Thank you so so much! We absolutely love the photos!! You were amazing in our wedding day, thank you again.
Summer weddings are always a joy to capture. Especially when the sun is shining and everyone is having fun. That’s a fitting description for this wedding I covered in June.
As usual, my photographic day started with Elizabeth’s preparations in the morning, which had a few surprises for her. Russell hadn’t yet told Elizabeth where they were going for their honeymoon, so he arranged a few surprise gifts to arrive where she was getting ready, giving her various clues where they we’re going. Elizabeth also had a surprise of her own for Russell at the church! You’ll have to read their story later to know what exactly happened and where they went for their honeymoon!
As Russell was getting ready near by, I’d also planned to drop by for a few lads shots in the morning. It’s always good to compare how each “camp” gets ready. Then I always get asked questions like “How’s so-and-so? Are they nervous?” etc. It’s nice to provide a bit of reassurance that all’s going well at both ends. It always settles pre-wedding nerves.
Here are a few of my favourite images from their summer wedding.
Their Summer Wedding Story in Their Words
BEFORE OUR WEDDING
How You Met: We met on Match.com
How He Proposed: Surprise weekend away to Paris – Saturday 10th October 2015 on the Roof top of the Raphael Hotel, with a view of the Eiffel Tower on one side and the Arc de Triomphe on the other. Russell proposed on one knee with a beautiful, sparkling ring. Literally made me the happiest girl ever!
OUR WEDDING DAY
The Bride Wore: White Mori Lee Wedding Dress. Shoes – white Rainbow shoes.
The Groom Wore: Grey tails suit from Heaphys in Redditch.
Jewellery/Accessories: Swarovski crystal matching necklace and bracelet. Hair piece from Debenhams.
Hair/Make-up Done: Make up from Estee Lauder and Bobby Brown – I did my own make up on my wedding day. Hair – half up and half down, natural curls with a crystal clip from Debenhams.
Flowers: Gypsophila, white roses, pink peonies and foliage – arranged by Amanda Luther Flowers.
Invitations: Home made invitations with a heart crystal on the front, wrapped in a doily.
Ceremony Place: Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic church, Redditch
Wedding Theme/Style: Traditional wedding
OUR WEDDING RECEPTION
Reception Place: Ettington Park Hotel, Stratford upon Avon.
First Dance Song: ‘Close your eyes’ – Michael Buble.
Cake: White 3 tiered cake on pillars, lacing around the outside of all tiers. Bottom tier – traditional fruit cake, middle tier – Victoria sponge, top tier- lemon cake. Mr and Mrs porcelain love birds were placed on the top.
Decor Elements: Just married signs around the venue. We used a traditional bicycle at the entrance of Ettington, and had flowers put in the basket. We had a sweet table which was full! A lovely decorated chest for cards. We re-used pew ends from the church to decorate the hotel. We had a beautiful bench in the grounds, which was a present from my parents. Sparklers on the evening were amazing.
Unique Details: Our first dance was a practised piece which my aunt choreographed for us. The band – Indie Killers played our first dance and were amazing for the rest of the evening.
Car hire was from Jaguar land Rover, we had a white Jaguar XJL.
THE MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT
Bride: This is a tough question, I have so many memorable moments. However, during the wedding morning, whist I was getting ready, one of Russell’s best men, Liam P, came to my parents house and dropped off a gift bag. Inside, there was a wedding day candle, wedding photo album, bottle of coke with a label wrapped around it, which said, do not open until I had watched the memory stick (this was something else also in my bag). All of this was on a heart tray too.
So the excitement began with my parents and bridesmaids, wondering what this was all about. We all watched the memory stick together. Russell had made a video wishing me a happy wedding day, singing about all the things I like, how we met and then finally, revealed where we were going on honeymoon – Bali! I felt so excited and a very luck girl!
When I took the label off the coke, it said Bali on it! I could not believe how thoughtful and romantic my husband to be had been and I could not wait to see him at the alter!
Groom: During the church service we had sat to listen to a piece of music, Liz surprised me with a recording of a song I had sung in a church choir as a child. As I had no idea these recordings even existed. It took me a second to realise, then I couldn’t hold back the emotions. It bought a tear to my eye that my new wife and family had gone to the extra effort to hunt this all down for our special day.
OUR HONEYMOON
Bali, we stayed at 2 places, the first was Seminyak directly onto the beach. Secondly we stayed in the Maya Ubud up in the rain-forest area. Both were incredible, beautiful places and it really was a trip of a lifetime. We managed to get out and explore ‘Gods Island’ seeing monkey forests, temples, hand crafted silver, wood and stonework and even a Volcano.
OUR WEDDING ADVICE
Get planning, you may feel you have loads of time at the start, but get going, time flies!
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