St Elizabeth’s House - A Spring Wedding
I'm so pleased to be able to share photos from this fantastic wedding, which took place this spring. I was initially booked for 7 hours coverage for this wedding, which would have been enough time to capture the ceremony through to the first dance. However, some lovely family members reached out to me and paid to upgrade the coverage to my full day coverage package. My full day package doesn’t have time restrictions so I started at 9:30am and finished at 9pm. This is a much longer day than usual as most weddings only need 10 hours to capture the full day, but every wedding is different. It may have been a long day but it flew by because I had so much fun capturing it on camera. I’m so glad I was able to be there for the full day in the end, so I didn’t have to miss out on such an awesome wedding day.
Bridal Prep
My day began at the Bride and Groom's house in Tavistock, where Shaunna was getting ready with her bridal party. Shaunna had seven bridesmaids and three flower girls, her mother was also there in the morning to get ready with all the girls. The house was packed with people because there were also two hairdressers, two make up artists, a videographer and myself working. However despite having so many people there and so much going on, it didn't feel chaotic or cramped. Everything ran on time and everyone had everything they needed.
Hair: Hair From the Heart
Hair: Styled By Jessica Dodd
Make Up: The Looking Glass Hair & Makeup Studio
Flowers: Milli Fleur
Wedding Dress: The Bridal Corner - Plymouth
Dress Fittings & Alterations: All Stitched Up
Groomsmen Prep
Shaunna wasn't fussed about me capturing photos of her getting into her dress, instead she asked that I head to the venue and capture some photos of Cody with his Groomsmen. Google Maps said it was a 40 minute drive to St Elizabeth's House but there was a bit of traffic on the road which delayed things slightly. There are also other things that make a journey like this last a little longer for a wedding supplier, for example I have to pack the cameras away for travel, park my car, speed eat a packet of crisps, pop to the loo, get the cameras back out, speak to the venue coordinator, find the Groom etc etc. So that 40 minute journey ends up as roughly an hour where I'm not able to document moments on camera. This is definitely a downside to weddings that don't take place all in the one location. When planning a timeline with my clients before the wedding, I always make sure they are aware that it’s not just a case of looking at Google Maps and seeing how long it takes to get from A to B. Extra time should always be factored in for traffic, parking, and setting up/settling in at the next location. My packages are hourly and that time starts from when I start working on the day and ends when I finish for the day. So although I don't include my travel time from my house and back, all other travel does eat into the time I'm booked for. This is why upgrading to the full day package was such an amazing gift for family to give to the happy couple.
I was set up at the venue with my camera back in my hand at around midday and the ceremony wasn’t due to begin until 1pm. So I had roughly an hour to capture some photos of Cody and his Groomsmen, plus some photos of the venue and décor. It was nice to have that time to settle into the venue because normally I’d be arriving just ten minutes or so ahead of the Bride. If I had of stayed longer in Tavistock and waited til Shaunna was in her dress before I made my way to the venue, then it definitely wouldn’t have left enough time for these photos of Cody with his Groomsmen. This is a perfect example of a couple compromising capturing one moment, in order to capture another. Sure, if they had added a second photographer to their package with me then both moments could easily have been documented. But adding a second photographer isn’t cheap and it really wouldn’t have been worth paying that extra just for the sake of that one hour where I couldn’t be in two places at once. This couple found a way around it, so that they both had some morning prep photos and it really was the perfect plan.
Venue: St Elizabeth’s House
Chair Covers: My Special Day Wedding Planning & Events
Cake: Cakes By Hannah
Outside Games: Vintage Fun & Games Hire
Limo: All Star Limousines
The Ceremony
It was such a beautiful day and so the ceremony was able to take place outside. It was the first time I've witnessed an outdoor ceremony at St Elizabeth's. I wasn't even aware they held outdoor ceremonies so it was a nice surprise for me, and it's not often that I experience something different at a venue I've worked at a few times before.
