A Maesbrook Barn Wedding

In May I had the privilege of capturing Lauren and Gareth’s wedding at Maesbrook Barn in Monmouthshire. It was a stunning wedding, filled with so much love and laughter. Lauren and Gareth had put so many personal touches on the day that you couldn’t help but see their personalities shining through. They also chose to forego quite a few wedding traditions, which I personally loved. It can be so easy to do things at weddings because you feel you “have” to without ever questioning if you actually want to, and it resulted in a day that reflected them and their relationship in a really beautiful way.

Bridal Preparations

Lauren got ready with the help of her two bridesmaids in one of the cottages at Maesbrook. The venue location is perfect if you want to be able to do everything in one place, with various accommodations for the bridal party and the guests to stay in, to the stunning barn venue perfect for both the ceremony and the reception, to a beautiful outdoor space surrounding by stunning views as far as the eye can see.

Hair; Rebecca Marchant

Flowers; Far Hill Flowers

Dress; Maggie Sottero, Proposal’s Bridal Studio

The First Look

One of the traditions Lauren and Gareth chose to forgo was the Father of the Bride walking her down the aisle. Instead they chose to walk in together. This gave us an opportunity to do something called a “First Look.” It’s actually quite common in America for the Bride and Groom to see each other before the ceremony and do a big reveal, so we decided we would do just that. It also makes it much easier for the photographer to capture that moment the Groom sees his Bride for the first time.

The Ceremony

The ceremony was held inside of the barn. There had been discussions about possibly having the ceremony outside, something which is possible at Maesbrook, but on the day itself the weather could not decide if it wanted to rain or shine, so an indoor ceremony seemed like the safest bet. And the barn made for a gorgeous backdrop for their ceremony. With stunning decor, and music by the Bride’s Brother and readings from both the Mother of the Groom and the Mother of the Bride, it was a very beautiful and meaningful ceremony.

Music: Harry Orme

Group Photographs

I try not to spend too long doing group photos at weddings as I know they can be quite time consuming, but it is always nice to get a few photos of family members all together as it’s not every day you have everyone in the same place.

The Couple’s Photographs

And of course we had to sneak off for a little while to get some photos of just the Bride and Groom on their special day. It’s always one of my favourite parts of the day, and it gives the couple a chance to breathe and have a minute together too in amongst all of the goings on of the wedding day. The grounds at Maesbrook made my job much easier too, providing stunning backdrops for all our photos.

The Reception

The barn was then transformed into a stunning banquet hall for the reception and the space where the ceremony had been held was turned into a dance floor for the evening. There were lawn games outside, and Lauren had actually made a Happy Families Card game which all of the guests took great delight in playing whilst they enjoyed their sit down meal. Another tradition they opted out of was the cutting of the cake, and instead friends and family had all made a wide selection of cakes for all of the guests to enjoy. In the evening the band Old Skool Anthems played non-stop 90’s music which succeeded in getting all of the guests onto the dance floor, and provided a very fun trip down memory lane.

All in all it was an amazing wedding, and Lauren and Gareth did an amazing job putting together such a beautiful and fun wedding.

Rings; Lauren and Gareth made their own rings in a workshop led by Mark Fenn

Venue; Maesbrook Barn

Caterers; Cleverchefs

Band; Old Skool Anthems

Videographer; Chris James - Wildtrack

Local Beer; Untapped Brewing Company

If you are planning a wedding and are looking for a photographer, then please do get in touch, I would love to hear about your plans. If you want to find out more then head over to the Wedding Photography section of my website, and be sure to get in touch to tell me about your plans.