Sophie & Justin - A Homegrown Family-Filled Hereford Wedding - Herefordshire Wedding Photography
“I’ll miss you, kiss you, give you my coat when you are cold.
Need you, feed you, and even let you hold the remote control.
So let me do the dishes in our kitchen sink
Put you to bed when you’ve had too much to drink.
Oh I could be the man who grows old with you.”
One of the most wonderful things about our big beautiful patchwork family is that everyone is fairly spread out and chooses to settle in interesting, scenic, vibrant communities. From my family spread across the US - Vermont and New Hampshire and Maine and Colorado and California and Florida - to Spain and Germany and all across the UK. We find home in the place but also in the people and dig deeply to create a spacce that is uniquely ours. Our family is a tapestry containing a multitude of interconnectivity and diversity of interests and opinions but all strengthened by a clear and strong thread of love. Through marriage AND divorce, remarriage and family blending, I couldn’t begin to draw you a family tree but what is true, above all is that our family is OURS and I wouldn’t have it any other way. There has been complication along the way, as with all families but what a gift it is that it has all lead to us knowing and loving and celebrating in each other’s joys.
Lovely Sophie is my husband’s step-sister for all intents and purposes (though it feels odd to say when the parents married later in life), the daughter of my father-in-law’s wife. I met Sophie not long after Michael and I got together when she was just a teenager at University. Her gentle soul, love and guardianship of our natural world makes her a quiet force for good in this world and we connected easily. She introduced the extended family to Justin at her mum’s wedding to my father-in-law and it was truly a baptism of fire involving karaoke and far too much tequila. But Justin was game and easily welcomed into the fold after keeping up with us all and we’ve adored him ever since and loved watching from afar as they’ve settled into a gorgeous life in the countryside of Hereford. With the arrival of their extraordinary daughter Eva Wren nearly 2 years ago this amazing family has overcome so many unnecessary and unexpected challenges - so after a few rescheduled dates and far too much stress, it was with a MASSIVE exhalation of relief and euphoria that we FINALLY celebrated their marriage on Saturday at the historic Kilpeck Church in Hereford.
And WHAT A WEDDING. I was so honoured to have been asked along to capture their incredible wedding day, a truly DIY labour of love surrounded by their nearest and dearest friends. Following on from the emotional blessing (after having done the legal bit in peak Covid last year) the happy family was showered with confetti before we kicked off our shoes and trudged up the hill to the ancient Kilpack Castle ruins with breathtaking views of the valley below. I was so struck by how at ease Sophie & Justin are in each other’s presence - their hearts virtually beat in unison as the make their way through this world and it’s been such a wonderful privilege to witness. From ceremony to celebration we headed off to a floral bedecked reception at the nearby Hereford Steiner Academy, feasted on afternoon tea, heard some very sweet speeches and danced the night away.
What a joy it is to be a member of this family, to visit these beautiful spaces and hold these wonderful humans tightly. I loved Sophie & Justin’s wedding so so much, here’s a sneak peek of what we got up to…
