Lemonade Pictures

Best Wedding Venues in Kent

Nic — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 10:09:17 +0000

Best Wedding Venues in Kent

I have photographed at some of the best wedding venues in Kent, and I have decided to share my extensive venue knowledge with those of you searching for a local venue. I will categorise them based on the type of venue, for example Barn Wedding venues, Manor House Wedding venues and Quirky Wedding venues.

Barn Wedding Venues in Kent

So there are quite a few Barn venues in Kent, and lets be honest I think Barns are probably going to make up a big chunk of my recommendations. All of these venues I have photographed at multiple times and I would happily photograph at again, so I imagine this is a pretty accurate review!

The Barn at Botley Hill Wedding Venue

The Barn at Botley Hill is a fantastic unique venue, and in my opinion is the most up-to-date in terms of what’s in fashion and style at the moment. It has huge Crittal windows which let in so much light into the reception area. It also has a dreamy ceremony area. I honestly don’t have a bad word to say about this venue, it has ample parking, a beautiful indoor ceremony area (as we all know you can’t guarantee the English weather.) It also has a cute bridal prep room.

You don’t need to decorate this venue much, as it truly is stunning and the food is great. I have tried it myself! For group photos you can use the cool windows as a background for an industrial vibe, or you can use the great scenery.

Click Here to see Katie & Jason’s Botley Hill Barn wedding.

Preston Court Wedding Venue

Preston Court is yet another ‘cool’ venue. It’s located near Canterbury and it is a great find. It has a beautiful house on a lake for the backdrop, you can even hold your ceremony in the middle of the lake – accessed by a white bridge.

Preston Court also has a quirky Carousel which is a photographers dream, peacocks and old musical organs decorating the inside of the rustic barn. If it rains you can have your ceremony inside with the organs as a background. I have photographed both options and they’re both beautiful. There’s the option to have the organs playing as you come into your meal and I absolutely love it, so unique and memorable and I highly recommend adding that option on. There’s also a church on site if you wanted to have a religious ceremony. You can also Glamp on site which is a great option for those wanting to party late into the night.

Click Here to see a recent Preston Court wedding.

Elmley Nature Reserve Wedding Venue

An absolute gem of a venue, Elmley Nature Reserve is amazing. The barn is black and really unique with giant windows at one end. It has a fantastic outdoor ceremony area in the courtyard area, outdoor drinks reception in front of the house (with a view), and probably the best preparation areas I have seen in Kent. You can have the house for the weekend, meaning you can have a huge pre-wedding dinner. There’s also ample space for people to stay whether that’s in the houses on site or glamping. A really good venue if you want to make a weekend of your wedding.

The Cherry Barn Wedding Venue

The Cherry Barn is located in a working farm with gorgeous apple trees surrounding it. It feels really personal and it feels as though you’re the only one that’s found the venue. It’s a family run business and a lovely old rustic barn. With everything in one room you can ensure your guests won’t wonder off – which is great for keeping the party going. There’s a beautiful outdoor ceremony area overlooking the apple trees, and a great indoor option if the weather fails you. I have photographed here a number of times and it always feels really personal.

Jacks Barn Kent Wedding Venue

Jacks barn is a relatively new wedding venue in Kent. And as with The Cherry Barn it feels personal and not like your typical wedding venue.

Old Kent Barn Wedding Venue

I have photographed at The Old Kent Barn more times than I can count. If you want a wedding that’s guaranteed to run smoothly these guys are your team. Organisation is key here. They have a great outdoor ceremony area that can even be used if its raining slightly as the guests are covered. This venue holds a lot of guests and has a team of lovely staff.

Winters Barns Wedding Venue

If you’re looking at The Old Kent Barn then you’re probably comparing it to Winters Barns. These two are similar venues with the biggest difference being the separate dance floor area at the Winters Barns. If you’re booking Winters Barns, I would recommend booking one of their recommended bands in order to ensure the best sound quality in the evening. I love the outdoor drinks receptions at Winters, it feels really enclosed and the light is always lovely.

