If you are marrying at home, or on land that belongs to your family, you already know the problem: there is no venue page to look at, no brochure, and no way of finding a photographer who has actually done it near you. So here is one.
I am not naming the house. It is a private home, not a venue, and the people who live in it did not sign up to appear on a wedding-supplier list. That is the deal on this kind of job and it is worth saying out loud.
"The first ceremony was to dot the i's and cross the t's. The second one, in their own garden, was the wedding."
Two CeremoniesHow it actually worked
The legal service happened first, at Wakefield Town Hall, with only a few close family there. Short, and genuinely lovely, but it was the paperwork.
Then everybody gathered back at the house, and the same registrars who had married them that morning came out and conducted the ceremony again outdoors, in front of all their friends and family. It was every bit as moving as the first one, and it was the version their guests actually witnessed.
If you are planning something similar, that is the shape to know about: the legal bit somewhere licensed, the real one where you want it. Ask your registrars early, because it is their day out too.
The SettingWhat a garden wedding gives a photographer
- iNobody is rushing you. There is no other wedding and no turnaround. If the light is doing something at half past eight, you go and use it. That freedom is the single biggest difference between a home wedding and a venue.
- iiA garden that is already loved. Clipped box in a knot pattern round a stone fountain, yew hedges and gravel walks. It is a garden that someone tends rather than a backdrop laid on for the day, and it photographs like one.
- iiiThe house is a backdrop you already own. Red brick, tall chimneys, and the marquee pitched alongside it. One frame of those two together tells the whole story of the day.
- ivIndoors exists, and it is not a function room. A snooker room full of groomsmen in tweed is a better morning picture than any hotel bedroom I have worked in.
The MarqueeThe biggest I have worked in
I have photographed a lot of marquees. This was the largest by some distance: a full-size bar, a dancefloor and a stage in one half, and every guest table plus the head table in the other. You could have run two separate parties in it.
Worth knowing if you are pricing one: a marquee that size stops being a tent and starts being a building, and it behaves like one for light. The white roof softens everything overhead, which is flattering, and it stays workable long after the sun has gone off the garden.
"It was one of the hottest days of that August and people were hunting for shade. Plan a garden wedding for the heat as carefully as you plan it for rain."
PricingA full day at a private venue
A full day of Wakefield marquee wedding photography starts from £1,800, with no travel charge anywhere in Yorkshire. Two ceremonies in two places is a longer day than a single-venue wedding, so say so when you enquire. The pricing page has what's included.
SuppliersWho made the day
Legal ceremony: Wakefield Town Hall. Reception: a private Wakefield country house, not named. Planning: Benessamy Weddings & Events. Styling: Love Letters. On-the-day support: The Wedding Industry PA.
