One fabulous day in June, Elmers Court was bathed in morning sunshine and was all set to give a wonderful young couple the most joyful wedding imaginable.
These quiet lawns would later be filled with guests and the laughter of children, but for now they were quiet and empty with a view of the in-coming tide and the Isle of Wight in the misty distance.
In just a few hours, Sean and Natalie would be married in an outside wedding ceremony amongst these gorgeous grounds.
Bridal Prep had a happy vibe and Natalie was full of joy as she carried out the last few essentials before getting into her dress.
Her dress had a lace-up back and was finished off with white ribbon waistband.
Sadly, once the guests' chairs had been setup, the sun went in and rain clouds gathered...
...but one thing was for sure, nobody was going to run out of confetti.
As the guests waited for the bride, it started to rain. But it was only light warm Summer rain and nobody seemed to mind.
All anybody was focussed on was the arrival of the bride.
As Dad and daughter approached the aisle...
...Dad needed one last hug before giving her away.
Sean was so delighted when he saw his bride.
As the ceremony progressed the rain eased off and the sky started to brighten.
When it came to photographing some romantic portraits with Sean and Natalie, rain was still in the air so we started with some photographs under the cover of the back porch.
Then we ventured into the garden...
...and blue sky broke between the clouds for them for just long enough for us to get this photograph of them.
When the white over-cast skies returned, we used this tree as top-frame and to cover the sky.
When we went inside, the amount of effort the couple had put in became apparent. These flip-flops had been provided for all their guests of all sizes.
This mirrored table plan was fabulous. We normally don't like photographing mirrored table plans because they often have white writing and everything reflected in the mirror is also white. But with Elmers' dark wood panelling and this gorgeous floral frame, it was a joy to photograph and looked magnificent.
And look what we found above the fireplace in the Grand Hall where they had their Reception and speeches!
Natalie and Sean had planned a wonderful wedding and were having a fabulous time.
When it was time for the speeches, the Father of the Bride gave a fabulously entertaining and moving speech.
Unusually, the Father of the Groom also gave a speech with some embarrassing stories and with some wonderfully touching moments too.
The groom gave a lovely speech, remembering to thank all the right people as well as moving us all with some heart-felt words to his beautiful bride.
As if the Groom hadn't had enough to worry about, wondering what his Dad was going to say about him and then him having to give his own speech...he then had two Best Men working as a double act and they had some fabulous stories about him...
...much to the delight of Natalie.
Later, everybody gathered round for the cutting of the cake on the dance floor.
Then it was time for their First Dance together as Man and Wife.
It was a beautiful dance...
...and captured everyone's attention. It was lovely moment...
...which got even better when they were joined by their little boy.
Natalie had had the most perfect day, she was dancing with her two most favourite people in the World and she threw her had back and sang her heart out with joy.
What a brilliant day it was for Sean and Natalie. It did rain a bit but it didn't cause any of the meticulous plans to change and it most certainly didn't spoil anybody's enjoyment of a wonderfully joyful day.
Sean and Natalie and their little boy are a wonderful young family and we wish them all the very best wishes for their future.
by Jacqui and Steve
