barn wedding photography Courteney and Toms Wedding Day
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In August 2023 I had the pleasure of capturing the barn wedding photography of Courteney and Toms wedding at a Barn in the Warwickshire countryside. The barn in question belonged to a friend of theirs who had allowed them to use of it for their wedding. It was in a fantastic location set half a mile from the nearest road with no neighbours to speak of to worry about the noise. The day kicked off for me around an hour before the ceremony started, where I was able to capture the venue and the extensive decorations they'd set up. The ceremony took place in the barn with the reception to be held in a small marquee in the barn courtyard. There was also a bar area set up for Underwood Wines who were providing drinks for the event and an area with outdoor games and plenty of open space for photos.
Not long after I arrived Tom and his brother Jack arrived with Wesley Tom and Courteney’s dog, then the bridesmaids and guests, it was quite a relaxed affair with a friend of the family presiding over the ceremony, I was able to capture many candid photos during this time. Once all the guests had been seated Courteney arrived in her classic Peugeot 205, I have seen a few wedding cars in my time, but this one was out of the ordinary. I am told it’s a car that has been with the couple for a long time.
After a few photos in the car with the bridesmaids, the ceremony began in the barn which had been decorated with wildflowers and an amazing ceiling installation of coloured paper spheres, it really was very well put together. Straight after the ceremony it was into the confetti. I am big fan of confetti it always brings out the fun in guests’ expressions and the couple as well. After this there was some time for drinks, we also started to do group photos, however it started to rain, at this point Courteney wanted to carry on but I knew it was a passing shower so suggested we come back to the group photos once the rain had passed. This allowed me more time to capture candid shots before recommending photos later. It worth pointing out whilst the celebrations were going on periodically a tractor would drive past carrying hale bales, which is not something you see often at a wedding, we took advantage to make sure we got some photos with the tractor in the background.
Soon it was time for the speeches, after everyone had eaten the fantastic array of food that had been prepared by the Courteney and Toms family, there was everything on offer with my favourite being devilled eggs! Whilst the speeches were happening the sun began to come out and stayed out from then onwards, creating a nice back light to the scene. After the speeches there was cake cutting and then we did a few portraits in the long grass that bordered the barn. Then after this we got back into group photos, it was a great choice to stop them earlier as now the light was perfect. As the day rolled on clouds came and went adding a bit of drama to the sky but thankfully no rain, there was lots of opportunities for photos of guests playing games and enjoying themselves.
We did more couple portraits this time with Toms beloved Land Rover and the Peugeot, then evening guests started to arrive and before long we were back in the barn for the first dance under the colourful ceiling decoartions and not long after my time at this hidden venue came to close. It was a fantastic wedding, when I first got the enquiry and Courteney said it would be in a rundown barn that they were going to do up I was intrigued but when I saw what they had created it was amazing.
I also took my drone along to capture a few aerial shots to capture the scene.
Below is a small selection of the images taken.
