When planning your wedding, I think it’s important that you stay true to who you are. Not to stay safe amongst the status quo or copy the theme of the last wedding you went to. It needs to reflect who you both are so that when your guests look back at your day, it brings a smile and makes sense to them.
I knew from the first time I met Gemma at the Surrey National Wedding Fair that I wanted to be her wedding photographer. She exuded a calmness and the type of laissez faire attitude about her and Sam’s day that I loved and admired. Sam wasn’t at the fair that day but I soon met up with them both at their home to discuss their day and Sam had the same chilled temperament. They were very close, with the same sense of humour, a cool excitement at marrying the other and a laid-back inevitability to their day – they loved each other, they were getting married, they hadn’t planned much of it yet, but hey, “it’ll be fine“.
I loved them.
I photographed Gemma and her bridesmaids getting ready at the beautifully serene cottages of Frasers at Coldharbour Farm in Egerton. Despite it being the morning of her wedding, Gemma seemed just as relaxed as the day we met at the wedding fair. It was all good. The gentle flowers adorning Gemma’s bespoke dress made it simple and beautiful and her shoes of choice were flip-flops. An elegant young woman who just knew she had to be comfy. It seemed just right.
Sam was getting ready with his brother in another cottage just around the corner, so I was able to scoot across the pond to capture some of him getting ready as well. Again, no nerves from Sam. Just a cool and content guy having a laugh with his brother while getting ready to have the day of his life.
Their ceremony and reception were both held at the lovely Secret Garden in Ashford, Kent. With its beautiful Walled Gardens and intimate Coach House the setting was perfect for Gemma & Sam to make it official amongst their friends and families. They had hoped to be married outside within the walled gardens but the weather wasn’t looking too friendly so the cosy Chapel came to the rescue.
And like the two of them, their day was happy and relaxed. No room for stress or high drama. After a gorgeous luxury picnic meal at their Father Ted themed tables, they frolicked on the bouncy castle and danced the night away to their amazing band with their fabulous family and friends. Two of the loveliest and most content humans I have had the pleasure of photographing.
At the end of the night, after I had shot their sparkler exit and received warm hugs from the families, my initial meeting with them came to mind. The words that had kept coming to the fore when I had asked questions about how much progress they had made in their wedding plans. “It’ll be fine“, they had told me. And it was.
No, it was perfect.
