Liam & Shaun’s Wedding at Hogarths Stone Manor

There are some wedding days where everything just seems to come together.

Liam and Shaun's wedding at Hogarths Stone Manor, near Kidderminster, was one of those days. Beautiful weather, an outdoor ceremony, a relaxed atmosphere and plenty of opportunities to create something a little different as the day moved into the evening.

I arrived at Stone Manor at around 11am. That gave me plenty of time before their 2pm ceremony to photograph the venue, some of the details and the preparations for the day.

A relaxed start to the wedding day

Liam and Shaun had chosen to do things slightly differently.

Rather than having two separate, traditional sets of wedding preparations, they got ready together privately. Afterwards, I spent some time with each of them individually, creating a few relaxed portraits around Stone Manor before their guests began arriving.

That included some simple photographs by the windows and mirrors, along with those little finishing touches such as straightening ties and making sure everything was ready.

It worked really well. There was no need to manufacture a traditional "getting ready" story simply because that's what normally happens at a wedding. The photography fitted around the way Liam and Shaun had chosen to spend their morning.

And that's really how I prefer to photograph weddings. Every couple and every wedding is different.

An outdoor ceremony at Hogarths Stone Manor

At 2pm it was time for the ceremony. Liam and Shaun had chosen Stone Manor's outdoor ceremony area, decorated in blue and white to complement the colour scheme running throughout the wedding.

It was an absolutely beautiful summer day. From a photography point of view, though, that also meant some seriously bright sunshine!

Outdoor ceremonies in strong midday sun can be challenging because of the contrast between highlights and shadows. It's a case of constantly watching the light and exposure while still concentrating on what's actually happening.

Because ultimately, the photography isn't about the technical challenge. It's about the people.

The reactions, smiles, glances and little moments happening throughout the ceremony are what tell the story. That's the heart of documentary wedding photography.

Once Liam and Shaun were married, everyone headed outside through a shower of confetti before moving across to the walled garden.

Drinks, photographs and the walled garden

The walled garden at Stone Manor is one of my favourite areas for this part of a wedding day.

It's secluded, surrounded by established greenery and gives guests somewhere to relax with a drink while I concentrate mainly on candid photographs.

We also used this part of the afternoon for Liam and Shaun's family photographs and the large group photograph of everyone at the wedding. With the sunshine still extremely strong, I used two flashes to put some light back onto everybody's faces for the big group.

Once we'd finished the groups, I took Liam and Shaun away for a short portrait session.

Nothing lengthy. Nothing that meant disappearing from their guests for an hour. Just a few relaxed photographs of the two of them together before they headed back inside for the wedding breakfast.

The Garden Room and speeches

While the guests were taking their seats, I moved into the Garden Room ahead of Liam and Shaun so I was ready when they were announced into the room.

The wedding breakfast was followed by the speeches, which gave us some lovely reactions and emotional moments to photograph.

One of the things I particularly enjoyed about this wedding was how smoothly everything flowed. There never seemed to be a point where the day felt rushed, or where we were desperately trying to catch up with the wedding day timeline.

That left us with plenty of opportunities later in the day. Including something Liam and Shaun had specifically asked me for.

Bringing out the blue smoke

When Liam and Shaun completed their wedding questionnaire, one of the photographs they particularly wanted was a photograph together in the garden using blue smoke.

So, after the speeches, that's exactly what we did.

Blue was already an important part of the styling of the wedding, so the smoke worked brilliantly with the overall look of the day.

These are the sorts of photographs that are great fun to create because they're completely different from the documentary photography I've been shooting for most of the day.

My wedding photography has always been a mixture of the two. For most of your wedding, I'm watching what's happening and photographing the day naturally. But when the opportunity presents itself, I also love creating something a little more creative and dramatic.

And we weren't finished yet.

Then the sunset appeared

After the cake cutting and first dance, at around 8.30pm I looked outside and saw the light changing across the main lawn.

The sunset looked fantastic. There were two dark red-leaved trees, a long white bench and a sky that was far too good to ignore.

So I grabbed Liam and Shaun.

This wasn't something we'd scheduled months beforehand. You can't put "amazing sunset at 8.30pm" into a wedding timeline and expect the weather to cooperate. Sometimes wedding photography is simply about recognising an opportunity when it appears.

I exposed the photograph for the sunset behind them, then used an off-camera flash with a large softbox to light Liam and Shaun. These became some of my favourite photographs from the entire wedding.

One photograph turned into something much bigger

What started as a quick sunset portrait of Liam and Shaun then took on a life of its own.

Once we'd got the setup working, we started bringing other people through. Parents. Families. Couples. Friends. Small groups.

Rather than simply having one great sunset portrait of the grooms, we were able to give lots of their guests something a little different too. We probably spent around 30 to 45 minutes making those photographs while the light lasted.

It's a good example of why I don't like wedding photography to be too rigidly planned.

Of course we have a timeline. Of course there are photographs we know we want to make. But sometimes the best opportunity of the day wasn't on the schedule at all.

Champagne, smoke and the dance floor

There was still time for a few more creative photographs before I finished.

We created a champagne-spray photograph, then returned to the blue smoke for a completely different version of the earlier photographs.

This time it was darker. Rather than lighting Liam and Shaun from the front, I placed a flash behind them so that the light travelled through the blue smoke.

Same basic ingredient. Completely different photograph.

Then it was back inside for the final part of the evening.

My last photographs of the wedding were on the dance floor, with Liam and Shaun surrounded by their guests waving illuminated batons during a Coldplay song.

Not a bad way to finish eleven hours of wedding photography.

A brilliant Hogarths Stone Manor wedding

I've photographed many weddings at Hogarths Stone Manor over the years, so I know there are plenty of opportunities around the venue. But every wedding still gives you something different.

For Liam and Shaun it was the combination of the relaxed outdoor ceremony, the blue styling, the smoke photographs and, above all, that unexpected evening light.

The sunset portraits were probably my personal photographic highlight. But what I like most when I look back through this wedding is the variety:

• The photographs that simply record what happened.

• The little reactions and moments that Liam and Shaun couldn't possibly have seen themselves.

• The family photographs that will become more important as the years pass.

• And those few photographs where we deliberately stopped and created something special.

That's exactly the balance I want from a wedding gallery.

Congratulations Liam and Shaun. An amazing day from start to finish.

Planning a wedding at Hogarths Stone Manor?

If you're getting married at Hogarths Stone Manor and you're looking for relaxed, documentary wedding photography combined with a few creative portraits when the opportunity presents itself, I'd love to hear what you're planning.

I'm Paul Hickey of Once in a Lifetime Photography, a recommended supplier at Hogarths Stone Manor, based in Worcestershire. You can see what's included in each collection on my wedding photography packages page.