Wedding Photography Blog Colchester

Kingsland Church, Colchester and The Essex Golf Club

Ben and Cat have been best friends since childhood; growing up through their teenage years together. However, it wasn’t until they were older that they realised their feelings were deeper, and they became a couple. Having such a strong foundation of friendship behind them made their relationship work – they already knew nearly everything there was to know about each other already!

It has been great fun working with Ben and Cat to give them photographs they can cherish forever. We did their beach-themed engagement session in 2013 at West Mersea. The colourful beach huts provided a vibrant backdrop and endless possibilities. The session was combined with creating pictures to be used in their save-the-date cards (which we also designed and printed). We had a great time, although the wind was a bit blowy – that’s October for you! The newly engaged couple were up for a laugh and this made us even more excited for their wedding, where we could have lots of fun creating unique, special photographs.

We love joining the bride while she gets ready with her bridesmaids. The atmosphere is full of excitement, chaos and anticipation. These are the last times of being photographed as a ‘Miss’, before becoming a ‘Mrs.’ Cat hadn’t wanted her bridesmaids to see her dress, so her mum helped her into it. This was a special time for mother and daughter to share on the morning of her only daughters wedding day. A small blue button was sewn onto the inside of the dress as Cat’s ‘something blue’. Another little detail that we couldn’t miss were the photos attached to the bridal bouquet of the relatives that couldn’t be at the wedding, as they are no longer with us.

The bridesmaids were dying to see Cat in her dress. They were lined up and told to close their eyes while Cat came into the room. 1…2…3…Ok, open your eyes. They didn’t disappoint – the bridesmaids reactions were priceless. They then helped Cat with the finishing touches of her veil and lipstick and we were ready to go!

The ceremony took place at Kingsland Church, Lexden. This is a very special place for the couple because it is where they met and continue to go to church on a regular basis. It is not your typical, traditional church, as it is situated above an Aldi supermarket in an old retail building. As a christian couple, Ben and Cat wanted to pray together before the ceremony, but still kept to the tradition of the groom not seeing the bride before the wedding. This meant that Ben had to be blindfolded and trust his groomsmen to lead him to Cat down a lift. Cat and her bridesmaids also gathered round in prayer upon arriving at the church.

The modern church had been beautifully decorated, and the seats were filling up as hundreds of people arrived. The vision of seeing his bride walk down the isle brought Ben to tears. The ceremony was made even more special by these displays of true love and emotion between the bride and groom. Don’t worry though, the laughter was just around the corner in the form of the not-so-traditional sermon – a Powerpoint presentation with the spice girls making an appearance!

With the nerve-wracking bit out of the way, it was time to have some fun. It’s not everyday you travel in a VW bus, so of course we had to capture their excitement. The reception was at The Essex Golf and Country Club (read our review of the venue here) which is where the group photos took place. We took the newly married couple away in a golf cart for some relaxing, quiet time and stunning portraits before joining the bridal party for more fun shots.

The speeches were full of emotion from tears to more tears (of laughter), with the grooms mother even having prepared a speech. The highlight though has got to be the best-man’s speech which came in the form of a song.