Cotswold Wedding Photography
Louise is a professional photographer based in the Cotswolds and specialising in Weddings & Portraits.
Louise lives in Blockley, Gloucestershire, near Moreton-in-Marsh and Stow-on-the-Wold close to many of the Cotswolds' most beautiful wedding venues.
As a wedding photographer, Louise loves getting to know the couple & feels privileged to be part of their very special day. She has a friendly & relaxed style which enables her to get the best out of the people she photographs.
Louise also offers contemporary, fun family portraits either at her Cotswolds studio in Blockley or at a location of your choice.
Louise is a member of the SWPP, the Society of Portrait & Wedding Photographers - a worldwide trade association for professional photographers.
Lucy & Andy’s Manor House Hotel wedding took place in the summer of 2021 – after all Covid restrictions had been lifted. I arrived in Moreton-in-Marsh when the girls were having their hair & makeup done next door in the hair salon Alchemy.
The girls all moved next door to finish getting ready so their Manor House Hotel wedding could get started!
The boys were busy greeting guests to the lovely outdoor ceremony area in the garden.
Chiqas played beautifully during the ceremony, while Lucy’s bridesmaids, and then Lucy & her dad walked in to the garden towards Andy.
And so the ceremony began
The sky looked pretty ominous for a while, but the weather behaved itself while Lucy, Andy and their guests had a drinks reception outside.
I love the secret garden round the corned at The Manor House Hotel, it’s the perfect place for some photos of the Bride & Groom on their own.
It was then time for their wedding breakfast, followed by speeches. Lucy’s Dad started them off, followed by the groom Andy and his Best Man.
Lucy & Andy had an amazing tower of doughnuts to ‘cut’ instead of a traditional wedding cake!
Their first dance in front of all their guests rounded of the perfect day!
Kate & Jonni’s Costwolds Hyde House Wedding https://hyde-house.uk/ was my first wedding at the end of July 2021 after ALL Covid restrictions were lifted. No masks, dancing allowed, the whole wedding thing, at last!!!! It was also great to work with the videographer Lucy all day from https://www.lucydrakeweddingfilms.co.uk/
The girls had fun getting ready in the lovely room upstairs in the barn. Beautiful flowers by Haze Lea https://hazelea.co.uk/
And the dancing could begin! The band was New Monday and they were brilliant! https://www.entertainment-nation.co.uk/new-monday. After over a year of not being allowed to dance, everyone was ready to let their hair down!
Every Cotswolds Hyde House Wedding needs the obligatory photo under the arbor!
Lauren & Marco, like many couples in 2020, postponed their wedding at the Manor House Hotel twice due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. This Moreton-in-Marsh wedding was their third date. What a beautifully sunny day they ended up with! Luckily they had always been planning a small intimate wedding, which fitted well with the restriction of 30 guests at that time.
The amazing team at the Manor House Hotel prepared the outdoor ceremony area for this Moreton-in-Marsh wedding. Lauren and her family had their hair & makeup done upstairs in the hotel by Alice Taper https://www.alicetapermakeupartist.com/
Their beautiful little dog was there to supervise!
Along with many other couples, Will & Harriet had to postpone their wedding due to the Covid pandemic, but were finally able to go ahead with their Walton Hall Wedding in May 2021…albeit with reduced numbers.
Mercure Walton Hall is a stunning country house wedding venue set in the Warwickshire countryside, and perfect for the type of wedding Will & Harriet wanted with lots of fun outdoor games!
The girls got ready upstairs at Walton Hall, while the boys decided where to put the table tennis table!
Harriet’s bouquet, the bridesmaid’s flowers, buttonholes, and all the other beautiful flowers decorating Walton Hall were done by Melanie Webb Flowers – such lovely colours.
Will and his groomsmen were also getting ready in the hall, so it was easy for me to go and photograph them as well.
Dresses on and the girls were ready for the ceremony downstairs. Covid restrictions meant that Will & Harriet could only have 30 guests at their wedding, and masks had to be worn throughout the ceremony.
The Spring of 2021 was awful, but this was one of the first days at the end of May when it finally stopped raining for a bit! There were still some showers around, but lovely to see some sunshine in between!
Frisbees were a very important part of Will & Harriet’s wedding!
There are so many beautiful spots at Walton Hall for photos of the Bride & Groom.
