bride and groom perform limbo

“We wanted our photographer to capture the atmosphere of the day. Something Jonny absolutely nailed! Thanks to the photos we have forever memories.”

Court Lodge Wedding Venue | Stansted | Kent

Rosie & Will were introduced through a mutual friend and hit it off immediately. They haven’t looked back since! Now they’re happily married I asked what are they most looking forward to as a married couple? Rosie said no longer having to spell out her maiden name. Will? Not feeling guilty about having a beer instead of going to the gym! Amen to that brother.

Will is from south London and Rosie was born in Dover, so they told people that Stansted was half way between the two. Not strictly true, but close enough that it sounded about right. In reality, they preferred a Kent wedding and the barn and St Mary’s church in Stansted ticked all the boxes. It was a huge benefit too that it was an easy journey from London, as that’s where most of the guests live. No wedding planner was involved on the day but the caterers and florist were apparently super helpful with that kind of help. Court Lodge looks so brilliant in all it’s rustic barn glory that very little needed doing to it for the big day.

Wedding Day Details | Rosie & Will

Will likes his craft beers and as the venue was a dry hire it was nice to be able to tailor the drinks to ourselves and our guests. Definitely a detail that had put us off several other venues with a much more restrictive drinks list. Our table names were pictures of us during our childhood, mostly from when we were babies/toddlers. We were struggling to come up with an original/amusing table names and it seemed like everything had been done already. This seemed like a fun idea that had obviously been done before, but our own photos put a personal touch to it. Photos of our parent’s weddings at the barn entrance. They’re our inspiration!

wedding guests party on the dancefloor

bride and groom romantic kiss under fairy lights Court Lodge wedding

Mobile phone playing En Vogue into a stereo

Church ceremony bride wearing Hermione de Paula Designer Wedding Dress

young girl in pink wedding dress holds champagne flute

wedding guests in hysterics after funny wedding speech

wedding guests party in comedy hat

Groomsmen drinking and laughing Court Lodge Barn Stansted

bride and groom hold hands sat on brick wall countryside

nervous groom waits patiently at alter for bride to arrive

Bride preparing and getting makeup done

Bride wearing big comedy glasses and red chilly hat

bride and groom first kiss church wedding

wedding guests pose and laugh with photobooth accessories

groom gets confetti in his eye outside church

wedding guests eat canapes provided by urban pantry caterers

bride and groom sit countryside stone wall Court Lodge Barn wedding

Hermione de Paula Designer Wedding Dress

Hermione de Paula is a bespoke dress designer. A friend forwarded me a link on Instagram basically saying it was the most ‘me’ dress she’d ever seen. She was right! Along the way I discovered I loathed anything really traditional and bridal so this dress was a perfect fit for my taste and personal style. All the detail in the embroidery and embellishment was just amazing. I wanted something form fitting (no meringues!) that was easy to walk around in and comfortable to dance in. The back was the cherry on top of the cake. Sheer with buttons all the way down. It took forever to get on and off but it was so worth it!

Groom’s attire was from Birkett Tailors. Will doesn’t wear suits often so it was nice to get something special made. He always had a brown 3 piece in mind but Neil did the rest. We were absolutely blown away with the result. Bridesmaid’s dresses were from Rewritten. Everyone wore their own shoes!

Advice to those planning a wedding

On the day just know everything will work out fine! Your bridesmaids and family will make sure of that. Also, know that you’re not doing everything alone. Your husband/bride to be will be waiting for you at the end of that aisle holding your hand! You’re in it together! I was a very nervous bride and as soon as I saw Will waiting for me I was absolutely fine and loved every second of it!

Don’t worry about little mistakes and screw ups. They break the tension and allow people to have a laugh! For us they were some of the most memorable parts of the day. Don’t drink too much until your responsibilities are out the way. Luckily this was advice that had been passed onto me and I didn’t have to learn from experience! Enjoy it, and try to savour it. It goes SO quickly.

If you can get as much done early on then you take a lot of the stress out of it. When those jobs do start piling up just take one job each day (every day!) and just keep chipping away at it. You don’t need to do everything all at once.

Couple stroll outside wedding barn at Court Lodge Stansted

wedding guest perfoms limbo with food in hand

grooms suit and dog sniffing camera detail

bridesmaid and father help bride out of classic wedding car

vintage wedding cake surrounded by decorations and framed photos

wedding guests chat and share a drink in the garden of Court Lodge Kent

wedding guests dance and spin each other on the dance floor

wedding guest in Green Tartan suit and glasses smoking a pipe

pouring champagne black and white

Candid wedding scene canapes children bridesmaids

Wedding day memories

Thanks to the photos that show so much of the day we have forever memories. We were both very touched by how supportive all our friends and family were during the service when they were asked whether they would love and support us in our marriage. The vicar said it was the loudest “We will!” that he had ever heard.

We wanted our photographer to capture the atmosphere of the day. Something Jonny absolutely nailed! And to have at least a few photos of us where we look half decent! A tough ask. It was always a joy working with Jonny! And in the nicest possible way, we hardly remember him being around for the most part, but he still managed to produce so many amazing photos.

bridesmaids adjust wedding guests suit