Throwback to the summer and the absolutely stunning wedding of Julia and Andrew at the amazing Chiddingstone Castle in Kent. If you’re getting married at Chiddingstone Castle and are looking for beautiful, natural, unobtrusive wedding photography, please get in touch to discuss your wedding plans!
I’d first met Julia at the wedding of Joss and Mikey at Tonbridge School, where she was one of Joss’s bridesmaids. So I was thrilled to meet up with everyone once again, including Joss (reciprocal bridesmaid arrangements!), all the other bridesmaids, Mikey and new cute flowergirl daughter at this stunning venue.
As usual I started the day at Julia’s family home for bridal prep. All the girls were getting ready in the conservatory – great natural light, lots of hustle and bustle, but short on space which made moving around quite interesting – once I’d explained to the girls why I was crawling under the table to move around, they seemed a bit more accepting! Lots of girls and mirrors in the same space allowed me to photograph some great layered bridal prep shots!
While the was lots going on with the girls, Julia’s dad worked on his speech – well, with half an eye on the England vs Australia Rugby World Cup international going on that morning!
All to soon it was time for Julia to slip on her absolutely stunning gown – fitted, backless and with amazing lace detailing – just a pleasure to photograph. Julia’s dad agreed she looked stunning, in one of the most fun-filled dad/daughter first-look moments I’ve photographed!
I then hot-footed it over to the amazing Chiddingstone Castle, keeping one eye on the weather for the outdoor ceremony that was to follow (bit of a theme this year sadly!) – luckily the weather held off, as the outdoor ceremony location at Chiddingstone is amazing!! Lots of space and natural light where the couple stand. Tash (my assistant) was already onsite and capturing the details for me.
The whole outdoor area and wedding itself looked amazing, thanks to some lots of beautiful floral decorations from the talented Florist in the Forest.
I joined Andrew and the boys as they put on their buttonholes – flowers were everywhere, including a bouquet to be attached to one of the grandmothers walking stick – a great touch that I’d never seen before!
After a few quick groom shots with Andrew and the boys and guest arrivals, I made my way back into the Castle to see if Julia was finished with the registrars. The bridesmaids were being entertained by the lovely little flowergirl so it was great to get some candid shots of them before Julia was ready. I then photographed the girls coming down the staircase – some of them decided jumping two stairs at a time was the way to do it, thankfully not Julia though!!
We made our way outside, past the walled garden and then the bride and bridesmaids made their entrance to the wedding ceremony. One of the great advantages of the ceremony location at Chiddingstone Castle is that there’s so much space and light (due to the glass ceiling) that the difference between the light ‘indoors’ and outdoors is pretty small, unlike some venues in very tight gazebos – this really helps with photography and meant I could capture some great shots of both the ceremony and guests.
After the lovely service, the happy couple made their way through confetti and across the lawn for drinks and canapes in front of the castle itself.
I then took the bride and groom down to the bridge for some couples pictures. Lots of venues have bridges, but this one in particular is stunning – very long, with a curve so the couple are naturally raised. Add this to the fact that at the other side of the bridge, the path disappears into dark woodland, means that the couple are really isolated against a darker background – I LOVED it!
Once we’d nailed the couples pictures, we made our way back to the drinks reception. After the group shots, it was time for the guests to make their way into the stunningly decorated marquee, where once everyone had been seated, the bride and groom made their way in for their grand entrance.
Here’s part two of Julia and Andrew’s Chiddingstone Castle wedding photography
Additional photography by Tash Lowther
All photographs copyright Kent wedding photographer David Burke Photography 2016