Confetti & Group Photos
I allowed 10 minutes or so for the new Mr and Mrs to mingle with their guests and have a drink before we made a start on the formal photos. This allowed time for the venue to move the chairs away, so that we could use the same area for the confetti aisle photo and also for the big group photo. We did the confetti and large group photo there purely because it had the space we needed for those. But the light was actually not nice for photography there, so for the rest of the group photos we moved into the shade. There wasn't much shade around to chose from as we had clear blue skies and it was roughly 2pm, but there was one nice spot under a tree that was just about big enough for the group photos we'd planned out.
I'm always so thankful when couples are happy to move into the shade for photos. Often couples will want to be out in the sunshine so they can use the venue as a backdrop or a lovely view as a backdrop, but there are many disadvantages to having your photos in direct sunlight. Firstly, direct sunlight is not a flattering light source. When in harsh direct sunlight, you'll find that your own facial features will cast shadows on the rest of your face. For example your nose will cast a shadow underneath it, and your eyes will be dark (especially if you have long eyelashes). This can sometimes be improved by shooting with flash as the flash will fill in those shadows but that's really not as simple as it sounds and may not work so well depending on the size of the group, among other factors. So when there’s harsh direct sunlight with no cloud cover, the solution is usually to fix it in edit - lifting the dark shadows and reducing the bright highlights, which is what I had to do for these confetti photos.
Another downside of shooting subjects with direct sunlight on their faces is that you’ll often have people squinting and some people will not be able to open their eyes at all. The way I see it is that group photos should be about the people in the photos and not the backdrop. Yes I understand if you’ve picked a specific venue because you love the way it looks or you love the view it offers. But if you have a bright day with no cloud coverage then you may have to sacrifice that perfect backdrop in order to get that perfect photo of your loved ones. What good is the photo if you can’t see people’s eyes? The same sacrifices have to be made on windy or rainy days but many people don’t realise the downsides to a beautiful sunny day too. So my top tip is don’t obsess over the backdrop, prioritise the people instead. That’s what group photos are about after all.
I always plan out group photos with the couple, before the wedding day. So I had a list of the group photos they wanted and the names of people who were needed for photos. I try to order the group shots in a way that flows nicely, so that people aren't in and out of photos unnecessarily. I was stunned that Shaunna had memorised the group photo list, so when I'd finished one photo, I didn't have to read what was next because she knew. This kind of thing impresses me more than it should but what can I say, I loved it. I normally recommend 10-15 group photos, 10 being a more ideal number and 15 being the maximum. This is because there's only usually a half hour window of time to do group photos and they do take much longer than you'd expect them to. Shaunna and Cody had a list of 15 group shots, so it was a lot to get through but with the amount of family they both had it would have been impossible to cut that list down. 15 group photos is no problem when it’s well planned out though and Shaunna and I had it all worked out. #whatabride!
Portraits of the happy couple
Once the group photos were done we went straight into photos of just the married couple by themselves around the venue. I always suggest at least 20 minutes for these photos, so that we can get a good variety of shots and use different areas around the venue grounds. St Elizabeth's House has so many beautiful areas for photos so I knew we would only be able to explore a small section of the grounds with just 20 minutes. The weather was obviously going to stay bright and dry all day so we decided to spend just 15 minutes doing photos initially and then do some more a bit later into the evening.
The Wedding Breakfast & Speeches
When I first arrived at the venue, the wedding breakfast room wasn't ready to be photographed. There were no chairs around the tables (as they were all outside to be used for the ceremony) and there was also a member of staff who was busy doing some finishing touches in the room. Personally I prefer not to photograph the room with no chairs as it looks a bit odd. So I decided to wait and photograph that room later on, when it was complete. Normally I'll be able to get 5 mins in the room before all the guests enter and take their seats but unfortunately I was so busy with the group photos and Bride and Groom portraits that I didn't get a chance to get in there before the guests. I did manage to grab a few detail shots of the wedding favours and centre pieces before the food came out though.
