Danny Is the owner of Carefully Crafted Media and a very talented videographer and photographer in his own right, so you can imagine how proud I was when he and his fiancé Sophie approached me about photographing their wedding. The more and more I heard about their plans the more I knew this was going to be one of the best weddings I had ever shot.
I soon found out that the wedding would also be taking place in one our favourite places in the world, North Devon. In fact just 20minutes down the road from our regular holiday escape Woolacombe Bay, in the beutiful setting of Clovelly Village. This private estate village near Bideford, is incredibly beautiful and dates back to medieval England, the story’s are fantastic and the history in this place is mind boggling.
I travelled down on the Friday to make sure I was fresh for the big day, so headed down to the Red Lion in Clovelly quite early on the Saturday morning, where all the preparations were well underway. As Danny was up at the reception venue putting the final touches to the tables I headed over to the cottages to see Sophie and the girls, the party was in full swing and Sophie’s playlist set the tone for what was going to be a superb day. When you’re in bridal preps listening to bands like the Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Less Than Jake you know it’s going to be your kind of wedding. Once the hair and makeup was all completed I head over to the boys and the highlight of the morning for me was watching Danny fashion a funnel out of an old plastic cup to get the southern comfort into their new hip flasks.
There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and considering that on the Friday it did nothing but rain all day the relief was plain to see on everybody’s faces. Sophie was helped into to her amazing dress from Elsie May Bridal in Tamworth by her mom and her dad kept the tears in check when he saw his beautiful daughter for the first time all dressed and ready to go and meet her groom.
Shortly after the big reveal to dad I headed over to The Old Barn which is on the grounds of The Milky Way Adventure Park, and started to prep for the ceremony. The civil ceremony setting was stunning, the plants growing through the ceiling on the conservatory gave the ceremony room a truly magical feel. It wasn’t long before Sophie and her dad arrived in “Buddy”, Danny and Sophies VW Campervan and the scene was set for Danny’s breath to be taken away.
The civil ceremony it self was amazing with readings from both moms bringing the majority of the room to tears. Once the formal part of the day was completed we headed out onto the sun drenched lawn where pimms and ice creams were served. After a short while with their friends and family, Danny & Sophie jumped into my car and along with Lee the videographer and Eastgate one of the best men (and 2nd videographer) headed back down to Clovelly Village for the all important Bride & Groom portraits.
The setting could not have been better, much more that just a beach and the sea this seaside setting has real character. The lifeboat shed, the stone walls, the cobble paths this place is a wedding photographers dream, and I like to think i did it justice, even the local cats were trying to get in on the act.
The happy couple and their guests enjoyed enjoyed a picnic style lunch with personalised lunch boxes for each guest set out on the wooden trestle table against the backdrop of the beautiful Old Barn. Four highly entertaining speeches followed and before we new it it was time for the party to get started. Sometimes people worry about what will the guests do between the meal and the evening do starting. Well not when you get married at The Old Barn in North Devon.
Oh just when you thought this wedding couldn’t get any better the guests head into the adventure park where they get exclusive use of the dodgems! So for around about an hour the guest enjoyed plenty of drunk driving (not that Ben Fones Photography condone that kind of thing) and so much fun.
The night didn’t finish there as just after Danny & Sophie enjoyed their first dance the most fantastic traditional Fish & Chip van turned up to feed the guests. I headed out just after 9.30 to start my three and half hour drive home, but it was totally worth it and honestly I would happily shoot a wedding every single weekend in North Devon, or weddings in Clovelly, Bideford or at The Old Barn the whole day was perfect.
A massive thank you to Danny & Sophie for not only choosing me to capture their day but also showing a massive amount of trust in my ability to produce wedding photographs they would be proud of, it was an absolute privilege to be a part of it.
For More Information of my packages for North Devon Weddings and Weddings in the West Midlands head over to http://www.benfonesphotography.com or call 01902 27 11 40, thanks for reading and feel free to leave a comment below.
OMG Sophie and Dan what a wonderful reminder of your Very Special Day xxx