Aldwick Court Wedding Photographer in Somerset

The People

Holly and Rob are two of the nicest people you’ll ever meet, I was so excited to join them as their Aldwick Court wedding photographer. They are hilarious to hang out with, an absolute force of nature as a couple, and the epitome of young love. Plus, any bride that wears Converse on her wedding day has my vote! Welcome to the unforgettable wedding of Holly and Rob at Aldwick Court Farm and Vineyard in the rolling Somerset countryside. I was joined on the day by Vitaliy Turovskyy as Associate Photographer and Sam at White Villa Films as Videographer – the melting dream team, fuelled by ice cream and about ten gallons of water!

To the Church

The vintage Jaguar took Holly and her Dad to St John the Baptist Church in Axbridge, where her bridesmaids met her, along with the page boys in pastel colour waistcoats and bow ties, remarkably well behaved and super cute in their awe at the arrival of the bride. Holly and her bridesmaids carried impressive bouquets from Clifton Flowers, with dense green foliage and delicate white flowers adding to the natural and effortless beauty of the whole day.

St John the Baptist Church is on a hill in the centre of Axbridge and dominates the town square, so there was quite an audience gathered in the streets and emerging from the nearby pub watching and cheering as Holly climbed the steps to the church.

Let’s Get Married

The coolness inside the church was a welcome break from the baking sun and as Holly walked down the aisle hand in hand with her Dad there were a few tears from the Bridesmaids and gathered friends and family. The unusual elaborately plastered blue ceiling of the church almost looked like the sky outside, apparently, a local man paid ten guineas (£10.50!) for the work in 1636 – money well spent if you ask me! With bright sunlight streaming through the stained-glass windows Holly and Rob were married in an emotional ceremony followed by Phily K, one of the bridesmaids, singing and entertaining the guests accompanied by a pianist as they signed the register.

Everyone stood and applauded as they left the church; armed with confetti, the guests lined the steps down to the waiting car and showered Holly and Rob with petals in the baking sunshine. As I went to grab some water from a local shop, I caught up with a few of the guests who were emerging with armfuls of ice creams and cans of Gin and Tonic… inspired by this, I also grabbed some ice cream for the team and headed off to their Aldwick Court Farm wedding reception.

Aldwick Court Wedding Reception

Aldwick Court Farm and Vineyards is an exclusive venue in the rolling Mendip Hills, the working farm and vineyards made a stunning backdrop as Holly and Rob enjoyed canapes on the terrace with their guests. As an Aldwick Court wedding photographer, I love the mix of the rural landscape, rustic farm buildings, and agricultural details in the working barns. We took some group portraits inside to keep the guests comfortable and out of the hottest part of the day and then I went out with Rob and the groomsmen into the vineyard. In their suits from Dyfed Menswear the boys managed to grab hold of Rob and throw him into the air, I captured some moments of him completely airborne (don’t worry, he escaped un-harmed!).

Wedding Breakfast

The wedding breakfast was full of drinks, hugs, and laughter, and an impressive amount of cake (I LOVE cake!) provided by Pearly King Cakes in Bristol. We were treated to some incredibly funny speeches including some beautifully embarrassing and hilarious moments in a mic-dropping speech from Holly’s dad, Chris. Their niece Hannah was surprised with a chorus of happy birthday and a cake of her own as it was her 7^th birthday and, thoughtful as ever, the bride and groom didn’t want her to feel left out.

By this point in the day, the small humans amongst the guests had almost totally stripped off and were running around half-naked, playing an inventively adapted version of table tennis on the lawn. Their garden games were provided by Soundwave Entertainments.

The Human Pyramid

As the kids enjoyed the garden and guests chatted and played garden games, Holly and Rob decided they wanted to do something crazy… my response ‘How crazy do you want to get?’ Within seconds, the groomsmen had assembled into a (very wobbly) human pyramid with the fearless bride at the top! Thankfully I caught some shots before the whole thing came tumbling down and became a giggling bundle on the grass – One of those images I captured as Holly and Rob’s Aldwick Court wedding photographer actually went on to win several international awards.

Creative Couple Portraits

As the day cooled slightly into the evening at their Aldwick Court wedding, we took Holly and Rob to the fields and captured some stunning moments with them, the wind was picking up and I ended up wrapped in Holly’s veil at one point! We had the chance to shoot some natural, playful creative portraits as we took a walk back through the working farm and barns before gearing up for a WILD party.

Party Time

In the best possible tradition of weddings at Aldwick Court, this was full of crazy party moments with music courtesy of the super cool Dukes of Havoc. From a meeting of the groomsmen in the gents’ toilet, to more than one guest leaving the ground to be thrown in the air, there was of course a splendid exhibition of ‘the worm’ on the dance floor and I was at the heart of the madness as their Aldwick Court wedding photographer, capturing the killer shapes and insane moments of the party into the night.

It was a mad one, an emotional one, a beautiful one, and a memorable one – thanks Holly and Rob for letting me be your Aldwick Court Wedding Photographer at your scorcher of a summer wedding, it was awesome!