Rachel and Luis’s wedding at Kew Gardens
Rachel and Luis’s family friends travelled from all over the world to attend their gorgeous wedding at Kew Gardens. They chose to get married in Kew’s impressive Nash Conservatory which was originally erected at Buckingham Palace but was moved brick-by-brick to Kew in 1836. The idea for the venue came to them one day when they were strolling through Kew’s iconic gardens.
Rachel looked amazing in a beautiful Mira Zwillinger trumpet gown that looked like it had been made for her. It had an intricate embroidered leaf pattern and a stunning train that gave Rachel an exquisite silhouette in all of our images. Luis looked very smart and perfect beside Rachel in a traditional black tie.
Now, it’s the little touches at weddings that tell me something of my couple’s personalities. At Rachel and Luis’s wedding, they went all out on the favours giving their guests a goodie bag on arrival that included a fun bingo sheet that encouraged guests to mingle, and a series of custom postcards with paintings of peony and plum blossoms from a painting by Rachels late grandfather. Guests were encouraged to use the postcards as a guest book. It was a wonderful way of incorporating Rachel’s late grandfather into the day.
After the ceremony, there was a fun bubble tunnel which we captured perfectly and guests could join in as their goodie bags also contained bubbles and a wand. These guys really did think of everything!
The wedding reception was held in Kew’s orangery and the long tables dressed for dinner looked stunning. Photographs were placed around the tables as well as some fun ice-breakers for conversation. Tables were named according to the animal characters from the Nintendo game ‘Animal Crossing’ (a guilty pleasure of Rachel’s from a mild addiction she had during lockdown!) For the reception, Rachel changed into a stunning vintage Oscar de la Renta ball gown that gave her a wonderfully fairy-tale look that really suited the grandeur of the orangery. Here, take a look!
Kew doesn’t need much adornment and we loved the way Rachel and Luis just went with the botanicals theme to further blend Kew’s beautiful indoor and outdoor spaces.
It’s always interesting to see what couples choose for flowers for a Kew wedding and the neutral summery foliage with pops of burnt orange, peach and burgundy were just perfect and were the creation of the very talented florist Mary Jane Vaughan.
Speeches on the day were very emotional as Rachel’s parents were unable to attend due to strict COVID restrictions in China. Rachel’s father wrote a speech and her Uncle (who travelled in from the US) read it out in English. And everybody enjoyed a toast of Chinese liquor afterwards.
We’ve captured hundreds of weddings in London and all around the world and rarely have we seen a wedding where the guests have been given so much consideration which tells us something about Rachel and Luis’s characters.
We loved filming and photographing Rachel and Luis’s stunning wedding at Kew. They were a dream to work with. We’ll leave the last words to them. Here’s what they had to say about us.
“We had a shortlist of photographers/videographers we were considering back in 2019, and you guys were the ones that ticked all the boxes: great photos and videos, great artistic direction, and all without looking too posed. We’re so glad we decided to go with you guys. In the first place, you guys are amazing people. Going through all the rescheduling during the pandemic wasn’t easy, but you were always very understanding and flexible. Then from the mini pre-wed in London around Christmas in 2019 to having you guys fly over to SF for a couple of days to the wedding day and the post-wedding shoot, we got to know you guys better and see how professional you are too. It’s easy to be comfortable around you guys and be “good models” for the shoots. The quality of the work is incredible.
Rachel & Luis wedding gallery is now online!
Get the password from the couple and view/order images from their big day by clicking this link:
View Rachel & Luis’ wedding gallery
As a special thank’s 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 me along for the day – it was amazing! // Ash x