The table tennis table was equally as important as the frisbee in this wedding!
Delicious ice-creams were provided by Prestige Bouncy Castles who provide all sorts of fun things to hire.
Weddings were still not able to have an evening party at this stage, so Will & Harriet had lunch, followed by games, with the sit-down wedding breakfast later in the evening. The wedding breakfast room looked extremely elegant with one big long table.
There were speeches after the meal, followed by a video put together by Harriet’s sister of messages from all their friends & family who couldn’t come to the wedding due to Covid restrictions – it was very emotional.
There was a lovely sunset, and Will & Harriet were able to do their first dance to finish off a wonderful day, and it was so nice to be back photographing weddings again! Fingers crossed it stays that way for the rest of the year.
As with an awful lot of wedding couples this year, Bryony & Liam had changed their wedding date three times due to the Covid19 pandemic. Ever-changing rules for weddings made it completely impossible to plan anything. They made a last minute decision to go ahead with their micro-wedding in Henley-on-Thames, with the ceremony in Henley Registry Office and seven guests (if you include Bryony’s little baby niece…who did legally have to be included in the numbers!). Eight including me!
We were now all pretty used to wearing masks, so everyone except the bride & groom were wearing them indoors for the lovely simple ceremony.
At this point on the run up to Christmas no receptions were allowed to go ahead. They could throw confetti though, and then everyone headed down to the river for some outdoor photos.
The weather was just AMAZING for a cold December day – blue skies and lovely golden winter sunshine, so it was a great opportunity to take some relaxed photos of Bryony & Liam with their guests along the Thames with pretty Henley in the background. They both looked so happy.
We made use of the band stand there for some group photos, and everyone had a cup of tea in paper cups from the kiosk….I mean never mind champagne and canapes, what more could you want!!
A perfect small and intimate micro-wedding in the midst of a global pandemic!
With 2020 in full swing, and Covid19 also in full swing, most of the weddings I’d had booked for this year had been postponed or cancelled. Depending on the state of the pandemic, wedding guest numbers were constantly being changed from none at all (in full lockdown) to 15, to 30 and back again! In September we were on the verge of wedding guest numbers being changed back down from 30 to 15. Lucinda & Andrew therefore made a very quick decision to bring their Hyde House Wedding forward by a few days so that they could go ahead with 30 guests!
Hyde House is one of my most local and most loved venues in Stow-on-the-Wold here in the Cotswolds. I know it well and was very much looking forward to photographing their small but joyful wedding there on a beautifully sunny day.
There girls got ready upstairs in the barn as usual, with the help of Lucinda & Andrew’s gorgeous dog Rupert! (such a lovely colour)
Lucinda & Andrew used a lot of their friends & relatives as suppliers, with hair by Jessie Scarth, and makeup by David Llobera.
The boys were getting ready over in the Fosse Manor where the new library is a great place for photos.
Amanda & Reuben who have a business called Heavenly Scent created all the wonderful flowers for the day.
Lucinda was by now in the final stages of getting ready and looked stunning. I absolutely LOVE the collar on that dress, and those cowboy boots! The dress was from Pritchard & Moore.
The ceremony was held in The Grange, where Andrew and his Groomsmen (including Rupert of course) were waiting along with their socially distanced guests wearing masks.
Lucinda, the bridesmaids, her Dad and step-Dad walked in the sunshine from the barn to the Grange. The ceremony was then underway.
There was a slight hiccup when Lucinda & Andrew were asked to read their personal vows which they seem to have forgotten about! It made everyone laugh though and lightened the atmosphere!
Rings were squeezed on to each other’s fingers, and the lovely ceremony ended with a kiss. They also had a cuddle from Rupert, and the all-important register was signed.
The newly married couple and their guests then made their way back over to the barn for confetti. We did the family group photos in the sunshine by the pretty arbor. I then took Lucinda & Andrew for a lovely walk round the grounds for some photos of them on their own.
At this point in the year receptions were allowed…at other points they weren’t, so Lucinda, Andrew and their guests were lucky to be able to have a sit-down dinner and enjoy the delicious Hyde House food!
When the weather is nice enough for a sunset, the views at Hyde House are stunning overlooking the Cotswold Hills. Lucinda & Andrew were lucky enough to have one of those special days!
Speeches were after the meal, followed by the cake cutting, with the amazing cake made by Lucinda’s Aunt Marcia (spot the hilarious cake-topper!)
