Glastonbury wedding

I’ve shot many weddings on very hot days over the years, but this is easily in the top ten, even in the top five, maybe? Ironically, the wedding I shot last year in Greece was warm, but nowhere near the heat that was in a field near Glastonbury this July. If this climate change keeps up, UK weddings will need to start later in the day, as they usually are in the South of France. This ceremony, in a field, for two Dairy farmers, started just after 1 pm. It was HOT!!!!!

A Hot wedding day

I drove over to Glastonbury the day before, not a journey you can safely make on the wedding day morning, coming from Sussex. Parking up in the town, I walked up to the top of the Tor in the mid-afternoon heat – left my water bottle in my car… Partly because it has been years since I last walked up there, but also to get a shot of the field where the wedding was taking place the next day. The two white marquees clearly visible.

Morgan got ready at a friend’s house, the other side of Glastonbury. Then onto the venue. Morgan and Nick rent the surrounding field for their dairy herds, who were there in view during the wedding, as was the Tor. A wedding ceremony led by local Somerset celebrant, Carol Smith. The open sides to the tents were much needed on this day. Plenty of drinks followed during the reception – one guest passed out; the heat got stronger. Now modern mirrorless cameras get warm, very warm. Pressed up against your face all day, there is a reason why a sensible wedding photographer does not shoot in a jacket and tie. By the time of the speeches, at the start of the wedding meal, I was getting a bit concerned about how hot they were. The rubber on the grips was starting to get tacky! Luckily, they could be shut down and cool down during the meal.

Use the light

Being a wedding in July, the sun dips below the horizon just after 9 pm. It is just before, with a clear sky near the horizon, that the sunset glow (the golden hour that is less than an hour) happens and it is a shame not to use it. With open sides, the light streaked in across the dance floor. But the band, although ready, had set the time for them to start. (A constant frustration at weddings is how DJs and bands set the timing in the evening – the photographer’s job is light, not them) I watched this light move across the dance floor before the dancing started; luckily, there were a few brief minutes when it burst out again, as the dancing kicked off following the first dance.

Here are a few images from this hot wedding near Glastonbury…