The couple didn't want speeches, Cody stood up briefly to thank everyone and Shaunna's dad was told he could make a speech as long as it was brief. So when Shaunna's dad stood up for his speech, he told everyone he wasn't allowed to take up too much time and assured everyone that he just had a few words to say. He then unravelled a long scroll which got everyone laughing. It was just a quick speech though so the Bride and Groom were happy with that. The best man then stood up to also say another quick thank you and the formalities were all done.
Fun in the Sun
The weather was glorious so most of the guests headed back outside after their meal. The couple hired a magician to entertain people and it was fun to get some photos of guests being surprised and stunned by his tricks. The vintage lawn games were a big hit and had plenty of use from all of the guests. The kids didn’t necessarily need the lawn games because they were enjoying running around, playing tag, racing each other and making their own fun as kids do. It was a really lovely atmosphere and everybody was enjoying themselves.
I absolutely love capturing candids and natural moments (and I can assure you I did get a lot of that throughout the whole day). But at times like this when I don’t have any key moments to capture, I always go around and introduce myself to guests and ask them if they’d like any group photos taken. This could be a photo of a couple, a family photo with parents and children, a group of friends from work, the list goes on. 90% of guests usually take me up on the offer, some people have a few group photos they want and others just have the one request. But I let everyone know that it’s fine to ask me, if they think of anything they want then just grab me and if people would rather not then that’s fine too.
It’s really not often that people all get together like they do at a wedding. It could be the first time in 10 years that all the cousins are in the same place or a grandmother has all her grandchildren in one place and I feel like that’s something worth documenting. There’s not often time for these type of group photos during the official group photos but if your guests aren’t camera shy and I have the time to capture that for them then I will.
Bride & Groom Portraits - Take 2!
We took the opportunity to utilise some more of the venue grounds with more Bride & Groom photos. This was roughly 15 minutes of photos.
More fun in the sun
The couple decided to cut their cake while most of the guests were still outside and then we headed back out into the sun to join them.
The Party
It was still bright and sunny outside but the time had come for the first dance. Shaunna and Cody had purchased some foam glow sticks which had been handed out to all of the guests. Their first dance was to a song called ‘Right by Your Side’ by N-Force v Darren Styles. It started off quite mellow and sweet and quickly escalated into a rave - which is something I’d never seen before for a first dance. I didn’t actually know they were going to rave for their first dance so I had what I would describe as ‘safe settings’ on my camera - settings that would capture the couple in sharp focus and would expose everything correctly etc. But once the first dance finished the rave continued, so I changed up my camera settings in order to do some shutter drag photography. This really helped to capture the atmosphere of the party and the movement of the people and the glow sticks. I love being able to use these techniques at weddings! You’ll notice that when people started to head back outside in the sunshine and the dancefloor was much quieter, I did move back to the safe camera settings. This is because the shutter drag photography is really best when there’s lots of movement and atmosphere and it’s not so effective unless people are really ‘giving it beans’.
DJ: DG Events
The buffet was open and that's usually my cue to leave. People don't want to be photographed while they're eating and I'd captured everything for the day by that point too. 12.5 hours had passed since I started work at the couple's house in Tavistock, so it had been a long day and I had more than enough photos. I made sure to check in with the Bride and Groom to see if they had any other photo requests before I left. They wanted a few photos with some evening guests and I made my way home after those.
Photo Booth: DG Events
“Leah where do I begin!
You bossed it!
you make everyone feel sooooo comfortable & cracked on which I love! Honestly I can not wait to see the pictures, your mind is amazing constantly thinking of where to take the most beautiful of photos!
This little preview had me sobbing it’s so beautiful!
Thank you so much for being part of our day! We really wouldn’t have had the day we had without the amazing team of companies that helped us achieve it! Thank you again.”