Wedding | Swallows Oast – Ticehurst | Gemma & Dave

Gemma & Dave

Wedding Photography at Swallows Oast, Ticehurst, East Sussex

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“We have been driving up to the lakes for our honeymoon today and on the way reminiscing about our day. We were both saying how you didn’t feel like a wedding ‘supplier’ but like a guest and a friend.

I promise to write you a proper review soon but tonight we have been far too busy gushing over our photos! You are SO talented, we have had the most wonderful time reliving our day through your incredible photos. Thank you really isn’t enough.”

Gemma and Dave’s wedding day had the ceremony at its heart, fully embracing their Christian beliefs. In particular, a few of their closest friends briefly joined them at the altar to offer their personal prayers for the couple. Also, with different, meaningful readings, and musical contributions from Dave’s dad (who accompanied the hymns on the keyboard) and Gemma’s brother (who sang and played guitar), I felt that this ceremony was especially inclusive and sharing and made for a very positive spiritual experience for all. The fact that the ceremony was immediately followed by a sociable session of tea and hot cross buns also helped emphasise that the church was a prominent feature of their wedding, which of course, is what it’s really all about, right?!

The vicar conducting the ceremony was so very welcoming and sensitive to both mine and the videographer’s roles, which is fairly unusual.

Sadly, many are not so embracing of us and our technology for fear it will be an intrusion or distraction from the religious sentiment of the ceremony. This is a valid point, of course, particularly with some of the more ninja-style photographers, and I am always totally respectful of these wishes. Those joyous expressions, meaningful and beautiful moments caught on camera, forever convey and celebrate not only this significant occasion but also the church as a happy and inclusive place to be, so it’s always disappointing to be prohibited from capturing that.

The message here for other couples considering a church wedding is to ask yourselves how YOU feel about this and to discuss this with your photographer and whoever will be conducting your ceremony. Anyway, a massive thank you to the vicar at Gemma and Dave’s wedding for enabling us to preserve a little more of the ceremony memories for this couple! In many years to come, I have no doubt that Gemma and Dave will be grateful for the happy and reaffirming memories that their images and footage of the heart of the day will bring, not just for their own enjoyment but also for potential future generations…!

Later in the day, I loved Gemma’s DIY ‘selfie station’ with a camera producing instant images to pin up for all to see and enjoy! This is an amusing and creative alternative to a photo booth. (Gemma, I really want your Etsy backdrop!)

When I met Gemma and Dave for our pre-wedding meeting, they presented me with an enormous list of group shots which they wanted of their families and friends! I usually advise couples to stick to around 8 groupings or fewer (you can read more about this here) but sometimes couples feel particularly strongly about these images, so we put together a good plan for the groomsmen to be a vital part of making this process go as smoothly as possible in the time we had allocated. Perhaps, it was also in part due to Gemma being a Head Teacher that this went as well as it did! Hurrah!

Swallows Oast was as friendly and beautiful as always and the catering was especially yummy – check out that chocolate teacup thing! I am proudly on the list of recommended vendors for Swallows Oast and always delighted to be invited to photograph there. It has some gorgeous natural surroundings which are perfect for couple shots, especially just before sunset. Gemma and Dave were generous with their timings and we had ample time in the evening to climb the hill and enjoy some picturesque moments during ‘golden hour’ before heading back through the little woodland for the first dance and evening party!

If you’d like to see Gemma and Dave’s engagement shoot at Mote Park in Maidstone, head here. I wish them both a very happy life together and I absolutely echo Gemma’s sentiment that we felt more like friends! Thank you to Gemma and Dave for inviting me to capture their beautiful day!