Kent Wedding Photography – A summer solstice wedding at Leeds Castle

Heather & Jay’s Summer Solstice wedding at Leeds Castle

On the longest day of the year, I headed into Kent to photograph Heather & Jay’s summer solstice wedding at Leeds Castle. A beautiful day at the most stunning venue where the sun shone for this lovely couple as they married in the castle amongst friends and family. Heathers makeup was done by Makeup by Katy and her hair style was created by Alexandra Hill. I love Katy’s make up, she always manages to create the a perfect balance of elegance and glamour while keeping a soft and natural look. Heather looked so pretty and elegant in her Suzanne Neville dress and it was great to see they had chosen dark green for the bridesmaids. Its a rare thing to see such a strong colour used but it worked wonderfully with the simple white flowers and the dramatic backdrop of the castle.

While Heather and the ladies got all glammed up in the Walnut Bedroom, Jay and the guys got ready down the hall. One of the things Heather wanted to do was try to recreate the famous portrait of Lady Baillie and her daughters. The room was different, as the painting was set in one of the downstairs drawing rooms, but I think we did a pretty good job at getting the feel of the painting.

Once the guys had dressed I made the most of the wonderful Library to get them together for some pre-ceremony photos. There was a little personalised gift of a hip flask (filled with something to keep them going!) for each of them from Heather. While they had a dram or two and got the buttons holes on the guests started arriving and it was soon ceremony time. The beautiful rooms are a dream as a backdrop for a wedding, only topped by a jaunt around the grounds on our own golf buggy for some relaxed photos of the newly married couple.

The day went into evening with speeches and cake cutting. I took the opportunity to grab Heather & Jay just before dessert to make the most of the glorious sunset we were lucky to get that day. The longest day really did surpass itself in its finale!

It was a truly wonderful day. A striking and dramatic venue, with a more than a little elegance and glamour and a lot of fun, laughter and love. Thanks so much Heather and Jay for asking me to be a part of your day.

Here are some of the people who helped bring Heather and Jay’s wedding together

Suppliers

Venue – Leeds Castle

Makeup – Makeup by Katy

Hair Stylist – Alexandra Hill

Brides dress – Suzanne Neville

Brides shoes – Carvela

Bridesmaids dresses – Dessy from Kiss the Bride

Suits – Austin Reed

Florist – Leeds Castle Florist

Cake – Waitrose

String Duo – Premiere String Quartet

DJ – Richard Neville

Stationery – Designed by the Bride & Groom, printed by Printed.com

Hope you have enjoyed this little reminder of the gorgeous summer. If you want more summer wedding inspiration take a look at Ashlea & Sam’s elegant summer wedding at Queens House.

Fiona x