One of the things that inspires me most about photography is when people have different ideas of their own or are open to trying out suggestions of mine.
Michele and James were quite cagey when they first emailed to enquire about my availability for Bonfire Night 2022. Having established that my diary was clear, it was only then that the meat started to be added to the bones on precisely what they were planning for their own wedding day!
The Wedding Venue – Ansty Hall, Warwickshire
They were to be married at Ansty Hall, Warwickshire. It wasn’t a venue I’d worked at before, but it was one that I was well aware of.
Beautiful Ansty Hall, Warwickshire
A Very Different Wedding Ceremony
Not only was it a great venue, what Michele and James had lined up immediately got me excited. They were determined that they would be getting married outside, in the dark, in November. I mean, who does that?!?
Formulating A Plan
We got together at Ansty Hall around sunset a few weeks before the wedding to scout things out and come up with a bit of a plan for how we could make it work. It immediately became clear that James loves his projects, and that was very much how he saw this. I was left with absolutely no doubt that he could turn his vision into a reality, too.
While I was confident that there’d be plenty of light for the situation overall, my main concern was that there might not be enough light falling on to Michele and James’s faces when they were saying their vows and exchanging rings etc.
Modern cameras are amazing, but there is still only so far you can push things, and no registrar was going to be content with me popping a flash off throughout the ceremony. Aside from that, it would have totally changed the aesthetic of the images and defeated the original object entirely.
My solution to the problem was to have a candelabra on standby (bearing in mind that we were all going to be guessing about the actual state of the light until we were actually living the moment).
Bonfire Night 2022
Fast forward to the day of the wedding itself, and the forecast was sketchy but improving as the day went on. The drive to Ansty Hall was a pretty grim one until I got about 5 miles from my exit off the M6, when the rain stopped and the road before me was dry.
The groom shares a joke with guests
Guests get reacquainted with one another
I met up with James as soon as I arrived, and he was really eager to show me what he’d done. It was still about half an hour before sunset at this point, and it already looked amazing.
The scene prior to the ambient light fading
The ceremony was scheduled to take place at 1700, a full 30 minutes after sunset, so we wouldn’t really know what it was going to look like until pretty much the start time. Once Michele went in for her interview with the registrars, I once again headed back outside to check the light situation.
I made the call that we needed to use the candelabra to throw a little light onto the faces of the bride and groom
Decision Time
It was apparent to me at that point that we needed to make use of the candelabra, and poignantly, it was one that had belonged to James’s father before he sadly passed away. Without it, Michele and James would have essentially been backlit, and I’d have been struggling for any kind of usable shutter speed at all. The candles added a lovely warm glow and worked perfectly for what we needed.
Michele’s son Daniel proudly delivers his mum to her waiting groom
Michele listens on intently to her husbands personalised wedding vows
The view from the back of the aisle was even more special
With this ring I thee wed
Sealed with a kiss
It was also the first time that either of the registrars had done an outdoor ceremony in the dark. Every single person there loved it. We were all stood outside, yet it felt remarkably intimate. It really was lovely.
Play Time!
Once the formalities had concluded it was time for a sparkler shot, which also looked amazing!
Sparkler shots always look amazing but they looked even more so in this setting
A cheeky sparkler-lit kiss
After a few group shots in front of the fireplace, I took Michele and James off for a few pictures of just the two of them.
Group shots in front of the fireplace
We started off in front of the main entrance to Ansty Hall.
Ansty Hall has a multitude of great places for photographs outside on your wedding day
A silhouetted shot in front of the main entrance to Ansty Hall
Then it was round the back for a few more shots in front of the big tree.
The bride and groom in front of the beautifully illuminated Ansty Hall tree
One of Michele’s friends had created an LED umbrella for her, so we made sure we made use of that.
James spotted the full moon poking out and wondered if we could do anything with that. I was a bit sceptical, TBH, but it actually worked OK!
The LED wedding umbrella crafted by one of Michele’s friends, and the full moon!
And finally, we got the smokes out, which worked great in conjunction with the studio lights.
Purple and white smoke after dark in the Ansty Hall gardens
The Wedding Breakfast
By this point in time, the candles in the wedding breakfast room had all been lit, and it looked beautiful.
Michele and James in front of the table ahead of their wedding breakfast
Michele and James cut their wedding cake
With the guests sat down and ready to eat, my work was done. It had been a brilliant few hours generating some really different imagery and pushing the boundaries a little.
Wishing Michele and James all the happiness in the world!
Searching For Your Own Wedding Photographer?
If you’ve not already done so, please take a look at my WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY PACKAGES – Karl Drage, Northampton Wedding Photographer.
For more information on what happens when you decide you want me to photograph your wedding, please see: WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY by Karl Drage – How I Work
While every wedding is different, there are certain elements which are usually broadly similar. Take a look at a typical wedding day to see the thought processes I’m likely to employ for your big day.
There’s much more work involved in photographing a wedding than just rocking up and taking the pictures. I’ve put together this guide to explain why wedding photography can seem expensive but it’s really not.
I’ve also put together this wedding photography FAQ list and my responses – Questions you should ask a wedding photographer!
This content was originally published here.