Local Wedding Photographers
Kayleigh and Ryan tied the knot back in February. It started a gorgeous sunny day, but as we arrived back at The Lawn, a thick fog come in. I have known Ryan for many years, after working with him when I was younger before becoming a Local Wedding Photographer.
Scroll down and find out a little more about their special day along with some of my favourite images from their day! I hope that you enjoy the images, and if you would like to find out more information about me photographing your big day, then please get in touch at gary@gdphotographer.co.uk
How did you meet?
We met online on POF (so there are some success stories lol) Ryan messaged me hi and as I didn’t reply straight away he then messaged me again to say sorry that’s not very original haha. We chatted on there very briefly before Ryan asked for my number and we got on so well after chatting on the phone we went for our first date a week later. We’ve been together ever since.
How did he propose?
We always take our dogs for walks down East beach. We were taking Faith for a walk and Ryan wanted to go a certain way along the beach. I thought he was acting a bit odd but thought nothing of it. Halfway through the walk, he said he had something to tell me and then got down on one knee. It was completely unexpected but was a perfect engagement – just us and our fur baby. We then walked to the local pub afterwards where Ryan has arranged for the family to be waiting as a surprise with balloons and prosecco.
What Wedding Venue/s did you choose and why?
We had always said when we got married we would have the ceremony at St Andrew’s church. It has sentimental reasons for us as sadly Ryan lost his dad a few years ago and his ashes are buried there – we wanted him to be a part of the day.
For the reception venue, we chose the Lawn. We loved it from the moment we looked around and really liked the fact that the venue was yours for the day. We could just picture all our favourite people celebrating with us and the staff there couldn’t do enough for you. Plus obviously, it is a beautiful venue – we liked the fact it didn’t matter what the weather was doing as it’s as beautiful inside as it is outside.
Where did you buy your dress?
I bought my dress from confetti & lace at Lakeside. I tried a few dresses on in other stores but nothing was matching up to what was in my head (I was set on having sleeves) My dress was by Dando London and when I tried it on it was just knew it was my dress. All the girls in there were so lovely and I’m sad I don’t get to go in there anymore haha. Everyone commented on the day how amazing my dress was and I also said I don’t get to wear it again either.
What about the groom’s suit?
Ryan is into his scooter and really likes all of the 1960s Mod fashion so he wanted his suit to reflect that. He wanted something smart and dapper and after searching found his suit online on jumpthegun.co.uk When it got delivered it fitted perfectly and we loved the fact it had a navy collar that fitted with our colour scheme.
Did you have a theme or colour scheme for your wedding?
As Ryan proposed on the beach and we spend so much time down there as a couple we wanted our wedding to have a slight beach theme. We did this by using lanterns filled with sand and shells, sailboats for our name places and little decorative bits dotted around the venue.
For our colour scheme as it was a winter wedding, we wanted a darker colour. So we went for navy with a touch of silver. The bridesmaids wore navy dresses and the groomsmen had navy suits with grey checked jackets. For the flowers, we went with mainly white with a touch of blue. I felt the navy contrasted really well against the white and looked beautiful in the photos.
What source did you use for wedding inspiration?
We did a lot of bits ourselves to save money but also to put our own personal stamp on our wedding. I mainly used Pinterest to get lots of ideas and tweaked them to fit what we wanted for our day. I also got inspiration from Instagram and YouTube. My best friend Emma is very creative so she helped me out making things as did my friend Matt. We had a lot of arts and crafts afternoons.
If you could turn back the clock before planning started, what advice would you give yourself?
Try not to stress about the little things. Everything will come together on the day and even if things do not go exactly to plan you either won’t care or won’t notice. And it sounds silly to enjoy the wedding planning process. It can be stressful at times but you only do it once and on the day it goes by so fast so try and enjoy every minute!! We’re so glad we went with what we wanted as we literally had the best day.
What was your favourite photograph from the day?
We feel like Gary did such an amazing job we can’t just pick one favourite, As always we can’t agree haha. Ryan’s favourites are of us holding hands in the church doorway and of me in my dress in the window. I really love the one of us kissing with the church in the background and outside the lawn with the car. But WE do both love the black-and-white shot of us walking down the aisle right after we got married :)
What song did you choose for your 1st dance?
We really struggled to pick a first dance song as we have quite different tastes in music. In the end, we went for Better – Tom Baxter as we really liked the words and thought it was a nice song to slow dance to.
Was “Gary Derbridge Photography” the right photographer for you?
Absolutely from the minute, I saw his page on Instagram we knew we wanted him to do our photos. Gary is such a lovely guy and he made us feel really comfortable as Ryan isn’t a fan of posing for photos. He captured lots of amazing moments and a lot of guests commented on how friendly he was and that it was nice he wasn’t in your face with the camera. We absolutely love all our photos – we got a nice mixture of posed and natural ones and felt he captured our day perfectly. If you’re considering using Gary for your wedding photos we would 100% recommend him, you won’t regret it!
Your Suppliers?
Venue: St Andrews church, Shoeburyness & The Lawn, Rochford
Wedding Dress: Dando London – confetti & lace lakeside
Men’s suits:Grooms: jumpthegun.co.uk
Groomsmen : next
Florist: Christine’s of Hockley
Cake:Lil Ma Mannings cakes
Hair:Bridal hair by Jennie
Make-up: Annie Collins – Valencia Beauty
Light up letters – events on fleek
Band – The Shakedown – function band
Bridemaid dresses – Tfnc London