Charlotte and James were married in St Mary’s Church Chartham followed by a reception at Broome Park Hotel near Canterbury in Kent, whilst the UK was still under some Covid restrictions. The guy’s braved it out though and their wedding date was pretty much the only one that didn’t move – they had some restrictions on numbers but it didn’t affect the fun they had on their day!
Bride and Groom Prep
As usual I started the day with the bride to photograph bridal prep – all the details and comings and goings as Charlotte, the bridesmaids, flower girls and Charlotte’s parents all gathered at their house (which Charlotte had done such a fab job renovating whilst James was on a tour with the Army!). Once I’d finished the details I moved on to hair and makeup which was in full swing.
Meanwhile, Robert (my second photographer for the day) was with James, his parents and all the boys at a local hotel to photograph groom prep.
Service
Once everyone was ready, I headed off to the church to meet up with James and photograph guest arrivals. Soon, it was time for me to head outside and await the arrival of the bridal party. I had a few minutes with Charlotte outside while we waited for her dad to park up, so I was able to document the little details while we waited. Dresses look great hung up, but they look even better when they’re on and in nice, dramatic sunlight!
Soon it was time to head inside for the lovely service, taken by Ravi. As you’ll see, we had a great moment when it was time for the first kiss when Charlotte had a fit of hysterics which was brilliant – the first kiss did happen…eventually!
After the service the newlyweds greeted their guests in the beautiful sunshine outside the church – so lovely to see hugs back again!!! A few quick groups and then it was time for confetti before we all headed off to the wonderful Broome Park Hotel for the reception.
Reception
We all made our way back to the lovely Broome Park Hotel for a drinks reception out in the stunning sunshine. After a few more groups and some quick bride and groom portraits it was soon time to head indoors for the wedding breakfast.
After the speeches, we made our way back out into the lovely evening golden hour sunshine for some more bride and groom portraits before it was time to cut the cake and then the bride and groom had their first dance. A Dad Daughter dance followed – I think the necessary practice didn’t quite happen so a spontaneous freeform sort of dance followed – very, very funny!
Due to the Covid guidelines at the time, there was no evening dancing so my evening finished after photographing a game of Mr and Mrs which everyone loved, at which point I left the guys to enjoy the rest of their wedding evening!
Congratulations again to Charlotte & James!
All photographs copyright David Burke Photography 2021.