The Tithe Barn | Jo & Chris

The Tithe Barn Wedding

The Tithe Barn in Ditcham, near Petersfield, Hampshire. A unique wedding venue in the South Downs National Park. The venue for Jo and Chris on a warm day in July. Now, this wedding is unique for one reason, but I’ll leave that until the end of this post…

I’ve shot weddings in many old barns over the years – such as Cissbury, Southend, Farbridge, Fitzleroi, Upwaltham, Long Furlong, Brookfield, Clock Barn, Gate Street, The Oak Barn, Cherry Barn, Pangdean Old Barn and The Tythe Barn – but The Tithe Barn in Ditcham has to be the biggest and the most striking architecturally. A tithe barn was historically for storing tithes or rents. A farmer would usually owe a tenth of their produce to the church. But this Grade II listed building was built in the seventeenth century. It may have been a ‘prodigy barn’ – showing off the landowner’s wealth and prestige. In its scale and design, it still impresses. Six large stone arches, half hammer beams and a flagstone floor, the outside dressed with flint walls. Quite a backdrop for a wedding ceremony.

(But…one thing I have to say…impressive as the architecture is, the lighting isn’t… This is so common, with so many wedding venues. “Pretty” lighting that misses the mark somewhat. Here there are lots of hotspots from uplighters up high, which is fine, though they could be turned down a bit. But there is no directional light on where the bride and groom stand. That area is almost gloomy in comparison, and this is the key focus area for everyone. It doesn’t have to be strong spotlights, although that could look seriously dramatic in such a space. Just something to highlight that area. If only wedding venues hired lighting experts from big theatres.)

But back to Jo and Chris’s day. I arrived early to find Jo taking pictures of the barn (more on that later), but also caught Jo and Chris rehearsing their first dance, before the wedding guests arrived. Think the film ‘Pulp Fiction’! Getting ready was in a room at the end of the barn and in the Old Milking Parlour across the courtyard. Jo’s daughter, Issy, led her down the aisle. A long line of confetti would follow the wedding ceremony, before drinks in the warm sunshine. It’s a lovely part of the world, especially on a sunny day! The sunshine came in handy for some ‘sunset pictures’ in the field next to the venue. Dinner was a hog roast. Speeches and then the band, 29 Fingers, struck up, and the Pulp Fiction moves kicked off the dancing.

Here are a few images from this day at The Tithe Barn…but scroll to the end to see what was so unique about this wedding…

Wedding Photography, full circle

So what was unique about this wedding?

I photographed Jo’s first wedding twenty-five years ago. One of my earliest weddings to photograph. June 2000. Jo was a photographer working for The Sun back then – photographing ‘Dear Deidre’s Casebook’ – and we had a mutual friend in a photographer I worked with at The Times (sadly now deceased). That wedding was shot on film with Nikon F5 cameras. I bought my first digital camera, the Nikon D1, in December of that year. As for finding Jo taking pictures of The Tithe Barn when I arrived. It was the same all those years ago. I arrived at the venue to find her, hair in curlers, shooting photos ‘in case I didn’t’. There was also her request for me to photograph each dish of the meal, which led to a row with the chef, in which Jo waded in. I shot a few pictures of the potatoes and the stuffing this time, too…as a joke. No such requests this time.

• Venue : The Tithe Barn
• Caterers: Fathog and Bigpan catering
• Flowers: Vanessa Jayne Design
• Band: 29 Fingers
• Hair: Amy Jones
• Dress: May and Grace
• Bar: Hampshire Bars & Events

Upon seeing their preview…

“You made us cry!!! We were absolutely sobbing watching it!!

We’ve watched it so many times! It really is wonderful. You’ve captured so many moments in the preview that mean so much to us.

Thank you.”