Unique Wedding Venues in Kent

Marleybrook House Wedding Venue

I don’t think you can get much more unique than a fairground at your wedding. If you book Marleybrook House you have to book the fairground and pray for dry weather. It’s beautiful and its unique, it also has a couple of outdoor areas to hold your ceremony. The new undercover drinks reception area is also great in any weather. I have photographed a lot of weddings at Marleybrook, and can honestly say people still have fun in the rain. Just make sure you’re prepared with coats as it can get chilly! You can get epic photos at Marleybrook and I love the sparkler exit from the fairground they offer. To maximise fun at Marleybrook I recommend 100+ guests for the fairground. (Don’t book Marleybrook if you don’t know anyone that will get on the rides!.) Have a sparkler exit, and book the funfair snacks like candy floss and waffles as they go down a treat.

Click here to see a recent Marleybrook House wedding that I have photographed

Oad Street Wedding Venue

A new venue but a great one, Oad Street is classy! I photographed their first ever wedding and I was pleasantly surprised. If you’re after a cool, chilled wedding that you can visit yearly for lunch for your anniversary this is a great option. By day it serves amazing food, and at the weekends its a wedding venue. It’s really fashionable and always improving, I love it and I’m sure you will too!

Click here to see a recent wedding I have photographed at Oad Street.

Secret Gardens Ashford

If you’re after a smaller personal wedding then The Secret Gardens in Ashford is the one. With a beautiful romantic outdoor ceremony area (or the greenhouse indoor ceremony) your guaranteed to get beautiful photos. Not only is it beautiful but the staff are lovely and the food is incredible- it’s one of the only venues that have their own in house catering team. There’s also a roof over the patio meaning you can still stand outside if rain makes an appearance.

Click here to see a recent wedding I have photographed at The Secret Gardens.

Marquee Wedding Venues in Kent

Riverhill Himalayan Gardens

Riverhill Himalayan Gardens is located is Sevenoaks, here you can have a small wedding or a large wedding as you can build your marquee on their grounds. You’re also allowed to supply your own alcohol with no corkage which is a bonus. The scenery is beautiful and they limit the number of weddings they do a year so it feels really personal.

Nursed Court Wedding

This is another venue with a beautiful house and marquee although the marquee at Nurstead court is permanent. The house is truly stunning so the drinks reception always looks classy. Don’t leave food out (biscuit wedding favours) in any marquee the night before the wedding as Foxes will break in and gobble it all up like they did at Hayley & Ben’s wedding. Lovely venue and can’t wait to photograph here again.

Kentfield Estate Wedding

I visited Kentfield Estate for the first time last year and was amazed by the beautiful ceremony location on the lake, it also has a really unique marquee.

Sprivers Mansion Wedding Venue

Sprivers Mansion is another pretty house and marquee much like the few above but also beautiful so had to be included in my list. The house interior is a tad dated but the outside is beautiful

I hope you’ve enjoyed me overview of the best wedding venues in Kent. This is certainly not all of the venues in Kent but these are the ones I have photographed at multiple times and would happily book for my own wedding.

The post Best Wedding Venues in Kent appeared first on Lemonade Pictures.

Our Wedding

Nic — Thu, 26 Jan 2023 12:31:41 +0000

Marcus and I got married in 2017, and with everyone saying to me “I bet your wedding is going to be amazing as you’ve been to so many!” ( I had been shooting weddings for 5 years at the time) I knew I had to get married somewhere I hadn’t photographed a wedding before!

Part of the decision on where to get married was based on my wedding diary – I generally don’t have as many weddings in winter, so in order for us to be able to get married and also take some time off for a honeymoon, a winter wedding was our best option. We then decided we wanted to get married abroad, but at the same time we didn’t want everyone to have to pay for expensive flights. How about Italy? Spain? France? They’re just not as beautiful in February, but if we wanted sun we were looking at flights over 5hrs+ So our wedding was going to be cold. That’s decided. And if we’re going to be cold… lets go somewhere really cold. Iceland? Perfect.

We then started the venue hunt and we really struggled to find a venue that would accommodate all of the people we wanted to invite, if we invited our close family and friends we were looking at a guest list of 70 minimum, so we decided we needed to keep it to just immediate family, and that way we could feed everyone as well as paying for their accommodation for the week.

