Avon Gorge by Hotel Du Vin Wedding Photography – Kelly & Matt

I first met Kelly and Matt at the Avon Gorge Hotel, as the recommended photographer there they had seen some of my work and were interested in talking to me about their wedding. The hotel had recently been refurbished and they were excited about being among the first couples to get married in the gorgeous new event space downstairs.

On the day I arrived early, so early in fact that Kelly wasn’t actually ready for me! As it was a lovely clear day, I decided to take a walk up to the observatory to get a couple of shots of the suspension bridge and hotel. I thought this would make a nice set up shot for the day, if you get married at the Avon Gorge Hotel, you want to incorporate the iconic bridge!

Once I was done, I headed over to shoot the preparations. I started off with Kelly and got a few detail shots, dress, jewellery etc while she was getting her hair and make up done. I then popped over to see the guys quickly before making my way back to Kelly for the last bits of getting ready.

I had time for a couple of quick bridal portraits before heading down for the ceremony. Matt was waiting patiently with his best man as Kelly made her way down accompanied by her dad and kids.

It was a lovely and emotional ceremony with a lot of love in the room, I admit that even I had a tear in my eye!

After the ceremony, everyone made their way up to the terrace for some drinks and canapes while we ran through the formal shots (with the suspension bridge in the background obviously!). Once I had finished the formal photos we did a couple of quick portrait shots of Kelly and Matt together but I wanted to save the bridge shots until a bit later when it got dark as I had a plan.

With everyone enjoying the sun with plenty of drinks to go around, I was able to do my disappearing into the background trick and get a few nice natural shots of all the fun.

Shortly after, everyone was called down for dinner after Kelly and Matt were announced into the room I took a little break while everyone ate their food (nobody wants their photo taken when they are eating it’s not a good look). Once all the guests were full, it was time for the speeches, this is always a good opportunity to get a few reaction shots, especially of the groom as he gets laid into by the best man. Matt got the traditional ribbing, but it was all very good natured.

By the time the speeches were done it was starting to get dark which meant I could put my plan into action. We did a quick silhouette shot with some fairy lights on the way over to the bridge followed by a long exposure of the traffic going by (which Kelly and Matt said they are going to get printed large for their bedroom) and a lovely backlit shot that really shows off the bridge. Finally, we did some light painting with some sparklers on the green. It was a lovely shot to finish a really great day.