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Josie and Rob - Anne of Cleves House

March 16, 2022  /  Rebecca King

This was my final wedding of last season, and what a lovely one it was to end on. It was such a warm and intimate occasion. Everyone was so lovely and kind and there was so much love involved.

This wedding took place at the wonderful Anne of Cleves House in Lewes. It is a beautiful medieval home that was given in a divorce settlement between King Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves, his fourth wife. It is located about five minutes walk from the brides childhood home. I met her and her family there. We took the short, but picturesque walk to the venue. which was such a lovely thing to be able to do. What made the choice of venue even more special was that it was where the brides parents had also been married.

I am always in awe of my brides, the work they put into organising their weddings, all in-between working, home life, and a lot of the time, childcare. So many brides invest so much time in making their day perfect, and a lot of them also spend time making favours or decorations to bring a more personal touch to the day. Josie went one better, as she made her own wedding dress, and her daughters bridesmaid dress. I can sew, but I cannot master making clothes, let alone a wedding dress. It was the most beautiful dress, and I have to say, I’m so impressed by her for doing it. The decorations she made were brightly coloured pom poms wreaths and bunting, and even some fabric fortune cookies. The talent obviously runs in the family as Josie’s mum made the stunning wedding cake. it was a beautiful two tier chocolate cake, covered in flowers that matched the colour scheme and the bouquets.

It was such a beautiful and sunny September day, we even got a quick twenty minutes free to walk from Anne of Cleves House to the beautiful Southover Grange Gardens, to take a few Bride and Groom photographs. As I always recommend to my couples it’s a good idea to have that quiet moment with just them and the photographer, a little moment of calm and reflection on what is a crazy busy, but magical day. I love Grange Gardens for photographs. It’s a beautiful green space, that’s full of flowers and trees and different textures. It’s a walled garden, so it feels like your away from everything. Also the beautiful 16th century Grade II listen Manor House is a lovely backdrop. I love to get the chimneys and rooftops in the background of the photographs, sometimes you have to try to avoid other newlyweds though as it is also a registry office.

This was such a wonderful wedding, it was so informal and relaxed. The children were having a blast running around the house and gardens, they were enjoying all that this lovely venue has to offer, even wearing the costumes they have out for any visitors. It was a great day, spent with lovely people to celebrate this wonderful couple.

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categories / Wedding Photography, Wedding dress, Sussex Wedding, Photography, Lewes wedding, Lewes, East Sussex wedding
tags / wedding hair, wedding veil, weddings, wedding dress, Lewes wedding, Sussex wedding, East Sussex wedding, Anne of cleves, wedding bouquet, wedding blog, Lewes

Lucy and Ryan - Lewes Castle/East Sussex National

January 19, 2022  /  Rebecca King

I’m thinking back to the heady warm days of August (yes, I know it takes me ages to get around to writing these blogs). Lucy and Ryan tied the knot at the stunning venue of Lewes Castle. Lewes castle is in Lewes, unlike Leeds castle that happens to be in Kent!

Lucy and Ryan were a Covid couple, they had had their wedding day cancelled three times, but thankfully the rules were changed a few weeks before their big day, so everything could go ahead just how they wanted it to.

I was fully vaccinated by this time, so I felt a lot more at ease. I had still been wearing a mask whenever I was indoors, which is tricky because my viewfinder steams up. Luckily, Lewes Castle is an outdoor venue so I had no worries about masks during the ceremony. I would only have to wear one for the evening meal and party, which was to take place at East Sussex National Hotel in Uckfield.

Lewes Castle is a beautiful venue, it’s a late 11th century Norman castle. It has stunning panoramic views of the South Downs, and of the old town of Lewes below.

The wedding ceremony at Lewes Castle takes place under the West Tower archway, which is surrounded by roses. The guests sit in The Pleasure garden under the shade of an old lime tree. There is so much to see at the top of the castle, the only drawback of getting to the top is there are so many steps!

After Lucy and Ryan’s ceremony we took some photographs with the views of Lewes in the background. Then it was down to the Gun Garden for drinks and canapés, whilst beautiful music was played on a cello and violin. I got to steal the happy couple away, only for a few moments for some photographs around the beautiful location. They weren’t fans of having their photographs taken, but I felt it was my duty to make sure that they had at least a couple of them together, as they would surely regret it in the years to come. It’s not every day you get married at a historic castle. They wanted documentary style photographs. Documentary wedding photography will tell the story of your day, through candid, unposed images . It allows you to spend all your time with your friends and family, without any awkward posing or hours of formal group shots. Which can give you an authentic feel of the day. I did request that we did one group shot of all the guests, it’s very rare that you can get all your loved ones in one place at the same time, so its nice to have at least one photograph of them all smiling. I did have different guests asked me to take photographs of them with their loved ones, which I was more than happy to do.

