Axnoller Wedding – Dorset
This wedding at Axnoller was an incredible experience, a union surrounded by the most wonderful people. The strangest thing was, the sun was out, the guests all spoke French, the wine was flowing, I genuinely struggled to believe I was in Axnoller, it really did feel a world away on the south coast of France. That was until night time when it suddenly became freezing cold. Here’s a top tip for any aspiring wedding photographers out there, buy earplugs, because when the locals keep chickens you best believe your alarm call is somewhere around 4am, which when you’ve got a full day ahead of you, isn’t exactly how you want it to start. Thankfully I was enjoying a blissful slumber as when I sleep away from home I always pack valerian root extract to help me drift off. After watching Matthew Walker on Joe Rogan mention how your brain doesn’t shut off when you sleep in new places I decided to take matters into my own hands…and semi drug myself. But the system works!
One thing that I’ve always loved about weddings is that it doesn’t matter what language you speak, the emotion someone feels charges the air around them and you can feel it. Fair enough European languages will be more familiar to me than some others, but I still think based upon the tone and the flow of speech, one can pick up on the sentiment, even if you’ve no clue what’s being said. I hope you agree that this ultimately translates into the photographs, it doesn’t matter if you or I don’t speak a language, what matters is that when anyone looks at the images, they can feel an emotional connection with the subject in the picture.
The children once again almost stole the show, playing dress up, painting faces and basically having a riot, oh to be six again! Maybe I’ll turn up to my next wedding with my face painted as a Tiger? The rooms at Cheddington are grand, regal and elegant, with plenty of room for bride and bridesmaids to get ready without feeling cramped or tripping over each other. One can get married at Cheddington Court, but availability is limited as it is someone’s actual house, that’s the dream isn’t it, living in a place that so mega you can run it as a wedding venue. This wedding was blessed with sunshine in Autumn (who’d have thought it in the UK) so we were able to have the ceremony outside, a humanist sand pouring ceremony followed by personal readings and a rendition of a Beatles classic rounded off an emotional half hour. Tears all round, from front to back everyone was feeling this one, it was amazing to experience, an outside venue can sometimes feel too vast, but the emotional content, everyone was drawn in and hanging on every word. Failing availability at Cheddington, the vast majority of wedding ceremonies take place at Axnoller, either outside, in a marquee or indoors in the barn. It truly is a remarkable place, full of charm and a real sense of intimacy whilst looking out over the rolling hills of the countryside. Because Axnoller is in the middle of nowhere, sound is not an issue, which is a big deal for some inner city venues that often have sound limiters. Here, you are on your own and free to rave until the wee hours. Shut the doors and dance until you can dance no more. If you are in the hunt for an Axnoller wedding photographer, give me shout, I love this place, and any excuse to visit the Jurassic coast will have me there in a flash.
