Secret Barn | Hannah & Chris

West Sussex wedding

A rare local wedding for me. A West Sussex wedding – Broadbridge Heath, Warnham church and The Secret Barn (near the South Downs). A wedding, for Hannah and Chris, on a very warm summer’s day.

Coverage kicks off, at their home, in Broadbridge Heath, near Horsham. A friend helping with hair, chaos of bridesmaids doing their makeup and Hannah’s parents, arranging her wedding bouquet, with flowers from the garden. A couple of miles away, Chris was at the church. St Margaret’s in Warnham. The Romantic poet, Shelley, was born very near here and he was baptised in this church. This wedding day would have been Shelley’s 226th birthday…

(The church has an unusual yew(?) hedge arch, in front of the main door. This makes the lighting, on a very bright early afternoon….’ interesting’…one step, either way, is either great light and really awful light...)

Hannah arrived a bit late (makeup readjustments) but the ceremony ran smooth – with a vicar who doesn’t hate photography! Plus points!! Confetti outside and then everyone off down the A24, towards the downs, to the Secret Barn, in a secret location! (Just below Chanctonbury Ring)

Secret Barn wedding reception

The Secret Barn….”The Secret Barn is a ‘proper barn’, on a proper farm, nestled down a quiet country lane in West Sussex, with views of The Downs and lovely countryside, this barn is the quintessential rural idyl, complete with a paddock for camping, an orchard crying out to hold a little ceremony, a lawn for canapé-ing on or toasting marshmallows over the fire pit. Think trestle tables, garland lights, hay bales, stargazing, wildflowers, Darling Buds of May, festively fun. The Secret Barn is an exclusive, authentically rustic hideaway, it has beams and original flooring, it is not a ‘done up wedding barn’, and we love it all the more for its cracks and creaks.” – as they say on their website. A pretty good canvas to create your own wedding day on. Especially when the sun is shining!

Fizz and elderflower press, pieces of pork pie, sausage rolls and a vintage horsebox bar….it creates a nice, simple, intimate feel to a wedding reception – so more personal than a big hotel. Food from the BBQ, speeches in the barn, back out to dessert in the evening sun. Then dancing in the barn – a slither of evening light (no flash to kill this atmosphere – just shoot around it and see what appears!). A wedding with a really good warm, relaxed and good vibe.

I left as the sun fell behind the trees and the horizon – passing the Domino’s pizza man, as he arrived at the Secret Barn, with his massive delivery of evening food…

Here are a few images from the day, a wedding at the Secret Barn in West Sussex…

 

Wedding Photography Awards

This image of a bridesmaid with a beer bottle in her mouth has so far won three awards in international wedding photography competitions…