Froginwell Vineyard Wedding Photographer
Natural, documentary wedding photography by Patrick Newnham
Froginwell Vineyard is a family-run vineyard, orchard and cider barn on the Sidmouth road at Woodbury Salterton, ten minutes east of Exeter and twenty acres of East Devon countryside from anywhere else. The barn is the old farm building with an oak-framed extension on the front, south-facing arched windows and skylights that fill it with daylight, and the vines and the apple trees run away from the door. I photographed Becky and Alex’s wedding here in April, with spring well under way and the whole place looking like it had been set up for the day.
It’s a venue that photographs well because it isn’t trying too hard. The vines give you lines to work with, the orchard gives you shade and dappled light, the barn is honest wood and stone, and the family who run it are the people who greet you at the door. Ceremonies happen in the barn or outside among the vines, the drinks reception spills onto the grass, and the evening is in the barn with the doors open. It suits couples who want a relaxed, rural wedding with good food and wine and nothing fussy.
How I photograph a wedding
Documentary first. I don’t run the day or stage it; I pay attention to it, and I keep the formal part to ten minutes of group photographs and twenty minutes of portraits in the best light we can find. Natural light, no flash during ceremonies, and editing that will still look right in twenty years. I take a limited number of weddings a year, which is partly how I get to give each one my full attention.
Good to know about Froginwell
Size. Up to a hundred and twenty for the meal and more in the evening. Light. The barn’s big windows face south, so the ceremony room is bright all day; the vines face the afternoon sun and are the place for portraits from four o’clock on in summer. Getting ready. There are six bedrooms on site, so the morning can happen in the same place as the rest of the day. Travel. Just over an hour from me; see the Exeter page.
Taking a limited number of weddings for 2027 and 2028
If my way of working sounds like your kind of thing, I’d love to hear about your plans. Drop me a line with your date and venue and I’ll tell you straight away whether I’m free.
