A Combe House Devon Wedding: Hannah & Steve

Hannah and Steve's wedding was one full of laughter and love and a real pleasure to photograph. It was held at the delightful Combe House, Devon and the day ran seamlessly, thanks to the amazing staff. The girls got ready in what used to be the maids parlour. As you can see, it's a little fancier now than it once was! I loved the big windows which let in lots of natural light. Hannah's stunningly beautiful lace dress 'Lucia' was designed by Suzanne Neville. Shoes were by Freya Rose. On hand to make the girls look their very best was hair and make up team Changing Faces. The bridesmaids looked ravishing in their hot pink dresses by Alexon.

The boys meanwhile got themselves ready down the road at the Deer Park Country Hotel. I say ready, Steve wasn't quite on schedule, but he was very relaxed and enjoyed the time with his two best men, one of whom was his brother. Steve and the boys wore Austin Reed suits with tailor made shirts and ties made in Germany. His awesome tartan cufflinks were a gift from his Mum. You may wonder why Germany? Well, the couple live in Hamburg as Steve is a Data Analyst for Hamburg F.C. This therefore meant planning their wedding mostly from abroad, with the odd visit back home to meet suppliers, taste canapes and so on. Anyone who has been married will testify to the amount of organising that goes into the day, so to do it from another country deserves a big round of applause indeed!

The traditional ceremony was held at the very quaint St Michael's Church in nearby Gittisham. It was so nice to see the happiness radiating from Steve and Hannah all through the service; you can see just how devoted they are to each other in all the pictures of them together. Once we departed the church the plan was to take a few family group shots, however the wind (of the biting, 'turn your lips blue' variety) decided we would do them later in the warmth of Combe House!

And so back to Combe House. Bride and Groom via a 1967 S Type Jaguar and the guests on cool vintage buses. Everyone was welcomed by the sound of... well how do you explain the sound of an Oompah Band?! The energetic, foot-stampingly good Bavarian Oompah Boys added a nice flavour of Germany for those guests who had made the long journey to be there.

It was then time to slip away with the newly weds into the gardens to capture some romantic moments between them. The wind had mellowed, the mood was relaxed and we had great fun getting some awesome photographs.

The boys' socks got their own moment in the limelight after I heard they were worth a look! The marquee adjacent to the house was our venue for the evening and it had been turned into a warm, colourful haven. The four-tiered wedding cake was from Rosanne Hollowell and the hand made sign and wicker chair backs were made by Hannah's very own creative Aunt.

And so the night continued with great speeches, an outstanding bouquet toss, a heart-warming first dance and live music by the fabulous Under The Covers band who rocked the house. Outrageous dance moves were made even better with funky neon inflatable instruments giving me plenty of action to shoot! It was great working alongside Pete Cox, the videographer for the day, who I can highly recommend if you're looking for an awesome film made of your day.  

It truly was a wonderful day followed by an equally fun-filled night. Every wedding should be follow these essential principles for success!

If you have enjoyed this post, you may like to find out more about my wedding photography by visiting my website Simon Biffen Photography. I travel the UK shooting delicious weddings for couple who value quality, creative imagery as much as I do.