Iceland was amazing, we had been the February before and it was beautiful sunshine, snow every where and regular northern lights! The wedding week wasn’t quite so perfect, with almost continuous rain and not a snow drop in sight! But we still had an amazing time. We decided to re-wear our wedding gear a couple of days later when we visited the ice bergs for some epic photos – obviously it was still raining, but what annoys me most about the situation is I looked like a drowned rat and Marcus looked perfect as he had so much hair gel in!

We had a beautiful wedding in Iceland with our immediate family and then one hell of a party in a warehouse in London!

The London Wedding! We hired the venue Studio Spaces in London, with an unlimited late license, no sound restrictions and no corkage it ticked most of our boxes! We hired in street food trucks, supplied copious amounts of alcohol (which we hired staff to serve), hired two bands (although one did cancel 2 weeks before the wedding we actually hired silent disco head sets last minute that went down a treat!), we also had to hire our own tables etc.

The Decor

Long trestle tables, greenery along the middle, candles and Krispy Creams for everyone.

We hung festoon lights across the ceiling and up-lighters around the room. I also made a big sign for the front of the ceremony.

My sister and I went to the flower market for our flowers, it took us forever to make the bouquets and actually cost a lot of money – I wouldn’t recommend!

The Food

For starters the staff made up sharing platters of meats, olives, and artisan breads that we had delivered fresh on the morning.

For the mains we hired 2 street food trucks one serving Paella, and the other Burgers & Chips!

For dessert I actually had Asda deliver Ben & Jerries Ice cream on the day as there was no freezer on site. One tub between two served with home made brownies. I’ve never seen so much ice cream!

We then had an evening buffet with food mainly from M&S and at midnight we had platters of McDonald’s burgers – best idea I have ever had. And if you copy this idea remember I had it first, you’re welcome haha.

Oh and a cake table rather than a wedding cake.

Entertainment

We had The Indie Killers play at our wedding, I love these guys, they were actually one of the first bands I ever saw at a wedding and were one of the first things I booked when we got engaged.

We had planned to have 2 bands rotate for the evening but as the second band had cancelled so late on we decided to hire in silent disco headsets, they were so much fun and everyone loved them. We had 3 channels, one done by the Indie Killers and we made the other 2 playlists of old classics and R&B

Photography & Video

Mister Phill was our photographer, he was actually one of my lecturers at university and I had said to him that when I eventually got married I wanted him to photograph it! And he didn’t disappoint.

We decided against video as we didn’t want anything to ruin the photos, but I have friends in the film industry that recorded some highlights throughout the day and I edited together (very badly) but we do love looking back at it and the kids really love watching it.

The post Our Wedding appeared first on Lemonade Pictures.

Gerard

Nic — Tue, 27 Dec 2022 09:43:24 +0000

Gerard or otherwise known as Gez Gez was born in April 2021, nearing the end of covid lockdowns. He actually arrived on his Easter Sunday due date!

The name Gerard had no meaning to us, it was added to our baby name list because we both like Gerard Butler- not because of the footballer!! We gave Hugo a list of 5 names and he chose Gerard and called my bump Gerard for so long we had to stick with it to avoid confusion.

This kid is so cheeky, the other day he told me he wouldn’t eat his dinner unless I said he was the cutest! He’s Mr popular at nursery and always gets invited to all the parties. Apparently the loudest child at nursery (Clearly they’ve never met Hugo)

Can always be found carrying his elephant “Ebbot”.

Definitely the son of a photographer, he will always shout CHEESE when he sees a camera

The post Gerard appeared first on Lemonade Pictures.

Hugo

Nic — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 09:47:52 +0000

Hugo, Hugo, Hugo, where do I even begin.

Hugo arrived dramatically in May 2018, he came out wide awake and he has stayed wide awake pretty much the entire time since. He. does. not. stay. quiet. ever. He is so cheeky and the class clown.

He’s a compulsive liar and makes up the most hilarious lies (not so ideal when its to the teachers!) He’s also an amazing dancer, a total wind up and in his words “a geezer”, he’s either going to grow up to be the Prime Minister or a top gangster, I’m yet to work out which way his manipulation skills will sway.