Due to Covid restrictions, no dancing was allowed at weddings all year. At this stage the first dance only was allowed to go ahead, with the music being organised by Groomsman James. It was strange not to have all the guests join them on the dancefloor after the first dance…fingers crossed we will all be able to dance again in 2021!
I finished off the photos with a shot under the arbor. This Hyde House Wedding was such a lovely one to photograph and I wish Lucinda and Andrew all the very best for the future.
2020 – well, what can I say…2020 didn’t quite pan out how any of us expected it too! After postponing and cancelling lots of my booked weddings for 2020, Sian and Andy were my first couple to go ahead with their Covid secure Barns & Yard wedding! This was quite a daunting prospect for them, the venue, me, and all the suppliers involved.
This was my first time photographing a Barns & Yard wedding: a luxury barn wedding and events venue at Hanley Hall in Worcestershire, surrounded by the Malvern Hills.
I did a few getting ready shots of the girls before the ceremony…all masked up of course (which I found out is a complete nightmare when you wear glasses!)
All the stunning flowers at this Barns & Yard wedding were by Jenny Fleur Florist, who also decorated the barn, which looked amazing inside ready for the Covid secure socially-distanced ceremony!
Andy the groom was looking rather dapper, along with his elbow-bumping (no more hand-shaking obviously!) best men as they greeted the guests, whose numbers had to be reduced to less than 30. Little did we know earlier in the year that there would be no more big weddings for a LONG time.
The guests were entertained by talented pianist Jake Henry.
Sian arrived in her wedding car with bridesmaids, flower girl and her father to walk her down the (very short!) aisle where Andy was nervously waiting.
And so the ceremony was under way with all guests socially distanced in their bubbles. This was before the law changed later in the year which meant all guests had to wear masks.
The ‘reception’ in the courtyard was also very different – at this point in the pandemic no food or drink could be served, so the guests had to awkwardly say their congratulations with none of the usual hugging and whilst clutching their own bottle of water!
It didn’t stop the fun & laughter though.
A video had been put together for Sian & Andy from guests that were no longer able to come to their wedding due to the new Covid rules.
We were allowed to do socially distanced group photos, and I could take some photos of the gorgeous couple Sian & Andy by the stunning lake.
We are now all beginning to get used to all these new Covid rules & regulations, but for my first Covid wedding, Sian & Andy made their very special day really good fun to photograph and I wish them all the best for the future. As long as we can all still laugh in the face of a Pandemic I think we’ll be OK!
Alex & Ethan were lucky to have their Hyde House wedding…an actual full wedding day…at Hyde House in Stow-on-the-Wold, just before lockdown and Covid restrictions really kicked off in 2020.
It was a chilly day at the end of February, but the main problem was the wind, we’d had storm after storm on the run up to the wedding, and today was a stormy day!
It was all cosy and calm upstairs in the barn though where Alex & the girls were getting ready. Hair & makeup was beautifully done by Anna White.
The boys were in the manor house in the lovely new Groom’s Room.
Alex & the girls were putting final touches to their wedding attire, and everyone, especially Alex, looked stunning.
Alex now had to walk from the barn to the Grange in very high winds…even though it’s not far, everyone got blown to bits! The Grange looked so lovely though and they had a very relaxed ceremony taken by the wonderful Gloucestershire registrar, Jean, who never fails to put nervous couples completely at ease.
It was back to the barn for their reception, where the pianist Joe Pike entertained with his amazing piano playing.
We did the group photos upstairs as it was still too gusty outside, but we did manage to get outside to the arbor for a few couple photos.
The barn looked gorgeous for the wedding breakfast, and the gin favours warmed everyone up!
And the speeches were done before their meal
We did a few more photos indoors in their newly decorated honeymoon suite – it’s gorgeous in there now with the beautiful copper roll-top bath.
The cheese cake was cut to kick off the evening celebrations…writing this during the Covid Pandemic, I wonder when we will be able to enjoy an evening party again, soon I hope!
The evening disco was provide by the brilliant Dukebox Discos.
I always stay till after dark at Hyde House to get a photo of the bride & groom under the arbor.
Kate & Adam had their wedding just before Christmas at the gorgeous wedding venue Lapstone Barn. Lapstone Barn is just outside Chipping Campden here in the Cotswolds, and just a stone’s throw from where I live, so I love working there!
