Jessica and Hugh’s Sussex wedding is another autumn corker! Jessica and Hugh wanted both the groom and bride’s morning prep covered so they booked both Heather and I to photograph their special day – It was also lovely to have Heather back in wedding photographer mode – as she spends a lot of her time creating beautiful wedding videos, it doesn’t often leave time for second shooting!
Regular followers of the blog might remember Jessica and Hugh from their engagement session in Brighton in the summer, where they brought their energetic boxer dog Squid along to join in the fun. And Squid was also a special guest at the wedding – complete with a bow tie collar.
On the morning of the wedding I headed off to Cowdray Park to catch up with Hugh and the boys, while Heather met up with the girls at Jessica’s parents house to cover all the antics at the bridal prep. Jessica had surrounded herself with her nearest and dearest bridesmaids and family, making for a really relaxed morning. She had also gone to great lengths to show the girls how much she cared, with a wide array of gifts and even personalised dressing gowns – – the perfect start to a perfect day for sure.
Afterward we had well and truly covered both sides of their preparations, we met back up at the majestic St Mary’s church in Horsham for the ceremony – a wonderfully emotional ceremony, with hymns filling the church with so much joy.
Once the ceremony concluded, we headed to the nearby Old Swan Bridge, for some beautiful couple photographs in the most delightful autumn light! – Jessica had suggested it as an option if the weather was nice and we couldn’t have suggested a better spot! The forecast hadn’t looked good, but on the day – the weather was utterly perfect and the sun dipping behind clouds made for the most wonderful soft light.
After finishing up with their couple photos, we were keen to get them back to their guests, so we headed on to Fitzleroi Barn in Pulborough for the reception.
We photograph a lot of weddings at Fitzleroi Barn (amongst various other Sussex Barns) its always a lovely venue with so many great opportunities for photographs, but it was so lovely to see Jessica really put her mark onto the place, with wonderful autumnal colour bouquets – complemented with miles of bunting and some really wonderful personal touches for all of the guests – I think they really appreciated the foam sandals for dancing long into the night!!
This wedding had loads of lovely special touches, but being big F1 nuts our favorite had to be the good luck card Jessica received from F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo (Hugh is an engineer at Redbull Racing) – what a dude!
The speeches were emotional for sure – Hughs in particular had us all in tears, he made the most wonderful speech expressing his love for Jessica and his gratitude for all she brings to his life, They make for such a wonderful couple – it was great to see.
Jessica and Hugh you are both thoroughly lovely and it was a total pleasure to photograph your special day – thanks for making us both so welcome!
Another little blogging break following this wedding, as we’re on the road again – this time we’re photographing an Indian Wedding in London, before heading west to a wedding in Wales, before heading back down the south to a lovely Bath Wedding.
With thanks to Ambler Films