Springhead Trust Wedding

Chris and Cansu planned their Springhead Trust wedding in just three months. From the moment I met them I knew their big day would be lively, fun and joyful. Cansu is Turkish and her parents had flown over from Turkey during the Covid-19 pandemic with weeks to spare to ensure they could attend the nuptials. The pandemic made it too difficult for Cansu’s other family or Turkish friends to attend, so it was a small, intimate wedding on an uncharacteristically dry January day.

Springhead Trust is a fabulously secret venue suitable for a variety of events. Tucked away in the village of Fontmell Magna, just south of Shaftesbury, in North Dorset is the Grade II listed Mill and thatched 18^th Century House which sit alongside ornamental lakeside gardens.

I had such a blast being Chris and Cansu’s wedding photographer. I particularly love how they embraced the beautiful outdoor area of their venue, despite it being January. In their pre-wedding consultation, they told me it didn’t matter if it rained, they had wellies and an umbrella and it didn’t matter – I loved that! The whole vibe of the wedding was right up my street, informal and relaxed with a timeline that wasn’t rushed. There were SO many big, meaningful moments between the couple and their guests too, which I always love to capture.  

The groom was busy finishing the decorations and putting out wedding favours in the wedding breakfast room when I arrived. Cansu, the bride was getting ready upstairs in the main house, she was as cool as a cucumber! While her hair stylist finished off her hair, I snuck away to get some detail shots including a gorgeous tea-length wedding gown, lace ivory wedding shoes, and a particularly special pearl necklace and earring set. Being an overcast day the light fall-off from the window light was beautiful and gave me some beautiful contrast to play around with using my camera. I was also able to capture some beautiful portraits of the bride (later joined by her father) before the ceremony. There was also time for Cansu to honour a Turkish wedding tradition by writing the names of all the single female guests on the underside of her wedding shoe. She explained that at the end of the night, the name which had rubbed off would be the next to get wed!

The intimate civil marriage ceremony took place indoors and the couple exchanged rings, vows and officially tied the knot. The father of the bride speaks limited English but had clearly been practicing saying “I do”, which he exclaimed proudly when asked who was giving Cansu away! 

Afterwards, the couple headed outside, where they were welcomed into married life by copious amounts of brightly coloured confetti. In all my years as a wedding photographer I have never quite seen the volume of confetti that Chris and Cansu had at their wedding, and I loved it!! Shooting with my aperture wide open meant specs of confetti were out of focus and I love the look of this in the images.  

Champagne, Pimm’s and canapes were served to guests during the drinks reception, which was longer than usual and meant everyone was relaxed, and got the chance to speak to the new Mr and Mrs!

The forecast kept promising the sun would break through the overcast sky so we held off as long as we could to take the newly wed portraits. Unfortunately, the sun decided to stay hidden and being January, the light was only going to stick around for so long, so we took the opportunity to head outside for portraits. Whilst everyone wants glorious sunlight at their wedding, an overcast day has massive positives…no sweaty armpits in wedding dresses or morning suits for a start! The cloud also acts like a massive soft box, diffusing the light, and is incredibly nice to shoot in.