Lily & Jack’s late autumn woodland wedding at Fforest, Wales
When elegance & romance meets the autumn woodland - a divine November wedding in the forests of Ceredigion, Wales
Captured on digital & 35mm analogue film + moving image
Over the years, we’ve seen a lot of wedding venues around the UK. Some dedicated and specialising in hosting weddings, other’s being family homes, private properties or even a couple’s favourite pub. It’s really hard to pick a favourite type of wedding and we love them all for completely different reasons but this was our first time capturing a wedding at beautiful Fforest in Wales, and we really loved our time there.
Captured by Sarah (on film + digital) | by Jon on video (digital)
The wonderful team at Fforest were so warm and welcoming, they made us feel like part of their team and made sure the day ran seamlessly. This sort of warmth from the hosts makes such a difference at a wedding venue but not only that, the attention to detail in the venue itself was sublime. The farmhouse interiors and details was an absolute dream - pockets of light everywhere, tasteful decisions in the decor, rich wood & stone textures. Anyway, enough of my rambling about how beautiful the farmhouse was… I’ll let the photos do the talking. We’ve mixed up the digital images with the film shots. We love the different approaches to the day and how the different mediums come together to tell the story in a blend of moods.
Wedding film teaser trailer for Lily & Jack’s wedding at Fforest
I loved this really textural bouquet by Bethan at Forbesfield. There were lots of grasses and dried flowers incorporated into her floral designs giving the arrangements a sculptural feel. I always feel at when it comes to decor at weddings, let flowers and candles do the talking. If you have the sort of venue that has its own strong identity (like Fforest) and doesn’t need a lot of dressing, then finding a really good florist that understands your vision, can harmonise it with their own artistic style and can go beyond the usual jars of flowers & cookie-cutter bouquets will be a real asset for your decor.
We started early, up with the larks at Dawn. Lily & Jack kindly put us up on site at Fforest in their glamping accommodation so we were able to capture some of that incredible early winter sunrise over the valley and had a bit of extra time to capture some of the boys getting ready. Having everything happen all in one place has so many advantages.
After a bridesmaids reveal in front of the big white farmhouse, it was time to head down to the ceremony space - a canvas tipi with panoramic views over the rolling autumn hills. Lily & Jack had a civil, legal wedding with readings from their loved ones.
Moments on film
Do you have a preference for analogue or digital? We find that no two of our analogue cameras are quite the same either - we have a Hasselblad medium format camera which yields beautiful quality, large portraits and the 35mm (pictured below) has a much more unrefined, scrapbook iconic film look. Of course depending which film you use and who scans and develops your film will greatly impact the final aesthetic. We’ve just added a Contax rangefinder to our collection and we really look forward to bringing it along to our weddings in 2024. We’re excited to bring so much more analogue into our wedding photography and make it much more a part of what we do. Back when I (Sarah) first met Jon, he only shot film and had to learn digital to help me capture weddings. He’s also just invested in a Super8 film camera so he can indulge in analogue wedding videography too.
A prosecco tower reception
Lily & Jack kicked off their reception with a Prosecco tower. We’re not usually ones for fads or trends, call us hipsters if you like, we don’t mind but the Prosecco tower is one newly revived wedding tradition that we actually love. There’s an element of whimsy and mischief - will they or won’t they spill it everywhere? (Nobody that we know has yet but there’s no denying it would make a great photograph if it did fall over) It looks pretty darn impressive and there’s something so elegant and luxurious about a champagne saucer. Any excuse for whimsy. We love it. Cake cuttings - we’ll take it or leave it but we’ll never get bored of a prosecco tower.
After speeches outside the Bwthyn, we all ran down to the look out point over the meadow as a group of deer appeared to graze. It was such a special treat to see them all galloping about. We grabbed a few group photos whilst we were down there before wandering around the venue grounds with Lily & Jack capturing their couple’s portraits.
Instead of a traditional wedding cake, Lily & Jack opted for a desert table which consisted of a plethora of amazing bakes donated by their friends and family. We love a cake table, it’s so inclusive for vegan and celiac/allergen friends and means that there’s so much choice.
The food at Fforest weddings was so good, we were absolutely spoiled. We can’t recommend them enough as a venue for foodies who are really looking to feast and indulge on their wedding day with some incredible flavours and cosy outdoorsy vibes.
The best time for sparklers on your wedding day?
We hear this question a lot - people often think the best time to do them is when it’s properly dark but there’s often two reasons why you don’t want to do it then:
When it’s ultra dark, the cameras really struggle to capture the guests and their faces. It will also struggle to focus on the moving target in the dark and compromises the quality of the photograph.
Your guests will have had more time to load up on drinks. We’ve had a few near misses with sparklers and inebriated guests in the past and although a bride has never been set on fire yet, we did have a very drunk someone throw a candle at us during a sparkler train at one particularly raucous wedding.
Blue hour however is great. It’s dusky, it’s dark but there’s still enough light to capture the details of your guests having fun with the sparklers. Once all the light has gone, the chances of getting really good captures of guests outside with the sparklers drastically drops off. It’s always a good idea to check what time the light will be vanishing on your day if you really want to incorporate some sparkler fun at your wedding.
What a great example of just how cosy & magic a late autumn/early winter wedding can be. That soft, dreamy light that only appears that time of year when the sun is hanging low in the sky, those burned orange autumn colours in the trees and meadows and all the warmth that fire pits and log burners bring. Have we convinced you?
