Emma and Josh - Bourton Hall Wedding Photography, Rugby

Now that we’re properly into winter and it’s getting dark at 5pm, it feels even more necessary to look back and remember the joys and freedoms of the summer! So grab a cuppa because today I’ve got a gorgeous sunny wedding to tell you all about at Bourton Hall.

Emma and Josh were married at Bourton Hall, near Rugby, earlier this year. Bourton Hall is a cracking venue for anyone looking to get married in Warwickshire – not only is it a beautiful building, with its own former chapel, but it’s also recently undergone a huge refurbishment with weddings in mind, meaning that it’s ideally set up for couples looking to hold the entirely of their celebrations all in one gorgeous, local place.

I’d first heard from Bourton Hall a while back before it reopened as a wedding venue, as they contacted me to ask if I wanted to be a preferred supplier. I jumped at the chance, as it meant I got to see the astonishing transformation from a derelict manor house to luxury wedding venue. I was excited to hear from Emma and Josh and to finally get the chance to shoot a proper wedding there.I asked Emma in our first zoom call what had prompted her to contact me. Was it seeing my images from a beautiful stately home wedding? Was it the way I’d captured the emotion of another couple’s day? Was it the testimonies of other newlyweds, thrilled with the pictures I’d provided of their once-in-a-lifetime celebration?

No. It was the wedding of a wind-up cowboy and a plastic spaceman.

In the early lockdown days, you see, the boredom was real for a wedding photographer with no weddings. There were only so many ways to beautifully capture the light on my daily walk, and I’m not really one for selfies. So to keep myself occupied, I’d used my boys’ Toy Story figurines to shoot a Disney toy wedding at home (lockdown was hard on us all, right?!). Emma told me she’d seen the photos on my blog of this particular moment of madness creativity, and decided that anyone who could shoot a Toy Story wedding was definitely the right person to shoot hers! I couldn’t agree more.

It soon became clear why this had appealed to Emma and Josh, because they’re not especially conventional people themselves! They are both animal-mad, and their passion for the animal kingdom definitely made for some of the more out-there wedding pictures I’ve ever had the pleasure of shooting.

On the day of the wedding itself, I joined Emma and her bridesmaids as they got ready at Bourton Hall in the morning. They were loads of fun, and I soon discovered why – they’d started on the champagne early and were two bottles down before 11am!

Once their hair and make-up was all sorted, Emma moved into the bridal suite to get ready, and wow – what a setting. Bourton Hall have done an absolutely fantastic job all over, but especially with this room, which is absolutely gorgeously decorated, huge, and flooded with natural light – a photographer’s dream.

We took some pictures in there before it was time to head down to the ceremony itself, held in Bourton Hall’s former Catholic chapel. This is yet another beautiful space, and it’s perfect for those who want the feel of a church wedding but without some of the constrictions that can come along with a religious ceremony.

It made for a beautiful ceremony, and it was wonderful to see how happy Emma and Josh were to be finally tying the knot after months of postponements and uncertainty.

Afterwards, it was time for the furry (and some not-so-furry) friends to arrive! Emma and Josh had arranged for an animal entertainments company to come along, and BOY did it go down well with the wedding guests! There was everything from snakes to skunks, and many of the guests were brave enough to get up close and personal with the animals to pose for photos – although I have to admit that my favourite pictures are of those who were slightly less brave!

Bourton Hall thoughtfully provides a massive chess set and garden games for their weddings, which on this lovely summer’s day were really enjoyed by Emma and Josh’s wedding guests. It became clear as the day went on that one of Emma’s bridesmaids was hugely competitive, and she spent the day trying to beat all the other guests at a giant game of chess. The fact that she’d played her first chess game less than 2 weeks previously didn’t deter her!

The chess was succeeded by one of the most competitive games of Jenga I’ve ever witnessed – in fact Emma and Josh’s first dance was even delayed by a few minutes so that a Jenga champion could be declared – the game had drawn quite the crowd! I’d never been at a wedding where Jenga has pulled the focus from the first dance before, but there’s a first time for everything…

Bourton Hall pulled the stops out once again for Emma and Josh’s first dance, which was set against the backdrop of the Hall’s grand staircase – a stunning setting and a gorgeous place for Emma and Josh’s guests to celebrate the start of their marriage journey.

Congrats Emma and Josh