I absolutely loved shooting this beautiful  Ashton Lodge wedding in Stretton under Fosse.

The first time I met Emma, she showed me the video of her fiancé, Sam surprising her by turning up out of the blue at their home (on leave from his job in the forces) AND then getting down on one knee. There was much shrieking (Emma’s) and many tears (from both of them) – that’s a pretty decent proposal! I knew straight away that I would love working with this awesome pair. And I was right, from their mutual obsession with their cats to their fun-loving nature, these were my kind of people and it was a total pleasure to share their wedding day with them.

I really enjoyed the bridal prep part of the day as Emma got ready in her family home with her mum and bridesmaids – there was heaps of champagne, nostalgia, love, laughter and excitement. After a leisurely morning it was time to put The Dress on before we knew it and then off to Ashton Lodge I went to meet Sam and his groomsmen. There were nerves-a-plenty but it was a stonking August day and the venue looked spectacular.

Sam’s face as he waited for Emma at the top of the aisle at Ashton Lodge was priceless; and then he turned to look at her walking towards him…and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. The love in the room was palpable and I hope I managed to capture a little bit of the emotions everyone was feeling.

Fast forward and everyone settled into a wonderfully relaxed day, in amongst their guests enjoying the beautiful sunshine I was able to get lots of shots of little ones playing on the climbing frame and tractor in the beautiful grounds at Ashton Lodge. I’m always drawn to the small people at a wedding and they didn’t disappoint me – from the angelic newborn that was barely a week old to the napping baby under the huge oak tree and the mischievous pre-schoolers sneaking out of the wedding breakfast room to steal sweet treats from the pic-a-mix trolley, there was so much to capture and I was in my element 🙂

Emma’s Dad and Sam made lovely, heartfelt speeches, and the proposal video featured! Then there was much hilarity around the best man, Sean’s speech, cue lots of heads in hands and dropped jaws. Just moments later though, Sean was so touched by the gift that Emma and Sam gave him to thank him for all he had done to help them with the wedding, that he had tears in his eyes – there was one hell of a bear hug! So, we had it all – heartwarming declarations of love, belly laughs and a best man in tears. All. The. Feels.

Before the first dance I managed to grab the happy couple for some really quick photos before the sun went down and I’m so glad I did – the light was incredible and we got some of my favourite shots of the day as this loved up pair had a few quiet moments together amongst the madness of their very special day.

Thank you so much for having me along guys, you totally rock and I had the BEST time xx