The cheekiest little turnip.

The post Hugo appeared first on Lemonade Pictures.

Bauer

Nic — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 09:47:27 +0000

Bauer was our first baby. We decided we wanted a Hovawart in 2013 and we finally got Bauer in 2014, we got him from a lovely family in Ireland who only had 1 littler and went to meet the parents and choose a pup when they were a few weeks old. We chose the chunkiest chilled pup, and what a great decision. Bauer is so sweet (to people he knows!) and a brilliant guard dog. We once accidentally left the front door of our house open for 4 hrs, we came back to be greeted by Bauer on the drive! Our immediate thought was to check there was no burglar remains in the house, and we soon realised it was us that left the door open rather than a burglar! He’s super loyal and very protective of his family, he’s great with the kids too.

The name Bauer is from Jack Bauer (24) – original ha.

A gentle giant (if he likes you) If not he will probably bark in your face!

The post Bauer appeared first on Lemonade Pictures.

Marcus

Nic — Sat, 26 Nov 2022 12:36:20 +0000

Marcus will eat anything except mushrooms. And loads of it. He loves Rugby, chocolate orange, and he’s a proper family man.

Marcus has had a handful of jobs since we have been together (unlike me, I have been a photographer since basically forever). He started his career as a Prison Officer – Our evening chats about the day couldn’t have been more different, I would talk about dresses, happy people and drunk guests, and he would tell me about fights, strip searches and poo protests.

In 2017 we started a mobile bar together, we called it The Dawdling Duck, it was so much fun and such a success but with a new baby and us both working every weekend we decided to sell our little Duck just as covid struck.

Marcus and his brother now own an abseiling business he spends his days hanging off some of the biggest buildings in London – not my idea of fun be he loves it. Adrenaline junkie all round.

The post Marcus appeared first on Lemonade Pictures.

Sparklers

Nic — Fri, 25 Nov 2022 15:43:40 +0000

If you’re getting married you have probably already had a think about whether or not you want sparklers. It makes a great photo 99% of the time, so it is a popular choice. If you are getting married in the middle of summer the chances are its not going to be dark enough when I leave to get a moody sparkler shot, but if you have booked a late finish then it’s a great option to consider. Remember it doesn’t need to be completely dark to get a nice sparkler photo, it can still look great just as the sun has set.

In terms of what sparklers to get I always recommend the long sparklers (not just the long handled sparklers), basically we need maximum burn time to enable all of your guests to light them at a similar time.

Grab a load of the long candle lighters to go with them, I usually share them out across the line.

Are you going to get everyone to have a sparkler or just your close family and friends?

The later it gets into the evening the more chance we will all get set alight by your drunk cousin Tom. Keep the paralytic drunks inside guys.

The post Sparklers appeared first on Lemonade Pictures.

What wedding confetti looks best in photos?

Nic — Fri, 25 Nov 2022 15:42:11 +0000

What Wedding Confetti looks best in photos?

Choosing what wedding confetti looks best in photos can be a tough decision. There are so many different types of confetti and every venue has different rules regarding it. The first thing to consider when you’re choosing your confetti (if it’s allowed) is does it need to be biodegradable? If it’s going to be thrown outside the chances are it does! The next thing to decide is what type, do you want paper, petals, or dried petals. And then you need to decide on the colour! I bloody love a bit of colourful confetti!

I personally think that larger confetti shows up better in the photos, and I also think that colourful confetti shows better if you’re throwing it in an area with a lot of sky in the background. Here are a couple of different confetti types for you to judge yourself!

I always love confetti. Any shape, any size. The End!

Confetti at Churches and Venues

Churches usually only allow confetti at the end of the path so it doesn’t blow back in to the church (less cleaning for them ;)) But venues usually let you decide whether to have confetti back down the aisle or a separate confetti line after the ceremony. My personal favourite is a separate confetti aisle (as it’s more photo opportunities, especially for those of you that don’t want to spend much time taking couple shots). You walk down the aisle with a cheer WOOHOO, you sneak off for a minute, I gather a line of all your favourite people, and you come back in to a second CHEER and some awesome confetti! If there’s not much space then confetti down the aisle also looks amazing, you might just need a couple of guests that a sitting further away to make a line at the end of the aisle. Obviously if its raining and you can’t go outside for your confetti then it’s probably best to throw it when you’re walking back down the aisle.

