Austin and Jess had the most fantastic wedding day last week in Dorset where the sun shone and wind blew…just a little bit!
I arrived 2 hours early at Jess’s house for the morning prep shots where the house was full of bustling friends having hair and make up done whilst mum served fresh warm croissants with tea for breakfast, an excellent start to the day! After capturing the essence of the mornings excitement it was time for me to head into town and meet Austin and the boys at the Kings Arms Hotel for a short walk over to the ruins for some shots of them mucking about before the service.
I don’t think I’ve ever been in a Church as big or as stunning as Christchurch Priory with its magnificent architecture dating back to Norman times with its beautiful setting on both the River Avon and the River Stour, it sits behind Christchurch Harbour, where we took a drive down after the ceremony for some Mr & Mrs portraits while the guests all scrambled onto an old route master bus for a ride to the reception.
The whole style of the day was Quintessentially Country Vintage from the beautifully restored VW Camper van, which Jess and her party arrived in, down to the reception being held in the Romantic and dreamy, semi-wild gardens of Dean Court in Wimbourne. The Wedding marquee lies next to an ancient lake where monks used to fish 1000 years ago! I’m in love with this day already!
The afternoon reception went by in a whirl of lawn games, pimms, Austins old vintage radio playing –
and the beautiful grounds to wander around, it was soon time for the wedding breakfast in the marquee. The inside was fantastically decorated with country style bunting and the tables were all named after films (I’m guessing this is a nod to Austin’s family Curzon name)!
Yummy buffet style food just kept on coming with drinks being topped up, the laughter and cheers of friends and family created a heart warming atmosphere only made more so by the brilliant speeches, which really were very entertaining on every level!
I stayed until the first dance and sadly missed out the evening’s toasting marsh mallows around a camp fire.
I really wanted to just share this day without writing too much, because I know you really just want to see some pictures, so feast your eyes on these and say congratulations to the new Mr & Mrs Curzon!
Carly x