After Lucy and Ryan received their photographs they did say how much they loved them, and how they had been enjoying going through them to have them printed to put in an album. I will always do my utmost to give my couples exactly what they want and more, I am glad I took them away for five minutes and gave them the photographs they didn’t know they wanted.

After a couple of hours in the sunshine in the Gun Garden with drinks, food and even a caricature artist, it was time to all get on the wedding bus and head off to East Sussex National Hotel for the food, speeches and an evening of fun and dancing.

I am taking bookings for 2022/23, our prices start from £500. All packages included edited images on a USB.

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categories / East Sussex wedding, Lewes, Lewes wedding, Photography, Sussex Wedding, Wedding dress, Wedding Photography
tags / wedding hair, wedding veil, weddings, wedding dress, Lewes wedding, lewes, Lewes Castle, East Sussex national, Castle wedding

Christmas Wreath Workshop

December 06, 2021  /  Rebecca King

I had the pleasure of being asked to photograph a wreath workshop and afternoon tea, for promotional content.

The workshop was being run by Delphi Flowers, which is based in RIngmer. The delicious cream tea was supplied by the lovely ladies at Connie and Cooper Catering. The decorations and beautiful vintage tableware was supplied by Betty Loves Vintage, and this all took place at the stunning venue of Milwards Estate in Laughton.

It was a lovely way to spend an afternoon. It was a fun and Christmassy thing to do. I highly recommend if you’ve never done one to try it out. This one came with the added bonus of a delightful cream tea afterwards. There were delicate finger sandwiches, scones with jam and some stunning cakes, not to mention my favourite, sausage rolls. I was lucky enough to get to have some of the amazing food.

It was such a lovely atmosphere, with Christmas music, mulled wine and everyone enjoying spending time together, unlike last year when it all happened over Zoom.

It was so nice to be out again and doing something other than being at home. I look forward to being able to experience more fun things, hopefully life can get back to normal soon.

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categories / Photography, Business shoot, promotional material
tags / Christmas, cream tea, wreath making, photographs, photography, workshop, cakes

Victoria and Ed - The Gallivant

November 17, 2021  /  Rebecca King

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve written a blog, as I have been very lucky to be busy working again, and I’ve been in the middle of a room renovation.

The wedding of Victoria & Ed was the first wedding I had photographed since the beginning of the pandemic that had no restrictions. I was a little bit nervous as I hadn’t been in a room with that many people for a while, but I was very excited too. Victoria and Ed were such a wonderful couple so they made my job very easy. They had their wedding cancelled the previous year due to Covid-19, so we were all very happy that this day was finally happening.

The Gallivant is a lovely venue. It is a boutique hotel at the beautiful beach area of Camber Sands. I had been watching the weather all week and hoping for sunshine so we could get out on to the sand dunes for some photographs. We were lucky. The sun shone for this beautiful couple and we got some amazing shots of them, with the most stunning views.

My day started in one of the gorgeous hotel rooms with the bridal party, they were getting their hair and make-up done by Kitty-Boo Creative. The bridesmaids were wearing delicate powder blue dresses that were able to have different styles for the ties at the back. The Maid-of-Honour was wearing a lovely and complimentary wine coloured dress. The brides beautiful Champagne coloured bodice dress was from Tying the Knot Bridal. It was hanging up in a perfect position above the roll-top bath. The pretty mixed coloured bouquets and boutonnières were by the in-house florist The Flower House Studio. It is always so lovely to be part of this pre-wedding moment, there is such a frisson of excitement. There were tears, laughter and plenty of champagne (obviously not for me).

When everyone was ready, and after some photographs it was time to walk to the ceremony room. It was decorated with fabulous vintage swimming costumes in frames. The hotel has a California beach theme with lots of plants and bleached wood. We were so lucky, because as soon as we got inside the heavens opened. It is said to be good luck to have rain on your wedding day, it’s even more lucky that it stops as soon as the ceremony is finished. The ceremony was a beautiful, sweet and an emotional event. It was such a special moment, especially as they had to wait over a year for it. After the I do’s and a quick hello to everyone I whisked the couple away to the Camber Sands dunes. It was only across the road. There was a steep hill of sand to climb so understandably the brides shoes had to be taken off, and the groom was such a gentleman as he helped with the shoes, flowers and the train of the dress. We got to the sand dunes and looked out across the sea, it was a stunning day with a glorious blue sky. The colours were beautiful, pale, yellow sand, azure blue sky and delicate wispy green grasses.

