Sarah and Jack chose The Barns at Redcoats as the venue for their spring wedding. The Barns at Redcoats is a stunning barn wedding venue situated in the Hertfordshire countryside just outside the market town of Hitchin.
Weddings at The Barns are a dream booking for us Hertfordshire wedding photographers as it is a simply stunning wedding venue. They have a magical vibe created by festoon lights slung from the beautiful oak rafters. Which coupled with the barns period features, charming interiors and pretty gardens creates a truly unique and enchanting setting for a wedding.
But I’m getting ahead of myself, I’ll get back to all the reasons why I love capturing wedding photography at The Barns at Redcoats later. Let’s start at the beginning of Sarah and Jack’s day.
I woke to a sunny but cool day and headed over to The Barns at Redcoats to catch up with Sarah and her bridal party. They were getting ready in one of The Barn’s spacious suites where there was plenty of room for the entire bridal party and one unobtrusive wedding photographer, there to capture those all-important bridal preparation images.
The bridal party getting ready
Now, it’s great to work and catch up with other professionals in the wedding industry, and this is always the case when I work with Helen and Rachel from Alexander Wedding Belles who were there doing Sarah’s hair and make-up. They are always so friendly, professional and chilled out.
Whilst there, the bouquets were delivered by Katie from The Secret Flower Lounge. Katie created all the flowers for the day and they looked amazing.
The Groom’s Party getting into the spirit
I then headed down to The Barns to catch up with Jack and his groom’s party, who all looked very smart in petrol blue three-piece-suits and brown brogue shoes. They were in good spirits and I got some great images Jack on his own, with his best man and with the entire groom’s party. As well as some gorgeous images of the venue all dressed and ready for the wedding. It looked amazing.
Wedding Drinks at The Cowshed Bar At The Barns
I also captured some candid images of excited guests arriving and enjoying drinks in The Barn at Redcoats characterful and super stylish Cowshed Bar.
I then headed back up to the bridal party who were now ready. Sarah looked amazing in a satin dress with spaghetti straps and a low back. It had a body skimming shape that really suited Sarah. She teamed it with an elegant full-length veil attached to her beautifully wavy strawberry blonde hair. Sarah looked so effortlessly beautiful.
Her younger bridesmaid looked very sweet in pink and her four adult bridesmaids looked elegant in muted green and pink dresses that really suited them and the rustic colour scheme of the wedding.
Sarah’s proud father walked her down the aisle to beautiful live musical accompaniment by the awesomely talented Roxy Searle who performed an acoustic song, then sang again through the signing of the register and during the drink’s reception.
The ceremony barn looked amazing and was dressed and lit exquisitely. Which brings me to another reason why I love being at The Barns at Redcoat taking photos. And that’s because of the light. Barns are traditionally dark spaces, but the chandeliered ceiling combined with hundreds of festoon lights throw warm light around the space that I play with to create even more beautiful images.
After the ceremony, there was a fun confetti moment outside before some family photos on the terrace.
Drinks reception took place in the quirky and stylish Cowshed Bar, and I took my chance to get a couple of romantic portrait images of Sarah and Jack in the gardens. I captured my favourite image of the day which is of Sarah and Jack in front of the barn. There’s a bright blue sky except for one small perfectly heart shaped cloud! (No photoshop here folks, the cloud is real!)
The wedding reception was held in the barn which had been dressed beautifully. I loved Sarah and Jack’s book themed décor, with personalised book favours, paper flowers and ornaments made from books integrated with pretty wildflowers and rustic bottles and jars. Sarah and Jack’s wedding day styling utterly nailed the charming rustic chic look. It honestly looked like something out of a high-end bridal magazine.
Speeches were before food (which is nice to do to so that the speakers can relax and enjoy their meal afterwards). And they were so lovely and personal. As a busy Hertfordshire wedding photographer, I’ve heard a lot of wedding speeches but these were really special. Sarah’s mum read a poignant children’s book. This was followed by a touching speech by Jack about his relationship with Sarah and the closeness of their families.
Now, Sarah and Jack were high school sweethearts, and their best man went to school with them both. In his speech he told a funny story about how he unknowingly asked Sarah out himself during a French speaking assessment, the story had everyone in hysterics. There followed a sumptuous wedding breakfast prepared by The Barns at Redcoats in-house team of talented chefs.
After dinner, as guests happily mingled enjoying exclusive use of this gorgeous Hertfordshire wedding venue. I quickly whisked Sarah and Jack away for a few minutes for a mini sunset photoshoot in the garden. Sarah and Jack really enjoyed taking a few minutes away from the wedding to have a moment to enjoy the sunset together and I got some gorgeous images. I also got some great images of them inside the house, around the magnificent staircase and a cheeky one on the chesterfield sofa imitating the two portraits above. The famous Redcoats photograph that all couples love to have here!
Evening celebrations started with the cutting of a gorgeous two-tiered wedding cake followed by a romantic first dance for Sarah and Jack. Now when it came to evening celebrations Sarah and Jack weren’t taking any chances. Not only was there a disco to keep the dancefloor full, there was also a firepit for toasting marshmallows and a fun photobooth (who doesn’t love a photobooth) provided by the best, Pro-pose Entertainment. And as you would expect the marshmallows, the photobooth and the photobooth props proved to be very popular. I had a blast taking images of everybody having a great time.
This was a gorgeous laidback and stylish wedding for a lovely couple. Congratulations to Sarah and Jack for getting married and creating a wonderful day for yourselves and your family and friends to remember. And thank you for allowing me to tell the story of it.
If you are planning your wedding at The Barns at Redcoats or somewhere further afield, please don’t hesitate to get in touch tell me all about it and to discuss how we can make some epic wedding photos of your big day!
