a WINCHESTER college Wedding picture Story

Not too many weddings take place in the hallowed surroundings of Winchester College Chapel or indeed receptions get to be held within the college grounds. Chris and Tracey had the rights by way of Chris’s dad being the resident master carpenter there. Some of his work was pointed out to me including a huge and astounding ornate dark wood staircase. My day with them began with brief visits as they got ready. First to the boys amidst glorious and dare I say slightly hungover chaos at an Usher’s house in town. I then caught a few moments with Tracey who had cleverly stayed in splendid rooms in medieval Kingsgate Street only a short stroll from the college. The fun really got under way as Chris met many of their guests for pre wedding drinks, just across the road from Tracey, at The Wykeham Arms, and also caught a private moment to add a touch or two to his speech. Everyone then walked in the sun along College Street, into the school grounds and on to the chapel. If Winchester didn’t have a cathedral, the scale of the school chapel might be more recognised. of course it’s also a private space within school so not experienced by everyone. It’s a thrilling and enormous space providing beautiful stone and wood panelled gently light backgrounds. It was a pleasure to photograph there.
After a touching ceremony rounded off with some of the loudest applause I’ve ever experienced guests spilled into the main college courtyard and eventually on through the grounds for drinks and nibbles under cloisters and along a tree lined terrace. It was my first time within the school grounds but as a documentary photographer I’m used to meeting new situations and moving around, quietly making pictures, finding ‘moments’ and following the action as it unfolds around me. I was as charmed as everyone else to then find myself wandering across the playing fields to the reception venue, a black and white timbered cricket pavilion with a long balcony overlooking the nearby water meadows and with views across the cricket square to the Cathedral. In packing their guests onto benches in the small pavilion for food and speeches Chris and Tracey created a wonderful informality within the grandeur of the college. And I’ve rarely seen a bride laugh so much during speeches. You might have thought the small space made it harder for me to make informal pictures. I like to stand back, move around and not disturb all the scenes around me. But despite being shoulder to shoulder, and at times almost on peoples laps, it was all so much fun that I was accepted as part of the wedding theatre that together everyone had created.
At the time, Chris worked on TV as part of the crew presenting a well known Saturday morning football show. His fellow presenters had put together a ‘best bits’ reel including repeat scenes of Chris in a chicken costume. You don’t get that level of entertainment at every wedding? From up on the balconyI spotted a group of guests taking a break from the wedding in the garden of the pub just over the fence outside school grounds, and we toasted each other as the sun began to dip down. I stayed for some dancing, which was as unpretentious, charming and laid back as the rest of the day.