Alice & Kyle | A Mount Without Wedding
The Mount Without · Bristol
The Mount Without · Bristol · Real Wedding
A wedding full of laughter in one of the most breathtaking buildings in Bristol, finished off with a party in the crypt that nobody wanted to leave.
The Morning
When I first met Alice and Kyle I could feel straight away how much they liked each other, and how little either of them was going to take the day too seriously. That is usually a very good sign. Their morning was exactly that: relaxed, funny, and completely unbothered by any sort of schedule. Nobody was watching the clock, which meant everybody was actually enjoying themselves.
The Ceremony
The Mount Without is not an ordinary wedding venue. A former medieval church with raw stone, peeling plaster and an enormous painted ceiling, it is one of the most striking buildings I have photographed in anywhere, let alone in Bristol. Alice and Kyle’s ceremony in the main hall made full use of it.
What I noticed most was how little the room needed. The building does the work, and it leaves you free to concentrate on the people. I have written more about shooting here as a Mount Without wedding photographer if you are planning your own day.
Up the Bell Tower
Then one of my favourite half hours of the entire year. We climbed the bell tower with a bottle of fizz, just the three of us, and stood up there looking out across Bristol while the reception carried on somewhere underneath us.
It is a proper climb and it is worth every single step. There is something about being suddenly high above a city with the sound of your own wedding faintly below. Alice and Kyle stood up there grinning, slightly out of breath, passing the bottle between them. No posing, no direction from me, nothing to do but take it in for a few minutes. Those are some of my favourite frames from any wedding I have photographed here.
Speeches & Cake
The speeches were genuinely hilarious, and as ever the best of it was not the person holding the microphone but the faces in the room. I spend most of the speeches with my back to the speaker for exactly that reason. The reactions here were something else. Heads thrown back, hands clapped over mouths, one or two people who had to look hard at the ceiling for a moment to compose themselves.
Then the cake cutting, which the pair of them threw themselves into with the same energy as everything else. Some couples treat it as a bit of admin to get through before the dancing. Alice and Kyle turned it into one of the best moments of the evening.
Thinking about The Mount Without for your own wedding? I have written a full guide to photographing here, covering the light through the day, the nave, the bell tower and the crypt, and how much time to allow.
Read the venue guideThe Crypt
The crypt at The Mount Without is a stroke of genius. Low vaulted stone, warm light, and an atmosphere that turns a room full of people into a proper party within about four minutes.
This is where the night truly got going. Ultimate shapes were thrown, and I mean that entirely sincerely, on a dance floor that filled early and then flatly refused to empty. The vibes across the whole day were brilliant, the sort where you can feel that everyone in the room genuinely wants to be there, and by the time the crypt was in full swing it had tipped over into something properly joyful. I have rarely seen a dance floor go quite so hard for quite so long.
Alice and Kyle, thank you for a day that was every bit as fun to photograph as it looked. Here is to the pair of you.
Oliver, we are in love with your photos. We have just got the iPad working in a rooftop bar in the jungle, having a martini. Thank you so much, and for being just fabulous on the day.— Alice & Kyle
Venue: The Mount Without, Bristol
Photography: Oliver Holder