When a cheese lover from Sussex and a bass player from Ipswich come together, we have the makings of a wedding to remember. Normal is boring and these guys had a little something special!

There was a certain anticipation in the air mixed with the cold morning dew as we loaded the car and head off to our subjects for the morning. Once I had dropped Tom off with the boys, I arrived at The Castle Inn to be greeted by a grinning bride to be and an atmosphere of nervous excitement. Breakfast is on the table and everyone is bustling around either getting ready or chasing kids. Luckily everyone is about to head down to eat so I get some time to work alone with the shoes and Dress etc. I’m not completely alone however and I get the chance to meet and catch up with the lovely Amy from Amy Maes Hair who is looking after the hairstyles for the day. She’s a delight to work with and certainly knows how to keep a calm atmosphere for the bride; a key skill for anyone working at a wedding!

Naturally the morning was filled with laughter and chatter, as with the Pre-shoot Stephy radiated a sense of fun and calm around her, everything was so unbelievably well organised today, she was not about to be fazed by much!

Bubbly was served and the girls traded tips on makeup and eyelash application; clearly the high point for Stephy was when she found a winning scratch card, never mind about the ceremony! Today was a good day!

While the girls changed into some amazing outfits with frills and Converse as far as the eye could see, the Flowers turned up. Flowers in this case fully deserving of the capital letter. Lucy, who runs her own flower business, LB Floral from home, thoroughly outdid herself and delivered some outstanding bouquets for the party. These, combined with the bride getting into her dress, caused enough excitement from everyone that Amy ordered everyone to calm down or get out! (I decided to side with Amy on this one, I wasn’t about to be thrown out too and I’ve learned never to cross a woman with a curling wand...)

As for the Boys preparations, owing to a double booking the night before, things were a little more fluid, although staff at The Swan proved superbly helpful in dealing with any issues and happily supplied two rooms in the morning for the guys to get ready in.

Matt was much less nervous than expected about the day ahead, (rest assured that would come later) We are sure his calmness was mostly due to finally being allowed to wear his special custom wedding converse, which Stephy apparently wouldn’t allow him to try these on much before the day for some strange reason.

Matt hasn’t seen the dress at this point and the excitement was pouring off him as things came together, Tom assures me it was good for the soul to see this love and anticipation before a wedding. (When talking about Stephy and the day ahead we could see Matt had a little light in his eyes...)

Dispite the groom claiming to be a child trapped in a small man’s body, everyone managed to dress themselves without incident... (almost, a delicate operation to fix the broken braces on Matt doesn’t really count) Then the boys headed off to the Meadow that was to host the reception, “we need to make sure everything survived the night!”

They met with Rob, the owner of the meadows who gave a debrief about all the health and safely aspects. (A helpful man as apparently there is quite a lot that can go wrong with a wedding, admittedly this wasn’t too helpful for Matt’s nerves)

Speaking of helpful, the weather did threaten to dampen the celebrations....

The flowers arrived at the venue and, secure in the knowledge that everything with still there from the night before, the boys left for the ceremony.

I arrived at The Fisher Theatre and met up with everyone; Matt looking all cool and dapper, Peter who was to be the registrar for the day and Tom, scoping out the celar where the ceremony was due to take place. It is worth mentioning that the registrar was simply fantastic in his role, with a warm ceremony, a sense of humour and a flexible approach to photography that is always welcome! The guests started to arrive and settle down and we all waited with baited breath for the brides arrival.

Stephy arrived looking simply stunning in her dress and flowers, she wasted no time down the aisle and was at Matt’s side in moments with a big smile on her face. The Ceremony was beautiful in that special way that things like this are, I must say the ambiance created by the lighting was lovely. During the vows Matt proved, not for the last time that day, that he knows how to give a speech and reduced many people in the room (including my 2nd shooter Tom) to tears.

The ceremony was now over and it’s time for the congratulations, the newly married Mr and Mrs Fowkes looked thrilled to bits! With mission accomplished everyone filed back upstairs for drinks, catching up, hugs and handshakes!

Our work isn’t over however, we have a photobooth to set up at the Meadow and speeches to prepare for!

With massive Tipis provided by Magical Tipis set in a field on a gorgeous lake, Rookery Meadow was a great choice by the couple. The style of the day suited their personalities to the ground and everything had a personal feel to it.

Matt and Stephy arrived in ‘Betsie’ a fabulous 1954 Chevrolet Bel Air Sedan provided by Dream American Cars and we wasted to time in stealing them for some more creative photos before the guests arrive and hog all the attention. Rookery meadow is situated on a lovely looking lake in literally the middle of nowhere so, as the rain had stopped we could seize the opportunity to get some shots in the golden sunlight.

Once the groups shots were done, Cherry Catering Co wasted no time swinging into action with a fantastic and very well received Afternoon Tea.

Everyone seemed up to the task of the speeches and had both touching and funny things to say for the couple, Matt proved again that he knows how to talk to a crowd. (Poor Tom, this all proved too much once again for my second shooter)

Rounding out the day we had everything! Hotdogs, games, Ace Bouncy Castles, swingball, JS & The Lockerbillies rocking the Tipi and Rockery Meadow themselves tending the open bar, it’s safe to say a good time was had by all!

We all smiled as Stephy and Matt enjoyed their first dance as a married couple, followed swiftly by friends and family flooding the dance floor, they wouldn’t be the only one enjoying an embrace on the dance floor.

The Lockerbillies were an uncommonly good band, as you can imagine in our line of work we see a fair amount of bands but these guys clearly knew their stuff. The music was kept alive and everyone was moving well into the night, it wasn’t long before anyone with a keen eye might have seen two very tired photographers trudging off to their tent!

The Morning After

A-boat time to go home!

Always happy to stray from the norm, the couple had arranged for tents to be set out and everyone (at least, everyone willing to camp in a field) stayed over at the venue. The morning dawned and we all stumbled out into the cold morning dew in search of water, food and fresh air.

While friends got down to the serious business of ‘Foot Jenga’, firing up the lunchtime BBQ and people queued for use of the showers, I was approached by Stephy who had gotten permission to use a certain boat we had found on the lake. After a small adventure finding and cleaning the boat in question, Stephy set out (Matt had taken one look at the thing and opted to remain on dry land, thanks but no thanks!).

I must admit that watching the newly wedded bride repeatedly paddle into the reeds, get caught on vines in the water and generally paddle backwards was something of a highlight. She certainly drew a crowd! It took just one lap of the lake before she enlisted the help of a willing volunteer to help out (this rowing lark is harder then it looks!) and returned the boat to the docks and the waiting embrace of her new husband.

It was at this point that we opted to return home, it had been a long few days and there is much work for this Photographer still to do! Both Tom and myself would like to heartily thank both Stephy and Matt for having us capture this gorgeous event, we had a terrific time and I’m proud to have been involved.

If you are reading this and have any questions about this event or others, dont hesitate to get in touch Here and I will get back to you.

From Carter to Fowkes - The Wedding

When a cheese lover from Sussex and a bass player from Ipswich come together, we have the makings of a wedding to remember. Normal is boring and these guys had a little something special!

Capture the Moment