Clara & Hermione: A Spring Wedding at Worcester College, Oxford

Clara and Hermione got married at Worcester College on a bright spring day, with the gardens just coming into flower and the kind of clear sky Oxford produces about twice a year. Two brides, two dresses, one very large college, and almost nothing that needed directing.

The morning in college

Worcester is a slightly odd college to look at, in the best way. On one side of the main quad are eighteenth-century classical buildings; on the other, a row of medieval cottages left over from the monastic college that was here first. Getting ready happened in college, with the flowers waiting on the side and a veil long enough to need its own photograph.

The arrival was through one of the old stone doorways, which is about as good a frame as a building can offer.

The chapel

The chapel at Worcester is a surprise if you’ve only seen the outside of the college. The interior was redecorated by William Burges in the Victorian period and every surface is colour: painted walls, carved animals on the pew ends, a patterned floor, a ceiling that rewards anyone who looks up. It is warm, rich and quite dark, and I don’t add anything to it. I find a corner and let the room do its thing.

Portraits in the gardens

Afterwards we went out into the gardens, which run down to a lake and feel far bigger than a college garden has any right to. The two of them were completely at ease with each other, which makes my job very simple. I mostly suggested a direction to walk in and then stepped back.

Two long dresses on a spring lawn take a bit of managing, and there was a fair amount of trailing fabric to be lifted, arranged and then immediately disarranged by the next step. It all ends up in the photographs.

Through the cloisters and the quad

Back through the cloisters and out into the quad for drinks, where guests gathered on the grass and the college did its best impression of a film set.

Dinner in hall

Dinner was in hall, by the light of small brass lamps, which is the sort of light I would happily photograph by for the rest of my life.

If you’re getting married at Worcester College

Use the gardens: They’re one of the best things about the college, and quieter than you’d expect. Leave proper time for portraits by the lake and on the lawns.

Don’t underestimate the chapel: It’s dark and very ornate, so I photograph without flash and work with the light that’s there. The colour comes through on its own.

Plan around term and tourists: Like all Oxford colleges, Worcester is a working place. Check what’s on in college that day, and expect a few visitors in the background unless you’re in the gardens.

Mind the dresses: Gravel paths and lawns are lovely to look at and hard on hems. A bridesmaid with a free hand is worth a lot.

There’s more about the college itself on my Worcester College wedding photographer page, and the Lookbook has what I charge and what’s included.

Two brides, a painted chapel, and a garden that went on for ever.