Samantha and Sam contacted me in January to see if I would be available to photograph their wedding this year. They had been engaged for two years and it was whilst they were visiting family abroad this Christmas that decided to finally set the date! They have a beautiful 2 year old son Ruben (who made the cutest best man!) and decided that this year was their year!
Living near to Bury St Edmunds, they chose the Athenaeum for their wedding ceremony which meant we could pop across to the beautiful Abbey Gardens for some photographs afterwards. I had the very lovely and talented Louise Manning second shooting for me and we met Samantha at the ceremony venue where she arrived in a vintage BMW which belonged to a family friend. Samantha's maid of honour and best friend Emma ensured that the best man (2 year old Ruben) delivered the rings safely to dad Sam and the ceremony began!
They bride and groom took their couples portraits in their stride, as we wandered through the Abbey Gardens which was busier than normal due to the Easter holidays.. Despite a risk of showers the weather held out and we managed to get some gorgeous shots of Samantha and Sam in the gardens before we headed off to our cars for the drive to their reception venue.
The reception was held at The Cock Inn at Thurlow, a beautiful 17th century Georgian bar and restaurant which the couple had reserved for their day. It was here where they'd previously held their son's naming day and it is a place that holds special meaning to them. Samantha and Sam were keen to keep things simple and wanted the day to just be about celebrating their marriage with their nearest and dearest family and friends so where better to celebrate than their beautiful village restaurant!
The garden at the venue was decorated with hanging ornaments in the trees and the outside tables were set with jars of sweets for the children (*ahem* and photographers) so they could enjoy the outside and play whilst the adults celebrated and caught up with each other. Drinks and food flowed and games were played and there was no fussing over traditions such as top tables and table plans, as people sat where they liked and mingled all afternoon. As the sun began to set, we grabbed the opportunity to take some shots of Sam and Samantha in the fields as the skies changed colour (quite literally thanks to some smoke grenades!)
In the evening Samantha made a short speech to thank the many people that had made hers and Sam's day such a success. Then they had their first dance right there in front of the bar to a packed audience! Before we left we just had time to dart back to the fields for some final shots of the newlyweds where they took a moment to reflect on their day.
Samantha said: "It was important to us both that it was a simple day, that it was about us two and it was. I wanted everyone to be happy and they were. I think I enjoyed the simplicity of the day the most. It was natural. Sam said being with me was the most important thing for him on the day and i think the simplicity of our day allowed us to see each other a lot."
A massive thank you to both Sam and Samantha for being so relaxed and easy to work with - and for braving those smoke grenades - you rocked it!
