Submitted by Darren on
Sam and Luke’s Leamingotn Spa's house party wedding
Leamington Spa Wedding Photography and Vlogging my Everybody Smile Photography
How long do you think it takes to plan the average wedding? A year? Two? Perhaps somewhere in the middle, so you’ve got time for the dress fittings, sorting out the suppliers, getting the invites out in good time…
What if I told you I’d just been to a fantastic wedding organised in under a week?
Sounds unbelievable, doesn’t it?
On a Wednesday evening I had a message from a friend asking if I was free the coming Saturday for a local Warwickshire wedding, and as luck would have it, I was. My friend put me in touch with best man Luke, who explained why everything was so last minute.
Luke told me that the bride and groom had decided, on a whim, to turn the bride’s upcoming 40th birthday party into their humanist wedding ceremony – and as soon as I heard that story, I was in! A spontaneous, surprise wedding? A birthday party turned up to 11? Yes please!
The following day I got to speak to bride and groom, Sam and Luke, who were (unsurprisingly) a pretty chilled pair. They’d realised that with family and friends all coming together for Sam’s birthday, they’d have all their important people in one place at the same time, and it was an ideal moment to have their humanist ceremony. The whole thing had some really ‘Challenge Anneka’ vibes, as the bridal party had mucked in and were sorting suppliers with less than a week’s notice. What a team!
The wedding was planned to be in Sam and Luke’s family home. They’d recently had it landscaped, so it was rather brave of them to invite a hundred or so of their family and friends in to enjoy the freshly laid grass, but everything was set up beautifully for a party. There was a big stretch marquee in place, a DJ booth was installed at the end of the garden, a borrowed pizza oven was up and running – they were good to go!
Just as everything seemed to have fallen into place for Sam and Luke, the weather decided to play ball as well and the day of the wedding was gloriously hot and sunny. As guests were arriving, the gin and whiskey were already flowing, at the ‘help yourself’ bars that the couple had arranged around the garden. It was clear that the spontaneity of the occasion, plus the obvious joy of being together after the last 18 months, meant that everyone was in the mood to party…
Before that, though, there was the small matter of the wedding ceremony to attend to. The service was held under the tent in the garden, and with Sam’s yoga teacher’s partner luckily being a humanist celebrant, they’d managed to find someone to officiate. As with all humanist ceremonies, it was a lovely, personal service, and the joy radiated from the happy couple as they made their promises to each other.
Next, we were all treated to platters of absolutely delicious Jamaican food, and then at Sam and Luke’s request we stole away for a few moments with the dog to take some pictures in the little wood adjoining their house, a place they’ve spent many a happy evening walking and enjoying the peace.
That peace was pretty short-lived, however, as we were soon back at the house where the dancefloor was in full swing! At most weddings, it takes a good long while for the dancefloor to fill up, but on this occasion there was no stopping Sam and Luke’s guests! The bride and groom are passionate about music and their DJ friend created a fantastic atmosphere.
It really felt to me like the first big wedding party I’d been at for over a year – and I can’t tell you how happy that made me! It was such a pleasure to be surrounded by people having a great time and the energy of the whole event made taking pictures filled with joy a pretty easy task for me. I left the party completely full of the feelgood factor and I hope Sam and Luke feel it come flooding back every time they look at their pictures.
Congratulations you two!
Leamington Spa Wedding Photography - Find my favourite photos from Luke and Sam's Leamington Spa wedding day below
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