Wedding at Bilsington Priory | Ashford | Kent

Jess and Toby's wedding starts with the bride's father contacting me via a friend who knows about my work and introducing me to the couple. Our first meeting was at the pre-wedding session and they enjoyed looking at my bespoke storybook album and were excited to have their own album after their wedding. The wedding started the day before when I travelled to Kent for an early start with Jess' morning preparation at dad's house. It's all hands on deck with both the make-up artist and hair stylist working on Jess at the same time and Jess' dad Jon cracking open the obligatory morning bubbly for the special day. I really enjoy photographing people from the wedding at their most relaxed and most natural, there are precious moments I am privileged to be able to document for my clients. This wedding is particularly memorable for the reveal between Jess and her dad when they exchanged gifts, it's an emotional occasion and it was a very special moment.

Jess arrived at Bilsington Priory with a couple of beautiful vintage vehicles and they have become a big part of the wedding photo. The thing really stood out from the day was the ceremony itself for a couple of reasons. The first is the use of flower dude instead of flower girl, an invention from the couple that I have never encountered at other weddings. The other was the priory itself where the building is medieval in appearance and having the ceremony in the hall gives out a very historical vibe. Moreover, I was able to produce many different styles of images within the estate because there are many varied locations within the venue.

As the wedding goes on, the evening gets more and more lively and I photographed some of the most fun and interesting dancing images from any weddings I have done. I am proud of what I have achieved in this wedding and very thankful for Jess and Toby's corporation on the day.