Yesterday we were both photographing and filming the wedding of Melissa and Neil at Highclere Castle. This is a fantastic venue which has been given a massive boost by featuring in the current ITV television series ‘Downton Abbey’. When Melissa first got in touch she was clear that she didn’t want traditional, boring wedding photographs, which is great fun for us! She had designed a fantastic fishtail purple dress with peacock feather embroidery and the peacock feather theme ran throughout the whole day. The ceremony was lovely with the harp music reflecting the couples tastes with arrangements of Sweet Child of Mine and Chasing Cars amongst others. The guests enjoyed tours of the Egyptian Exhibition before dinner and some very touching and amusing speeches! Melissa and Neil are off to Cornwall and then the Maldives on Honeymoon and we are both looking forward to catching up with them when they get home.
Barrie and Bev
About Highclere Castle
Highclere Castle is best known as the real-life setting of Downton Abbey, but long before television crews arrived it was already one of England’s most dramatic country houses. The Jacobean-style mansion was redesigned in the 1840s by Sir Charles Barry — the architect of the Houses of Parliament — and sits in 1,000 acres of Capability Brown parkland on the Hampshire–Berkshire border.
Shooting at a castle is about making the most of the location without letting it overwhelm the couple. The stone walls, towers and grounds are a gift to a photographer, but the strongest images tend to be the ones where the building is a backdrop rather than the subject. I spend the day working with the light and architecture together.
