Devon Wedding Photographer - Emma Stoner Wedding Photography

I’m a big fan of festival-style weddings so Catherine & Tom’s colourful, Cotswold handfasting didn’t disappoint. It had such a laid-back folky vibe to it and some incredible, unique & creative touches. The setting was gorgeous with a barn and adjacent woodland. When I arrived in the morning friends were gathered and everyone was working hard to put the finishing touches together. It was really inspiring to see the team effort as the barn became a colourful mish-mash of decor.

The handfasting ceremony was held in the woodlands under a huge gnarly tree. After the vows, guests were invited to decorate a hoop by tying a knot of colourful fabric to it. A lovely keepsake for the day. At the end of the ceremony they all sang ‘Wild Mountain Thyme” with bride, Catherine on the guitar and her friend Ally on Cello. It was a beautiful moment. Shortly afterwards bride and groom were pelted with largest amount of colourful confetti ever!

The main inspiration behind this wedding was a festival the couple go to every year “Overall we were inspired by a small festival in Wales we go to every Summer, which has lots of fire, a torch-lit procession, folk music and dancing into the night with friends” This certainly happened at Catherine & Tom’s wedding – pretty much everyone joined in the ceilidh dancing which went on all night. One of my favourite moments was the lighting of the bonfire by the parade of beasts – made by artist Alex Merry. These fantastical masks continued the folky / pagan feel right to the very end of the wedding.

You can read more about this incredible wedding on Rock n Roll Bride . Flowers by Fox & Petal