Ellie and Matt’s Back garden wedding
Ellie and Matt had a small wedding, in a small marquee, on a rainy day in September. It’s absolutely a day you need to read about, and see tons of photos from. Only superlatives will do here.
About 18 months ago, I got a DM from Ellie. It was one of the most polite and engaging “hello, I like your work, are you available for our wedding” messages I’ve ever received. It didn’t even matter that Ellie and Matt were planning to get married in Kent and I live in Cheshire, I knew instantly that they were the type of couple I love to work with. This was confirmed when they attended a wedding fair in London, and Ellie messaged me to say “I couldn’t even look at other photographers, I felt like I was cheating on you!”
Over the course of 2023 their wedding plans took shape. The wedding moved from a venue in Whitstable to Ellie’s mum’s backgarden. A celebrant was hired. A marquee and caterers. Ellie went on Vinted a lot. Standard pre-wedding behaviour.
And then the wedding happened and it was glorious. Everyone who was invited was there for a reason - because they have a close bond with Ellie and/or Matt. There were no plus ones, no “bring the kids, it’s fine”. It was small and perfectly formed.
An hour before the ceremony we made the decision to rearrange the whole marquee to make room for the ceremony, because it just kept raining. Tables were pushed aside, chairs arranged into neat rows. The ceremony was a beautiful moment in time, a positive memory for everyone who was there. Rings were hidden under chairs, and then passed round every guest before finally being presented to Ellie and Matt. A handfasting knot was tied with material from Matt’s dad’s work jumper, some floral material, an old dog lead and Ellie’s late dad’s medal from a marathon. A cherry tree was watered. And finally, so much confetti was thrown that I worried there’d be none left for any of the other weddings in the south east that weekend.
The Wedding Team
Celebrant: India Bel
Food: Truly Scrumptious Food Van
Clothing: Wed2B
Flowers: Flossea Flowers
Cake: Homemade, with toppers by Emma
Entertainment: Sage Duo
Hair and Makeup: Lydia London
Video: Gecko Films
Standard wedding things happened in non-standard ways. A first dance, a dancing grandma, speeches. Sometimes I leave a wedding and pinch myself that this is what I get to do for a living, and this time I left a wedding knowing that any other job would just be wrong, because this felt so right.
Oh, and it’s pink.
