Xanthe+Ben // Grittenham Barn Wedding photographer

Grittenham barn wedding photographer

Xanthe and Ben got married at the gorgeous Grittenham Barn in West Sussex. This wedding was particularly special for me because as well as taking some photographs I was also the Maid of Honour for the lovely Xanthe.

Having photographed a fair few weddings now, I’m used to rocking up when it’s all been planned and perfected. Xanthe and Ben’s day gave me a behind the scene glimpse into the immense amount of time and effort that goes into planing a big day.

I really love all the little details that help me get to know a couple. They went to markets on weekends sourcing old cassettes and vinyl for the invites. Spent their spare time making homemade limoncello for the favours. On the morning before the wedding they went to the flower market in Vauxhall to personally pick the flowers themselves. Giving Xanthe’s grandma the task of designing the beautiful table arrangements, and lovely bouquets. And one of the bridesmaids, who works in costume design, made all the bridesmaid dresses! Each a different size and style but linked by the same lovely fabric. Impressive!

The invites were an amazing project all of their own.  With an overriding festival theme we were asked to “Save The Date” with a random cassette, covered in a sleeve designed by the couple themselves. The invite to the wedding with a random vinyl with a festival ticket to ‘Weddingbury’, accompanied with a lanyard of information. Then the wedding favours on the day were a CD with a track list of music to remember the day. They used a vinyl, a cassette and a CD to celebrate the history of music being stored and played. We also got a cool Weddingbury wristband on the day itself.

On the day before the wedding we got to the venue about 10 in the morning and I don’t think we stopped until about 9 that evening. Grittenham Barn is a beautiful space, with wooden beams and open brick walls. The Barn is surrounded by beautiful grounds, with lovely pigs and donkeys. Shared with a gorgeous farmhouse with walls covered in beautiful roses. There’s a big fire pit in front of the barn to warm up in the evening and some lovely green spaces to enjoy too.

The groom Ben is a diehard Newcastle fan so all the table names were shearer (newcastle legend) related for example ‘Alan Shearer’s burgeoning bald patch’. One of the funniest moments of the day was when he tweeted a picture of it and got re-tweeted by Alan Shearer himself.

Xanthe organised a dessert bake off between the guests, which resulted in an overflowing table of delicious treats! They sourced some local beer and cider and a horse-box photobooth. And Invited a local band, The Blue Jeans, headed by Anna Sinfield, to come along, and provide the evenings entertainment. They were a little rockabilly band who did some awesome covers.

Top notch day guys!