Flo & Dan: A Spring Wedding in Sibford Gower, Oxfordshire

Sibford Gower is the sort of North Oxfordshire village where the ironstone goes the colour of toast in the late afternoon and nobody is in any particular hurry. Which, for a wedding, is exactly what you want.

Flo and Dan got married there on the 25th of April, with blossom on the trees, spring flowers in the bouquet and Holy Trinity Church doing what old Oxfordshire churches do best: holding everyone quietly for an hour.

It was a village wedding in the proper sense. The ceremony at the church, the party at the village hall, and the whole thing held together by family and friends mucking in to make something brilliant happen.

The ceremony

The vicar was wonderfully relaxed about photography, which meant I could stay out of the way and still see everything. Holy Trinity is small enough that the whole room feels it when the vows land. Then there were a great many hugs on the path outside.

Portraits in the village

We didn’t go far for portraits. A gate, a field, a garden with a blossom tree, a church doorway catching the evening light. Most of the best spots were a few minutes’ walk from where everyone was already standing.

Mostly I let them catch up. They laughed a great deal. I took photographs.

I shot some of the portraits on Kodak Portra 400, which suited the day: soft greens, warm skin, a little grain. 35mm film for the romance, digital for the documentary truth of it all. More on why I still shoot film.

The village hall

Then back to the village hall for the evening, where the work of many hands showed in every corner. Speeches, food, a dance floor that filled early and stayed full, and a drone shot of the whole lot from above to prove it all really happened.

Thank you, Flo and Dan, for having me. It was a lovely one to photograph.

A village, a church, a gate and a field. It turns out that’s plenty.

Planning a wedding in Oxfordshire or the Cotswolds? Tell me a little about your day. There’s more on my Oxfordshire wedding photographer page, and the Lookbook has what I charge.