ELLIE & SAM

Ellie and Sam found me off the back of doing a wedding for their friends Sophie and Freddie. Having the amazing Hadham Lodge generously donated by Sam’s grandparents this garden wedding was incredible.

Preparations

Upon arriving in Bishops Stortford and making my way down the long driveway I could see the tops of the tent set against the house. When I made my way into bridal prep to meet with Ellie, she was deep in hair and make up. The champagne was flowing and the bridesmaids were excited.

Having taken a quick 10 minutes to look around the gardens and inside the tent I immediately found some lovely pockets of light. On my way back into the house where I found Ellie hanging her beautiful dress for the videographer. This dress by Isabella Grace was very elegant and understated with an optional bow on the back. Very quickly, the hair, the Make up and the preparations were complete and Ellie was ready to put her dress on. With help from mum she was ready to reveal her dress to her dad. With lots of emotion and anticipation, excitement and interest dad was blown away by his daughter. As they got into the vintage Bentley to make their way to church, I arrived with Sam waiting for the car to arrive.

The ceremony 

Preceded by her bridesmaids, Ellie and her dad entered the church to greet Sam at the top of the aisle. Sam was in tears thinking he was the luckiest man on earth. The ceremony itself was full of Sam’s favourite hymns. The odd joke was also shared by the vicar throughout. Following two readings, the paperwork was ready to be completed where Ellie and Sam had become husband and wife.

Upon leaving the church, Sam and Ellie made their exit from the church through a confetti shower before leaving to head back to the house. With champagne upon arrival, the guests were able to congratulate the bride and groom. Following the small amount of group photographs that were requested we managed to sneak away for 10 minutes for a handful of couple portraits. All before the couple were announced into the tent ahead of Dads speech.

The Reception 

Dads speech was full of laughter and embarrassing moments for Ellie which she agreed with and found hilarious. He finished his speech by giving her a personalised denim jacket, which had her new surname stamped on the back. Following the main course, the Groom and the groomsman had their say once again embarrassing each other with stories from the past which also made Ellie laugh. Shortly after deserts have been served we had a guest singer who felt it was the right time to start singing career whilst waiting on the group. Yes, that’s correct. We had singing waiters. Everybody was involved. Everybody was still on their chairs dancing and singing as loud as they could. It only took one and a half songs before people were on the dancefloor having the time of their life.

After a short break the bride and groom broke into the first dance. From here they never left the dancefloor and ended up on the shoulders of the two strongest ushers to be the centre of the party. as I made my way out, I was able to reflect on what a great day I had witnessed and captured.

Ceremony Venue – St Peters Church, Ugley

Reception Venue – Hadham Lodge, Hadham Road, Bishops Stortford, Herts

Wedding Dress – Isabella Grace 

Bridesmaid Dresses – Maids to Measure 

Brides Shoes – Gucci

Florist – Sam’s mum and bouquets by Louise Bone [Botanical Shed]

Wedding Jewellery – McKenna & Co 

Wedding Suits – Groom – Hackett  Shoes Loake Best Men – Charles Tyrwhitt

Cake – Annabel Bruce

Singing Waiters – Singing Surprise – Aston Dobson

Invitations And Programmes – Invites – Katiewarelane and Illustrations hattie_Smith_ and name tags sophieemmajames 

Hair & Make – Up – Hair by Gaby Gabygoldringhairstylist [insta] Makeup: Bronte brontebridalmakeupartist [insta]

Catering – Anna Shutes