An Essex family home. Sarah’s Jenny Packham dress hangs up in the conservatory, where the summer heat is building. Sarah’s bridesmaids help her into her dress. They all put on their flower crowns. Sarah hugs her mum and dad and then they are ready to go. Arthur waits at Felstead church. He chats to his brother – the best man – and his ushers. He holds on to a ‘just in case’ handkerchief and wipes his eyes, as Sarah enters the church smiling. They exchange their vows. They place wedding rings on each other’s fingers. An unbroken circle. They are married. The exit joyfully, as the choir sings and they leave the church to greet their guests. A waiting car whisks them away, to Cressing Temple Barns, for drinks in the pretty walled garden. As well as canapés and champagne, guests are offered gin and tonic or cocktails in jam jars, as a guitarist plays in the background. Guests wander around the beautiful gardens, in the sunshine, or sit in the shade of a tree, while Sarah and Arthur mingle and chat. Dinner is served and everyone makes their way to the beautiful, rustic barn, where gin bottles and jars full of wild flowers decorate the tables. Dinner is a picnic and shared amongst the tables, in crates. Champagne is served in time for the emotional speeches and then Sarah and Arthur cut their cake. We head outside to take some wedding photography group shots, with their bridal party, before they take to the dance floor for their first dance. We head outside again into the last of the evening’s light, for pictures in the cornfield. Sarah and Arthur head back to the barn to dance the rest of the night away.
I wanted to share some of Sarah’s wedding illustrations separately, as they’re really beautiful. She’s a really talented illustrator and you can find her beautiful work here. She’ll be moving her website over to www.sarahsmartillustration.com shortly.
Laura Babb is a UK destination wedding photographer based in Walthamstow, North London. Babb Photo provides Cressing Temple Barns Wedding Photography, alternative wedding photography and artistic documentary wedding photography in London, across the UK, Europe and world wide.