A Wilderness wedding in July, in a secret valley outside Canterbury — giant tipis pitched in a wildflower meadow on a two-hundred-acre eco-farm, with ancient woodland behind and a lake in front. Hayley and Charlie had two licensed ceremony areas to choose between, glamping for their guests, and a day that happened almost entirely outdoors.
I photographed the day documentary-style from start to finish. Nobody was arranged, nothing was repeated for the camera, and the only forty-five minutes of direction were the three short portrait slots. What follows is the day in the order it happened.
The morning: a farmhouse balcony, and a field waiting
There is no bridal suite down a corridor here. Getting ready happens in the buildings on the farm, with the meadow visible out of the window and the tipis already up in it — which does something to the morning that a hotel room cannot.
I arrive about three hours before the ceremony and take almost nothing for the first twenty minutes. That is deliberate — I am working out where the light is coming from, which window is worth waiting by, and where I can stand without becoming part of the morning. After that I stop being noticeable, and the room forgets I am there.
The ceremony at The Wilderness
The Wilderness has two licensed ceremony areas, both outdoors and both by the water. Guests walk out through long grass to reach them, and that walk is worth as many photographs as the ceremony itself.
I photograph reactions at least as much as I photograph the couple. The vows last about four minutes and there are usually twenty photographs worth having in them, of which three or four are of the two people getting married. The rest are mothers, best friends, and a small child who has entirely given up on the whole thing.
Confetti, and the one bit I do organise
The path back through the meadow gives you a natural confetti line, two rows in the grass rather than a ring at a door. It happens once, walked slowly, and the long grass does the rest.
Ushers hold everybody until the couple are properly into the gap, the walk is slow, nobody looks at me, and it happens once, properly. Then it is done and everyone goes back to a drink. It is the only moment of the day I take charge of, because confetti is over in eight seconds and it is very easy to waste.
Portraits, and the forty-five minutes I ask for
The directed part of a Wilderness wedding comes to about forty-five minutes, and it is always split into three fifteen-minute slots rather than one long block — straight after the ceremony, again before dinner is called, and once more late on when the light drops. Nobody wants to be taken away from their own party for an hour, and you do not photograph any better in the fiftieth minute than you do in the fifth.
The meadow and the edge of the wood are ten minutes each and completely different pictures. Late in the day, with the sun coming across the grass rather than down onto it, is when this venue is at its best.
Speeches, and the people listening
Speeches are the richest twenty minutes of a Wilderness wedding for a simple reason: nobody can leave and everybody is reacting. So I work the room rather than the top table. Half the frames I want are of the person listening, and specifically of the two or three who are trying not to cry and losing.
The evening, and why I do not leave at the first dance
A lot of photographers stop at the first dance. It is a tidy place to finish and it saves two hours, and it also removes the best hour of your own party from the story. The first dance is a formality; twenty minutes later the floor fills and the shoes come off, and that is the actual celebration.
Dinner is under canvas on long tables, and the tipis glow from the inside once it goes dark. I stayed until it was properly going, which is how I shoot every Wilderness wedding. There is no overrun charge for that, because I do not sell hours and nobody is counting them.
What Hayley and Charlie said afterwards
Matt was recommended to us by our videographer and having not had a meeting with a photographer before we were not sure what to expect but as soon as Matt arrived at our home he immediately made us feel at ease. He was easy to deal with leading up to the wedding and always very informative.
I always feel a bit awkward having photos taken so was worried about having photos taken all day at the wedding but I needn’t have worried as on the day itself Matt (and David from Rideout Films) made it fun. Matt gave brilliant direction and we basically had a laugh which is what you want. He’s the sort of guy you’d want as a friend 🙂 Matt has produced some amazing photos of our special day, he really knows his stuff and what works.
Thanks so much Matt for giving us photos for our wall that we will forever cherish.
Hayley and Charlie’s Wilderness wedding suppliers
Everybody who made the day what it was, in case you are booking your own. I am not paid to list any of them.
- Venue: Wilderness Weddings
- Dress: La Sposa Profeta
- Videographer: Rideout Films
- Seamstress: Alter and Drape
- Bridal embroidered jacket: The Embroidery Stall
- Bridesmaid dresses: ASOS
- Make-up: Chloe Grace Kennedy
- Hair: The B-Hive Hair and Beauty, and Victoria Waldock
- Flowers: C Taylor Floristry
- Food: Tayberry Foods
- Cake: Marks & Spencer
- Band: Jupiter Ray
- Fairground games: Tiggywinkle
- Transport: Quirky Wedding Cars
- Wooden signs: Woodprints By Jo
Planning your own Wilderness wedding?
If you are looking at The Wilderness, the venue’s own site is wildernessweddings.co.uk — they handle their own bookings and I am not on a commission arrangement with them, so nothing here is a recommendation I have been paid to make.
Everything I know about shooting a Wilderness wedding is written up in more detail on my The Wilderness wedding photographer page, including a suggested timeline and what I think the site does well. There is more of my work in the portfolio, an explanation of how I actually work on the day, and the price is one figure with everything in it.
Hayley and Charlie got a gallery of over eight hundred images, with more than a hundred previews in their inbox the morning after the wedding. If your date is free I would like to hear about it — send me your date and we will have a call.
The Wilderness wedding photographer FAQs
Where is The Wilderness?
A secret valley just outside Canterbury in east Kent — a two-hundred-acre eco-farm with wildflower meadows, ancient woodland, a private lake and three giant hat tipis.
What happens if it rains at The Wilderness?
The tipis are the plan, not the backup — they are up either way. Wet weather here photographs better than at most venues, because everybody is already outdoors and nobody is pretending otherwise.
How much does a The Wilderness wedding photographer cost?
£2,500, all in. Unlimited hours, over eight hundred edited images, previews the next morning, travel included and drone where the rules allow it. There are no packages and no hourly rate to run over.
How long do you need for group photographs?
It depends how many you want. I advise eight to ten groups, which takes fifteen to twenty minutes with a list agreed in advance — then everybody goes back to their drink.
Do you travel to Kent?
Yes, and travel is included in the price. There is no mileage charge and no overnight fee if I come the night before, which I often do.