One of my weddings at Firle Place decided to use the small colourful confetti and I love this look against the blue door. There are a couple of places that you can source your confetti:

Colourful Large Confetti – Proper Confetti

Colourful Confetti – Confetti Bee

Small Petal Confetti – Flower Confetti

How Much Confetti do I need?

You can never have too much confetti, so get loads. You need at a minimum a handful per person, but two handfuls are probably best as some people’s hands are like shovels and they can scoop most of it in one swipe! With dried petals you need slightly more that the paper confetti. 300grams of paper confetti will probably do 70 guests.

Confetti Canons

I really love the effect of a confetti canon (I actually had some at my wedding!) Just don’t forget to tell your photographer when you plan to use them! The best confetti canons aren’t usually biodegradable so it’s best to save them for the dance floor. I love this photo of Charlie from Bumps and Burpees that I photographed at her wedding. They had Danny from Mcfly singing and the confetti canon suited the mood perfectly.

The post What wedding confetti looks best in photos? appeared first on Lemonade Pictures.

Wedding Day Timings

Nic — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 15:44:41 +0000

I think wedding day timings are sometimes over looked. I’m going to run through the perfect timings for any wedding, and a few common timing mistakes I have seen over the many weddings I have been to:

Let’s start from the end and work backwards, start with your venue close time. Most UK weddings tend to have to finish around midnight due to licensing laws, (if your wedding is finishing at 1 these times will still work for you, but feel free to move the first dance later by 30-45 minutes)

First dance 7/ 7.30pm Have your first dance, followed by your first set of your band/DJ for 45minutes / 1hr, followed by your evening food in the gap between sets (to avoid people leaving the dance floor), have your second set at around 9.30 / 10

Speeches I personally think speeches work best after the food, speeches over run 80% of the time, and if the speeches are before food and they over run it can stress the caterers out having to keep your food warm.

Food I can’t give exact times for food as it all depends what you’re having but you want your food to finish around 1 hour before the dancing begins, that gives you a buffer for speeches and food over running

Drinks reception 1.5 hours worth of drink reception is perfect. If you’re having your ceremony at a different location, add the travel time to this 1.5 hours.

Ceremony Ceremonies last between 15 minutes to 1 hour (churches) If you’ve worked your way back from the list above you have probably come up with your ideal ceremony time.

Example times

TOP TIPS

If you want a father daughter dance, do that before the first dance. If you do it after I can almost guarantee it will kill your dance floor for at least 15 minutes. Once the first dance has finished people are ready to join you, if you throw in 3 more minutes of slow dance they usually wander off to the bar
The song after the first dance is SO important. You need a decent party tune!
Check how long your speeches are before the wedding and add 30% for a realistic time. Tell your speakers to keep it short, honestly no one likes long speeches. I once photographed a wedding with 3 hours of speeches – its safe to say that a lot of the guests were drifting haha.
The best time for a ceremony is between 1 and 3. Try not to do an early ceremony because you want to spread the day out, people will get hungry and tired. If you have a ceremony before 1 people are often hungry as they haven’t had lunch
The gap between the ceremony and the sit down ideally needs to be less than 1.45hrs, perfect timing is 1 hr 15 – 1hr 30. If its over 2 hours people will get impatient
Try and provide some snacks in that gap, whether that’s canapés, ice cream trucks or even crisp walls to keep the guests going
Check how warm/cold the wedding is going to be, as being too hot or too cold can effect the day. If it’s a tipi or manor house in spring/ autumn/ winter the chances are it might be cold. Make sure you let guests know so they can bring warm clothes. The same goes for glass buildings in summer, check the venue have enough fans/ heaters

Plan your timings right to maximise your guests enjoyment. Happy guests = The best weddings

The post Wedding Day Timings appeared first on Lemonade Pictures.