Weddings 1 - Covid 0!

Lauren & Ryan's intimate wedding at Moor Hall Hotel

What a whirlwind of a time Lauren and Ryan had planning their wedding smack bang in the middle of a global pandemic! Originally due to get married in April this year, I heard the awful news shortly after the first lockdown was announced that their spring wedding was unable to go ahead and that they had moved their date to 28th November 2020 (today actually - as I write this blog, I should have been at Lauren's home with her as she got ready for her wedding day.

Of course, most of November was then locked down again due to the growing numbers of coronavirus cases, meaning, heartbreakingly, that Ryan and Lauren were again faced with postponing their big day. I remember how upset this lovely bride and groom were when faced with their first postponement, so I was gutted for them that they were dealing with this for a second time.

However, amazingly, I received a phone call from Ryan on Monday 2nd November - 2 days before lockdown. It went something like this...

"Kate, are you free tomorrow?

Because if you are, we can get married then. It's all sorted with the church and the venue.

We just want to get married and we decided we don't want to postpone again."

I mean, wow! Happily, I was available and so off I went to Lauren's Mum's house the next morning to photograph her getting ready before we headed over to St Thomas' Church in Garretts Green. The ceremony was originally supposed to be at Moor Hall Hotel, where the couple held their reception, however due to registrar availability, they couldn't have their legal ceremony there at such short notice. Incredibly, after calling all of the local churches, St Thomas' agreed with less than 24 hours to go, to be the place where Lauren and Ryan would say their vows.

It was great to see that they had managed to keep a lot of their suppliers, including two beautiful vintage VW vehicles to transport them to the church, courtesy of Nothing But Wedding Cars, gorgeous bouquets and buttonholes from Lily Jones Flowers and hair and makeup for Lauren by Artico Salon and Sarah Hunston. To see how so many people has come together and made this happen for them was so heartwarming and really brought it home what an amazing community the wedding industry is.

After the ceremony Lauren, Ryan and their 15 guests travelled over to Moor Hall for their intimate reception which included afternoon tea, a Mr and Mrs game, wedding quizzes, some lovely speeches and a beautiful slideshow made up of messages from guests who were originally meant to be attending but couldn't due to number restrictions. The venue and decor suppliers (Sorella Events) has done a fantastic job of decorating the room so it looked beautiful and cosy, and in no way empty due to the reduced guest numbers.

I took the bride and groom off around the venue after some very cold but very fun family photographs down in the sunken garden, and we got some gorgeous autumnal shots outside as well as getting creative with some off camera flash indoors. The day simply flew by and I couldn't believe it when I looked at my watch and saw it was nearing 10pm and time for their first dance which would call an end to the celebrations.

So today, I should have been photographing Lauren and Ryan's wedding. But instead of feeling sad that they didn't get to go through with it, I'm able to post these gorgeous images of what was an absolutely wonderful day, made even better by the sheer determination of the people who made it happen. 
 

Suppliers:

Dress - Adele Louise Bridal

Suits - David Aitchison

Hair - Artico Salon

Make up - Sarah Hunston MUA

Cake - Celebration Cakes

Flowers - Lily Jones Flowers

Venue Decor - Sorella Events

Bridesmaids Dresses - David's Bridal
 

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