Tortworth Lake Wedding Photographer

“Simon was absolutely brilliant on the day! He dealt with all the chaos very well and captured so many amazing moments. All the photos show so much emotion, energy and fun and are completely natural and relaxed. Everything we wanted for our memories. Thank you Simon!”

I had so much fun as Anna and Ben’s Tortworth Lake wedding photographer. Tortworth Lake is a relatively new wedding venue and it is perfect for couples that want the space to create a really unique wedding within a really beautiful woodland setting next to an idyllic lake.

Anna and Ben, The Lake at Tortwoth from Simon Biffen.

TELL US ABOUT THE TWO OF YOU…

Ben and I live in London but are from Manchester and Bristol. Ben works in finance and I am a Psychologist. We spend most of our time visiting friends and family and enjoy spending weekends outside of London in the countryside. We both enjoy being active and both play football in our spare time! The most important things to us are our friends and family, without whom we would not have had the most spectacular wedding day ever!

HOW DID THE PROPOSAL GO DOWN?

Gosh, this is quite a story but I will try to summarise! Ben took me to see Father Christmas in New York in December 2016 (why - who knows!) and whilst we were both sat on Father Christmas’s knee, Father Christmas gave me a box which he asked me to open. In this box was a sweet potato (although Ben had asked for a yam - another story) with the words “Will you marry me” written on top. During this somewhat surreal experience I then looked over to see Ben on one knee with a gorgeous ring and lots of people dressed as elves running into the grotto shouting “Well will ya, will ya?”. After lots of giggles I said yes and we went for champagne and celebrations!!

WHAT MADE YOU CHOOSE THE LAKE AT TORTWORTH AS YOUR VENUE?

We were looking for a wedding venue that we could truly make our own. We both knew we wanted an outdoors, relaxed atmosphere with a marquee, camping and festival spirit. After hours and hours or searching the internet for a venue that pretty much gave us free reign to do whatever we wanted, eventually my mum saw a very small advert on the Tortworth Lake website, saying wedding venue coming soon. I contacted Tortworth and within a couple of weeks was up at the venue with my parents being shown around. At this point the venue really was just a building site as the marquee site was being prepared. However, even in the middle of all the work it was absolutely stunning come rain or shine and we all loved it immediately. The owner of Tortworth Lake were also so helpful and encouraging of us to really have as much freedom with our day as we wanted, even allowing us to extend the curfew using a silent disco, serve all our own alcohol, select our own caterers and any other organisations and giving us tips based on their wedding! It felt like such chance that my mum had seen the one line advert which apparently was only up for a few days as the company were testing out the website!

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE SIMON BIFFEN TO PHOTOGRAPH YOUR WEDDING?

My friend was getting married in the July before ours and she has a keen eye for photography. She showed me the website for her photographer, which was Simon, and I absolutely loved his photos. Every photo I felt like he had managed to capture the emotion on people’s faces and that’s what I wanted for our wedding photos. Something really natural, relaxed and that has all the genuine authentic emotions embedded in each photo from the day. We met Simon at my friends wedding and he was very relaxed, friendly and really fitted in almost like one of the guests. I also thought he did a brilliant job of quickly capturing the traditional family and couple photos so that the day was not wasted stood in front of a camera which I had experienced at other peoples weddings. Simon was exactly the same at our wedding, there was not stress, he worked quickly and effectively and most importantly captured so many genuine happy memories from the day that Ben and I missed.

WHAT KIND OF EXPERIENCE DID YOU WANT FOR YOUR GUESTS?

Both Ben and I wanted our guests to be able to enjoy the day, feel relaxed and importantly have loads of fun, which I hope we achieved! We were absolutely so lucky with the weather, it was a perfect English summer’s day and this really added to the atmosphere. It also meant our guests could enjoy the venue, see it in all its beauty and enjoy all the outdoor games and fun! We cannot thank our friends and family enough many of whom helped us hand make nearly all our decorations and transform the venue from a lake to a festival! We had a huge working party the day before hanging bunting, decorating gin bars, creating sweets tables, pitching tents, laying our games, decorating the marquee etc. We were both amazed by the transformation, and could not have asked for anything more. Many of our guests told us during the day and after how impressed they were with all our personal touches and we’re so glad everyone enjoyed the day and seeing all the hard work pay off!

WHAT WERE THE MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS FROM YOUR WEDDING DAY AT TORTWORTH LAKE?

Oh my days there are sooooo many amazing memories it’s hard to list them all. But both Ben and I really enjoyed the readings and performances in the church which really made our service unique, special to us and fun! Our vicar was absolutely hilarious which we are so thankful for as we think he helped add to the relaxed atmosphere. Seeing all our friends and family together having a good time has to be a highlight for both of us but also the following: Pip the human juke box (who stayed on well past his contracted hours to enjoy the fun), the band who travelled all the way from Ireland on the day to be there, all the fun and games around the marquee, the food and endless alcohol, the dancing and definitely the silent disco!!!

ANY TIPS FOR FUTURE COUPLES PLANNING THEIR WEDDING?

Ben and I have been to many weddings now and I think the lovely thing about a wedding is each one is unique. Our main advice is do it the way you want it, find the venue that feels the best fit for you, if you want to - involve friends and family as much as possible, add some personal touches and remember the day is about you and having fun with your friends and family!

AWESOME WEDDING SUPPLIERS FROM THE DAY:

Make up artist: Rachel Walker | Hair stylist: Jay Jays Hair | Bride’s dress: Micheala by Clifton Brides | Groom’s suit: Moss Bros | Floristry: Penny Dommett | Catering: Cherry Picked Catering | Band: The Heartbeats Band