Wedding at Hazel Gap Barn

Sarah and Lesley got married in October last year with a beautiful wedding at Hazel Gap Barn. The rustic venue suited their laid back vibe well and the decor was delightful. I really enjoyed being a part of Sarah and Leslie’s special day. They made me feel so welcome and it truly was a joy to photograph from start to finish. I particularly loved Sarah’s flower crown by Tineke Floral Designs and her matching autumnal bouquet. Sarah looked like a fairy princess and the woodland cabin where she and her bridal party were getting ready in the morning provided the perfect backdrop to some bridal portraits. I generally love this time of the day. Getting ready on the morning of the wedding is so exciting and so much fun to photograph.

Sarah’s top FIVE

I asked Sarah to let me know which photos were her favourites. It is a new feature to all my latest blog posts and I find it really interesting to find out which pictures my couples chose as their favourites. I obviously have my own favourites and you can see them below. Its interesting as 3 of these were also in my selection. I love the one of Sarah with her grandparents and the boys jumping. As there was some overlap, I could pick another couple for my selection. yay! Anyway, here is what Sarah has to say about her favourite 5 images below…

ONE:

Sarah says:

1- the confetti shot because we were so happy after just getting married and you can see it!

Wedding at Hazel Gap Barn - black and white confetti photo - bride and groom laughing

TWO:

Sarah says:

2 – myself and my grandparents, so lovely they were able to share our special day with us and it brings back happy memories.

Wedding at Hazel Gap Barn - bride with grandparents

Three:

Sarah says:

3 – the group shot as it’s a great way to look back (Where’s Wally style) and see everyone who shared our day!

Wedding at Hazel Gap Barn - whole group

Four:

Sarah says:

4 – the jumping groomsmen, pure comedy look at their faces.

Wedding at Hazel Gap Barn - groomsmen jumping

Five:

Sarah says:

5 – Father of the Bride speech, knowing how nervous my Dad was he totally nailed his speech and was super funny and sentimental.

Wedding at Hazel Gap Barn - Father of bride speech. Bride smiling

Aww Sarah what a super selection. I think everyone nailed the speeches and there was humour and tears. A perfect mix. Some of my favourites were from the speeches as you can really capture some genuine emotion in these photos.

Some thoughts from the bride

What was the best decision you made about your wedding day? (advice to future couples)

Choosing and booking Adagio Wedding DJ at the Venue, Hazel Gap Barn. The party after the dinner felt so alive and so filled with love and joy. Everyone had a wonderful time dancing, singing and talking. We took our time and it was a wild card choosing the Venue itself, as it wasn’t built/renovated at the time we booked, but we loved our day, it was everything we wanted in a venue. It didn’t disappoint; the music the DJ offered was great and the food was so yummy!!

Is there anything you would do differently? (advice to future couples)

I did leave a few things a little last minute, so try to get all your major things booked early so you can focus on the smaller things nearer the day.

Wedding at Hazel Gap Barn - Here comes the Bride sign

Autumn Vibe:

I loved the autumnal vibe that Sarah and Leslie had going on at their Hazel Gap Barn wedding. The woodland theme in the table centre pieces and stationery and the autumn colours in all the flowers were lovely. And as I mentioned, the bridal prep photos and portraits in the log cabin against the woodland backdrop of Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire was wonderful.

36 Photos:

I am a firm believer that less is more when it comes to blogging. I like to spend some time curating my blog post to include a fine selection of my absolute favourites from the day. So I have chosen 36 photos (like a roll of film) that I think capture the essence of the day and include photos that mean something to me, or that I particularly enjoyed taking.

You can see some of my favourite detail shots above, and those of Sarah and her bridesmaids in Sherwood Forest. We stood on the decking just outside the cabin and the light through the forest of trees was delightful.

The autumn colours in the girls dresses and bouquets were beautiful and I loved how co-ordinated the decor was throughout. You can tell Sarah is a creative as a lot of care and attention went into making it all tie together seamlessly.

Getting Ready:

As well as capturing the dress and the shoes and the bride getting ready, it is also lovely to capture moments between people who mean a lot to each other. Sarah wrote her sister a lovely card that had her in tears and it was such a special moment to capture. It was also lovely to get Sarah’s mum and dad sharing a moment as her mum fixed the button hole to her dad.

The Ceremony:

Hazel Gap Barn is a lovely venue and the ceremony part of the barn is gorgeous with its high vaulted ceilings and wooden beams. There was a nice long walk for Sarah to take to get to her groom, which is always nice as then there is time to soak everything in.

The best of the rest…

Basically lots of fun, happiness and joy to photograph. What more could a photographer want?!

There were some funny moments thrown in as well: Sarah and her girlfriends staged a live painting type photo, which was rather fun. I randomly picked a few guests who were up for some sparkler fun. We did a little LOVE photo with the sparklers. It turned out pretty well. I think it was a good call to pick on the ones that weren’t too drunk. And the boys did a stirling job with their letters!