Thorpeness and Aldeburgh on the Suffolk coast are really special places with a host of history. Thorpeness itself is quite literally a fairytale holiday village created from scratch by railway engineer and visionary Alexander Ogilvie, it was the birth place of Pete Pan and has a stunning beach with coastal cottages and mock Tudor/Jacobean houses. Stephanie & Matt also had lots of history and connections to the area too which is why they decided to tie the knot here for their beautiful wedding. So without further delay lets hit play on Race Wedding Videography’s latest Suffolk Wedding Film….

Thorpeness Suffolk - a place full of a fascinating history for Stephanie & Matt’s Wedding Videography

Described as ‘Neverland’, Thorpeness is a true fairy tale holiday village and was created quite literally by one mans vision. When I speak to many of my friends and I mention Thorpeness they look at me blankly. It seems Aldeburgh, its sister town is the better known and even to this day Thorpeness is one of those best-kept Suffolk secrets! I implore you to take a visit there when you can. Hopefully, after watching Stephanie and Matt’s wedding video you will see why they and so many people find this little Suffolk coastal town so delightful and unique.

So some history? The story of Thorpeness goes back to 1859 when a Scottish railway engineer - Alexander Ogilvie purchased Sizewell House as a holiday home on the coast of Suffolk. Over four decades Ogilvie extended his holiday home to include a huge amount of land on the Suffolk coast, stretching from Thorpe to Dunwich and inland as well. Ogilvie's estates covered some 6000 acres by the time he died in 1908.

In 1910 severe storms flooded the area around the mansion at Thorpe village, now called Sizewell Hall. After the flooding he had an idea to keep it and then blocked in the river permanently which in turn created a holiday village around it. He changed the name of the village from Thorpe to Thorpeness to differentiate it from other villages in East Anglia by the same name and created a fantasy holiday village for the upper middle classes. The lake was also only 3 feet deep, making it safe for children to be able to learn sailing and rowing etc.

Thorpeness was a place for people to live in harmony with nature, to grow and learn in a healthy natural environment. In order to make his holiday village successful, Ogilvie needed rail access. In 1914 Thorpeness Halt was opened on a branch line from Saxmundham. The 'station' was created using disused Great Eastern Railway coaches. The station was later closed in 1966. The Peter Pan theme of the village was more than just a marketing concept. The creator of the Peter Pan KM Barrie, was a close friend of the Ogilvies and visited the area on numerous occasions.

Shooting wedding videography in nearby Aldeburgh Suffolk

Thorpeness is just north of its more well known ‘sister’ town Aldeburgh, yes, yes the place with the shell thing? You’ve got it! When speaking with Stephanie & Matt I found out the area had lots of links to them and Stephanie family and childhood, with her parents living there several years ago, they also had many family holidays there too so had a special place in their hearts and it was important I included this in the wedding video too.

I captured lots of great drone wedding video shots of Aldeburgh and Thorpeness for Stephanie and Matts wedding film for some great B roll and we also made a point to take Stephanie and Matt on the beach and even though it was incredibly windy which actually only ended up adding to the beauty of the final wedding film, (but I will let you into a secret, it was cold, but they do say pain is beauty right?)

While we are also on some history lessons, Aldeburgh’s prominence began in the early 19th century when it started to become a great haunt and holiday destination for the wealthy. Also going back even further and still standing now is a Martello tower which was erected due to Napoleons threatened invasion! Many of the buildings along the coast in Aldeburgh have Dutch gables and with traditional seaside colourings.

Aldeburgh also has a lot of artists connections to it as well. Benjamin Britten and his partner Peter Pears lived in Aldeburgh from 1942 until their deaths. They founded the Aldeburgh Festival which still is in existence to this day and is famous around the world! Britten and Pears were famous for educating and supporting young artists.

So in summary if you are getting married in Suffolk and love this stretch of coastline, it really is a special place to get married and Thorpeness Country Club is definitely worth a look! Having recently moved nearby to Aldeburgh I can also help answer all of your wedding videography questions if you are thinking about a wedding videographer for your Suffolk Wedding with a FREE Wedding Videography Q&A at Honey + Harvey in Woodbridge! More info here