Clapham Holme Farm Festival Wedding - Wedfest!
Wedfest 2024! Almost certainly the most colourful wedding we have photographed so far!
Arriving at The Granary Barn in the morning we bumped into Tom quite early on, he had spent the night on site on a long boat (yes, we did say long boat) and was checking in with some of the other guests who camped at the farm the night before. He took us on a quick tour of the venue to show us some of the details they had put into place the day before, he was very keen to show us the Granary Barn which was all set for the reception later in the day. Words cannot describe how awesome the room looked, thankfully we are better at documenting weddings with our cameras than we are with words and there are now photos to document every detail forever.
DIY Festival Wedding
Alex and Tom took a DIY approach to much of their wedding day, knowing how much time and effort professional wedding decor companies put into each wedding day we realise that to do this yourself can be quite an ask, Alex and Tom pulled in favours from family and friends and collectively they absolutely nailed it!
We are not sure of the exact number of pom-poms but an estimate of over 800 must have been pretty accurate, every single one was handmade just for this occasion! Streamers and bunting adding even more colour and all in keeping with the overall festival vibe of the day. The Granary Barn really was the most perfect fit for this day, giving a blank canvas that allowed Alex and Toms unique vision to come to life. This day was all about having a good time, celebrating love in an environment that everyone could relax and have a brilliant time to remember for many years to come.
Exploring the Granary Barn and Clapham Holme Farm
As is often the case, we were on site earlier than we were expected, there was so much to see that we immediately grabbed our cameras and began shooting some photo and video to set the scene for the day ahead. We took the opportunity to fly our drone above the venue to get a view from the sky and capture some drone footage for the highlight film, the timing of this was really fortunate as we spotted a tractor doing some tractoring (despite watching all of Clarksons Farm we are definitely not farming experts) and made use of this as a focal point to add some extra interest to our establishing shots which we were really happy with!
With the tractor shots and the necessary footage of the resident donkey all in the can it was time to head over to say hi to Alex who was staying in the cottage on site. As is our usual approach when we arrived at the cottage we had a chat with everyone first so they can see that we are just a couple of extra humans along to enjoy the day with everyone, big scary photographers we are not! To ease ourselves into the day we began with photographing Alex’s details and gradually started photographing what was going on around us, building up to a first look with Dad when Alex was fully ready which was a really beautiful moment in the morning. Having everything happen on the same site gave us the freedom to head over at a few intervals during the morning to get a few extra photos and bits of footage of guests arriving and the general build up as we looked forward to the ceremony in the early afternoon, it also allowed us to spend a little longer with Tom and see the morning through his eyes.
Ceremony in the Atrium Barn
The wedding ceremony took place in the Atrium Barn, as guests were called through to be seated they were treated to a solo set by a celloist who created a beautiful atmosphere and got everyone in a great place ready to welcome Alex. For us the ceremony is all about great preparation, heading into this part of the day knowing we have all of the angles covered really does allow us to stay present in the ceremony and really notice what is going on around us, this is where our almost telepathic communication works well and we can trust the other to capture what is important for both photo and film. With the ceremony complete, Alex and Tom were officially married and it was time to cover them in confetti. In addition to a couple of buckets of brightly coloured rice paper confetti (the absolute king of confetti), we also had a few confetti canons to play with. Having lined everyone up, we handed the canons to 4 people that looked as though they could handle them and we all welcomed Alex and Tom out to an absolute sea of colour, this lot absolutely smashed it and both the photo and video moments were mega!
Relaxed portraits around Clapham Holme Farm
While guests enjoyed a drink, Alex and Tom took an opportunity to have a few moments to themselves which was a great opportunity for us to capture a few portraits for both photo and film, all really chilled we explored a few areas of the farm before pulling out the smoke bombs which were an element Tom was keen to include. On a day so full of colour the extra pop of colour from the smoke was perfect, adding to the fun festival vibes of the day.
Wedding reception in the Granary Barn
The reception barn had been kept under wraps for the day so far, only a few select members of the family had been allowed in during setup so it was a fantastic moment when the shutters went up and the guests could see this space for the first time. The room looked fantastic anyway but with the guests all inside enjoying the space it really did take on the most amazing atmosphere, so much joy and happiness wherever you looked.
Following speeches, Josh played an acoustic set on guitar while people enjoyed food, it wasn’t long before people were up on their feet having a dance, setting the tempo for what was to follow later in the evening.
Live music wrapping up an epic day at WedFest
The evening was where Wedfest really lived up to its name with live music sets planned for most of the night, Josh played guitar throughout the early evening which also gave him the honour of performing during Alex and Toms first dance. With the first dance coming to an end, guests were encouraged onto the dance floor and this is were they stayed for most of the night. Next up on the bill was Dustin Kitsch who played a set of upbeat dance songs on saxophone, he owned the dance floor and moved around keeping the energy up, you could see he loved doing what he does and it was hard not to join in with the party. We love crossing paths with people like this in the industry, we did catch him outside while he was taking a break and had quite a long chat with him, he is such a fantastic human and definitely somebody you want to have along for your wedding. The finale of Wedfest was a couple of sets by Turn Up The Sun who were brilliant! Such a professional outfit with a great sound and energy, their setlist just so happened to include some of our personal favourites too with Stereophonics, Courteeners and Kings of Leon all making an appearance. It wasn’t just us two having a great time, the whole barn was buzzing, an incredible night rounding off a truly unique and memorable day!
Wedding highlight film packed full of colour
This day will live long in our memories and we feel really honoured to have been invited along to document the day in the form of photography and also videography. Editing the wedding highlight film was so much fun for us, to get home and look back through the footage we knew this was going to be a fun one and we are so happy with the finished film. Please take a few minutes to check out this explosion of love and colour!
Thanks to Alex and Tom, huge congratulations to you both, wishing you a lifetime of adventure together!!
Your Clapham Holme Farm Wedding Photographers
If you are planning your wedding at Clapham Holme Farm and on the lookout for a couple of extra friends to come along and photograph it for you then we’d love to hear from you. Carry on exploring our little corner of the internet to see more of our work and learn a little more about us, when you are ready head over to our contact page and drop us a note to check our availability, hopefully we have your date available and we can find a moment to hop on a call to introduce ourselves!
