What a delight to shoot a wedding at Shillingstone House - not just because it's in a truly gorgeous location, but also because it's in my home village of Shillingstone in Dorset! I have been waiting for this chance to photograph a wedding celebration at Shillingstone House since I moved to the village last year... and so this wedding - the last of the season this year at the wedding venue - was one I really had waited for!
The only thing better than photographing a wedding in my own village is to photograph a wedding for a truly fantastic couple, so for this celebration, both my wishes came true. I don't think I've ever seen a couple more in love than these two, and as we all know, true love worn out there for all to see makes amazing wedding photographs! I really am lucky with the clients I get to photograph and the wedding celebrations here in Dorset that I am privileged enough to document. It's days like these that I truly appreciate how fantastic my job is.
Of course, a little drama on a wedding day is to be expected - and for this wedding, it came in the shape of RAIN! And, oh, of course it had to be for a wedding where the bride and groom had planned an outdoors ceremony, overlooking the spectacular views that Shillingstone House has to offer..... but rain couldn't put a damper on this wedding day, absolutely not! In fact, it held off until the 'I do's' had been said, the rings exchanged and the first kiss given. So, even though the confetti was mostly thrown in the marquee (excepting a few hardy types who stayed for the couple to walk back down their outdoor ceremony aisle!), they still had the beautiful outdoors ceremony that they had wanted and planned.
So yes, the rest of the wedding day was conducted mainly in the marquee, so the amazing gardens of Shillingstone House had to wait for another day to be enjoyed and photographed... but by mid evening the wind had blown away the worst of it and guests found their way outside to relax and party. What a fantastic day, with really amazing entertainment laid on for the wedding guests; the bride and groom had really gone the extra mile to give their guests a day to remember. A table magician, a swing singer, an acoustic duo, a casino, a photo booth, a live band, AND then fireworks..... just WOW.
So of course I'll be blogging more about this wonderful wedding at Shillingstone House in Dorset once the full set of images are ready and have been shared with the bride and groom - but for now, take a look at some of my favourite shots from the preview set. Here's what the couple had to say about them:
'Oh Belinda they're SOOOOO gorgeous!!! Thank you so much, from the bottom of our hearts for our beautiful photos, and also for all that you did for us! I felt really bad that I didn't really see you, and I didn't get a chance to thank you on the day, but I guess that's the point - we didn't notice you there!! Everyone said the same thing! They thought you were amazing! So unobtrusive, it's incredible how you managed to get such perfect photos!! We cried when we saw them!!! Honestly, we can't thank you enough, and we couldn't be happier. Thank you xxxxxxxxxxxxx'
Wedding at Shillingstone House, Dorset : Preview Images
Click on any of the images below to open a lightbox , to quickly scroll through the photographs. Easy!
