Cirencester Wedding Photographer
There have been many fantastic weddings these last few months that have been keeping me busy so the blog has fallen by the wayside a little. Here is the wonderful story of Fran & Will’s Cirencester wedding for you to peruse. For all the details and wise wedding words from Fran herself scroll down to below the photos.
As a wedding photographer based near Cirencester it was a pleasure to be back at Ingleside House. I see a lot of Cotswold venue but Ingleside is somewhat different. In their own words it is “a place for those seeking adventure, entertainment and an experience that stands out from the crowd.” Fran & Will’s wedding was a day filled with laughter, jokes and above all cheese. I thoroughly enjoyed capturing this for you guys and hope that your future years together will bring you even more joy (and of course cheese)!
How we met… A fateful night out in Cheltenham on a miserable evening in January! A friend of mine was fascinated by Will’s head of curly hair and started stroking it while stood at the bar. We all started chatting and soon after I was driving into the depths of Oxfordshire to spend the weekends at his parents’ house!
The venue… We made a short list of non-negotiables and Ingleside House met all of them! They were also very flexible and friendly we knew we would work well together! I’d found a lot of venues to be quite strict about what we were allowed to contribute and I loved that Ingleside were happy to negotiate with us.
The look… After deciding on a basic colour scheme of pale blue, lace and hessian (thank you Pinterest!), we looked in various places including eBay. We delegated quite a lot, for example my mum found my shoes. Pinterest also helped me find my dress because by pinning the dresses I liked I found several designers who were my style. Then I simply found shops in Bristol who stocked that designer! We had a mild adventure three days before the wedding when I changed my dress – same designer and material but different style. It’s hard not to get swept up in the pressures of ‘the dress’ but don’t panic if you change your mind, it will all be fine! I loved my dress and would wear it again in an instant! Go with your gut instinct.
The flowers… I know absolutely nothing about flowers! Fortunately a friend of my mum’s is an incredible whizz and put a huge amount of effort into putting together the most beautiful bouquets. I told her the colour scheme and again used Pinterest to learn about the different bouquet types! She was a fountain of knowledge and I really just gave her free reign to create what she thought was right.
The ceremony… We kept it very simple. As it turns out I didn’t have to worry about crying as Will very kindly messed up his first line and the whole ceremony was subsequently light-hearted and enjoyable! It is overwhelming seeing everyone you love in one place but it is equally amazing and over in a flash! My sisters did readings; one was a poem we adapted to suit ourselves as a couple (with the insertion of the word cheese) and we replaced personalised vows with a poem we wrote together which was a list of promises we wanted to make each other.
The party… It was brilliant to see all the decorations we’d planned all come together and we had the best day ever. The food and speeches went without a hitch, the staff were excellent and the music was fantastic! All our cheese was eaten and the photo booth went down a storm. Everyone left at midnight very merry and full of beans.
And finally, the Hichens’ advice for brides and grooms-to-be:
- Use Pinterest! Seriously, for everything. Checklists, decoration ideas, suit and dress styles, photography poses, timetable ideas, invite wording and so on!
- Choose a healthy balance between what you make at home and what you buy (we spent four solid days making bunting and table runners).
- The £1 shop and eBay are your new best friends but watch out for delivery times from eBay!
- Delegate. Consider everyone you know and consider their skill set, people loved being involved and it made the day all that much more personal!
Fabulous suppliers who made this Cirencester wedding happen:
- Band: Hot Shoes Swing
- Cheese wheels: Jesse Smiths Butchers
- Second photographer: Jess Feldon
- Marquee: Alpha Hire
- Photo booth: Pro-Pose Entertainment
- Make-up: Pure Serenity
- Cirencester Wedding Photographer: Judith Parkyn Photography