A Beautiful DIY Garden Wedding.

Jamie and Ian recently hosted the coolest garden marquee wedding held in their own garden not far from Gainsborough. The theme of a friendly, laid back country garden wedding was certainly achieved with beautiful views of the surrounding fields and the garden styled perfectly with watering cans full of wild flowers, homemade cocktails, wheelbarrows full of beer, rustic DIY signage and bales of hay for seating. The day also had the feel of an old school sports day with games such as sack race, tug of war and space hoppers all lined up for the afternoons fun – very cool.

watering can with flowers

marquee in a garden for a wedding

After the detail shots I spent some time with Jamie for bridal portraits and then caught up with Ian and the boys for a few quick portraits in the nearby pub, sorry for interrupting the pool game Ian.

groom and groomsmen portrait of groom

black and white portrait of bride picture of dad on brides bouquet

mum hugs her daughter before her wedding

My brief for this wedding was “shoot the day” capture moments we do not see and get loads of action shots, also no group shots. Well thats my kind of wedding right there.

 

The Ceremony.

Jamie and Ian actually did the legal bit the previous week so the ceremony in the garden was conducted by Leanne, one of Jamies oldest friends. This was a lovely and personal ceremony, after this though it was time for the fun to begin. The only shot that Jamie and Ian specified from the day was the bridal party with smoke flares. This really is fast becoming a wedding trend so it was great to produce some really strong images with the smoke bombs. I lit this using my portable studio flash to really bring out the colours and to make the images as punchy as possible.

groom before the ceremony guests wait for ceremony in garden wedding

ceremony of a garden wedding friend conducts ceremony at garden wedding

bride and groom kiss after garden wedding ceremony

bridal portait with smoke bombs

It was clear to me on the day that neither Jamie or Ian where to bothered about any “posed” bride and groom portraits in the traditional sense. but while I had the lighting set up and the fields looking as dramatic and picturesque as they where it was kind of rude to not at least get some strong portraits with them here.

bride and groom with flowing veil

Garden Wedding Fun.

The sports day was now in full swing with some hilarious space hopper races taking place. There is nothing quite like seeing a bride fly past you on a space hopper.

Next up was the sack race and I have to say that if it was a football match there would have been a few yellow if not red cards with a couple of “robust” challenges going in and at least  one professional  foul that in my book would have been straight red – all good fun though.

Finally the tug of war and this really brought out the competitive spirit in most guests with many falling into a heap on the floor after being dragged over the winning line, no one was giving an inch in these games. But there could have been a bit of controversy, did the winning team cheat by typing their end of the rope to a fence?. Oh well who cares everyone was having too much fun and the beers where well and truly flowing now.

bridesmaid with space hopper wedding guest with space hopper

groomsmen with space hoppers bride and bridesmaid on space hoppers

sack race at garden wedding sack race at garden wedding

sack race at garden wedding

tug of war at garden wedding groom in tug of war at a garden wedding

 

The soundtrack to the day was great with songs by two of my favourite artists on the playlist throughout the day, Nick Cave and Richard Hawley, anyone that includes Nick Cave on their wedding day is alright by me. And you can never go wrong with plenty of Elvis thrown in there too.

Evening Entertainment.

After the speeches and cake cutting it was time for the evening entertainment that was provided by wedding band Uptown Funk who got the guests up and dancing. My last memory from this fun and very enjoyable wedding was seeing Ian the groom being hoisted on friends shoulders with Jamie doing the same with a bridesmaid, what a party.

bride and groom first dance in their garden wedding

first dance at garden wedding

bridesmaid on brides shoulders bridesmaid on brides shoulders

 

I love shooting wedding such as these, weddings that are unique, individual and really reflect the bride and grooms personality exactly the kind of wedding that I know I will produce top quality images.

If you would like to see a selection of more of my wedding photos please do take a look just here.

https://www.masseyphotography.co.uk/lincoln-wedding-portfolio/

And if you are planning a similar style garden wedding I would love to hear from you, drop me an email now and let me know how your plans are going.

https://www.masseyphotography.co.uk/contact-us/