Aymeric and Natasha tied the knot at this stunning location, Surrey Country Halls!
Such a grand venue!
They had a book theme which you can see from the stationary and details of the day, all made by their own hand. I think it’s the most hand crafted work by a couple I’ve seen! Amazing thought and details went into it.
They incorporate french elements as well into their wedding such as the biggest cake I’ve seen made up of profiteroles!
Bridal Party Getting Ready
Natasha had rented a spacious air bnb not far from Surrey County Halls for the bridal party to get ready at. The place has beautiful glass bifold doors which let in lots of natural light and there was a garden as well so it was a lovely space for photos.
Natasha was prepared for the day with two pairs of shoes! Her heels and also she very sensibly had trainers for the day so she could change into them, but they’re not just any old trainers as you can see, they are the most beautiful glittery copper colour trainers with ribbon laces!
Raj and I always do posed photos as well and natural candid wedding photos, the best of both worlds! To get people feeling relaxed for the posed portrait photos I ask them to talk to the people they’re sitting with to get them to have a laugh first and then simply ask them to look over their shoulder or into the camera etc.
Groom & Groomsmen
Aymeric and his groomsmen arrived to the venue early to finish getting ready there. Then they could have a last minute check of the decor and run through everything as well.
Their rings were very simple and timeless with a little insricption on the inside with their names and wedding date. These two are all about the little details!
Aymeric’s suit is one of my favourite outfits I’ve seen on a groom. He wears a gorgeous herringbone blazer with a brown waistcoat, floral tie and pocket square and brown brogues.
The Ceremony
The venue is so unique as the ceremony is held is the court rooms so they have this beautiful shaped room.
You can see the bridal party and groomsmen sitting on the main panel at the front of the room and the guests in a U-shape all around them, and there was even a balcony!
It was decorated with some beautiful delicate pink and white flowers with ribbons, white fabric and hessian bunting.
Aymeric entered with his Mum and Niece. The bridesmaids and groomsmen walked into the venue in pairs from the two alternate walkways. Then the father of the bride entered with Natasha to walk her down the aisle. Everyone was just glowing with smiles!
There were beautiful speeches from Aymeric’s Dad and Natasha’s sister in both French and English.
The Rings
Aymeric’s niece was giving the rings to the Bride and Groom. There was such a cute moment where she was tipping the rings out the little bag and dropped them on the floor and there was a bit of a kerfuffle but lots of laughs as it just made the moment more real and special. They were really lovely together and she gave them both a kiss before she ran off.
Confetti and Champagne
After all they are French so they had to have plenty of Champagne flowing! And of course they had plenty of good wine at dinner as well!
This courtyard at Surrey County Halls was a great place for everyone to celebrate in the sunshine and to get some fantastic group shots as well!
Raj was able to get up onto a balcony and shoot down onto the courtyard for the wedding group photos.
The Bride & Bridesmaids
Natasha’s sister wears a pink dress as she is the maid of honour and everyone else wears dusty blue with pale pink bouquets, such lovely colour combinations!
The Blue Staircase
Wedding Dinner
The staff at the venue were incredibly helpful and constantly on hand for the bride and groom to organise what was next and moving people around the venue to the different areas for different parts of the day.
The very grand hall for dinner at the top of a stone staircase with stain glass windows.
Natasha & Aymeric had a book/ library theme for the dinner set up. Your name card would tell you which table you sat at. The tables were all named after authors such as Blyton & Saint-Exupéry. All the names cards were hand typed on a typewriter by themselves.
You looked for your name card in the mini filing cabinet.
Ladies & Gentlemen please be upstanding for the Bride & Groom
The Father of the Bride & the Groom made their speeches.
Then the Groomsmen took centre stage for some surprise entertainment & speeches.
They had put such incredible effort into their speeches, a quiz and plenty of embarrassing videos of Aymeric including ones they had secretly filmed at the stag party!
The Quiz
Question 5
How did Aymeric dive into the water?
A. a bellyflop
B. canonball
C. a front flip
D. none, he slips & fails misserably
Then they played the video to demonstrate! You can guess what happened!
The Groom was so embarrassed he hid under a napkin & the whole room was just crying with laughter!
Let Them Eat Cake…
I’ve never seen a cake like this one before! A victoria sponge cake as the base and a GIANT tower of profiteroles!
Bride & Grooms Photo Time!
We were interrupted by Aymeric’s niece and they started having so much fun together we got some great photos!
Keep going right to the bottom of this blog post to see more of our favourite couples photos or head to the main gallery!
With two photographers this usually means we have plenty of time to grab other guests to get some lovely couple or group shots for people.
It’s great fun when people really enjoy the opportunity to have some photos taken!
Let’s Celebrate!
Out with tradition… who decided that a bride & groom had to have a “first dance”. The bride doesn’t like dancing so why put herself through having to dance in front of hundreds of people on your special day! Instead when the music played, Natasha ran off so people couldn’t persuade her into it and let everyone else join the dance floor together.
Of course the groom had no choice but to crowd surf as he was lifted up by his groomsmen!
Once everyone was dancing away Natasha tried her best to sneak back and subtly joined in…
Their final presentation box…
We try to be as eco friendly as possible so when exploring options for final photo presentation boxes we have decided to make each one individual and unique to every couple.
This means we can look at using vintage or second hand items to present everything in. As Natasha and Aymeric’s day was book themed we had to go with a book by their favourite author! We even stuck a library card to the inside cover in the style of their wedding with their names and wedding date on it…. hand typed on our type writer to match as well of course!
The wooden USB stick is made from seasoned tree branches. We fill the presentation box with any little trinkets or details from the day as well. The wooden hearts decorated their tables and they used lavender as confetti so we sprinkle that inside as well so it would smell lovely!
