Hencote Estate Wedding - Meg & Rob - lisawebbphotography.co.uk

couple portraits in orchard at Hencote Estate

“Lisa was the non-negotiable when it came to booking suppliers for our wedding. I had been following her on Instagram for a year or two and just knew that she would be able to capture our wedding day perfectly. The joyful colours and natural style was everything I hoped it would be, accompanied by the fact that she made us both feel comfortable and so at ease in front of the camera (not an easy task!)
Thank you again for capturing the moments that we’ll treasure forever.”

Hencote Estate is a beautiful vineyard in Shropshire with views looking out over Shrewsbury and beyond. Before Meg and Rob’s wedding I’d been here for cheese and wine tasting and said to my husband, Luke that it would make an amazing wedding venue. Little did I know at that point that they actually do weddings there and I was about to get booked to shoot there by the lovely Meg and Rob! A week or so before their wedding I met Meg and Rob at a local pub so we could have a chat about all their plans and go over their timeline. This is something I always like to do prior to a wedding so everything goes really smoothly on the day and you both feel comfortable with me. Not all my couples live nearby so sometimes this is a zoom call or phone call but I always make sure we touch base about a week beforehand. I had a lovely time at the pub hearing about Meg and Rob’s plans for their wedding and I was so excited to finally shoot at Hencote!

I arrived at Hencote a little earlier than planned and headed into the main room to see if this was set up, the staff at Hencote Estate are really organised so the room was set up and ready to go! I was able to take my time photographing this and really enjoyed shooting all the details. Meg and Rob wanted quite a minimal set up which worked really well with the venue, Hencote has huge floor to ceiling windows looking out over the vineyard so there isn’t any need to go over the top with venue dressing. These big windows also mean lots of amazing light which means great photographs!

Bridal Prep in The Grange

When I’d shot all the details I made my way over to the onsite farmhouse, The Grange, where Meg and some of her closest friends were getting ready. Meg had opted not to have bridesmaids to keep all the planning as simple as possible but she still included her closest friends in the morning celebrations. I thought this was a great idea because this way everyone gets to relax and enjoy the day and can also wear whatever they want! As I expected after meeting Meg and Rob, Meg was as cool as a cucumber during bridal prep, she was super relaxed when getting ready and there was no last minute flap, everything was completely under control. Whilst I was shooting bridal prep, my lovely second shooter, Laura, headed over to Meg and Rob’s house to photograph Rob getting ready. Having a second shooter is a must if you want both preps covering and you’re getting ready in different locations.

Shropshire Wedding ceremony overlooking a vineyard

When everyone was ready, we made our way over to the gazebo outside for Rob and Meg to tie the knot. I’ve shot a lot of outdoor weddings over the years but this ceremony had to have some of the best views I’ve ever seen at a wedding! They were so lucky with the weather too, it was a lovely summers day with a nice breeze so no one was too hot. It definitely felt like we were in Italy, not Shropshire! Meg chose the same florist I used for my wedding day and when I read this on their supplier form I couldn’t wait to see what Tammy from The Wild Bunch came up with! The flowers were absolutely incredible and lasted really well in the heat!

There are lots of places at Hencote we can use for couple portraits, we really were a bit spoilt for choice. We decided to head into the gardens of The Grange as it was so sunny, we needed a bit of shade for some beautiful portraits! I loved the colours and the light in here and worked quickly to give Meg and Rob beautiful couple portraits while also not keeping them away from their guests for too long.

Wedding breakfast at The View

They had their speeches and wedding breakfast in the aptly named The View restaurant at Hencote, with incredible views of the vineyard surrounding them. Aside from the cheese and wine tasting this was the first time I’d eaten at Hencote and the food was incredible! One big bonus of choosing a wedding venue that is also in itself a standalone restaurant is that you know the food is going to be great, all their guests loved it too!

They finished off the evening with some partying and we even found time to get a few more couple portraits during golden hour! If you’re planning a wedding at Hencote then please get in touch, I would love to hear from you!