Wedding venues like The Matara Centre are few and far between.  What struck me most on my first visit to Matara was the serenity of the place.  The calming atmosphere is almost tangible and has an instant effect on you.  I’d seen their website and I’m ashamed to say in my mind I’d quickly written it off as a ‘hippy place’ full of budda statues and wind chimes… not really my sort of thing.  How wrong I was.  The experience I can most closely align it to is a visit to a high class spa where you arrive feeling wound up and fraught but as soon as you enter the building your shoulders relax and your stresses slip away out of mind.  You add to that feeling at Matara with a walk in the sunshine through amazing gardens, each one so very well thought out out and created to be relaxing spaces with lots of beauty.  I felt straight at home, incredibly relaxed and really not keen to ever leave this zen paradise.  If Matara isn’t on your venue shortlist then don’t write it off at first glance like I did – go and visit it and feel the profound effect it will have on you.  Looking at the place  in terms of weddings they can offer a huge manicured lawn area, sculpture trails, woodland areas, two stone circles, formal gardens, beautifully tranquil ponds, a honeymoon lodge, a huge regency house with elegant rich décor, the centre itself which has a lovely large room with a huge glass domed ceiling and a beautiful Japanese courtyard garden which can accommodate guests for an outdoor wedding…. there’s overnight accommodation for your guests too.  Do you need another reason to get married here?  Ok, how about the fact it’s all been built and run in wonderfully eco-friendly way?

You can see a wedding I’ve shot at this venue here.

I offer modern and creative wedding photography at amazing venues such as this one covering Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Somerset.  To see more of my work you can visit my blog or view my Wedding Portfolio.