The Cider Barn, Dillington Estate Wedding Photographer
Natural, documentary wedding photography by Patrick Newnham
The Cider Barn is an old stone and thatched agricultural barn up a bumpy track through the woods of the Dillington Estate, a family-owned working farm just outside Ilminster in South Somerset. Once you’re there you’re lost to the world, apart from the view across the rolling countryside: the barn, a walled garden, a courtyard, space for a marquee and an outdoor bar, and the estate’s renovated cottages within two miles for the weekend. It’s a weekend dry-hire venue, so the catering, the bar and the wine are all yours to choose, with no corkage. I photographed a June wedding here this year, and it’s as pretty a barn as there is in Somerset.
Thatch and stone photograph beautifully in any light, and the Cider Barn has the extra gift of its setting: the track through the trees, the fields beyond the garden wall and the long view for the end of the day. Ceremonies happen in the barn or the garden, the drinks are in the courtyard, and the evening is wherever the music is. It seats a hundred and twenty for a formal meal and more if you use the covered lean-to, and it suits couples who want to make the place their own for a few days.
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 the Cider Barn
Size. Up to a hundred and twenty seated, exclusive use for the weekend. Light. The barn is in a clearing, so the sun reaches it later in the morning and leaves earlier in the evening than on open ground; the fields beyond the garden hold it longest, and that’s where the portraits go. The track. Bumpy, as the estate says; vintage cars and high heels need a plan. Travel. Just over an hour from me and inside Somerset; see the Yeovil 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.
