St Mary Redcliffe + Paintworks wedding photography

Bristol wedding with 2 venues

I’ve often driven or walked past St Mary Redcliffe Church and thought, “I’d love to photograph a wedding in there one day.” So finally getting the opportunity was pretty amazing.

This wedding was a brilliant combination of historic Bristol and modern Bristol, with the ceremony taking place at one of the city’s most iconic churches before the celebrations moved across to the super-trendy Paintworks.

A Wedding at St Mary Redcliffe Church

If you’re not familiar with St Mary Redcliffe Church, it’s an incredible piece of Bristol architecture with one of the most impressive church interiors you’ll ever see. The sheer scale and detail of the building made it an incredible place to photograph, and I was pretty excited to finally have a camera in there!

The weather wasn’t entirely on our side, so there was a bit of rain dodging throughout the day. But that’s all part of the fun of photographing weddings in Britain, and we still managed to make the most of the conditions.

From Historic Church to Urban Paintworks

After the ceremony, the celebrations moved to Paintworks, which was a particularly nice place for me to return to. I used to run a photographic studio there, so I know the space pretty well. It was brilliant to come back, this time as a Paintworks wedding photographer, and see it transformed for a wedding.

The contrast between the two venues couldn’t have been greater. St Mary Redcliffe is grand, historic and incredibly traditional, while Paintworks is vibrant, urban and packed with industrial character. Somehow, though, the two worked together brilliantly.

It created a really interesting visual story for the day, moving from one of Bristol’s most iconic historic buildings to one of its coolest contemporary spaces.

Sunset Wedding Photography at Paintworks

After the speeches, the dark clouds finally cleared and, thankfully, the sun came out at exactly the right time. We headed outside for some relaxed sunset couple portraits, making the most of the beautiful evening light and Paintworks’ distinctive surroundings.

With rustic brickwork, colourful panels and plenty of interesting textures throughout the site, I definitely wasn’t short of amazing backdrops. I always want couple portraits to feel relaxed rather than overly posed, so we took a little time to wander around, enjoy the evening and capture some photographs before getting back to the party.

This wedding was a fantastic example of why I love Paintworks wedding photography. You’ve got the history and grandeur of Bristol on one side, the urban energy of Paintworks on the other, and a whole load of genuine moments connecting the two. A brilliant combination of traditional and contemporary Bristol, with some seriously good sunset light thrown in for good measure.

“The quality and quantity of photos we received have really blown us away, and he perfectly captured the various stages of our wedding across a traditional church and modern venue, really showing an impressive breadth of skills.”

“We were both very keen to not have our photographs feel forced or super choreographed, our wedding was meant to be a laidback celebration with our friends and family, and we wanted our photographs to reflect that. Simon was the perfect choice for this! He was professional and thorough, easy to work with and definitely helped put us at ease.

The engagement shoot was something that we initially dreaded, but ended up being a fantastic way for us to become more comfortable with the situation as a whole. Given one of our guests has already asked for Simon’s contact details and booked him for one of their events, I think it’s safe to say we weren’t the only ones who were impressed!”

Jess + George

If you’re planning a wedding at Paintworks and are looking for relaxed, natural and documentary-style Paintworks wedding photography, I’d love to hear about your plans.

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