Let's pop over the Dorset country border to one of my favourite wedding venues in Somerset - Brympton House, near Yeovil. I've photographed weddings at Brympton House many, many times now, but it's relatively rare to get the opportunity to photograph a wedding ceremony in St Andrews church on the Brympton House estate... which is why this particular wedding day is particularly special to me.
If you know Brympton House at all, you'll know that St Andrews Church is placed adjacent to the main house, so it's perfectly placed for a religious ceremony and then it's just the shortest of strolls to the celebrations afterwards! On this particular wedding day, the bride and groom were able to have the ceremony conducted by two officiants; the parish vicar presiding over St Andrews and also their own vicar from their parish in Devon.
As St Andrews is relatively small, the congregation packed the church to the rafters in order to see the couple marry - and what a beautiful ceremony it was! Of course, a wedding ceremony is always special, as two people in love are committing to each other for a lifetime together. From a photographer's perspective, the light streaming in through the church windows as they signed the register was particularly special... leading the way to a delightful, sun-filled reception at the house afterwards.
Naturally, as a wedding photographer I spend quite a lot of time in churches observing wedding ceremonies, and therefore reflecting upon the meaning of marriage and commitment. I do recall, in this particular wedding ceremony the vicar from the couple's parish was able to offer a unique insight - that being the thoughts on marriage from primary school children that he'd recently spoken to on the subject. As you can imagine, there were more than a few amusing ideas about love and dating in there! So, if you have small children, why not ask them what they think marriage is? I'm sure their answers will brighten up your day!
By the way, if you haven't seen it already, then do check out the blog about the bridal preparation for this Brympton House wedding.
So onto some of my favourite images from this lovely church wedding at Brympton House - I look forward to photographing another wedding there soon!
Church Wedding at Brympton House, Somerset
Click on any image to open a lightbox and scroll through the photographs. Easy!
