clear to see it was going to be an amazing day regardless of the weather.

Ready… steady… go

The getting ready stage is always a great part of the day, you slowly start to see all the great efforts made come together, hair and make-up stylists add their final touches, the flowers arrive, the dress goes on and one of my favourite bits, when dad comes in to the room to see his daughter for the first time in the dress. But of course it’s not all about the bride, Tracey, Brendan is looking sharp too in his navy blue suit, donning braces and a dickie bow. There really isn’t enough dickie bows at weddings! So with a little help from the best-men, Brendan is suited and booted and ready to greet the guests in the barn. The clock is ticking ever closer to the double doors kicking open and Brendan takes his spot at the aisle. Behind the door is Tracey’s silhouette and is moments away from turning in to two big beaming smiles. This is another part of the day I love, the nervous and excited groom turning around to see his wife to be, the excitement, emotion and happiness on their faces is just the best, and the proud look on dads face is pretty special too!

I do’s, high five’s and the first married kiss.

As Tracey and Brendan tied the knot, they sealed it with a high five, a kiss and a few squiggles in the register, now it was time to get the party started. So with the rain still pounding the grounds it was a cosy affair in the barn, however there was a brief light at the end of the tunnel with a slow down in the rain, we decide to dash everyone out into the drizzle and get a group photograph before the heavens unleashed the wet stuff again (or should i say the heavier wet stuff). Another great feature at Hyde Barn, is the lovely Arbour, so with that in mind we grabbed some formal shots there, Brendan did the gentlemanly thing and carried his wife over lawn, and the rest dashed over with umbrellas. We didn’t hang around today, firing through the formal shots, probably because i was out in the rain! Luckily with the style of my editing, the photos still look nice and colourful, if it wasn’t for the wet floor you would be hard pushed to know it was raining! Ok, lets go back inside now… please!

Top Table!

Make or break time… the speeches! I think photographers have some kind of intuition about speeches, you just know when they are going to be killers or die on their backside, and these speeches were killers, the room was in stitches, and the photos clearly show that, you have got to love a GOOD best-man speech, with a few dodgy photos of course! What happens at Hyde barn stays at Hyde Barn!

With the tales told and the food enjoyed, we braved the rain again. So armed with my trusty Birdcage umbrella and very willing and relaxed newlyweds we embraced the wet stuff. I was so pleased that Brendan and Tracey weren’t going to let the rain stop them, so we headed over to the main building, Hyde House, grabbed a few indoor photographs and then challenged the drizzle again! If you can’t beat the wet stuff you have to join the wet stuff, although this wet stuff came in the form of a glass bottle full of rum and a Go-Pro camera attached to it! Now this is a video I do want to see, because if the still images are anything to go by, then the moving ones must be hilarious!

Rain…

Frolics, Fetti and First Dance

With the Go-Pro’s doing the rounds (selfie stick and rum bottle cam) it was time for the drinks to flow, the confetti to be launched and the first dance shapes to thrown. Brendan and Tracey graced the floor and with the first dance immortalised on camera the dance floor filled in no time. The serious moves were being busted and that was my cue to escape the dance floor, especially with that rum kicking in!

Weather cycles

So Mr BBC weather app? What about this rain stopping at 8pm?  Tracey and Brendan were determined to get some photos on their retro, (goes without saying) cool bikes, so cloths in hand and a “no rain is going to stop us” attitude we headed to towel down those bicycles.

Earlier in the day I had mentioned to Tracey about having a feeling there WAS going to be a sunset (praying more like), and went all photography geeky on her, I explained the best time to photograph is about an hour or so before the sunset, commonly know as the ‘golden hour’  (stay with me…) as you get beautiful light then. Going back to the point outside, towelling down the bikes, the rain is showing signs of stopping. We grab a few bike shots and I notice a light orange glow, to which I hear Tracey say “it’s the golden hour”, I could not believe our luck! The clouds split horizontally and the sun broke out giving the most incredible light (sorry going nerdy again) and I was happy as a woman’s foot in a Christian Louboutin. Kick stands kicked, we were off to seek the illusive sunshine. Hunter wellies at there ready we trundled the grass, headed for the fields and perched on the fence. I haven’t seen a sky like this for a long time, it was truly special and I was so incredibly happy it happened for Brendan and Tracey. It was a real bonus and felt like it gave us a special end to the day, photographically speaking. For me it just summed up what a great day it was and what a beautiful couple they are. I am sure the end of the day ended with more smiles, laughs and shining moments, and probably a few liquid refreshments, my guess not rainwater! I wish The Murray’s a huge congratulations and all the best in the future, and pleased to see nothing dampened your spirits! 😉

To see more weddings at Hyde Barn / Hyde House wedding venue, click here.