Relaxed and Elegant Country House Wedding with Colourful Floor Meadow Flowers

Really all you need for a gorgeous wedding is two people in love, and Grace and Henry sure had that in each other; but they also had a number of other things that helped make their Shropshire country house wedding day even better than they could have imagined – making for a fab wedding day to photograph!

Davenport House wedding venue

Take, for example, their venue, the stunning Davenport House in Shropshire. Davenport House is one of my favourite wedding venues, because it has such a WOW factor whilst also feeling super welcoming and friendly. This was something that Grace and Henry also picked up on as soon as they visited: “It’s gorgeous, and not too far from home. We got such a positive vibe from it and the girls who showed us round, we knew we’d be in safe hands!”

While Henry and his groomsmen were downstairs ready to welcome guests at the impressive front steps, Grace and her bridesmaids were upstairs putting the finishing touches to their looks. The bridesmaids looked stunning in lilac dresses of different styles, while Grace stole the show in a sweetheart neckline lace dress with draped off-the-shoulder detail and a killer lace train. Her bridesmaids wore their hair down in loose curls, and Grace had hers swept back in a romantic bun to hold her veil.

Summer mix floral arrangements

Another thing I love about Davenport House is the ceremony room, a space at the bottom of the sweeping staircase. This made for the perfect entrance for Grace, as she came down the stairs and turned to walk down the bottom of the aisle.

Grace and Henry had chosen to accessorise the room with loads of gorgeous flowers courtesy of the exceptionally talented Abi at Blooming Lupin. The colour palette was a mixture of pastels and brights, which gave a perfect wildflower-feel to the flowers. The aisle was lined with meadow like arrangements at the end of each row, and of course Grace and her maids carried bursting bouquets, and Henry and his groomsmen sported buttonholes.

My favourite floral arrangement, though, was the one at the top of the aisle, where Grace and Henry said their “I do”s. Abi had created an incredible design that framed the elegant oak door behind, using bright blooms and foliage that both contrasted and perfectly complemented the venue. Each pillar was topped with thin taper candles, and the asymmetry of the left hand side being taller than the right was a perfect touch that added even more intrigue and delight.

Elegant wedding breakfast

Flowers were also the main decor for the wedding breakfast, which took place in a glorious drawing room just off the ceremony space. Small arrangements of one or two stems lined the middle of the table, interspersed by pale pink taper candles, and accentuated by the elegant table numbers. At each place, Grace and Henry greeted their guests with a jar of Grandma Audrey’s homemade marmalade.

When all their guests had gathered, the newlyweds entered to a blaze of napkin-twirling and took their seats at the top table. The speeches took place in front of the fireplace, a setting made even more impressive by the oil painted portrait hanging in an ornate gold frame above it.

PDA zone couple’s portraits

As a wedding photographer who specialises in photographing relaxed, romantic wedding days, I adore the section of the day where I get to photograph portraits of the couple (though if we’re being honest, I adore the whole day). This doesn’t mean I’ll steal you away for hours at a time to shoot every inch of you – the point of your wedding day is to celebrate your marriage with your loved ones, which is hard to do if you don’t spend any time with them! – but that I’ll make the most out of 20ish minutes in between the dinner and the reception to photograph you both having the time of your life.

I think it’s fair to say that Henry was not looking forward to the portraits – but I’m happy to say he warmed up, trusted the process of me directing and just being totally into his new wife. They both mentioned in their review that they’re not mega into PDAs as a couple, but I really appreciate the faith they put in me to not create anything they’d be uncomfortable with. This resulted in some gorgeous portraits, making the most of the grounds in front of the house.

In fact, my aim as your wedding photographer (in addition to capturing pictures you’ll treasure forever, of course) is to help you feel as relaxed as possible throughout the planning process, so that you can actually (dare I say?) enjoy the wedding planning process. With that in mind, I’ve created some wedding planning guides that you can download for absolutely free here!

Looking for a Shropshire wedding photographer?

If you’re searching for a Davenport House wedding photographer who brings calm confidence, emotional storytelling, and a luxury-yet-relaxed vibe, I’d love to hear about your plans.

My approach is effortless, attentive and unobtrusive, with gentle direction when it helps, so you can be fully present while I capture how it felt.

Get in touch here.

Plus, as a wedding photographer, I do so much more than just turn up and photograph your wedding day. I am a self titled wedding planning geek and I’ve put together some handy wedding planning guides for you to download here.

Gushy Note

Here’s what lovely Grace and Henry had to say about working with me:

“We booked Laura to photograph our August wedding after a lovely relaxing chat over Zoom with her last year. From the moment we got in touch Laura was friendly, informative and also just as excited about our wedding as we were! Having seen Laura’s gallery we knew we were really in safe hands, and she absolutely delivered on the day. She made us both feel relaxed and as if we’d known her forever, and she captured the love and joy of our day (and we are not ones for PDA’s!) We absolutely would 100% recommend Laura May Photography for your wedding day!”

You can browse a selection of images from Grace and Henry’s Davenport House wedding here.