I like to think of myself as an entertainment led wedding planner. That is to say, a planner that focusses on the music, entertainment and guest experience as a whole whilst also taking care of every other aspect of the wedding. This is why I decided to create a shoot that focussed on music, movement and emotion.

If you would like to learn more about my services as an entertainment led wedding planner, feel free to contact me here or book a consultation directly through Calendly.

The two senses that most invoke a nostalgic response in our brains are sounds and smells. I can do a lot with different scents on a wedding day but not at a shoot so I decided to focus on the music. Please read on to find out more about this intimate cotswold wedding shoot.

What inspired the shoot?

I decided to do this shoot after a wedding planner zoom meeting that I attended which was run by Louise Perry. One of the things she said which really resonated with me was that she wants to work with couples that are more interested in music and entertainment over the flowers and decor because she was a musician before she became a wedding planner. I think this spoke to me because most of the planners who I look up to in the industry are very much styling led with their planning and, whilst that is important to me, I always wanted my main focus to be on the entertainment and guest experience. 

With this in mind, I decided to plan a shoot that focussed on the musical elements of a wedding day rather than the styling with more of an emphasis on the videography than the photography. I had a model couple doing a choreographed first dance with a pianist/singer singing along to a song she had pre-recorded at home. I also had a choreographer to lead the dancing part of the shoot which allowed me to focus on managing the whole shoot. I was working with suppliers who are very good at what they do and so they were able to use their own artistic license. 

What was the original brief and how did that change?

Here is the original brief:

“I’m planning a shoot that reflects modern wedding trends but looking at them from a musical perspective. Rather than a traditional shoot being focussed on how everything looks, I’m more interested in how everything sounds. I’m working with musicians who are able to do a good quality home recording which we can then use as the soundtrack to the videos that we create on the day. It’s an opportunity for the musicians to have a professional sounding recording overlayed with a professional looking video. I want to have the musicians perform/mime their recordings whilst the couple do a first dance in a very intimate setting at the Old Bell Hotel. I have enlisted the help of a first dance choreographer to provide basic choreography to ensure that the first dances flow nicely and don’t feel stilted. The musicians will include a pianist/singer, a harpist, and a sax & guitar duo. I would like the vibe to be modern, elegant, romantic.“

On the shoot day, we ended up having only one musician, Bethan Wyn Music, who is a pianist/guitarist/singer. I’m glad that we only had one musician in the end as I had originally planned to have three different ensembles but in hindsight I don’t think there would have been enough variety in the choreography for that to be worthwhile. I specifically chose Bethan because she does really good stripped back versions of 90s dance songs and one of my favourite songs is Pretty Green Eyes by Ultrabeat. I knew that she would do a great version of this song but the final recording she sent me absolutely exceeded my wildest expectations.

How did The Old Bell Hotel create the feeling of an intimate Cotswold Wedding?

I met Kate who is the events manger at the Old Bell Hotel earlier this year at a wedding fair and she invited me to come and have a look around. The hotel is the oldest in England, dating back to the 12th century and it has a great mix of historic features and modern quirks. The hotel has had a lot of money invested into it over the last few years and it really shows. As a planner, it’s rare that I go to a hotel venue that would function just as well as a wedding venue as it does as a hotel and that doesn’t have any distasteful decor. There is nothing tacky or dated about The Old Bell; everything is deliberate and high quality. 

The venue was very suited to the modern editorial style of Pippa Volans Photography who captured the couple in various settings throughout The Old Bell Hotel, the grounds of the abbey next door and various locations throughout Malmesbury.

How did we make the most of the stunning cotswold location?

We were very lucky with the weather considering it was the 4th of November and we spent around an hour of the day shooting around Malmesbury which provided some stunning backdrops and the rest of the shoot was spent inside the hotel and grounds.

The main part of the shoot that the whole day revolved around was the first dance in the library. I chose the library for the first dance because I wanted an cozy space with not too much natural lighting that fit in with the intimate cotswold wedding theme and would allow the Becky Wood to create a moody atmosphere for the finished video.

We also had a couple of other spaces within the hotel to shoot, with the main one being The Belvedere which sits to the rear of the hotel. This is one of the main reasons that I wanted to shoot here in the first place. I felt that it would be the perfect place for a super intimate cake cutting with a vintage style cake with piped icing, topping with fresh raspberries. None of the cake makers that I asked were available for the shoot and, being an avid baker myself, I decided to give it a go myself. The cake was by no means perfect but pretty good for a second attempt (I did a practice cake the week before). However, the fresh raspberries contrasted with the piped mascarpone icing provide the colourful contrast that I was looking for.

It was a beautiful shoot with lots of amazing suppliers who I have credited below. It definitely didn’t all go to plan and at around midday we realised that the dresses I had brought were way too big for the model and so Pippa and Becky took the initiative to look around the charity shops in Malmesbury to see if there was anything that could work for the shoot. And this is where this dress came from which cost £6.00 but looks super vintage and worked beautifully with the aesthetic of the shoot and so a big thank you goes to Mercy in Action Charity Shop.

Overall I think we achieved what I had set out to do which was to feature music and movement in the setting of an intimate cotswold wedding. It has inspired me to do something similar in the future but thinking really carefully about the dress and how it will move on camera.

All photos were taken by Pippa Volans Photography
Planning/Concept Oliver Stanton Weddings & Events
Venue The Old Bell Hotel
Videography Becky Wood Weddings
Content Creation Get Garciad
Hair & Makeup Amelia Carmela
Piano & Vocals Bethan Wyn Music
Choreography Zahabiya Adamaly
Bouquet Persephone Violet
Suit Tuxedo Junction
Models Allie & Max