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Wedding Photography at Caer Beris Manor, Builth, Powys, Wales.
by Jonathon Dow – LMPA DipPP – Master Photographer
Caer Beris Manor's bridge across the River Ifron
Caer Beris Manor in Builth, Powys, Central Wales was the location for this weekends’ wedding photography. With fantastic weather and a blend of superb location and views and a very novel bendy rope bridge across the river Ifron, Caer Beris Manor is a fantastic location to choose. having found Keylight Photography at the NEC National Wedding Show this March, the booking was solid and the happy couple opted for my Napoli Platinum service with unlimited photographs and copyright ownership – the Evening Reception coverage was included for free, as a special offer from the Wedding Show.
Shooting before the Wedding
Andrew and Emma (the Bride and Groom) stayed at the Manor the night before. I set out from home at 6.30am, arriving just after 9am. The men were shooting at 10am on the grounds (clay pigeon) and so I was asked to be a bit early – the wedding itself not beginning until 1.30pm. This was fine, I said, as I never double-book a day and provide as much time as they liked. The shooting session was pretty good, with some who had never handled a rifle before and those who liked to do it as a hobby, all hitting the clays.
Celebrating at Caer Beris Manor
After this, I went to photograph the Bride, Bridesmaid and Flowergirl in the Swansea Suite. Coupled with a very nice en suite, sitting room and four poster bed, the Swansea Suite was very plush and spacious for photographs to be taken of the Bridal Group. Emma was looking lovely with her hair and makeup done that morning. I photographed some of the others getting ready and focussed on the nik-naks shots (dresses, shoes, jewelry etc.), all of which made lovely photographs on their own. But, mostly, these shots can be used for Mario Acerboni Digital Storybook designs and backgrounds to double-page spreads.
The Bridal Party, just before the Wedding
The ceremony time grew nearer, so I went to see the ceremony room and meet the Registrars. Having picked a nice spot near the back, the guests started to arrive and filled the room. I waited outside for the arrival of the Bride and her Step Father, who had the honour of giving her away. More wedding photographs in front of the fireplace before she entered the room. The ceremony itself was actually quite a short affair, but this left more time for celebrations, drinks, sunshine on the terrace and of course, wedding photography.
Bride, Groom and Maid on the rope bridge across the river Ifron.
We set off to the plush and spacious estate grounds where the river, bridge and gardens were. It was very easy to choose a selection of lovely locations for the group photographs. Some were taken on the terrace patio (to save all guests from climbing the staircase that weaved its way down to the lawns) and the rest in the gardens.
Andrew, Emma and Myself then went to the bridge for romantic traditional wedding photographs. The Best Man and some other guests came along too, as I always like to offer guests my professional photography advice and tips on how to achieve a striking portrait of the Bride and Groom. After a bit of experimentation, the three of us braved the bridge, only to find that it was a lot of fun to jump up and down on – like a bunch of big kids, we were! Cameras strapped around my neck and a shade of purple on my cheeks (!) I took some beautifully posed shots of Andrew and Emma, before moving down the bank to shoot them in the middle of the bridge, with plenty of scenery in view.
Groom and Pageboy beeline for the trees.
Next came the gardens… It wasn’t very long at all that Andrew and Emma had evacuated the bridge, that Andrew and Kieran (the Pageboy) were dashing towards an old oak tree. By the time I turned to see where everyone was running to with their own cameras, both the Groom and Pageboy had climbed into the tree for more pics (and a serious case of larking about) in the sunshine and golden lit leaves. The Bride, Maid and Flowergirl all congregated at the foot of the tree and posed for more photos. What a great amount of fun we all had. The weather held out perfectly, whilst I discovered on the way home that evening that other parts of Wales had suffered rain.
The Happy Couple in front of Caer Beris Manor
Onto the Wedding Breakfast at Caer Beris Manor. I borrowed a mains socket, got the laptop PC and iPad out of the car and set about editing about 50-60 highlights across the day’s shoot (around 800 photos by that point!). I tweaked a fine selection of reportage photos, traditional photos and Bride and Groom portraits, and set them to the screen size and spec of the iPad Wedding Album viewer. This was brought back to the evening reception and passed around the guests for al to enjoy. The BEST part of the job for me, is the second that the Bride and Groom see their photographs for the first time and watching their eyes light up. Result! I love my job. 
Andrew and Emma setting off to the Wedding Breakfast
Following the party and First Dance photographs, I said my goodbyes and jumped in the old Mercedes E-Class that I bought as a back-up limo for weddings, and set off back to the Midlands. A nice 2 and a half hour journey around some of the nicest views and I was home.
The iPad wedding album previews will be online by noon tomorrow (Thursday 28th April 2011) on the main Keylight Photography site’s Feature Weddings gallery.
www.keylightphotography.co.uk
