Sunshine & showers was the forecast for Steve & Helen’s wedding day, yet despite this Helen must be one of the most upbeat & care free brides I’ve met. With a wedding held in her home town of Cheltenham, they chose the local parish of Bishops Cleeve to get married and then held a reception at the Tythe Barn just down the road.
In the first 3 minutes of meeting the family, I was greeted by Helen and her mum, plus the offer of a cuppa :-), and swiftly met gran within the next 2 minutes too. The most fun lady too, very switched on still, and looking forward to the wedding. Clearly this was a family with strong bonds, which was further reinforced when Helen was going to use her granddad’s vintage car for the wedding, and mum & dads camper van for their send off.
With dark skies overhead the day commenced with bridal preps in Cheltenham, before the short journey up to Bishops Cleeve for the wedding itself. With the prospect of rain, and knowing the Tythe Barn in Bishops Cleeve had very limited ‘picturesque’ outdoor spots for photos, we’d decided to utilise the extended drinks reception time to find an alternative local spot for wedding photos. Having discussed this on the phone a week earlier, we both agreed it’d be fun to try Winchcombe train station, as if it’s wet the overhead cover would at least offer some shelter, yet provide good photo opportunities. Well, despite all this consideration the day did in fact turned out to be beautiful, very warm, and with only the slightest damping, which conveniently occurred during the wedding breakfast.
So if you’re looking for wedding photography in Cheltenham take a few minutes out of your day to digest Steve & Helen’s wedding, with a selection of photos, and some additional commentary below.
Special delivery from the florist, not only flowers, but a little gift sneaked in from Steve for Helen. Sweet.
Tea & cakes were order of the day.
I had a quick meet & greet with gran whilst flowers were delivered, plus a whistle stop tour as part of the mornings preparations.
Back home and Helen’s dad settled for a second (or maybe third) cake, plus another cuppa!
Helen even made the tea on her wedding day!
“Is that ANOTHER cake dad?”
TEA
Tea, Cake, Laughter – you get the idea!?
Before Gran sped off to the church, she popped in for a quick last minute send off to Helen…..and then it was onto the main event.
Suitably impressed with the ear rings?
“ahhhh, this is it mum, I’m getting married today!”
Whilst everyone else presumed dad was now in the shower and getting ready, he’d sneaked back outside to wipe the car down – gotta love him, so entertaining.
Onto St Michael’s & All Angels Church, Bishop’s Cleeve, Cheltenham
Spot the only puddle for miles around on the left – yep that one. That’ll be the one the paige boy later decided to fall into!
“yep, this is it, you’re about to get married….no turning back now!”
The vicar ‘Malc’ even gave a mini ‘fist pump’ to celebrate the occasion.
Weddings, parenting & kids….never the easiest combination, often meaning you spend more time in the church ‘play area’ than watching the ceremony itself.
It wasn’t until I downladed the wedding photos and looked at this one in more detail I noticed the fact I’d captured two sets of photo taking opportunities going on.
Onwards to Winchcombe train station.
The platform is a brilliant place to take photos, you’ve just gotta watch you don’t ever step back to far!
We hang on a few extra minutes as a train was literally about to pull up, giving this opportunity for possibly my favourite photo of the day.
Onto the Tythe Barn in Bishops Cleeve, decorated just the previous evening by Helen & Steve.
Whilst guests enjoyed the summer sunshine, sat amongst picnic rugs & hay bails, a brass band played and fish & chips were served as canapés.
Gran was loving the brass band :-)
Helen’s dad had retained quite a collection of old memorabilia from when she was a child…..to which he pulled a few out of the bag for his wedding speech.
Gifts galore…it’s the best day ever to be a bridesmaid.
That’ll be tears….of joy though :-)
Secretly arranged by Steve was a song by one of the guests which was sang at the end of the speeches.
First dance, yet it was still light at 9pm….you gotta love June!
What a great day, despite the possibility of some serious rain showers, the weather did in fact hold out perfectly and Steve & Helen had a wonderful time.
If you’re having a wedding here in Cheltenham, then please contact me for a chat, I’d love to hear from you.