Pauntley Court Wedding Photography

I first visited Pauntley Court, in Gloucestershire, for an initial recce, so I can get a feel for the place, as a wedding venue. I like to work out where I will take the group and portrait photos and also, so I have knowledge of the layout in advance of the wedding day. A lot of couples worry if a photographer has photographed at their venue before their wedding day. It is often a prerequisite for booking a photographer. This is understandable, however, after doing a recce beforehand, the photos you see below represent my first time doing Wedding Photography at Pauntley Court. I think it worked out quite nicely!

So I believe, brides & grooms should certainly do their research into a photographer prior to booking. However, if your photographer is conscientious enough to visit your venue pre-wedding, whether they have photographed at a certain venue in the past should not really have a bearing on whether they are able to do a great job for you or not. A good photographer is a good photographer…and will knock it out of the park regardless. Phew! now I have that off my chest… haha! Hmmm… I didn’t plan on going off-piste like that. Apologies.

Gorgeous Pauntley Court in Gloucestershire

When I started the last paragraph, my intent was to talk about how incredible this venue is. I think I can safely say, if ALL of my weddings were at Pauntley Court for the rest of my life, I think I would die a very happy photographer. I do like visiting different venues, as it gets the creative juices flowing, but there is so much to Pauntely Court to keep me interested. If you couple that with all the different possibilities with light and the weather, the options are endless.

As you walk through the gate, you are presented with a stunning, terracotta-colored, possibly medieval building. I believe the building has been added to over time, but I digress. It is captivating! I walked through the front door and I felt like I had just walked into someone’s home. Definitely not your run-of-the-mill, chain wedding venue. The front room was full of wonderful furniture, wood-paneled walls, and beautiful paintings. It was gorgeous! To have access to something like this for your wedding day, I believe is a real gift.

It was the same for the bridal prep rooms. Dramatic light and amazing furnishings. A fantastic backdrop in every direction. As a wedding photographer, I was certainly not complaining! Sometimes, you have to get a little creative with your cropping, to hide certain unwanted features in your photos. I was more than happy shooting with my wide-angle lens the whole time. haha! That’s a weird compliment, but it is true! It’s a photographer’s compliment! hahaha!

Hybrid Wedding Photography

For this wedding, they hired me to do something called Hybrid Wedding Photography. This is where I photograph and video the wedding at the same time, just me. No one else… My cameras can do both video and photography. So, the idea is I go through the day photographing and then switching over to do a bit of video here and there too. By the end of the wedding day, I am left with a collection of video clips that I can put together to create a video montage that is set to music. It is a bit of a halfway house between hiring a videographer and not having video at all.

I can do all of this without having an effect on the wedding photography coverage either. Obviously, it is a little more for me to think about, but it works really well and gives your wedding memories an extra dimension.

Having a dedicated videographer will give you a more complete view of your wedding, but Hybrid Wedding Photography will give you a taster, without having a whole other person at your wedding. It’s just me! So it is a lot less overpowering on the day and you will not know if I am photographing or videoing.

I also video the ceremony and speeches in full with a separate, static camera. This is because there are times I literally cannot do both. So this enables me to supply not only a lovely edited highlight reel from the wedding but the ceremony and speeches in full too. I think you end up with quite a nice package overall.

Congratulations

I just want to thank J&N for inviting me along to what was an incredible wedding, in the glorious sunshine at the beautiful Pauntley Court. It truly was a pleasure! You are an amazing couple and I wish you all the best for your future together.
Also, I would like to mention the owner Melissa and her staff. Melissa was incredible to work with. She was so accommodating and helpful…a great communicator and the perfect team player. You cannot go wrong if you are thinking of hiring Pauntley Court for your wedding day! Check them out…