So this was my first time photographing a wedding at Hestercombe Gardens and when I was preparing the pictures for this blog post it made me think of a question I get asked occasionally by couples – ‘what if you’ve not shot at our venue before?’

I thought this would be a good opportunity to write a little about why it doesn’t really matter if I have shot somewhere before or not! I probably shoot about 50% of my weddings each year in new places that I’ve never been to before. I travel all over the UK and often end up working in new and exciting spaces. I’ve been photographing weddings for about 10 years so when I am walking into a new space I automatically think about how it works visually, where I want to shoot from to make the best use of light and what sort of backdrops I want to work with. I do it *literally* everywhere I go, whether it’s on a wedding day or just a walk in the woods somewhere. It’s second nature now and I wouldn’t have it any other way! So – to answer the question properly, I don’t really think it matters if I’ve shot somewhere before – light is constantly changing as is nature and places can look completely different from one hour to the next, one day to another – so I just do what I do wherever I find myself! Anyway, what I really should be talking about is Alexa and Joe’s awesome wedding day. And how amazing Hestercombe Gardens is!!! Like I said, this was my first time shooting here and I so enjoyed it. What an absolutely insanely beautiful backdrop it is for a wedding – the gardens and grounds are breathtaking. I think we ended up sneaking off for about 4 or 5 little mini portrait sessions throughout the day and we got some amazing light as the day went on. We also had a bird poo on us but let’s not dwell on that, it was fine in the end. Anyway, it’s good luck right?! Here are my highlights, from start to finish…

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