Why I loved this Guildhall Bath wedding

One sunny day in June I was honoured to photograph a really rather lovely micro wedding at the Guildhall in Bath and then afterwards the celebrations, which started at All Bar One and then moved on to the Litton pub, in Litton. 

Laid back, quirky clients

The wedding was of Alice and Fred (Federico), two absolutely wonderful, quirky and creative Italians who are obviously very well matched and pretty free-spirited. The fact that their honeymoon was a 7 week trip around Europe in a camper van with their son was an indicator of this, as was the fact that Alice is the creator behind the absolutely beautiful jewellery line Golden Datura (if you haven’t yet seen it, you must check it out: www.instagram.com/goldendatura). I’ve admired Alice’s work ever since I first met her at the Somerset Business Mums networking group.

Relaxed bridal preparations

The morning started at Alice and Fred’s home where I captured some candid, relaxed images of bridal preparations with some of her close family. As with all my wedding photography, there was no posing, simply documenting the events as they happened. Alice did her own wedding hair and makeup and wore a piece from her stunning jewellery collection. Alice’s little niece was very cute watching what was going on and taking it all in. Even Alice’s cat Rupert came out to wave her off as they headed out of the house to the Guildhall in Bath. 



Rupert the cat

Off to the Guildhall in Bath

A short journey later and I caught up with Alice’s parents who were waiting at the Guildhall along with other family members and a few friends. Her Dad waited on the step, slightly anxiously and checking his watch as Alice took a little while getting to the venue. When she arrived the look in his eyes was proud and happy – I just love the moment a Dad sees his little girl for the first time in her wedding dress. 

Father of the bride spots his daughter approaching, outside the Guildhall in Bath.

The ceremony was taking place in the Abbey Room at the Guildhall, Bath and the view from the window is, I’m sure, the reason it has this name. The full view of Bath Abbey is so beautiful and a wonderful backdrop to a wedding ceremony.

The couple said their vows and their young son handed them the wedding rings one by one. Fred later took his ring off to reveal his tattooed wedding ring underneath. He wasn’t going to need the ring they’d bought on Amazon for the wedding ceremony. As they were pronounced man and wife by the celebrant, Fred grabbed Alice for a kiss and there was tangible emotion in the room.

There were so many touching moments throughout the day, as well as amusing. But then you can’t really fail to have a good time when spending the day with Italians, which most of them were. I loved it as I studied French and Italian myself at University (some 18+ years ago!) and it was so lovely to be surrounded by the language and Italian culture again. One of the most amusing moments was later in the day, after the speeches, when Fred gave his new mother-in-law a wedding gift of a sachet of tomato soup which he had found at the back of a cupboard whilst on a job at work one day. She apparently creates artwork from random bric-a-brac and he thought maybe she could use this for a piece.

Just three formal group shots

After the wedding ceremony at the Guildhall in Bath we all went outside and I took 3 formal group photos of various family groups as a record of everyone together. It’s lovely to have those few posed shots for the mantel piece, but even more lovely to concentrate mainly on the candid, meaningful moments of the day, rather than spending hours posing for photos. Alice and Fred then wanted to go for a walk around Bath to have a moment together as newly weds. So we had a wander around the outside of the Abbey, into Parade Gardens and then around Pulteney Bridge and along the canal a little. As they walked along they got a few looks and a number of  “congratulations!” from passers-by. The beautiful backdrop of Bath certainly made for some beautiful opportunities for candid images along the way on their walk. And I always love meandering around in that area, my old haunting ground, as I used to live on Great Pulteney Street myself. A tip I was given just before my own wedding day, and one I like to pass on to couples, is to make sure you have at least 10 minutes to yourselves, as a couple, to simply “be” as newly weds. So this was a lovely little moment just for Alice and Fred, before re-joining the crazy, lovely chaos of Italian celebrations with the rest of their family. 


Emotional moments and beautiful wedding speeches

Once the walk was over we met up with the family at All Bar One opposite the Guildhall in Bath and they toasted with champagne. They then all set off to the Litton pub (in Litton) for some gorgeous food and relaxed celebrations for the rest of the day. The speeches were very touching and very amusing at various points, with Fred giving away secrets that Alice wasn’t sure he needed to share (!) and such an emotional father-of-the-groom that Fred read out the ending of his father’s speech for him. Even Alice and Fred’s son gave an adorable little speech about how happy he was that they had tied the knot. 

Father of the bride looking emotional | Bath wedding photographer

The happy wedding celebrations carried on into the evening and I left them to it after the cutting of the rather yummy looking cake.

I really loved documenting this wonderful, relaxed and joyful wedding day. There was such a feeling of love, togetherness and genuine affection for one another.


If you are a free-spirited couple planning a Guildhall Bath wedding, full of really meaningful, genuine moments, I would absolutely love to document your day for you! Do get in touch to talk through your ideas and check availability.




Do you offer an hourly rate for wedding photography?

Yes, I offer an hourly rate for off-peak weekends (October – March); week day ceremonies all year round (Monday – Thursday). Sometimes also last minute weekends. Get in touch with your date to discuss.

What is the shortest package of wedding photography that you offer?

My packages start at 6 hours (a half day). Or I have an hourly rate for certain dates (see above).

Can we go for a walk around Bath for couple photos after the ceremony?

Yes of course. I am happy to document whatever you get up to, and if you would like to walk around and make the most of some of Bath’s beautiful scenery I’d be happy to follow! It’s also lovely to see the greetings that newlyweds get from passers-by.

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