Laidback, sunny Jephson Gardens wedding photography in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire
Leamington Spa Wedding Photography
When they first contacted me, Harriet & Guy’s 2020 wedding was very much a work in progress. With all the restrictions in place, we were only just starting to emerge from our first Covid-19 pandemic lockdown. They were trying to plan for something no one knew for sure could take place, but it was nice to know my wedding photography was firmly in their minds. I have to say. it was lovely to see their plans unfold into what was an extremely lovely, laidback afternoon tea in Jephson Gardens in Leamington Spa, followed by a wonderful meal a Saxon Mill not far away.
Given the state the country was in, they had put together something that turned out to be so special, meaningful and that transcended what would be a “normal” wedding. Being able to congregate in with groups of loved ones, in a park, in the sunshine, meant the world. I was truly grateful to be able to witness and photograph what was a gorgeous afternoon. It is afternoons like this that make me really appreciate my job as a wedding photographer!!
Congratulations Harriet & Guy!
Who are they?
1) Please tell me how you first met?
We met at church, we were in the same homegroup and organised the 20s+ social group together, so we spent a reasonable amount of time in each other’s company during the normal week.
2) When was it you knew they were the one?
Guy reckons it was my hospitality that attracted me to him, I think I was the first one to be attracted to him so he was possibly invited to more things than my normal hospitality would average!
3) Could you give us the story of the proposal?
Luckily just before lockdown Guy finally proposed, at Charlecote Park, which is somewhere I spent a lot of weekend afternoons as a child so it was a meaningful and beautiful place. However it was February so it was chilly, wet and windy… fortunately just after he proposed a big rainbow appeared to make the weather seem a little less miserable! One detail that Guy didn’t think about was that he proposed on the 29th February so when we broke the news to everyone they assumed I had proposed to Guy!
4) If you don’t mind sharing, can you tell me something quirky, funny or silly about your partner?
Guy is an engineer and is naturally detail orientated and a careful planner, I am much more likely to rush into things, which means I’m forever complaining that Guy makes me late but on the flip side, he’s the one who picks up the pieces when I’ve made a mess of something.
5) What is your perfect day together?
Holidays are an obvious answer, we like to be doing something outdoors, walking, skiing, sunbathing and visiting beautiful places.
6) Apart from the obvious, what are you most looking forward to on your wedding day?
I guess because our wedding was a Covid wedding we really looked forward to seeing some family and close friends we hadn’t been able to see in a while, such as my best friend with her 6 month old who we hadn’t met before the day or my grandparents who had been shielding.
7) What was it that inspired you to go for the theme or the decor you chose for your wedding?
I really like pink, so I knew I wanted some pink flowers and I scrolled through a lot of flowers on Instagram before I found Willow&Wild who did a beautiful job of the flowers and I asked a very artistic friend if she would be able to design us some flowery stationery which we used on the Save the Dates, Orders of Service, Livestream (Covid shoutout!) and table plan. Sadly we only had the venue booked two weeks before the wedding so we didn’t actually send out invitations!
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?
I’m not sure my advice on planning a wedding is necessarily the best since we had so many changes to the plan because of Covid. However, I think it would be good advice to say, ask people for help. We had a lot of help from family and our suppliers who all wanted to do their best for us and they did a great job.
9) When searching, what were you were looking for in a wedding venue?
We may have had 3 venues in the 6 months that we were engaged due to the changes we had to make for the Covid regulations on weddings. We were delighted to end up with Saxon Mill, who did small weddings and good food. A lot of the original venues we had been looking at trying to squeeze in numbers up to 200 but in the end, we only needed a place to cater for 30. Our church venue was a very easy choice by comparison as that was the church that we both attend regularly and we could have our pastors involved in the service and a close friend as a registrar.
10) Could you tell me the process you went through when you were looking for a wedding photographer?
I googled a lot of wedding photographers and basically stalked them all on Instagram to get a feel of their style. We really liked Duncan’s photography for capturing the guests in chilled unposed shots. We couldn’t be happier that we managed to get Duncan, the upside of a Covid wedding is that you can book a good photographer without too much advance warning! We’ve had so many compliments on the photos and we can’t wait to have some printed out to put on our walls.
Vendor List
Photography | Duncan Cox Photography
Ceremony Location | Emmanuel Church Leamington Spa
Reception Location | Saxon Mill
Florist | Willow&Wild
Wedding Dress Alterations| StitchedUp Kenilworth
