Bowood Hotel Wedding Photography - Kelsey and Jason

Weddings

20 Jun

I’d been looking forward to Kelsey and Jason’s wedding at Bowood Hotel and Spa for a long time. When the day finally arrived, I headed up to the Kerry Suite to grab some detail photos before heading over to the hotel.

I was to start the morning with the boys, capturing a few photos of Jason’s preparations with his Groomsmen. Thankfully they were all very organised so I was able to document their final tweaks, take photos of the Best Man with the rings and capture some photos of them enjoying a rather fine glass of Whisky (a generous gift from the Best Man)!

From there I spent my time flitting between Kelsey’s preparations and the Kerry Suite capturing photos of the guests arriving. The ladies were also ready in plenty of time which meant we were able to capture a few group shots (between the happy tears!) before everyone headed across for the ceremony.

The ceremony was due to take place outside and it looked beautiful with an abundance of white and blue flowers decorating the aisle and on pedestals at the front. The weather, however, was a little unpredictable and we all held our breath as we experienced a very brief (and thankfully light) rain shower whilst we were waiting for Kelsey to make her appearance.

Kelsey was accompanied down the aisle by her Dad. They were proceeded by her two Bridesmaids dressed in a deep, ocean blue. It was a beautiful, emotional ceremony (where there were more happy tears!) after which the Bride and Groom retreated for a quick celebratory drink whilst I arranged all of the guests for the confetti.

The plan had been to do the confetti run (so far, so good), then arrange everyone for a group photo before launching into the smaller formal group photos. However, just as I had corralled everyone on to the stairs for the group photo, the heavens opened! I had just enough time to grab a few quick photos of everyone before I released them inside for drinks and canapés.

It just shows that sometimes you need to be a little flexible with plans.

We put the group photos aside for the time being and I busied myself capturing candid photos of everyone mingling. We then took a bit of a chance and, seeing that the rain was easing, I whisked Kelsey and Jason off to the Golden Gates for their couples portraits. Thankfully the rain had stopped by the time we got out of the golf buggy so we were able to capture some beautiful romantic portraits before heading back and gathering all of the groups for the formal photos.

As luck would have it, rather than head out to the back of the venue to do the photos on the terrace (the original plan) it made much more sense to do the photos outside the cottage next to the Kerry Suite. I think this is my favourite place for group photos, especially during the summer. We were even visited by a butterfly during the family photos which chose to settle on Kelsey’s bouquet for a moment - a beautiful little moment that made us pause for a beat.

Before too long Kelsey and Jason were being invited into the reception room to take a look at the final set-up at which point I was able to nab them for a mock cake-cutting photo (I was to be gone before they officially cut it later in the day).

The guests were then invited to take their seats. The speeches preceded the meal and were funny, emotional and with no shortage of more happy tears (always a great subject for photos!). After grabbing a few more candids (and a handful of final, relaxed group photos) I left them to their celebrations.

Below you will find a small selection of photos to tell the story of their day. To view the full gallery, please contact Kelsey and Jason.