This week we have a guest blog from a Stoke-on-Trent based personality-full wedding photographer, Adam Lowndes - Photography. He approached us and offered to write a blog all about why he loves working at Alcumlow and how every time he returns he can’t help but smile like a Cheshire Cat.
Enjoy and over to Adam.
Why I Love To Photograph at Alcumlow Wedding Barn
To use the word LOVE when referring to a wedding venue could probably have me end up in hot water with all my other couples as don’t I love all venues equally? I definitely have a love of wedding venues in general but when it comes to loving one the most, Alcumlow Wedding Barn scoops the prize for me at the moment.
I photographed my first wedding at Alcumlow in 2019. Until then the venue had remained a slight mystery to me. I’d not seen much from it nor had I seen much online. So when I eventually arrived at Becca & Rob’s wedding day on a blazin’ hot early September weekend I was surprised with what lay before me. A "Ready To Go" super well-cultivated wedding venue which took the bold move to style themselves proudly to appeal to one type of couple.
What Makes Me Love a Wedding Venue?
As a photographer, my needs are obviously a little different than my couples. Where they see something I see something completely different. I’ve tried to break my mind up into three sections on what I love so much about photographing weddings at Alcumlow.
A Wedding And Its Photographs Are Nothing Without Atmosphere
I love my photographs from your wedding day to reflect a really great atmosphere of what it was like to be there so you can imagine there is nothing I love more than to shoot in a venue which harness’ the atmosphere so greatly.
As I’ve said, Alcumlow is a venue which is “Ready To Go”. There is barely anything you’ll need to do to it. So when it comes to your wedding day you’ll only need to add small touches to really pull it in line with your style. But, if you don’t touch it at all then it’s still going to look full and atmospheric in the back of every one of my photographs. The existing stylings are subtle enough to also not be overpowering and provide a great baseline for venue decoration. Compare this to a completely blank canvas wedding venue where you may have to do so much more to pull it in line with your style, Alcumlow definitely has the edge.
I repeat time and time again to my couples “match your venue size to your guest list size”. This is a really great way to ensure your wedding stays full of atmosphere all day. Have a too big venue or too many rooms then you may end up with 10 people in this room, 15 people in that room and the rest randomly scattered throughout making your what seemed like a large guest list vastly diminishing and lacking in atmosphere. My average wedding guest list is usually between 60-80 day guests and up to 120 evening guests which Alcumlow’s size is perfectly suited for.
Great Space To Create Those Incredible Photographs
As a photographer, I’m always looking to create within the confinements which I’m given. I personally much prefer to create with a little rather than a lot. I often find myself at weddings with the paradox of choice where there is just so many options we couldn’t possibly make it around all of them within the short time of a wedding day and if we did would they be rushed? This is why I prefer to create within confinements and really focus on my couples and the moment we’re within.
Alcumlow has a really varied interior, exterior and landscape. The space is stretched out over is minimal but plentiful for a wedding day. I don’t want to take my couples miles away to create their portraits, I’d rather do it on the doorstep of their venue so as we can get them back to the party as soon as possible.
These spaces include the barn interior, the exterior, the White House, the gates, the Spanish courtyard, the farm courtyard and the fields along the driveway as you enter. A really great palette to explode with my imagination and paint the canvas of your creative wedding day portraits. I love all of these locations as they’re all so varied in terms of the backdrop and really bring a contrast to the final photographs I produce when at Alcumlow.
Wedding Day Team
Your wedding day suppliers are an elite team of people you’ve decided you’re going to entrust to work together on your big day. So if their thoughts and ideas don’t marry up then there could be a disruption to your day. This is why I always tell my couples to choose suppliers who they like the demeanour and personality of. We often get too bogged down in price and for me, this should not be the defining factor. If you choose with your heart then your team will be stellar!
I really clicked with the team at Alcumlow Wedding Barn from my first wedding back in 2019. We all believe in one thing, we’re there for our couples first and foremost. We all want them to have the most incredible day and we know we’ll only do this by supporting their dreams throughout planning, wedding day and post day moments. It’s called a wedding day but I prefer the wedding journey as I, like Alcumlow see the whole process as just as important as the day itself as without one being awesome you can’t have the whole experience being awesome.
So with myself and the Alcumlow team working off of the same beat then every time I return it’s a fantastic working relationship where we can speak honestly and candidly about the day and how we’re going to work together to deliver it for you. Then, as a result, your photographs get an extra boost from this great working relationship.
So I hope this helps to describe why I love working at this superb wedding venue and how every time I return I’m just smiling from ear to ear before I even click the shutter. Adam.
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View more photographs from Adam’s first wedding photographed at Alcumlow right here.
Or check out his awesome work over on his Instagram.