Beautiful Vow Renewal Ceremony in the woods
Ok, so this wasn’t technically a wedding, but a Marriage Vow Renewal. I want to share this event on my blog because it was such a beautiful event and I would love to share what I witnessed and documented through my photos. South African couple Noelene and Morne had a very small registry office ceremony 10 years ago with no one else but witnesses and a registrar to see their wedding. They didn’t even have a photographer to document their wedding! But now they have three children and wanted to renew their vows with family and friends present to make it extra special! The vow renewal took place on a farm in Essex near Harwich under a copse of trees. This was such a gorgeous setting for their vow renewal to take place. The night before, Morne had gotten soaked through setting up some stunning decorations in the trees, laid out an aisle of petals and lanterns. Fortunately on the day of the ceremony the weather was incredible! Beautiful hot sunshine! Direct sunlight is actually a photographers nightmare, as it creates horrible contrast of shadows on people’s faces and can cause them to squint. There are a few tricks I have up my sleeve to get around this issue but luckily because we were under the trees, the sunlight was diffused to create beautiful soft light, the kind of light you might get on an overcast day which is perfect for taking photos of people!
I arrived at the farm super early, which was good as it was a very long drive from Dorset so it gave me time to set up my cameras and relax in the hot August sunshine for a while before I got to work! After an hour or so of topping up my tan I began to photograph the beautiful details that had been prepared in the woods the night before. I got photos of the cake and sweets before they got devoured. The cake was honestly a piece of art, I tried to show it off in an artistic way in my photos. Then I took photos of these gorgeous lanterns hanging from the trees and the floral set up for the ceremony under the trees. There was also lots of beautiful family photos hanging on strings from a marquee, it was clear to me that Noelene and Morne had a strong family bond with their children before had even met them.
Shortly after, Morne and his kids arrived with their best friends who were the celebrants and witnesses. They got themselves arranged for the ceremony moments before Noelene arrived in style on a John Deere Mini Tractor! How else would you arrive to a wedding on a farm? As Noelene was getting ready to walk down the aisle with her son and daughter she had a quick pep talk with her son, it looked like it went along the lines of ‘you better behave yourself and not step out of line on my special day!’ I sneakily caught this moment on camera, these are my favourite kind of moments to capture as it really helps tell a story when you are looking back through the photos from your wedding day.
The Ceremony under the trees
During the beautiful ceremony, I was able to get lots of different photography angles as there was a lot of space in the woods to move around freely. I was using my tamron 70-200mm zoom lense which means I could take photos discreetly from a distance and make it look as though I was very close, without causing any distractions. This lense also creates background compression and isolates my subject whilst blurring out the surroundings which is a common theme in my style of photography, which I love to do! There were a lot of special moments to capture during the ceremony, including their oldest son reading a poem ‘What is a Family?’ Which was a really emotional moment which I am so happy to have captured, you can really feel what was being felt at the time. After the prayers, exchange of rings and the kiss I took some intimate family photos, everyone was so incredibly happy! These fleeting moments of parents hugging their kids happens in seconds, it’s really important as the photographer to always be on the ball so I can capture these moments, you can’t really redo it! My style is capturing these special moments as they happen, hence why I call myself a documentary wedding photographer.
During the beautiful ceremony, I was able to get lots of different photography angles as there was a lot of space in the woods to move around freely. I was using my tamron 70-200mm zoom lense which means I could take photos discreetly from a distance and make it look as though I was very close, without causing any distractions. This lense also creates background compression and isolates my subject whilst blurring out the surroundings which is a common theme in my style of photography, which I love to do! There were a lot of special moments to capture during the ceremony, including their oldest son reading a poem ‘What is a Family?’ Which was a really emotional moment which I am so happy to have captured, you can really feel what was being felt at the time. After the prayers, exchange of rings and the kiss I took some intimate family photos, everyone was so incredibly happy! These fleeting moments of parents hugging their kids happens in seconds, it’s really important as the photographer to always be on the ball so I can capture these moments, you can’t really redo it! My style is capturing these special moments as they happen, hence why I call myself a documentary wedding photographer.
Romantic Photo shoot after the Ceremony
After taking some group photos of the family with their friends we then did some romantic photos, Noelene and Morne are romantic naturals in front of the camera! I find some couples need a bit of guidance and posing instructions from me to look a bit more natural and relaxed which I’m more than happy to do but I can be so more creative when my couples feel at ease in front of the camera.
Cutting of the Cake
Once the cake was cut, I was able to take a break and enjoy a cake and one of the yummiest and best looking cakes I have ever seen! I don’t usually drink on the job but Morne insisted that I had a beer with him, it’s rude to say no right?! I finished up the afternoon of photography by capturing everyone in a candid way enjoying the food, drink and company of this special occasion.
I would like to wrap up this blog post post by saying that your wedding, or vow renewal in this case doesn’t have to be in a traditional wedding venue, you don’t need to spend thousands! Especially in times like these, all you need is the people that mean the most to you and pretty location to create some amazing memories and photographs of your special day! What did you think of the this beautiful occasion in the woods of Essex? Let me know in the comments!