A simple but elegant celebration at Ixworth House with select family & friends
The vast majority of weddings I photograph are full day affairs with lots of people and a fair bit of revelry. I love this, but I also really enjoy the quieter, shorter smaller weddings too. If anything they actually work as a bit of a balance for me. Sometimes it can be pretty overwhelming to attend a wedding every single week throughout the summer, particularly if you're an introvert. Smaller weddings have a degree of intimacy and "special-ness" that you just don't get from the standard ones. Sean & Rebecca aren't the kind of people who like a lot of fuss and wanted to keep things simple with just their absolute favourite people around them. I joined them shortly before the ceremony for a brief wander around the Abbey Gardens in Bury St. Edmunds.
I don't often start off with portraits, I think I've only ever done it that way round twice before but I quite liked the idea of a nice calm, quiet start to the day and a bit of time to enjoy each other's company before the big deed. It turned out that unfortunately on the day their young son was ill so actually a few minutes of quiet in a park was a a great way to pause and focus on each other.
They ambled about for a bit and I followed them around and mostly hid in some bushes as per standard for me. I try not to get too close wherever I can when I'm doing couple's portraits because I know first hand how intimidating it is having someone shove a camera in your face. The abbey tower clock bonged at us indicating it was time to head over to the registry office so we made the short walk across the road to meet the guests.
After a short ceremony with their closest family and friends, we had one quick obligatory group shot outside and then all jumped into our cars to head over to Ixworth House for the reception. I'd not been to Ixworth since I was a child so I was aware that it existed but didn't remember much. I have a bit of a soft spot for old buildings so I did spend a lot of the time there sort of wishing I could go and have a snoop around because it's an absolutely gorgeous house and the grounds looked fantastic. I made a mental note to pop back on a day off an go exploring with a camera.
We had planned to take a few quick pictures in the gardens but the weather had other plans and instead we were treated to a torrential downpour on arrival which I thankfully missed by sends as it hit almost the moment I stepped inside but some of the guests who arrived after me did look fairly soggy when they walked through the door. The light was magnificent though despite the rain which made for some unusually dramatic photos of the dining area.
Rebecca is of Chinese heritage so I was genuinely quite excited to witness a traditional tea ceremony. As a wedding photographer I naturally have a professional interest in how other cultures celebrate marriages and despite this not being my first Chinese culture wedding, it was the first time I've seen a tea ceremony. I won't turn this into a lesson on Chinese culture because I'll butcher it horribly so if you're interested go and google it, but if you have no idea what I'm talking about and you can't be bothered to read up right now, here's a one sentence crash course: basically the concept is that the couple pour and serve tea for the senior members of the family who in turn give the couple gifts. There's obviously a lot more to it than that, little of which I fully understand but that's largely due to ignorance and classic English cultural ineptitude rather than because it's difficult to grasp.
As the reception wasn't a huge affair like many weddings, I only stayed until dinner was served and then snuck off. I left with a warm feeling in my heart having spent a few hours with an incredibly welcoming and very special group of people and a strong desire to spend more time in a beautiful place.
