Steph & Peter’s Donington Park Farmhouse Wedding

Steph & Peter’s Donington Park Farmhouse Wedding

Well, this Park Farmhouse wedding was all rather emotional wasn’t it guys!! All was calm when I arrived at one of my favourite wedding venues on the morning of Steph & Peter’s wedding day, with Steph and her bridesmaids getting ready in the Park Farmhouse wedding suite along with Steph’s parents. A particularly emotional moment was when Steph gave her bridesmaids presents for them to wear on the day – the girls did very well not to smudge their make up at this point!! Steph’s dress was absolutely beautiful and she looked stunning, as did her bridesmaids who were wearing gorgeous full-length laurel green gowns. The flowers were simple with gypsophila and pastel colours which complemented the colour scheme beautifully. Another emotional moment was when Steph’s dad saw her in her gown for the first time – a picture of pride and joy! An added bonus to this wedding was that Peter & Steph had also requested a video highlights reel – meaning I could capture moments like that in stills but also as they happened, really bringing to life the memories for Peter & Steph

My second photographer, Charlotte, was busy taking shots of all the beautiful details that Peter & Steph had planned to make their Park Farmhouse wedding extra special and personalised. She also was able to capture Peter and his groomsmen in the private courtyard of which Park Farmhouse wedding couples have exclusive use of – the classic Land Rover that the couple had looked completely at home there too (and gave plenty of opportunities for photographs – both for the groomsmen and for the children later on!!) Peter’s parents had really gone to town with decorating the 4×4, with bunting inside and out of the vehicle along with flowers adorning the bonnet! 

With guests arriving and the Threshing Barn ready for the ceremony, it was time for Peter and his boys to go inside and await the arrival of the bride. I genuinely can’t write about Peter & Steph’s ceremony without getting a little bit teary (and my wife has cried so many times editing the video!) it was just such a touching service. With Steph’s bridesmaids and flower girls walking down the aisle I could tell the bridesmaids were really focusing on keeping it together, and Steph was too, until she reached the top of the aisle. The tears of joy she cried really got everyone in the room, and it’s moments like these that really remind me why I am so honoured to be a wedding photographer. I loved how Peter’s dad and Steph’s mum were invited to the front to be witness to Steph & Peter becoming Mr & Mrs Smyth, I loved how beautifully Peter’s mum did her reading, and if anyone in the room had managed to hold it together by that point, the emotion that Steph’s brother displayed during his reading then they would definitely had a little tear in their eye after. The feeling of love and happiness for the couple in that room was so evident that you could almost touch it. Proper warm fuzzy feeling inside!

So with the newlyweds announced as husband and wife, it was time for the party to start. Peter and Steph were lucky with the weather which meant that the outside courtyard could be used by their guests during their drinks reception and so the new Mr & Mrs Smyth mingled with their guests both inside and out, being congratulated and enjoying their first few moments as husband and wife. We managed to sneak in a quick couple shoot and it’s at this point at every Park Farmhouse wedding that I really remember why I love the venue – exposed brickwork, fields, spiral staircases, woodland, barns…..almost too many photography opportunities (ha, who am I kidding, you can NEVER have too many photo backdrops!!!) After this we headed back to the courtyard for group shots and confetti and then it was time for the wedding breakfast. The Park Farmhouse wedding team had done a super job with the Pig Sties and as ever the food was amazing. After having spent time with Peter & Steph throughout the day I was fully prepared for the speeches to be emotional and they certainly were! Peter’s speech was fab and unique – it was pretty much a full blown award ceremony, with the groom rewarding different guests for different things – and of course, the final award when to his beautiful (and very teary!) wife! Peter had three best men and their speech had the guests properly laughing – a highlight of their speech was the revealing of their ….unique (!) portraits of Steph – framed and ready to be displayed in the newlyweds’ home I’m sure! 

After a lovely wedding breakfast what does every couple want – to go for a walk and stand in a cold, blustery field of course! Luckily Peter & Steph were up for getting some awesome shots and with the sun setting it was a great opportunity to get some dramatic silhouette shots and have some fun with some different lighting. When we returned to the barn, the evening guests had started to arrive and it was time to cut the cake and open the dance floor. Peter & Steph’s family and friends sure know how to party (a lot of the guests knew a lot of dance moves to the classic disco songs – very impressed!! haha) and with shots flowing and the photo booth they had booked being rammed Peter & Steph definitely have a lot of photos to look through in the full gallery!! 

Peter & Steph – it was an absolute pleasure and an honour to be a part of your Park Farmhouse wedding day. There was so much love and happiness surrounding you both and you fully deserve such an amazing wedding day. I hope these photographs and your video highlights reel will provide you with memories of what was an absolutely fantastic day for many, many years to come. Thank you for being awesome and congratulations on becoming Mr & Mrs Smyth 🙂 

If you’re interested in booking me for your Donington Park Farmhouse Wedding Photography then please don’t hesitate to get in touch here.