A small wedding in Buckinghamshire for Oliver and Hannah
When Oliver and Hannah booked me to photograph their small wedding celebration in Buckinghamshire, they were keen to get lots of coverage of the ceremony and guests but they also loved the idea of creating some romantic rural portraits for printing.
Unfortunately, like so many town-centre churches and registry offices, their local parish church didn’t have much in the way of outdoor space and certainly didn’t provide the kind of rural setting they’d imagined for portraits.
Luckily, we didn’t have to go far to find it.
Buckinghamshire countryside is right on our doorsteps and a lot of it is free to roam
One of the wonderful things about having a small wedding in Buckinghamshire is that you’ve only got to drive out of town for a few minutes to get to some breath-taking backdrops for your photography.
For example, if you’re planning a small wedding ceremony at Beaconsfield registry office, Burnham Beeches is a wonderful local spot for portraits.
In Oliver and Hannah’s case, this open farmland was literally two minutes from their church.
I first saw this tree when I went out to meet Oliver and Hannah before the wedding. We walked over the farmland and picked out a few places we could shoot.
Hannah was a big fan of the tree and wanted to feature it in their wedding photos. I was a little concerned about the relative scale.
I’m really glad I did use it, particularly for my first photo (at the top of the blog) because it’s my favourite pic; it was just too big for a wider shot. You’d need a six-foot print to see the bride and groom.
One thing I did find quite interesting about the location is how by moving in for a tighter view of the same shot you get a completely different sense of the surroundings. There’s almost an alpine feeling to them, which is a little unexpected for a small wedding in Buckinghamshire.
I think this next shot was one of Oliver and Hannah’s favourites; they had it printed on thank you notes.
As we only had 30 minutes (before the reception) to get out and back for these portraits, the next two shots were our last but this is definitely a location I’d want to revisit with a bride and groom – it’s beautiful and it’s free.
If you are having a small wedding and would like to nip off for a few portraits after the ceremony, it’s worth adding a bit extra time to travel to and from the location and take photos.
For a three-hour small wedding booking, I’d recommend allowing one hour to cover it all.
How did the rest of the wedding look?
In case you’re wondering how the rest of Oliver and Hannah’s wedding looked, here are a few pics from earlier at the church.
If you’re planning a small wedding in Buckinghamshire and you haven’t booked a photographer yet, why not take a look at my Buckinghamshire wedding photographer page to see more examples of my work.
As long as I’m free, I’ll be more than happy to take a half-day or small wedding booking at the weekend, particularly if I’ve got several weddings in that week so please do get in touch.
You can find more information small weddings and elopements by visiting my micro wedding photography pricing page.
What is a small wedding?
A small wedding in the UK typically means a wedding ceremony at a registry office or church followed by a few drinks and some food at a nearby restaurant or pub. Small weddings tend to be small in numbers (of guests) and short in duration. Small weddings are also known as micro weddings, a term popularised during pandemic of 2020/2021. Micro weddings generally have 30 or few people in attendance.