Magical Chilterns Woodland Marriage
GreenAcres Chiltern is a truly magical woodland wedding venue, there is nothing else quite like it for many miles around! It sits n the idyllic Chilterns countryside, with over 70 acres of grounds to call your own for the day.
Lots of colour & Funky Wellies
Amy and Sam asked everyone to dress appropriately for a woodland ceremony followed by a Mad Hatters tea party, the more colourful the better! But where the guests most went to town was with their Wellington Boots. In fact the guests really rose to the challenge! I don’t think there was a single person not wearing wellies for most of the day. And that included the bride, the groom and their bridesmaids!
A stunning red London Routemaster double decker bus ferried many of the guests to the venue. This provided a colourful backdrop for a few pictures before the ceremony. I couldn’t resist capturing Amy’s mother’s boots with the bridesmaids colourful bouquets before she stepped off the bus; this shot certainly provides the ultimate pop of colour!
GreenAcres Woodland Wedding Ceremony
Amy and Sam held their wedding ceremony amongst the mature trees in the woodland dell. Listening to the mesmerising birdsong during the ceremony is something I’ll never forget.
The dell is probably best described as a cathedral of mature trees. I can certainly see the appeal of this alternative venue, and why it’s so very popular with couples wishing to get married!
Amy was given away by her mother, and the ring bearer was the couple’s gorgeous rescue dog. The anticipation and the buzz in the dell was fabulous as Amy made her grand entrance. She looked amazing in her colourful wedding gown, and her radiant smiles and energy totally lit up the start of the proceedings.
And throughout the ceremony and vows there were tears of happiness, and plenty of laughter too from their family and friends.
Certainly none of Amy and Sam’s family and friends will ever forget their magical wedding in this natural setting!
Photo Opportunities in this Majestic Woodland Setting
I loved working with the ferns and the huge mature trees that graced the landscape. And the way the light illuminated the lush green vegetation was breath taking, it really was a dream location for wedding photography!
Using the woodland setting and lush surroundings created some pretty surreal results. I particularly love the contrast between the guests in their formal wedding outfits against the woodland setting. Under normal circumstances, the guests would tell me where to go if I suggested we venture into the woods for the group photos! But since they were all wearing wellies, there were no complaints or excuses!
Drinks Reception & Fun-Filled Atmosphere
The team at GreenAcres ferry the guests between the dell and the courtyard in golf buggies. This was such a great way to move everyone around on the day.
The drinks reception was held in the lovely courtyard a 3-4 minute fun buggy ride from the dell. And it wasn’t long before the drinks were flowing, and the party atmosphere cranked up a few gears! This lively crowd certainly knew how to have a great time, and they were loving every minute of this superbly organised wedding.
The Marquee Wedding Breakfast
The Mad Hatters afternoon tea went down a storm amongst the guests. The non-stop savoury delights, and sweet treats were truly divine! And the couple really went to town with their themed decorations and fun signage, and the masses of colourful bunting looked fabulous too.
I daren’t even hazard a guess as to how much time went into organising all of these little details for their GreenAcres Chiltern wedding! Amy loves bright colours, and this was evident everywhere throughout this fabulous wedding.
Floodlit Photographs in the Woodlands
At our pre-meeting we’d discussed the possibility of some night shots in the woodlands. Come the day itself, the conditions were perfect! GreenAcres Chiltern has such beautiful, atmospheric woodlands.
When nightfall arrived, and the skies were just so, we ventured into the surrounding woodlands. Heading deep into the trees when all around is virtually pitch black was a first for me at a wedding, thankfully Amy & Sam were really excited about this photo opportunity. Navigating our way through the woods in almost total darkness with just small handheld torches was quite a surreal experience, the silence & calmness all around was like nothing I’ve experienced before at a wedding!
Thankfully my lights & camera were all setup an hour earlier in daylight conditions, so in no time at all this capture was in the bag & we were making our way to back through the woodland paths to Amy & Sam’s wedding party celebrations. A fair amount of prep work is required for this kind of shot – the location, camera position & light angles are all key. As when I return with the couple I’ll be seeing the setting in darkness for the first time. I always love a challenge, and this woodland scene certainly got my creative juices flowing. Lighting such a vast area is never easy, but I was really thrilled with this surreal shot!
Partying and Dancing Under The Stars
When you’re staging an outdoor wedding, you may as well dance outdoors too! The DJ’s setup pumped amazing sounds into the courtyard all evening, and his colourful lighting effects were absolutely stunning! The non-stop dancing continued for several hours, many of the guests must have danced til their feet hurt!
Floodlit Bus in the Woods
I’d already packed up my bags to leave for the day. But I just couldn’t resist posing up a shot of their lovely London Routemaster bus. And I’m pleased to report that I tempted Amy and Sam into joining me on a buggy ride to achieve this grand finale shot at their GreenAcres Chiltern wedding. Once again, all around was pitch black. But, after a few lighting tricks I captured my favourite photograph of the day!
Kind Words
When we met Mark at a wedding fair, he had a lovely previous bride with him who was so enthusiastic and wonderful, we just knew we needed a photographer like who made us feel like that.
Mark did the most amazing job for our wedding recently, he was so personable and we could not have asked for him to be more professional and in depth for our big day. The results speak for themselves, amazing photos of everyone at the wedding, and the night shots are breath taking. Disappearing for our ‘bus in the woods’ shots was such a highlight of our day. This has to be the no 1 photographer in the area. Mark, thank you so much for your amazing shots and skills, our wedding would not have been the same without you.
All our guests commented on how Mark was always in the right place at the right time, able to easily be taking the perfect wedding photos. Also what an absolute laugh Mark was, whilst being so friendly and chatty with all our guests.
With such brilliant expertise and a lovely human why wouldn’t you want Mark! We would 100% recommend Mark to anyone, you will get incredible shots and anything Mark suggests, go with it, the outcome is so worth it!
Wow… there really isn’t a better way to describe Mark – he’s a 20/5 if we could give that rating we would!
