Weddings In The Wood Photographs with Charlie & Laurie
Charlie & Laurie are such a sweet couple and we are so proud to have been asked to capture their weddings in the wood photographs at such a beautiful New Forest Wedding Venue.
Crown Hotel, Lyndhurst Wedding Morning Photographs
We arrived in the bright sunshine at the Crown Manor House Hotel, Lyndhurst. Charlie and her bridesmaids were hidden away in a cosy room cheerily preparing for the day ahead. The girls seemed to be a slow-motion version of musical chairs, rotating between sitting on the beds, for the Makeup Artist and Hairdresser!
I asked Charlie if she had had any contact with Laurie that morning. She hadn’t but knew he was awake as their hairdryer had set the fire alarm off earlier that morning!
The light was beaming into the room through the window The sounds of the church bells chiming from outside gave a taste of things to come. I was amazed at how relaxed everyone was. No nerves or panics. Charlie was a picture of tranquillity.
The wedding flowers arrived. Blues and greens with lovely splashes of colour and the purr of the Mustang 320 wedding car engine grizzled on the street below.
Charlie was helped into her dress and all of the girls gathered around for a morning champagne toast. Before her father arrived Charlie revealed ‘the Moomin face’. This apparently appears in many photos people take of her. Think of a pose pulled out with ’blue steel’ speed but with a Moominesque appearance.
Weddings in the Wood Groom Preparation Photographs
Meanwhile, the chaps confirmed their unusual wakeup call! After suiting and booting a small Jack Daniels in the garden was required to prepare for the wedding service!
New Forest Church Wedding Ceremony Photographs
The Mustang revved into the church yard at St Edward the Confessor Church, Lyndhurst just after I had sprinted into the church. We love this small friendly church and having worked there previously know the vicar for his upbeat and humorous services.
When Charlie and Laurie first took a look at each other at the front of the aisle I could have cried. Charlie’s eyes were welling up and Laurie had a grin from ear to ear. The vicar didn’t disappoint and the service was full of laughter, tear jerking vows and readings from friends.
As the newly wedded couple left the church the vicar jumped into his cupboard in the entrance. Like a life-size string puppet rang all three bells by himself!
The old English church was the perfect backdrop for some confetti and group photographs before we left for the wedding reception.
Weddings In The Wood Photographs at The Carpenters Barn
The happy couple had chosen the Carpenters barn at Weddings in the wood- New Forest Outdoor Center, which is an incredible venue. The site is almost beyond belief. A wooden barn with log fire adjoining a bar and marquee overlooking the woods. The decking sun terrace stretches into a woodland clearing surrounded by shepherd’s huts and a fire circle.
Before joining their guests Charlie and Laure were keen for some weddings in the wood photographs together overlooking a woodland valley and lake with their Mustang. We also popped into the archery range as it was entirely built out of logs and made for a wonderfully textured background.
Weddings in the Wood Wedding Reception Photographs
The guests enjoyed the drinks reception out on the sun-baked terrace with an incredible spread of antipasti. The sounds of woodland creatures and the smells of flowers and pine trees on the warm breeze.
The wedding marquee had been decorated with wooden hearts, straw bales, candles and flowers and I noticed a couple of barrels of Laurie’s favourite real ales on the bar. Some of the braver guests who weren’t staying in the shepherd’s huts pitched their tents on the field.
In the background the noise of woodland birds mixed with the sound of the center’s staff chopping wood ready for the evenings’ fire. Before they knew it, it was time to come into the marquee for the wedding breakfast.
Weddings In The Wood Wedding Breakfast
As Charlie and Laurie were waiting to be announced into the room I couldn’t help but smile. I could see their back-lit silhouettes laughing, hugging and kissing behind the barn’s obscure glass
The speeches were hilarious and included a couple of ‘in-jokes’ that made Laurie cringe. A story about a phone call gone wrong that no one would elaborate upon made Laurie go a certain shade of red.
After an incredibly tasty buffet (involving a hog roast) it was ‘chill time’ for the guests.
Weddings in the Wood Evening Photographs
The sun began to set behind the tree line. The log fire was lit and the chatter/ laughter of guests steadily increased inside the wedding marquee. Throughout the day I felt like a ‘dealer’ as I was constantly supplying Charlie with hair clips. It was now my duty to fix the wedding dress ready for dancing.
The Carpenters Barn, New Forest Wedding Venue
Inside the Carpenter’s Barn childhood photos of Charlie and Laurie hung above a table. Guest book LPs were for signing and bunting lined the wood beams. The log burner had been lit, not that it was needed. The band then whipped the guests into such a barn dancing frenzy that they were generating enough heat!
Every now and again I could visualise the perfect image of the guests dancing. However, this required me to stand in the middle of the room. I was surprised by how small I could make myself as the guests stomped towards me in a circle or whirled each other around, inches from my lens.
There came time for a drink break with more ales poured. Guests who weren’t dancing now sat about the marquee, on the straw bales or by the now huge log fire. Lanterns and fairy lights were lit about the clearing. The guys cut their wedding cake with a huge hunting knife (when in the woods do as the woods people do!).
Wedding Dancing at New Forest Outdoor Center
After another bout of incredibly enthusiastic barn dancing the DJ had set up and Charlie and Laurie danced their first dance. They looked lovely in each other’s arms, gazing into each other’s eyes as they moved about the dance floor. Next, the wedding guests needed no encouragement to join in.
It must have been all the good food and fresh forest air. It seemed the whole wedding party had some serious levels of energy. Even the older ladies were ‘raving the night away’ on the dance floor.
As we drove away we had completely forgotten where we were. In conclusion, we had happily spent the day in a wonderland dream creating Charlie and Laurie’s weddings in the wood photographs.
