Fairytale, autumnal wedding photography at the wonderful Stanbrook Abbey Hotel

This wedding day was massively exciting and an amazing day for wedding photography at Stanbrook Abbey Hotel. For one, I LOVE this venue! It is so, so very beautiful in so many ways. The staff are amazing, the food is delicious and building/grounds are extremely photogenic. You cannot go wrong with a wedding at Stanbrook Abbey in my opinion. Love, love, love this place! 
This day was also special for me as it was the first time I able to use my commercial drone flying license to capture a wedding. It has been a long time coming for sure. While it did add a lot of extra pressure to get everything done and ensure the wedding was covered as it should be, I think the end results were truly spectacular. If you look at the footage in the video at the of this blog, you will see what I mean. Look out for me in the coming years for Aerial Wedding Videography!  
I just want to give a huge congratulations to Oliva & Matt for their wedding and I wish them all the best for their new journey together! 

 

Their Love Story

1) Please tell me how you first met? 
We first met at school when Matt walked past on his way to the canteen, he was a couple of years older and friends with my sister. We then got back in touch 7 years later and have been together ever since. 

2) When was it you knew they were the one?
Following our first date, we spend all of our time together and were pretty inseparable. A few months down the line I think we both started to realise, but really Matt ground me down haha!

3) Could you give us the story of the proposal? 
We got engaged on 25th August 2016 under the Disney Castle in Disneyland Paris. I was holidaying with my family in lake garda and we stopped in Disney on our way home for a few nights. Matt travelled out and surprised me (and my brother and sister, who were more shocked) by proposing to me on our second night there. I had been slightly suspicious because Matt and my Mum had been acting strange, but the moment was so magical and I was so shocked he’d travelled on his own to surprise me. We had an amazing evening with dinner at the Disneyland Hotel and watching the fireworks over the castle. It was such a special day that we both treasured so much, we thought it only right to honeymoon in Disney World Florida.  

4) If you don’t mind sharing, can you tell me something quirky, funny or silly about your partner? 
We are pretty boring to be honest and ’normal’, although I’m sure if you asked our nearest and dearest they might beg to differ. 

5) What is your perfect day together? 
A perfect day is a duvet on the sofa watching Disney movies.

6) Apart from the obvious, what are you most looking forward to on your wedding day? 
We are really looking forward to bringing all of our family and friends together to party and celebrate with us, we have an amazing day planned and just can’t wait to be married. Matt is most looking forward to seeing me walk down the aisle, cliche I know. 

7) What was it that inspired you to go for the theme or the decor you chose for your wedding? 
The venue lends itself to being very regal and elegant, so this inspired me to chose neutral colours. We are hoping to bring the Autumn in through the flowers which will have slight colour in the thistles, berries and foliage. 

8) Please tell me one thing you wish you had known at the beginning of your wedding planning process, that you could pass on to future bride’s reading this blog?   
Working in weddings myself I don’t feel there’s anything I didn’t know. I would definitely recommend trying to set a budget before booking things and getting carried away, it was surprising to us how quickly everything added up and would recommend prioritising things that are necessities. 

9) When searching, what were you were looking for in a wedding venue? 
I had seen Stanbrook Abbey a couple of years before and always said I would love to get married there. The mixture of old and contemporary really appealed to us and the Callow Great Hall is just an amazing setting to take our vows.

10) Could you tell me the process you went through when you were looking for a wedding photographer? 
We based our search on recommended suppliers to the venue, as with experience I know this helps with the photographer knowing how to shoot at the venue. When we met with Duncan we were really impressed with the examples of work he showed us and we loved his documentary wedding photography, it was perfect for us as we were wanting to capture natural memories of our day.  

 

Enjoy the beautiful wedding trailer for Olivia & Matt’s wedding, courtesy of my beautiful wife, at Polka Dot Productions. You will also see some of my aerial footage from one of my first ever outings with my drone at a wedding. Exciting!! 

 

Vendor List

Wedding Photography |  Duncan Cox Photography 
Wedding Videography | Polka Dot Productions
Ceremony Location | Stanbrook Abbey Hotel, Great Callow Hall
Reception Location | Stanbrook Abbey Hotel, Thompson Dining Hall
Florist | Sarah Hayes Flowers
Wedding Planner | Olivia Jones
Dress Designer | Ronald Joyce
Wedding Dress Retailer | Confetti & Lace, Lakeside Essex
Make up – Jessica Ava Makeup 
Hair – Fuller Hair Designs
String Quartet – Belini Strings   
Cake – Cupcake Corner by Jo

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