A Spring Wedding at The Barn at Morley’s Hall
Steven and Joanne got married at The Barn at Morley’s Hall in April, on the first day of the year that anybody had apparently felt warm enough to sunbathe. They had a fish and chip van, a pizza van and a band who came outside to play because that’s where all the guests were. An excellent day to be holding a cold drink. A more questionable day to be the woman who’d dressed entirely in black and having brought several kilos of camera equipment.
Two sons and one very important job
Joanne’s two sons walked her down the aisle. I love that she’ll have a photograph of the three of them making their way towards Steven. She’ll remember what it felt like to have her boys beside her, but the photograph lets her see what Steven saw when he turned round.
One of her sons was also on ring security. There’s a black-and-white photograph of him in his bow tie, sitting with the case on his lap. I particularly like how official the whole arrangement looks. Plenty of adults get entrusted with the rings and spend the first half of the ceremony patting their jacket pockets. Joanne and Steven had appointed someone with a system.
The barn looked beautiful. A white aisle ran between arrangements of pale flowers, with fairy lights right across the brick wall at the far end. There’s a photograph of Steven waiting at the front with that whole stretch of aisle still between him and Joanne. Then there’s one of the two of them kissing, taken from much the same spot. I’d put those on facing pages. An awful lot can change without the photographer having to move her feet.
An April afternoon outside the barn
Once everyone came out for confetti, that was more or less where everyone stayed. You know that first properly warm day when the entire British public feels personally obliged to make use of it? That. Only Steven and Joanne had managed to get married on it and arrange catering.
There was fish and chips from one van and pizza from another, people sitting out with their drinks, and absolutely no appetite for moving indoors. So the band came out and played to them there. I like that about Steven and Joanne’s wedding. Everyone was having a lovely time where they were, so the music went to the guests. Meanwhile, I was quietly melting in an outfit that had seemed perfectly sensible for April when I put it on that morning.
My favourite portrait from outside is a black-and-white one on the lane. Joanne and Steven are standing close together, her train spread out behind her, with patches of sunlight falling across the road. It’s a lovely, quiet photograph. Looking at it, you’d have no idea there was a band, two food vans and a small population working on their tans nearby. I rather like knowing all that was just out of shot.
Steven and Joanne, thank you for having me there. I’m so glad you’ve got that photograph on the lane, but the one I’d love to see you show the boys in years to come is the walk down the aisle. They got to be beside their mum for a bit of the day she’ll remember for the rest of her life. And should the question ever arise, there’s photographic evidence that security was taken very seriously indeed.
If you’re planning your wedding at The Barn at Morley’s Hall, I’d love to hear what you’ve got in mind. Tell me your date and which bit you’re most looking forward to. I’ll check my diary and, on this occasion, the forecast.
