UK WEDDING CINEMATOGRAPHY

A TRADITIONAL ENGLISH WEDDING FILM - PASCHOE HOUSE, DEVON

CHARLOTTE & JOSH

The moment you take a step, you do so on an act of faith, because you don’t really know that the floor’s not going to give under your feet. The moment you take a journey, what an act of faith. The moment you enter into any kind of human relationship, what an act of faith. See, you’ve given yourself up. This is the most powerful thing that can be done. Surrender. Because love, is an act of surrender. I give myself to you.

-Alan Watts

When I met Charlotte and Josh for their pre-wedding meeting to discuss the ins and outs of their special day, Charlotte informed me that she had chosen one of their ceremony readings based entirely on one of my wedding films. What a compliment. However I can’t take full credit for this. The late Alan Watts’ speech about love and relationships really is quite special. He tells us that love is undoubtedly the most powerful of human emotions, and surrendering yourself to another is itself a leap of faith. But it’s not just what Alan said, it’s how he delivered his message with such presence. This is why I have used extracts of his speeches in my films on more than one occasion. What a way to capture the magnitude of a wedding day within a wedding film. I approach each of my wedding films not as a videographer, but primarily as a storyteller. Therefore I often like to pull in other resources to assist in telling the story. So at Charlotte & Josh’s wedding, it was really lovely to experience his words once again, but this time coming from a close friend of the couple, during their ceremony. A lovely touch!

Charlotte and Josh chose the lovely Paschoe House in Devon for their special day. A beautiful Manor House in the Devon countryside. It wasn’t actually my first video shoot at Paschoe House, however it was my first wedding. I produced a commercial video there last year, however the venue takes on a very different feel on a wedding day. It has a huge amount to offer, as you will see from their wedding film preview below. I particularly liked the country lane walk up to the walled garden. Just perfect to get those stunning portrait shots of the couple. Looking at weddings purely from the perspective of a wedding filmmaker, it’s important to us that a wedding venue offers plenty of options for couple shots. As you will see from my wedding films, I make use of a lot of footage of the couple spending time together, in spectacular surroundings. So this is something I would always recommend to a couple looking to book their wedding venue. The inside space is important of course, but don’t forget to consider outside space, and where you could go with your photographer and/or videographer to get what we call those jaw dropping ‘money shots’!

The day started off with Josh and the groomsmen getting ready at The Lamb Inn, Sandford, just outside of Crediton. Bridal preparations took place at Paschoe House. For this wedding, I had the pleasure of once again working with Alex Toze Wedding Photographer. Alex and I work together frequently, and it’s always an absolute joy. I love to work with photographers of all shapes and sizes but I must say it works particularly well when the photographer you’re working with happens to be one of your good friends. We know exactly how to work efficiently together, how not to get in each other’s way, we know exactly what each other is looking for, and we therefore operate as one unit on the day. It’s become basically second nature now. So thanks Alex!

Alex and I first stopped off at the pub in Sandford to get some content of the lads getting ready. Unusually for the gents, they were almost ready by the time we arrived! So we captured some footage and stills of them getting ready, having a beer together, and then left them to watch the rugby in peace. We headed over to Paschoe House to cover the bridal preparations. The ladies were getting ready in one of the suites in the house. It was a lovely morning with a very relaxed atmosphere. No stresses whatsoever! It was then time to head over to Newton St Cyres Church to prepare for the ceremony. The ceremony was truly lovely, with a number of lovely readings, including a highly emotive poem read by the bride herself! Often the bride doesn’t formally speak on a wedding day, the way we do them here in the UK anyway. So it made a lovely change to hear the bride say some words, and it also made for a lovely touch in their preview film.

After the ceremony, it was time to head back to Paschoe House for the wedding reception. It was a lovely afternoon and we were blessed with some warm sunny (but quite windy) weather. After the formal group shots it was time for the speeches. We had words from the father of the bride, maid of honour, the groom himself and then the best man. Every speech was just lovely. The perfect mix of humbling kind words, and hilarious stories. Hats off to you guys! After the speeches it was time for the wedding breakfast, and finally an epic reception party courtesy of the awesome Bill Ding and The Skyscrapers. The guys in the band are also friends of mine, and just so happen to be a top local function band, so this was awesome!

All in all, Charlotte & Josh’s special day was an absolute delight. I enjoyed every minute of it and it was a true honour to be able to document it all for them. Thanks to the lovely couple for being so awesome.

Here’s a preview of their day!