Sophie & Stuart - a gorgeous Suffolk wedding at Dove Barn

Finally a sunny wedding!  It's been a really disappointing Spring weather-wise so far so it was a treat to see some sunshine for Sophie and Stuart's wedding over the border in Suffolk recently.I started the day's coverage at Sophie's mother's house where the ladies were having the finishing touches to their hair & make-up done in the conservatory - great light for hair & make-up artists and for photographers!I got stuck into photographing some details and capturing the beginning of the story of their day.  I love photographing the preparations, I think they make a great start to any wedding coverage, it's not for everyone and sometimes people prefer to have the coverage start at the church arrivals but I find the prep shots can be some of my favourites of a wedding day. With the bridal party all ready, (and looking fantastic!), we headed to the church at Woolverstone.  Just love Sophie's choice of wedding car! With the formal part of the day completed it was time to head out into the sunshine for the confetti and they didn't scrimp on petals, it was an incredible shower of colour! After the confetti I popped the drone up for some aerial shots of everyone outside the church......and then onto the group shots under the shade of some trees - people often assume the groups should be done in the open sunshine but this leads to all sorts of horrible shadows on people's faces, blown out white wedding dresses and everyone squinting in the bright light.  My job is to find the best spot for the groups which provides beautiful light and ideally a pleasant but not too distracting background.  Often shooting just under the canopy of a tree can work well although it's important not to go too far under or the green light coming through the leaves can give skin a green tone which is never a good look (apart from halloween!).  Also it really requires the sun to be behind the subjects otherwise dappled light falling through the leaves can create some pretty weird looking hotspots on dresses & faces. After whipping through the group shots we headed off to a secluded spot by the River Orwell for some shots of the new Mr & Mrs Smith.  It was great to work with Tomasz Kornatowski from Mooncast Films - a really gentleman and superb filmmaker.  It's always lovely to work with considerate videographers, I have worked with a few so far this year, some real talent in the area. With the shots at the Orwell complete (and a mini 4x4 off-roading adventure getting to & from the spot!), we headed to Dove Barn in South Suffolk for Sophie & Stuart's wedding reception.Their guests were already making themselves at home with delicious looking canapes and champagne/cocktails flowing freely! After the meal, (and some lovely emotional speeches), myself, Thomasz, Sophie & Stuart headed out into the grounds for some evening shots.  It wasn't quite the 'golden hour', sadly, as the clouds had moved in but it was still interesting soft light and we had some fun making these shots. And so to the end of the day (well for me at least - the wedding partied long into the night while I packed up ready for a 2.5hr drive north back to Norfolk!)Thank you to Sophie & Stuart and their guests an amazing day, amazing people, beautiful locations and mostly great weather.  I love it when a plan comes together!• Suffolk Wedding Photographer • Wedding Photography Suffolk • Dove Barn weddings • Wedding photos at Dove Barn • Suffolk wedding venues