Essex Back Garden Wedding – Amy & James
We’re used to capturing impressive, stunning and elegant weddings and Amy and James’s was up there as one of the most impressive. Their large, stylish, lavish and super fun celebration in James’s family garden was simply epic.
We first met these two when we captured their pre-wedding shoot in Holland Park with their gorgeous daughter Everly. We spent a fun hour together capturing some lovely authentic images and films of the family just enjoying a walk and one another’s company. Amy and James were thrilled with the images we got, and they made us look forward to the wedding even more.
The wedding was held in mid-June and the weather was perfect. We headed straight over to James’s family house to capture some amazing images of the garden all dressed and ready to go. It looked amazing. The wedding and ceremony were held in the garden and the main party (that included a funfair provided by Irvin Funfairs) was held on an adjacent field.
The amazing (out of this world) wedding planners, Addoevents, were given a theme of meadow flowers with a colour scheme of pastel colours, pinks, browns, golds and greens. And a free reign and boy did they go for it. Their decorations included over 600 real hydrangeas, a glass dancefloor, ice sculptures, a mini grand piano in the garden, a fun fair, fireworks, and a contortionist performing on a glitter ball. We were like a pair of children in a sweet shop, overwhelmed with choice as we took in all of the stunning backdrops for images and film.
The ceremony was held in the garden with Amy and James taking their vows in the middle and guests seated in a spiral pattern around them. White flowers adorned the aisle and ceremony area creating a wonderfully traditional look that worked perfectly with existing planting in the garden. It looked stunning.
Amy looked amazing in a white silk-draped dress byGrace Loves Lace. It had a gorgeous open back with an 80cm train and a Hayze Bridal veil that Amy had personalised with meadow flowers. Amy’s make-up was immaculate thanks to make-up artist Katy from The MakeUp Service. And her long hair was beautifully styled by hairstylist Nick Rose from Nick Rose Artistry
Amy was walked down the aisle by her father, to live musical accompaniment by a pianist playing a mini grand piano that had been placed on the steps of the garden. Her two bridesmaids looked elegant in black, and her flower girls (including daughter Everly) looked adorable in white.
We must give James a mention. He was so happy and chilled out and he and his groom’s party looked very smart in a traditional black tie. The lovely ceremony was conducted by celebrant Jenny M and afterwards, there was a fantastic confetti moment that we captured perfectly. Here, take a look!
Then everybody enjoyed a Rose champagne reception provided by The Drunken Jockeys who provided the drinks on the day. Champagne was served with canapes whilst guests enjoyed live music from a singer and a saxophonist provided by the team at Luxury Live Music, who provided all of the live music on the day.
When it came to food, Amy and James didn’t want to lock their guests into a two-hour sit-down meal, so arranged for caterers LUSH by Tom Kerridge to provide food that guests could dip into as and when they wished. Food was served in the marquee and dishes included Asian gyoza and poke bowls, light and zingy salads, brisket burgers, fish and chips and much more. There was also a dessert bar with lots of options. The food was, of course, delicious and much commented on by everybody at the wedding. The marquee also housed a talented 2-piece acoustic band who were happy to take requests from guests.
For evening celebrations, the marquee was dressed to impress. The white hydrangeas from the ceremony were placed underneath the glass LED dancefloor to create a look of dancing on a bed of flowers. And there was a contortionist performing on a large glitter ball. Of course, you need to see this image, so here it is!
For music in the evening, there was a live performance by the very talented Aston Band who quickly filled the dancefloor and even got Amy up on the stage performing an ABBA song with them. Then there was a break for the firework display arranged by the team at Pains Fireworks and set to a soundtrack of 5ive’s greatest hits. It was epic.
Everybody then rejoined the party, where a DJ kept the dancefloor full until the early hours.
A truly epic wedding for a fantastic couple. Congratulations to Amy and James for getting married and creating such an amazing day to remember. And thank you for allowing us to tell the story of it. We loved it!
We’ll leave the last words to Amy and James. Here are their thoughts on us:
“The team at MIKI have been great. We started the process slightly apprehensive and not really knowing what to expect but after seeing the results our first shoot in Holland Park, we could only be excited for when the team arrived on the day. All of the team are super friendly, relatable, relaxed and approachable which in part has helped create the most amazing collection of video and stills as the team integrated seamlessly with the guests and everything that was going on. A super group who we can’t thank enough for taking on the, bigger than described/sold, task of capturing our special day without fear and with just as much energy and enthusiasm as we put in ourselves.
The short film we received a few days after the wedding blew us away. Amy couldn’t stop watching it and she probably accounts for a good 250 views of the 16,000 views it has received on Instagram! All of the content shows the wedding as we felt it – FUN, exciting and truly special. We are so thankful to the team who captured these special moments and brought them together. Capturing the event in video is such a special treat because you get to see all of the bits you might have missed because you were somewhere else – example being James’ mum coming down the Helter Skelter, or friends simply enjoying a good catch up and drink on one of the many sofas soaking up the afternoon/evening sun.
The selection of images are super special and have been sent out to our closest friends/guests. All of the images and film shows the wedding as we felt it – FUN, exciting and truly special. We are so thankful to the team who captured these special moments and brought them together. Any email or WhatsApp from the team has been meant with shrieks of excitement as Amy just cannot wait to get her hands on more photos and to share them with the world! Amy has been putting together various collections of photos as thank you gifts to the different people involved.”
Amy & James’s gallery is now online!
Get the password from the couple and view/order images from their big day by clicking this link:
View Amy & James’s wedding gallery
As a special thanks for being such awesome guests, there is a 50% off code on all prints. This is only valid for the next 3 weeks. Simply enter the code THANKYOU when you check out.
Thanks for having us along for the day – it was amazing! // Ash and Mick x
