On the 17th of September, I headed to Southwold to photograph Jess & Steve's wedding. I started off at a beautiful little cottage where the bride and the bridal party were getting ready.

The cottage was only a 30-second walk away from Southwold beach, so once everyone was dressed, made up, and accessorised, we took a quick trip to the beautiful and colourful beach huts to get some images of everyone together. The colour scheme for the wedding was "rainbow", so every bridesmaid was in a different brightly-coloured dress. 

From there, it was time for me to head to the venue - Woodfarm Barn in the Benacre Estate, located between Southwold and Lowestoft - to get set up for the rest of the day. Both the ceremony and the reception were taking place there, so I took the 20 minutes between my arrival and the bridal party's arrival to get a lay of the land. The bride and groom had meticulously decorated the venue with flowers and DIY decorations. The small barn/shed to the side of the main venue had a selection of board games, drinks, and even a Sega Dreamcast!

 The bride and bridal party arrived in awesome Mini Coopers, and we got a couple more photographs with the bridal party before the ceremony began.

Now that everyone had arrived, it was time for the ceremony!

 After the ceremony, the room got turned around for the meal and speeches. I got some detail photos of the room, as well as pictures of the guests as they socialised. Jess, Steve, and I also wandered off to the small wooded area beside the venue, to get some couple photographs whilst there was a bit of down time.

The food was, ingeniously, fish (or spring rolls for the veggies) & chips, and they had hired a retro ice cream cart for desserts. I absolutely loved the decor of this wedding. Everything was quirky and vintage, and there were photos from Jess & Steve's past dotted all throughout the room - plus a repeating slideshow throughout. Playmobile were also present throughout the venue, including two that acted as the cake topper!

Each table was named after one of their favourite TV shows, and the favours consisted of a mixtape of their favourite music (each with a scratchcard inside with which you could win free drinks at the evening bar).

Next up were speeches and cake-cutting!

I left at around half 7 after grabbing a few images of the first dance. 

Jess and Steve's wedding was super beautiful, colourful, and personal to them and their families and friends. I absolutely loved shooting it, and I hope that the photos are successful in conveying what a lovely day it was!

If you're interested in booking me for your wedding, engagement, or other event, then please email me at sophieephotos@gmail.com or have a look at my website here.

Thanks for reading!