Abbey House Gardens wedding – Laura and Elliott

Heavy rain, thunder and lightning, clearing later. Laura was gutted when we met her in the salon. It was grey, miserable and raining. You wouldn’t know it though because the girls were having a whale of a time. Laura had promised Elliott to have only one drink in the morning and she duly stuck to that even though it came out of different glasses and once straight from the bottle. I think the one drink was Cava.

Once the hair was done it was back to Mum’s to get ready. Elliott meanwhile was driving around in his white McLaren. Carol was due to shoot him with the car at the church and at the pub but the previous wedding overran and so he was forced to struggle on bravely and stay driving the McLaren 650s Spyder for longer than expected. What a bummer.

There comes a time in the bride’s preparations when it hits home. It’s late on, the dress is on and suddenly it all becomes real. I love a crying bride- I tell them all these are the award winning shots – they are always tears of joy, it usually only lasts a few seconds but you will relive that moment for years. That was the moment Laura (other Laura) turned up 3 days overdue (pregnant) but wouldn’t miss her mate’s wedding. Would little Ivy stay put for the wedding? Stay tuned.

The service was long. The Church was hot. The vicar photobombed the signing and then we were out for confetti. Dark skies and thunder rolled as we finished the confetti shots. We set up for some groups but the heavens opened. I told Laura she was special. Not everyone gets lightning on their wedding day. We grabbed some groups in the doorway and left for Abbey House Gardens before we overran the next wedding. I don’t think the other groom had a McLaren to drive around in.

Abbey House Gardens is a stunning wedding venue. You really need sunshine to get the best of it and we had glorious sunshine for the rest of the day. We got some shots on the stepping stones and around the gardens before the meal. Every table was designated a chef who carved the meat and each were given a hat and an apron for the job. The cake was cut before the speeches as it was to be served as desert. Speeches were followed by more photographs around the grounds and then dancing on into the night.

Laura’s (other Laura) waters broke as she was leaving so they floored it (probably doing around 70 all the way) and made a mad dash back to Southend for the birth of Ivy the following morning.

Four seasons in one day, many emotions and a new life. It was one of my favourites of 2014.

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Here’s what Laura said – “Thank you Kevin and Carol for bloody awesome wedding photos….. They’re amazing!!! A very happy Mr and Mrs Smith! x”

Here’s what happened in pictures –
Highlight reel

Music “Aerials” by Lights and Motion