Christmas Wedding at The Bishop's Palace, Wells

I can not tell you how excited I was to be one of the wedding photographers for this photo shoot at the Bishop's Palace in Wells Somerset! Chloe, from Kennedy Events and Weddings and I have done a fair few wedding photoshoots together this year, and when she approached me to do this one I was honoured. 

What a venue! The Bishop's Palace holds a special place in my heart because it is where I started my career in weddings. When I was 18, I started working in the cafe on site after my Dad and his wife got married here in 2012. This led me onto working behind the bar and serving food at weddings in the undercroft. The Palace has the most spectacular gardens and some very impressive interior. Chloe works as the events organiser at the Palace and this year she had a plan to light up Christmas at the Palace. This involved a beautiful display of lights, a chance to meet the man himself SANTA and his Mrs, and some brilliant acts such as dancing elves. 

Chloe's styling is always amazing beyond words, she has such an eye for styling. Her colour scheme was quite moody and warm with dark and light greens, maroon, peach, gold and blue. She dressed the main table with gold animal creatures, which reminded me of Alice in Wonderland, ribbons wrapped up in gold acorns, personalised Christmas crackers by Mirabelle Makery, vintage wine glasses, and the most epic cake you have ever seen in your life by Angel's Kitchen. In the entrance hall by the fire was what felt to be a Nordic table setting with a big pie, cheese and wine, decorated with ivy, berries and fruit. I have no words to explain how inspired I am by Chloe and her creative juices, she is just so fabulous and I am always blown away by what she creates! 

To start the day of Sam and Layla had their makeup and hair done by the wonderful Marybeth Trigwell while the boys Austin and Matt put on their gorgeous velvet green suits. Chloe helped Sam get into her dress by the amazing Rookery Bridal while Marybeth attached the intricate and stunning jewellery made by Elsa Rose Boutique. The dress was perfect for the shoot, it was laced with what reminded me of snowflakes. Sam also wore a vintage cardigan and a fur scarf to keep her nice and warm. The bouquet, the buttonhole and the flowers on the table were put together by the wonderful Jen from Goldfinch Floral Studios.

Once dressed and ready to go, we wandered around the palace taking photographs. What is so special about this venue is that you can't walk for more than 30 seconds without finding a nice spot to take photos, every corner you turn is picturesque. Sam is a professional model and takes Matt and the kids with her on most shoots. I can't tell you how nice it was to work with this family! They were so relaxed, calm and up for anything! I think if I asked them to stand in the Well they would have been well up for it. The Bishop’s Palace makes my job easy, there is endless opportunity for me to experiment with my creativity. The light was lovely, it rained at the beginning of the day however it brightened up about midday. 

Now, Winter wouldn’t be Winter without a bit of snow would it!? Byron, the amazing videographer from Powerhouse Videos brought along his snow machine. I would be lying if I didn’t say I felt like a kid again playing with snow. Ollie, Matt and Harry, our little technical elves for the day sprayed snow off the top of the Juliet balcony and outside the undercroft which helped us create these amazing shots…

Chloe’s tells me that she asks me to take photos because I always capture the detail and she trusts me to just get on with it, as she knows that I will capture it how she imagines. My style is to make you feel comfortable and relaxed on your wedding day. I think it is so important to get along with your photographer because then you will get lovely natural photos to remember your day. My favourite part about this Christmas photoshoot was playing with the snow machine and being able to work with such wonderful suppliers and The Bishop’s Palace to create a magical Christmas wedding photoshoot. This year has been so hard for couples and suppliers, it is so important to stay creative and positive and work with people in order to keep ourselves and our businesses going!