‘Absolutely 5 star service! We were very much looking for a photographer who would capture our day in the natural way, lots of candid shots but also willing to do some traditional pics for our family and Richard managed this and more! We have so many wonderful memories to look back on thanks to Richard, very quick turnaround, super responsive to messages and generally lovely person to work with. 100% recommend!’
Nicola & Craig
Boswells Coach House is very different from most wedding venues as the main venue is actually a large marquee. The rest is a series of farm buildings, some of which are still in use. This offered lots of opportunities for natural wedding photography, which is something I specialise in as a wedding photographer.
I knew Boswells Coach House as a visitor, as there is a lovely cafe there which serves great food (I’d thoroughly recommend!) and I’d been for walks in the woods nearby but I hadn’t really looked at it from the post of view of a wedding. Always keen for a good coffee, I arranged to meet Nicola and Crag at the venue so we could have a chat about their wedding day.
Nicola works as a vet so the farm setting and the countryside was very important to her, as was the opportunity to just have a relaxed day with all their friends and family. We went for a little walk together and looked at a few ideas for photographs, one of which was actually to have some taken with the cattle. (Boswells Coach House is still a working farm!)
Nicola didn’t want any photos of bridal preparations but she did ask me to pop into the house beforehand to get some shots of her wedding dress and flowers before heading up to the venue where I met Craig greeting their wedding guests. It was a brilliant sunny day with bright blue skies. Nicola and Craig had asked for some family group photos before and after the wedding. On a bright sunny day you need to avoid harsh shadows and people squinting at the sun, so I set up an area next to the marquee with a nice background for that. Having it close by meant it was very easy to ask people to pop over for a photograph.
I then spent the rest of the time taking candid photos of Craig and the wedding guests until Nicola’s arrival. There was lots of lovely natural light inside the marquee so I was able to get lots of nice shots of Nicola and Craig’s expressions during the service and a great shot of them coming down the aisle.
Afterwards, they asked me to take a confetti shot. This always works best when the wedding guests are lined up either side to create an avenue rather than mingling about, so I asked everyone to form a line so Nicola and Craig could walk down which made for a great shot. A tricky one for me though as they were walking down steps and I was walking backwards!
After taking a few family group shots, I sent some time with Nicola and Craig on their own. As it was the middle of the day and the sun was very strong, I had to find a little shade certainly wasn’t in short supply. Boswells Coach House is ideal for wedding photographs in that respect as there are lots of lovely mature trees and tree lined avenues which make for a perfect backdrop. My approach as a natural wedding photographer is always to create little moments by suggesting some areas for couples to stand or sit and then encouraging them to enjoy the moment. I then take a series of shots, occasionally making a suggestion but on the whole letting them be themselves. While taking shots of them leaning over a farm gate, one of their bridesmaids came over, so I just kept taking shots while they chatted which made for some lovely natural wedding photography.
During our early meet up we’d always planned to do some more shots in the evening, so I let Nicola and Craig mingle with guests while I took some more candid wedding photographs before the meal. The speeches are always a great time for lots of expressions and emotions and Nicola and Craig’s was no different with lots of laughs.
After the meal we headed out for a few more evening shots. By now the light was a lot softer which was ideal. I started by asking Nicola and Craig to walk along the path which lead us up to the field where the cattle were. Angus, the farm manager, who is also the Master of Ceremonies came along to help with a bucket of feed. The original pan had been to photograph Nicola and Craig in the field with the cattle but one of the cows looked a but frisky and the area around the gate was very muddy, so we decided against it and took some shots in front of the gate. Nicola and Craig found it very amusing when the very frisky cow decided to push against the gate, moving it a few feet! Never work with animals they say. At least there weren’t any children as well. That would have been interesting!
As we were walking back towards the marquee, the sun broke through the clouds and cast some beautiful light on the side of one of the farm buildings. I tend to avoid overly posed shots but the opportunity was too good to miss so I asked Nicola and Craig to stand on the stairs for the some classic shots. There are always moments like that in a wedding, especially where the weather is concerned which you just can’t plan for. As a wedding photographer, it’s those spontaneous moments which I love capturing for couples on their wedding day.
Please see below a wider selection of some images from Nicola & Craig’s wedding at Boswells Coach House.
