Sarah and Shaun’s wedding at The Great Barn Rolvenden in Kent was one of my favourite weddings to photograph ever. Not quite sure why I haven’t blogged it before, but the photos are in a super-popular display album so recent clients will be familiar with them! So this is a bit of a blast from the past, back to a very, very hot and humid summer’s day!
Sarah and Shaun were married at St Thomas of Canterbury Church in Sevenoaks, which was a 200 metre drive from Sarah’s parents house where the girls were getting ready that morning – so nice and handy for me, and lucky it was close as you’ll find out (more of that later).
Sarah was fairly nervous that morning so I just popped in, photographed a few details and a quick makeup shot or two, then left them to it so as not to increase any nerves (although I am obviously extremely keen never to add to the inevitable nerves, so a documentary wedding photography approach really helps here) and made my way up to the church to meet Shaun and the boys, and to document guest arrivals.
As more and more guests arrived, it was clear though that there was a bit of a problem – an accident on the M25 had delayed a few of the key guests – Sarah’s Grandma being one. Sarah and her bridesmaids decided to stay down at the house until Grandma made it to the church. I spent 40 minutes documenting (it’s fair to say) a very nervous Shaun, and an increasingly nervous priest!
Once Granny was safely installed, the bridesmaids and then Sarah made their way up to the church and the service started – much to everyone’s relief! A lovely wedding plus full Catholic mass followed, although I think Father stepped on it a bit to make up some time.
After the ceremony, Sarah and Shaun walked through a hail of confetti and then led their guests rounds to the Vicarage garden, where they’d laid on cloudy lemonade, cupcakes and nibbles for their guests – a lovely touch and great fun to photograph while everyone congratulated the newly-wed couple!
It was then time to head over to The Great Barn Rolvenden and see the fruits of Sarah and Shaun’s hard labour. It’s a beautiful old Kent barn in an Orchard setting (so old and rustic, it even had a bat flying around inside, high up in the beams later on!) All the decorations were the hard work of the couple, including the strings and nets of fairy lights – these provided the most awesome backdrops for blurred backgrounds (‘bokeh’ in photography terms) – but I know it was hard work as the boys were up high ladders when I went on the venue visit the day before!
Once the bride and groom had arrived they wanted to see the barn so I took the opportunity to grab a couple of quick portraits before we headed out into the Orchard for the drinks reception and group photos. After a final big group shot, everyone made their way into the stunning barn, before the Bride and Groom made their grand entrance into the wedding breakfast.
It was at this stage that the bottles of Jagermeister came out and were fairly prominent throughout the evening – again, great photo opportunities and certainly helped ‘oil the wheels’ and get the party started later on!
Once Sarah and Shaun had finished their meal, I took them out into the late summer sunshine for some couples portraits before we headed back inside to enjoy the speeches.
As night started to fall, the bride and groom cut the wedding cake and then enjoyed their first dance as a married couple. The Jagermeister was by now kicking and as the party just exploded! Some amazing dancing to a fantastic band!
Congratulations once again to Sarah and Shaun – here are my favourite wedding photographs from their wedding!
If you’re getting married at The Great Barn Rolvenden and are looking for a wedding photographer, please contact me to discuss your requirements.
All photographs copyright <a href=”/”>David Burke Photography 2016</a>