I covered this wedding for Mel Foster Photography.
I started the day in Rochester where the bride and bridal party where getting ready. Sarah and Matt live in Australia so she was getting ready at her Mum's house. She had her four bridesmaids and parents with her. The bridesmaids all had different coloured dresses which I though was cool. The bride got ready in a room with her Mum and kept the dress a surprise from the others, she done a first look with her bridesmaids and with her Dad, safe to say they all loved it. There's a lovely bandstand outside her Mum's house so we took a few group shots there before heading off to the venue. When I arrived at The Hop Farm the guests where getting seated ready for the ceremony. The ceremony room has hop garlands on the wooden beams which the bride really loved. The couple had actually already got married in Australia during Covid so the ceremony at Hop Farm wasn't legal, they had their friend as the celebrant which was lovely. They had two readings which were personal and heart felt.
After the short ceremony the bride and groom got into their wedding car for a quick drive around, it's so important to have some alone time together on your wedding day. Everyone else headed outside for the drinks reception, there were lots of lawn games which kept the kids entertained, they had giant jenga, connect four, ring toss, beat the buzzer, limbo and noughts and crosses. There was indoor and outdoor seating as well as hay bales all the way around a giant willow tree for people to relax on. When the bride and groom arrived back at the venue we got everyone together for a big group shots stood up the top of the fire escape so I could see everyone in the photo. Then we moved onto group shots, I had an amazing helper Dave, one of the bride's brothers, who was getting everyone I needed for each shot. He saved me a lot of time so thank you Dave you're a star! Then we had a short walk around the grounds for some couple photos, it's got such a lovely outdoor area, perfect for chilled summer weddings.
As everyone made their way inside for speeches one of the bride's brothers got up on the mic with his guitar and played a few songs, he was really good! It must feel really special to play at your sister's wedding. There was quite a few people giving speeches at this wedding, we had the father of the bride, the groom, the bride, the groom's sister and some words read from people back in Australia. There was lots of tears, the speeches were beautiful, I was tearing up too. After speeches they went straight into cutting the cake and the first dance as it was a late wedding. Then the buffet was ready for everyone to eat, they had a relaxed BBQ style buffet.
As the sun started to set I took the couple back outside for a couple of photos and then we headed back inside ready for the dance floor fun. Thank you Sarah and Matt for letting me be a part of your wedding day!
Photos taken and edited by phoeberossiphotography.com
Venue https://thehopfarm.co.uk/venue