I first met Toni and Lee at Kennington Hall back in the autumn of 2021. They were at the Kennington Hall wedding open day and were having a look around to see if it was suitable for their wedding.
We got chatting and they started to tell me about the plans for their wedding and I was immediately hooked. I just thought "if they can make this work then I have got to be their wedding photographer". They had so many ideas and they are both such lovely people I just knew it was obviously going to be a laid back, fun, and very special day.
We met again before their wedding to chat over some of the finer points again and Toni started to tell me about her cake. Up until this point I didn't know what an amazing cake maker Toni was, in fact I didn't even know that she made cakes. Wow!! She is incredible at it. If you are looking for your wedding cake, drop me a message and I will put you in touch with Toni.
Fast forward to summer 2022 and the big day arrives, and so does the heat. What a day! It was going to be a scorcher. Dawn and I arrived at Toni's home to get a few photos of her and her bridesmaids getting ready and also to get a few photos of them all on the cliff top overlooking the English Channel just over the road from their home. What an incredible location. With the dress reveal photos, the bridesmaids groups photos, and a few of Toni and her son in the camera it was time to drive the half an hour or so up to Ashford for their Kennington Hall wedding.
As soon as I drove into the venue I could see Toni and Lees influence everywhere. Kennington Hall looked absolutely fantastic and it was evident how much work they had both put in. A bouncy castle, a rodeo bull, tug of war, a stilt walker (I didn't expect that) hay bales to sit on, garden games. It was a really lovely atmosphere and with the sun beating down it all felt like a perfect Kennington Hall wedding.
Their wedding ceremony was taken by Karina (Simply Ceremonies) whom I have met at a few weddings now and it's fair to say Karina knows how to make sure there are tears of laughter, moments that make you go "awwwwww" and moments that pull on your heart. Toni and Lee managed to involve their guests within their ceremony which I always think is incredibly touching. They also arranged with me to have their wedding ceremony live streamed for those that couldn't physically make it, and again, a moment or two was taken to say hello to everyone watching the live stream too.
With the ceremony over the only way to exit really is whilst doing the conga, this was possibly the most epic exit I have seen a bride and groom take, and everyone, literally everyone loved it!
Toni and Lee wanted some time for all of their guests to relax under the sun before we went into the group photos so it was a perfect time for me to wander around and get photos of everyone either sitting down and chatting and laughing, or photos of friends dancing to the band, or to get photos of people being thrown from the bucking bronco. Seriously, every wedding should have a bucking bronco! There was just so much laughter coming from that corner of the Kennington Hall lawns for so long. Everyone was having a totally amazing time.
We then had some time to get all of the group photos on the lawn with Kennington Hall as the backdrop before it was time for the BBQ meal and ice cream from the ice cream van, both of which were perfect for such a hot summer's day.
We had speeches in the softening evening light and again there were happy tears, sad tears and more than just a few moments when we could all see how perfect for each other Toni and Lee are. Then we nipped inside to find the cake. Toni had made the cake and it had been kept inside in the cool and out of the 37 deg heat of the day. The cake was just incredible and the only way to cut such an incredible cake is with a sword of course. Perfect!
The laughter didn't stop throughout Toni and Lee's wedding day. Their first dance was photographed and then just before it was time for me to leave, the evening was lit up by a fire breathing act which was truly brilliant and absolutely everyone gathered for it.
Toni and Lee had planned their wedding to be as unique and full of life as they are themselves. I can not think of many venues in Kent where you could ask to have a bouncy castle, a bucking bronco, an outside caterer and an ice cream van and the venue would say "yes, sure", let alone the hay bales, the marquee, and the fire breather. It seems to me that a Kennington Hall wedding and Toni and Lee were a perfect match for their gorgeous big day, and I am so pleased that they trusted me to be their wedding photographer. Thank you both so much.
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