As expected for a December wedding it was pretty freezing (but no snow unfortunately!), and also really windy with big downpours every now & then. Lapstone Barn has just the right amount of covered areas so that I can still take outdoor photos (I get wet, but the wedding guests don’t!)
Kate, her mum & sister were getting ready in the lovely Hayloft upstairs at the barn, so not far to go to the ceremony downstairs once they were all dressed, and no need to go outside! It’s a beautiful room to get ready in.
Both hair and makeup were expertly done by Hattie King.
Meanwhile the boys were getting themselves ready downstairs. The buttonholes, and all other flowers were provided by Sue from The Baytree at Chipping Campden. The orchids looked amazing, such bright colours.
Nice socks Adam!
The barn where the ceremony was to be held was decorated beautifully with flowers and a flower ring from Baytree Chipping Campden. The ceiling drapes, chair sashes and lanterns were by my good friends Lyla & Ian from The Cotswold Wedding Company who always do such an amazing job.
As guests started arriving, the amazingly talented harpist Jemima Phillips played. And finishing touches were being carried out up in The Hayloft before a very proud Dad came in to see his beautiful daughter.
The ceremony was then underway, and was followed by confetti and group photos in the courtyard – it really was freezing so we did some groups inside when Kate (and me!) got too cold!
I did make Kate & Adam go outside in the rain with a brolly for some wintry photos while we were blasted by the arctic wind!
The guests were then seated for their wedding breakfast. The food at Lapstones is some of the best of all the Cotswold venues – I was lucky enough to eat what the guests were eating and it was delicious!
Food was followed by speeches (involving silly hats), evening guests and the cake cutting a bit later on.
The stunning and scrumptious looking cake was by Helen at The Crumb Cakery.
The evening’s festivities included dancing (of course), a sweet table, photo booth by Booth Xperia, and sparklers. The DJ was Tony Nanton from Sugar Bumps. A perfect winter wedding!
If you would like to book me for your wedding at Lapstone Barn in the Cotswolds, head to my website for more information.
Cheryl & Niall’s Cotswolds Winter Wedding at Hyde House was on a day in between Christmas and New Year – Twixtmas – when most people are still snuggled up on their sofa’s watching films and eating chocolates! Not Cheryl & Niall – they and all their family & friends were up for a party at Hyde House!
We were pretty lucky with the weather all day, it was freezing cold and windy, but it didn’t rain, so we were able to get outside for photos.
The girls were getting ready upstairs in the barn. Makeup was beautifully done by Katie Morley – always nice to see someone so happy in their work!
And hair by a friend of Cheryl’s Amanda Piggott. Cheryl and all her bridesmaids & flower girls looked absolutely beautiful.
It was then time for Dad to come in, and a few groups before Cheryl had her chat with the registrars.
Meanwhile Niall and the boys were ready and greeting guests in the manor house before going over to The Grange for the ceremony.
The ceremony barn – The Grange – was beautifully decorated by The Cotswold Wedding Company, who also styled the other barn for the wedding breakfast and drinks areas.
The Vyne String Quartet played beautifully during the ceremony, and the day was also videoed by Roger from Diamond Films – it was great to work with him again.
The ceremony in The Grange was then underway – I love photographing in there, it’s always such lovely light whatever the weather.
Everyone then headed back over to the reception barn to throw confetti. After months of seemingly non-stop rain (apart from today) the grass was extremely soggy, so I advised everyone to stay on the pavement!
Acoustic singer songwriter Alex Harry entertained everyone during the drinks reception.
And the bride, Cheryl, did the table plan herself.
And the speeches got underway after the guests had eaten.
The Best Man was VERY relieved once his speech was out of the way!
We did some after dark photos before the dancing got underway. The arbor at Hyde House provides the perfect backdrop for that, and there were a few spraklers flying around!
The cake was cut, and bouquet thrown…Cheryl did very well not to get it tangled up in the overhead decorations!
With Niall’s family being Irish there was a lot of Irish jigging going on. The evening DJ and disco floor provider was Premier Beats Entertainment, the love letters also by The Cotswold Wedding Company. Fantastic day and great fun to photograph!
Click here to see more info about my wedding photography if you are interested in booking me for your Cotswolds Winter Wedding or Hyde House Wedding: Louise Bowles Photography.
