Julia and David were married at Wotton House in Dorking, Surrey. Wotton is a spectacular venue set in 13 acres of Surrey countryside with a beautiful 17th Century Italian Gardens and pillared library in which Julia and David were to be married in a Humanist Ceremony. I had been introduced to my Bride and Groom by Wotton House.
My bride and groom had grown up knowing each other. Their parents from the United States and Germany respectively, had lived next door to each other in London. After the Groom's family moved back to the States, the family stayed in touch. Julia and David met properly again on his 30th birthday when Julia was in the US for work and the rest was history!
I started my day with the Bride at her family house not far from the gorgeous Wotton House. Julia had designed the most spectacular bespoke red taffeta silk wedding dress from Angelina Colarusso. Indeed, she had chosen red orchids to decorate her strawberry blonde hair and red shoes to complete the stunning look. Her wonderful hairdresser Skye from Skye Norman did the Bride and Mother of the Bride's hair. The atmosphere was warm and friendly, with a playful “No Grooms Allowed” tacked to the Bridal dressing room door!
The Bride's sister was to be her Best Woman and her nieces, her flower girls. Julia and her sister had designed the bouquets. The Flower Girls in their turquoise dresses and red pumps were given the task of pulling apart the heads of red roses to create petal baskets for the entrance of the Bride and her Father at Wotton - a job they took very seriously.
As my Bride in her glorious red dress descended the stairs, everyone was in awe!
The Bridal car arrived just as I was about to leave for Wotton. She was to be driven to Wotton in a beautiful vintage Rolls Royce.
At Wotton House, everything was perfect - even the weather. The couple were to marry in the beautiful Library which had been decorated with orchids in glass pillar jars - simple and stunning. A long red ribbon and two further orchids decorated the altar.
As the Bridal Car arrived at Wotton House, an emotional bride arrived to be met by the Paige Boys and Flower Girls.
It was time for the ceremony to begin. Announced by the Toastmaster, the Best Woman led the beaming Paige Boys into the Library followed by the Flower Girls who scattered their red rose petals. My youngest Flower Girl however, took her job very seriously stepping round the petals already before her. The Bride and her father danced gently down the aisle to her adoring Groom.
The couple had chosen to have a Humanist Ceremony. Julia and David’s mothers had written a wonderful poem which was warmly received .
The phrase “Tying The Knot'' was to be taken literally as the invited family and close friends of the Bride and Groom were asked to link together holding the long red ribbon that had early been on the altar. The ribbon was then tied by the Bride and Groom to mark the completion of the marriage ceremony.
Outside, the sun was shining brightly. We walked down to the shade of the 17th Century Italian Gardens to take some gorgeous portraits of the Julia and David in her amazing red wedding dress - did I say I love her dress?!
Entertainment was gently supplied by a solo acoustic guitar. There was a very international theme to the wedding with guests having travelled from the States and across Europe to be present.
The Wedding Breakfast was to be held the Evelyn Suite where . The room had been decorated with fairy lights and simple flower stalks in various sizes of glass bottles. The Bride and Groom had chosen vials of laurel and thyme picked from her home garden as their table place holders to be given to the guests accordingly. Laurel in the guys vials, as they tend to rest on them. And thyme in the ladies ones, as they always need more time!
After a lovely Receiving Line - the Bride and Groom made their entrance to the applause of their guests.
Dinner was completed by the cutting of the cake delicately decorated with gold leaf and sugar flowers.
After dinner Julia’s father started the speeches with some hilarious anecdotes and tender memories, some that simply had to be added to by the neighbouring Groom’s parents reminisce of the time. The Groom’s father began his tribute to his son - it really was wonderful to see such a close knit family.
The Best Woman, and the Bride’s sister’s speech was so full of love. She was so proud of her sister’s incredibly successful career and the wonderful person that she was. Her brother followed with his own sentiments and a collection of video cards from guests who could not attend from across the sea as well as his own little mentioned of their childhood!
What a wonderful evening. Guests quickly joined in after the First Dance with some very smooth moves! There was proper dancing going on!
Thank you Julia & David so much for having me photograph your wedding - I had a ball!
Julia said of my services in her 5 star review;
When planning my wedding I almost didn't book a photographer. I was determined to have a joyous and spontaneous feeling event, without the stop, start, and overly staged moments. Then someone recommended Gill and at our first meeting I knew I needed her. As someone who does not enjoy being photographed, Gill put me totally at ease by ensuring we discussed all of my wants and needs in great detail beforehand, so that on the day everything felt totally natural. As well as capturing all of the key moments as they happened, she was stealth like at the reception, blending in as if a guest, thereby managing to capture the very essence of the event. The result was a plethora of stunning photographs that we will treasure forever. As the bride, the day goes so quickly, and I am now so grateful to have this amazing record of the event, which even captured moments I would have missed. Gill is an absolute wonder to work with, was a pleasure to have as a part of our special day and delivers exceptionally high quality work. I would not hesitate to recommend her to any and all.
Venue - Wotton House Dorking, Surrey
Bride's dress - Angelina Colarusso
Bride and Mum's hair Skye from Skye Norman
Photography by me! gillflett.com