Liz & Tom - Chesford Grange Wedding Photography

I first met Liz & Tom a couple of years ago back in 2019 at an Open Day hosted by the Chesford Grange Hotel, where I was displaying my wedding photography business. They explained to me that their big day was all booked for the following summer in 2020, and that they were still looking for their photographer. After they looked through a couple of my album samples (including one that featured their venue), and we had an informal chat, they said their goodbyes. A few days later they contacted me back and asked me to be their wedding photographer, high fives all round. But then in the spring of 2020, we all know what happened next, yep a global pandemic took a vice like grip on everyone's lives. So we waited, and we waited, and we waited more.

To cut a long story short, they were able to re-schedule their wedding for late June in 2021. The timeline of the Government's 'Opening Schedule' slipped a little, and meant that their day unfortunately couldn't quite be like a normal wedding day, but they decided to go ahead anyway. Chesford Grange Hotel between Leamington Spa and Kenilworth was their chosen venue, and this was also where the Bridal preparations were taking place. Their wedding service was at the beautiful Holy Trinity Hatton Church near Warwick. My day started at the main Bridal Suite, where I caught up with Liz and her team......

It was a lovely relaxing time for the girls, and they enjoyed this special period of the day. The colour theme for Liz & Tom's wedding was blue, as you can see with the Bridesmaid's dresses, and also the colour details for the flower girls. Liz was ready in good time, and had planned to go and visit her Mother in all of her wedding finery before arriving at the church. This was because her Mother was unable to attend the service and celebrations. This meant I had plenty of time to head across to Hatton and arrive at the church.

Several years ago, Liz's brother bought a very old car in poor condition with the intention of having a renovation project. Liz & Tom's wedding day proved the extra motivation to complete this project, and he offered to use it as their wedding car. And I have to say that the car looked amazing on the day.

At the top of this post I mentioned that there were still some restrictions in place for weddings. These included the need to wear face coverings indoors, except for the Bride & Groom, the Best Man and Bridal party when they were moving, and of course the Vicar. No communal singing was permitted either. So on the whole, not too bad.

It was such a lovely wedding service, and quite moving at times. The vicar was a very relaxed guy, which helped with the atmosphere and the process along the way. After the confetti throwing, and some very quick photos, it was time to head into the celebration phase of the day, and return back to Chesford Grange.

After the speeches, and then the wedding breakfast, we were all asked to leave the room so that it could be 'turned around' in preparation for the evening reception. This allowed people some down time, and some extra time to complete any formal photos.

It was soon time for the cake cutting and then the First Dance. In fact, this was the only dancing allowed as we all followed the restrictions to the letter. I kind of felt sorry for the guests that they couldn't have fun on the dance floor.

I was really pleased that Liz & Tom's wedding finally went ahead, they certainly deserved to have a fun day. And as an outsider it was lovely for me to observe that they definitely did. It was lovely also watching their family and friends be able to be part of the service and celebrations, they also deserved to have some great times again. On a personal level, it was my first wedding back since the start of the pandemic, and I couldn't have enjoyed it more. Congratulations to Liz & Tom. Stay Safe, Stay Healthy, and Stay Fabulous. Martin.