I always think it’s so import that the newlywed couple find this quiet time with only them and the photographer. The rest of their day will be so busy and crazy that you won’t get the time to be on your own and reflect that you’ve just tied the knot.

We took so many gorgeous photographs on the sand dunes, and Victoria and Ed were so much fun and were great to photograph. They really got into the spirit of it all they were relaxed and a delight to be with.

As with all weddings everything runs to a very tight schedule, so we didn't have too long at the beach for the photographs, and we wanted to go back to the hotel and photograph the bridal/groom parties and family members. The Gallivant had some beautiful gardens for the photographs, so we were able to really make the most of this stunning location. If you’re going to hire a beautiful venue it really seems a shame to only have photographs in one area of the grounds. Make the most of these stunning places as you don’t want to regret anything. Make sure there is time planned in for it. I have photographed some weddings and only been given fifteen minutes for the couple shots. It’s a bit mad and can be done, but it’s not as enjoyable or relaxing for all involved.

It was then time for the delicious meal and all the wonderful, emotional and funny speeches, there was even a song! After that it was the cutting the wedding cake. It was a stunning naked cake that was decorated with beautiful flowers. It was made by The White House in Rye. Then it was the first dance and party time! It was wonderful that dancing and music were allowed again, it really is the fun party element of what can be a very official and stressful day. It’s the time everyone can relax and celebrate to the joy of a wedding.

I had a wonderful day spent photographing this beautiful couple and their lovely family and friends. It’s been very difficult to choose what photographs to share from the hundreds of their gorgeous photos. It really was a special day and I am so grateful to have such a lovely job spent with fabulous people on one of their happiest days. Does it get better than that?!

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categories / Photography, Wedding Photography, East Sussex wedding, Rye Wedding
tags / wedding hair, weddings, wedding bouquet, wedding dress, Gallivant Hotel, Camber Sands, Beach wedding, Tying the knot Bridal, Kitty boo creative, east sussex, Sussex wedding, East Sussex wedding, Rye wedding

Rebecca & Theo - East Sussex National

July 29, 2021  /  Rebecca King

It was an absolute pleasure to photograph this beautiful couple, who were obviously so in love. It was such a warm and caring atmosphere to be a part of, with so many lovely family and friends present. Not to mention the cutest bridesmaid and page boy. It was a smaller occasion, but the day didn’t feel any the less for it. It felt just perfect.

After what had seemed like a month of rain and constant checking of the weather reports, we got sunshine! The wedding took place at East Sussex National Hotel and golf resort. It’s a lovely hotel with lots of green spaces. It also has various size function rooms and there are plenty of rooms for guests to say in. The delicious gluten free cake was supplied by Sovereign Cakes, and the flowers and table decorations were supplied by Flutterby events.

Rebecca and Theo were married outside, which was lovely for me, as not only does it have natural light, there is a beautiful backdrop, but also I didn’t have to worry about my mask steaming up my viewfinder. There was a beautiful birdcage structure which was covered in wisteria, unfortunately it had bloomed, but it was still covered in luscious green leaves. There was a white carpet that lead the bride straight up the alter, so no need to worry about her heels sinking into the grass. The ceremony was so sweet. We took photographs with all the guests with the bird cage as a lovely backdrop. Then the bride and groom and I were driven in a golf buggy around the grounds to take some photographs of the bride and groom only. It was lovely and quiet with only a few golfers walking about. It’s always nice for me to be able to take the couples away from everything for their pictures. it’s the first time they’ve been alone since they tied the knot and its nice for them to find a moment of stillness in the craziness of the day. I highly recommend that you find the time in your day to do it.

It has been so nice to get back to work again. I hadn’t realised how much I had missed working. I feel so privileged to have this as my job. I get to spend my days photographing lovely people in beautiful locations. Everyone is at some point between excited, very emotional and full of utter joy. It really is the best atmosphere. To be present and to photograph the moment when these couples declare their love for one another and promise themselves to each other, it’s such an honour. To think that generations will look at your wedding photographs is very humbling. I pride myself in making sure my photographs are the best portrayal of my couples day. I try to document those little individual moments and to make sure that every couples set of photographs have a different and individual to them. I try not to make my couples pose too much, I feel it gives an unauthentic feel to the photographs. I want my couples and wedding guests to feel as relaxed and as comfortable as possible. People are individuals and each wedding will have its own vibe, so the photographs should represent that.

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categories / Photography, Lewes wedding, Wedding Photography, East Sussex National Hote
tags / wedding hair, wedding veil, weddings, wedding bouquet, wedding dress, East Sussex national, bride, groom, Lewes wedding