Romantic Church and Village Hall Wedding – Doveridge
Having booked with Becki & Jim over 12 months ago it seemed to come round very quickly for me to be travelling to Doveridge for their romantic church and village hall wedding! Arriving at Becki’s parents’ house it was clear that they had really done a lot of work and preparation in honour of their daughter getting married. The house was immaculate with lots of thoughtful details making the bridal prep as stress-free and exciting as possible. Their garden was absolutely stunning, a real labour of love, and it provided a great backdrop for photographs before departing for the church. I always love meeting the bride’s immediate family and friends on the morning of the wedding, everyone is always so excited about the day, with a hint of apprehension and pressure, feeling the responsibility of helping their beloved daughter / sister / best friend have the best day of her life. However, meeting John & Kate at their house on the morning of the weather it felt like I already knew them a little bit. Why? I hear you ask! Well, the truth is, I had been let in on a little secret that they had organised to ensure that Becki & Jim’s romantic wedding and village hall wedding was truly fairytale-esque! As a wedding present to their daughter, Kate & John arranged for Becki to make the journey from their house to the church in an absolutely beautiful horse & carriage. Through phone calls and plenty of emails, we were all ready for the plan to be executed! I’ve never been more worried during a phone call to my bride and groom for fear of letting the secret slip, however, luckily we managed to stage it perfectly so Becki was posing outside the family home with her parents as the horse and carriage came around the corner. Love being part of moments like that (although was very glad when the cat was out the bag!!!)
Doveridge Church is a beautiful setting for a romantic wedding. Over 900 years old, it is a mixture of architectural styles and was beautifully decorated to celebrate the marriage of Becki & Jim. It really did seem like there was someone smiling down on the happy couple – through a lot of the service there was a bright light streaming through one particular window, perfectly highlighting Becki & Jim as they were exchanging their vows led by the vicar, Peter. The nice thing about having a local church and village hall wedding is that you become part of village traditions. Following the service Becki & Jim were keen to have photographs outside the church door as well as the ancient yew tree in the churchyard. With handmade confetti cones prepared for the guests, I had a great opportunity to get some fantastic shots of the newlyweds before it was time to head to the village hall for further celebrations.
It was at this point that it was Jim’s opportunity to get the fairy-tale feel as the happy couple travelled in style in the horse & carriage to continue their church and village hall wedding. With sprinkles of gold throughout the decorations at the village hall the look was classy and understated, setting the scene for a relaxed, fun celebration. After the drinks recepti, n it was time for the wedding breakfast and the catering team did an absolutely splendid job in keeping the masses fed and watered with some delicious looking food ( I even got some awesome food too!). Following this the speeches were made. Now, normally it is the best man’s speech where the groom has to worry about getting ripped to shreds but I’m almost 100% sure it was Becki’s dad who brought up the fact that Jim is so ‘youthful’ looking, that on the newlyweds’ first date, the waitress brought over some colouring to keep him entertained!! Cleverly done by John – Jim had decided not to make a speech so he didn’t even have an opportunity to reply!!! After that ripping the only way was up with the best man’s speech! It was then time to cut the beautiful cake and open the dance floor for an evening of dancing and laughter.
With people being so much more transient these days it’s getting rarer all the time to have a bride getting married in the village that she grew up in. Watching the pride that the local community and family and friends obviously felt in being involved in the romantic church and village hall wedding of Becki & Jim was really humbling and heart-warming. It made everyone feel very welcome and very at home in Doveridge, it really was a fantastic day enjoyed by all. Congratulations Becki & Jim, I hope you enjoy looking through the photographs as much as I enjoyed your day. I wish you many years of happiness together.
