“Right from the start, it was clear that Jo was the right person for us! Immediately, she made us feel relaxed and both she and her husband, Nic were friendly and open to our ideas. Our photos are gorgeous, we love them! We cannot thank the two of them enough for creating such special photographs of our day”!
We first met Jess & George at the Great Tythe Barn, a beautiful Cotswold wedding venue, back in autumn 2015, and were thrilled when they booked us to capture their day. We’ve photographed weddings at the barn since 2006, and as soon as we got together to talk through their plans we could see it was going to be a relaxed, informal wedding day, perfectly suited to this venue. This was also going to be a truly multi-cultural wedding reflecting Jess’ family roots in South Africa and George’s in Yorkshire. The table names were a mix of Yorkshire and South African animals and objects; the colours bold and bright in the African way; the wines imported from Africa by Jess’ dad and the meal, very English – mini Yorkshire puds, then lamb followed by Eton Mess. Jess’ engagement ring came from a jeweller in South Africa, whom Jess’ grandad had loved, their wedding rings came from York…..you get the picture!
I recently asked Jess what her and George’s original thinking behind their wedding day was, and this is what she said: “The over-riding feeling we wanted for our wedding was family and fun. We wanted lots of laughter and to have a chilled out and relaxed day. Not fussy or formal. It was also incredibly important to me that George have a big say in the planning and organisation of it, I really didn’t want to do a pink, sparkly wedding because that would just reflect me and not him, or us as a couple, at all! We also wanted as many members of the family and the children there because they added such a fun atmosphere and mean a lot to us”.
Take a look through the images of their day, and I think you’ll agree they hit the target! There is just so much fun and laughter, combined with a few emotional tears along the way from Jess and both their families – the day just shouts spontaneity and love. “It was a magical, amazing day. I’m always known for my hysterical laughter so much so that I cry and I loved the fact that the whole day was just filled with laughing!” Jess said.
A big part of their styling was the tree theme – used on their Save The Date cards and invitations, for the table plan ( hand drawn by one of Jess’ bridesmaids), and the fingerprint Baobob tree which all the guests stamped their fingerprints on. Jess tells me that in Africa the Baobob is called the tree of life, is important in African folklore as always being there, and a source of nurturing.
We loved being there to capture all the fun, and one of our ideas was a piggy back race during the reception with the bridal party – not something every bride and groom will entertain! They loved the idea and this was definitely a “wedding moment” – the competition to win the race was pretty fierce and at the end, George just casually dropping Jess onto the grass in her wedding dress!! Definitely a wedding comedy moment to remember!
If you’re planning a wedding at the Great Tythe Barn (or anywhere else) feel free to give us a shout – we love hearing ideas and planning something personal and unique to each couple. Our wedding fees start at £1695 for both of us to capture your day.
