A beautiful day in August saw me photograph the wedding of Joanne & Joe at St Stephen’s church and then Lympne (pronounced ‘limb’) Castle, located down on the Kent coast.
These two venues are ideal as a wedding photographer; the church is literally right next door to the castle – in fact, there’s even a handy short cut door through the churchyard wall into the castle’s courtyard! The church is beautiful inside and out – fantastic sea views behind and inside it’s really, really light which is a great (and unusual) treat for us wedding photographers!!!
The castle itself is again beautiful inside and out – the rear of the castle has a terrace that looks out from an elevated position over reclaimed Kent marshland down to the sea, with Dungeness in the far distance, plus a few lovely garden areas which make for great photography.
I started the day at Joanne’s parents house in Maidstone for relaxed bridal preparations – photographing all the details, including Joanne’s stunning Suzanne Neville gown, before moving onto hair, makeup and then Joanne’s dress being done up. As I first went into the room, the ‘love’ ornament caught my eye, so I tried to include it in a few shots with the stunning bride.
Then it was the dash down the M20 to Lympne, just in time to capture Joe arriving in the Lotus Exige he’d hired for the day (sadly the previous renter of the TVR had had a slight prang in it, hence the Lotus; although knowing TVR’s reputation probably best that he arrived in one piece in the Lotus instead!).
Next was guests, bridesmaids and then brides arrival. Joanne & Joe had gone for an elegant black and white colour scheme, so the bridesmaids all looked stunning in their black gowns.
The vicar was really relaxed with photography so we got some great shots from the front and back.
After some quick groups in the churchyard, Joanne and Joe walked through a hail of confetti and then through to the Castle itself to start their reception with a lovely drinks reception on the rear terrace, after which we did some quick bride and groom portraits in the stunning grounds, splitting this up to do some before the wedding breakfast and some after (in the ‘golden hour’ evening light – great light for photography and a bit cooler too!)
And then onto the speeches – hilarous and touching at the same time, as always!
Joanne & joe had spaced their day out really well, so after the speeches and meal, everyone had time to enjoy the stunning rear terrace in beautiful evening sunshine, while we did a few more quick bride and groom shots.
The layout of the terrace allowed for a nice high viewpoint for the bride’s bouquet toss – which caused a bit of panic amongst the girls as unbenown to them Joanne had swapped to a special bouquet that’s designed to come apart in the air!
And then onto the cake cutting and first dance, with a great band providing the evening’s entertainment.
All Photographs copyright David Burke Photography 2011