Gary & Katy’s Holton Lee Wedding Fete

Katy and Gary had their very bespoke wedding at Holton Lee in Dorset. I have known Katy for some time as she used to work alongside my wife and when she and her fiancée Gary asked me to photograph their wedding I felt honoured to be able to be a big part of their special day.

The day started at Reef, a hairdressers in Ashley cross, minutes from my home. I could wander across to the shop without touching my car which felt a little odd on a wedding day morning. Little did I know what I was letting myself into, I am quite used to being ‘one of the girls’ in the morning but as I’m known on a personal level to this crowd I was the butt of a lot of banter, just how I like it.

Daisies were the theme of the day, the first I saw were in the form of gifts to the bridesmaids then they appeared in their hair and in the bouquet. This suited the day down to the ground and complimented Katy’s character. After a whistle-stop at Katy’s parents house for a  change into the beautiful dresses of the day (not me you understand) we drove down to Holton Lee, a few spots of precipitation kept us on our toes but that is all there was before the glorious sun arrived.

At Holton Lee my favourite Registrar greeted me, as it turns out was a family friend, accompanied a slightly nervous groom. Gary just wanted everything to be perfect for the girl of his dreams and when she arrived very nearly let his emotions get the better of him, a hard swallow and he was back in the room. Katy really did take his breath away in her beautiful summer wedding dress. After a touching ceremony and personal vows the pressure was off for a while and both Katy & Gary relaxed, laughed and enjoyed the warm glow of the sun and the affection shown to them by all their guests. This really was a beautiful Dorset summers day, an outdoor ceremony and a marquee in a meadow. It couldn’t have been any more perfect.

We wandered through the meadow to the marquee after the ceremony and it was then I could see just how much effort had gone into the wedding, every last detail had their own style written all over it. Jam jars for drinks, a row-boat for a cooler, lovely summer cakes including my fave, a Dorset Apple Cake! Considering it was an outdoor event in the sun there had to be garden games, I was not disappointed, bales of hay lay about to lounge on while Hula Hoops, coconut shy among other things entertained the masses while the drink flowed.

Katy & Gary were rewarded at the end of the day with a gorgeous Dorset sunset, the light thought the trees on the meadow was stunning and I was pleased that even though tired both were keen to make use of the light.

This wedding was one of my highlights of the year partly due to the personal connection, having my wife as one of the guests was a nice bonus to a beautiful day as the last time we shared a wedding day together was our own, but mainly because everything just went perfectly to plan and I don’t thing Katy or Gary would have changed a single thing.