Apton Hall was the perfect setting for Cait & Jordan’s intimate boho country vibes December 2020 wedding with romantic fairy lights and a copper flower arch. Cait wore a stunning Abigail’s Collection dress and Sophia Webster shoes! Intimate Wedding Photography Essex
Sarah says:
The Covid-19 pandemic wasn’t going to dampen the wedding of their dreams and it was so great to photograph Cait & Jordan’s wedding with my special intimate wedding photography essex style! There was so much love in the room and happiness in the air that my job was all about capturing those natural and special moments.
Epic venue Apton Hall
OUR SARAH BROOKES PHOTOGRAPHY EXPERIENCE
Let’s hear all about the special day from Cait and Jordan themselves!
What we loved about Sarah’s intimate wedding photography Essex style was that it never felt like anything was staged or forced. Sarah told us to act natural and she would shoot, occasionally guiding us if needed. I felt like Jordan and I were in a little bubble and at times forgot Sarah was even there! We could not be more pleased with the pictures, there are so many and every single one is amazing. Sarah really captured the intimacy of the day and even though there was only 15 of us there, nothing looks empty or like there was only a small group of people.
POP THE QUESTION
We had a trip planned to Kew Gardens on Christmas Eve 2018 to visit their Christmas Lights trail – on the way there, Jordan suggested we went for dinner at Gaucho which felt very fancy, that day he has also ironed his jumper which I thought was very odd! On the Christmas Lights trail, he told me to go and stand in front of a light display so he could take a picture, when I turned round he was down on one knee and asked me to marry him!
WEDDING SETTING
Our wedding date was 5th December 2020. We knew we wanted to get married in the colder months and when we spoke to Apton Hall, we got more and more excited about the prospect of a Christmas wedding with lots of fairy lights and deep burgundy colours!
Apton Hall was only the 2nd venue we visited, but as soon as we pulled into the drive way we knew it was the one. The venue is absolutely stunning, we loved that everything from getting ready to spending the night and having breakfast the next morning could happen at one venue. The staff are also beyond anything we could have expected and made the whole process so smooth and easy.
THEME
We didn’t necessarily set out with a theme / style but I would say it was probably relaxed country / boho vibes. Painted wooden crates as centrepieces with champagne and gin bottles containing flowers / fairy lights, a semi-naked cake and champagne corks as place names.
Our theme was burgundy and rose gold, burgundy because it’s such a gorgeous winter colour and rose gold because we both love anything rose gold! We didn’t want to lean too heavily into the Christmas theme so kept it minimal with some mistletoe, fairy lights and the Christmas trees that the venue put up
THE DRESS
My dress was… huge. I initially thought I wanted a dress with lace sleeves but ended up with a dress with very delicate lace straps, full lace sleeves were so itchy! I purchased it from Abigail’s Collection in Colchester but had some adjustments made by a family friend who is a seamstress. I felt like an absolute princess in it and am still so in love with the dress. It has a ‘sparkle’ layer under the skirt, which twinkled beautifully under the fairy lights.
SHOES
My shoes were from Sophia Webster, I definitely opted for style over comfort and regretted it. Sarah had to get my flip-flops for me after we’d taken the photos as my feet were in so much pain!
GROOMSMEN
Jordan, and all of his groomsmen, wore kilts from Kilts 4 U. Jordan wore a different tartan to his groomsmen but they all looked amazing and it was a lovely way to celebrate Jordan’s heritage!
BRIDESMAIDS
My bridesmaids all wore slightly different dresses but in similar shades of burgundy. 2 were from Asos and 2 from ChiChi. My bridesmaids are all so different in their styles and heights and I wanted them to wear something they felt comfortable in!
BEAUTY
Our make up artist was Charli Smith who I simply cannot recommend enough, she felt like part of the bridal party on the morning and everyone’s make up looked AMAZING. We couldn’t stop staring at ourselves in the mirror. Our hair stylist was my hairdresser, Keeley Tattoo, who I trust eternally! She’s so relaxed and chilled, which exactly how we were on the morning of the wedding.
SARAH’S FAVE BIT OF THIS INTIMATE WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY ESSEX EXPERIENCE!
Cait and Jordan had been through so many ups and downs with not knowing whether their wedding would be able to go ahead or not and during our months and months of email exchanges, they were always so positive and kind. The pandemic through so much uncertainty but being able to photograph such a huge moment in such a lovely couples life was amazing! I’ve really enjoyed getting to know the family members at smaller weddings recently but for now, lets see more images of their intimate wedding photography essex style!
STYLING
Our flowers were heavy on the foliage, which we absolutely loved – our florist, Faith in Flowers, was amazing throughout the whole process. We had a copper arch decorated with flowers and mistletoe and the bouquets featured foliage and a mix of deep red and white flowers. We kept decorations light as it ended up being such a small wedding but the venue still looked really full! We were also very lucky that Apton Hall had put a lot of Christmas decorations up!
FLOWERS
I had quite a big bouquet! Faith in Flowers provided all of our wedding flowers and sourced the perfect flowers for what I was looking for. She showed me multiple flowers in the colour scheme we were looking for and asked me what I preferred and what I would like.
FAVOURS
We gave out homemade empire biscuits – a delicious biscuit that you only seem to be able to get in Scotland and gave another nice nod to Jordan’s home!
CAKE
Sticky Fingers made our cake and it was tastier than anything I could have imagined! We had a semi-naked single tier cake (dialled down significantly from the original plans) that was a vanilla sponge with strawberry and champagne filling, I think about it on a daily basis.
CATERING
Because we got married in December, we wanted something really warming and comforting so went for essentially a Christmas roast… We also got a little overexcited and added on a cheeseboard to our already 3-course menu, safe to say we were very full
APTON HALL
Our venue were absolutely outstanding the whole way through our very long and rollercoaster journey. A special shout out to Lauren who’s been our go-to and has answered all of our questions, calmed our lockdown-related nerves and always made us feel like anything is possible! Without a doubt, we would recommend getting married at Apton Hall.
THANKS TO
Honestly every single one of our suppliers! They’ve all been amazing, especially given the circumstances.
OUR BEST BIT
So difficult but I would have to say walking into the ceremony room and seeing all of our family together for the first time in so long due to COVID, I think I was crying before I even step foot in the room and am welling up typing this now…
HONEYMOON
Still to be confirmed! Out original plans were to go to Paris for 5-days straight after the wedding, then in April 2021 we were due to have a week in South Africa on wine tours and safaris followed by a week in Mauritius.. that didn’t quite go to plan! We had 5-days in Cornwall after the wedding instead and the bigger honeymoon will be booked when things look a bit better
ADVICE
Stop thinking about what everyone else will think – it’s your day and they’re there to celebrate your love!
WHAT MEANT THE MOST TO YOU BOTH?
Honestly just being reunited with our families after so long
SUPPLIERS
Supporting this gorgeous intimate essex wedding…..
PHOTOGRAPHER Sarah Brookes Photography
VENUE Apton Hall
DRESS Abigail’s Collection
SUIT Kilts 4 U
MAKE UP Charli Smith
HAIR Keeley @ Gregory Dean
FLORIST Faith in Flowers
BRIDESMAIDS Asos & ChiChi
SHOES Sophia Webster
STATIONARY Margo and Bees
CATERING Apton Hall
CAKE Sticky Fingers
Special thanks go to my amazing second shooter Ayshea Goldberg
Fancy some more December Wedding inspiration? Check out Becca and Jamie’s Madingley Hall Wedding
Intimate Wedding Photography Essex
