Swallows Nest Barn, Warwickshire Wedding: Elena & Gareth
I loved going back to Swallows Nest Barn a year later for Elena & Gareth's wedding. Although this time it was a Rustic Autumnal wedding, filled with lots of beautiful DIY by Elena & her Mum.
Again, Rob was with me so he photographed the boys in the morning whilst I was at the venue with the girls. Elena is a natural Russian Beauty & I was so happy with how passionate her & her bridesmaids were to get lots of photos in the morning. The fact most of them had travelled half way across the world probably had something to do with it!
The day was lovely, relaxed & slightly different for me as all Elena's family are Russian, so any guidance I was giving during the family portraits, Elena was translating! It was making us all laugh & seemed to be a great way to make everyone relax.
I was overjoyed when we finished the couple portraits as I heard Gareth say "I actually enjoyed that", I did a small jump for joy as I love making people pleasantly surprised when having their photograph taken. Like I always say, as long as you trust me I promise it's not a frightening experience!
When couples tell me they are having sparklers at the end of the night I do have a mini panic as this usually means people are very 'jolly' & trying to organise a sparkler shot in those circumstances can be challenging! However when Elena & Gareth said they were having sparklers before the wedding breakfast I was excited as I knew it would work - especially as the light now drops earlier. We managed to do two sparkler line runs & then a big group huddle with the remaining lit sparklers afterwards.
The speeches were a big highlight for the wedding as they were translated on both sides. So it was rather fascinating to hear a speech with a translation throughout & watching the delayed reactions & laughter on different sides of the room. However the best man's speech was too difficult to translate so they thought ahead & made a lovely little print out scroll translated into Russian. It was really moving to watch & a lovely idea!
Here's a lovely message I received off Elena after receiving their photos:
These are amazing! Brought so many nice memories from last week. Made us both very emotional! You and Rob did such an amazing job and we are VERY HAPPY that we have found you and you agreed to be our photographers! We and all our guests loved your approach and style. Will absolutely recommend you as a photographer to anyone for any event . We love love love your work :)
Scroll through to see some images from this lovely day. If you wish to find out more, I am happy to say it has been featured on Style & The Bride, click here to have a look.
