» Contact Toni

Rhys & Cat - July 10

August 20th, 2010

You hear a lot of brides and grooms say how they want their wedding to be “different”. I think these people need to take a leaf out of Rhys & Catherine’s book. They succeeded spectacularly in pulling off a one of a kind day that was anything but your average wedding.

Cat is quite a unique individual, and as such was destined to have a unique wedding. She decided on a Victorian era theme (specifically the early 1870’s) for their day. Cat left no stone unturned when it came to creating a day that reflected their personalities, but also remained historically correct. Cat and her bridesmaid handmade their own dresses, which is no mean feat, considering the scale of the design, and just how many layers there were in there!!

You can’t go having a Victorian themed wedding and then have it at your average modern wedding venue. The ceremony was held at historic Booval House in Ipswich which provided the perfect backdrop for the day. Rhys & Cat were married in the chapel on the grounds just after lunchtime, which then led into the afternoon tea reception on the lawn. It was a fabulous choice for a reception, as guests dined on decadent finger food and cakes, whilst enjoying champagne. At one point I looked up to see bridesmaid Donna waltzing across he lawn, and it truly felt that you were at a garden party 100 years ago.

Once the guests had departed, we had the grounds and the house to ourselves. I had told Rhys & Cat before the wedding that their choice of theme would change the way I would approach shooting their wedding. Obviously I still wanted to bring my style to their images, but it was also important that we were complimenting their theme and not have them doing something totally out of context for a bride or groom of that era. I loved every minute of it, because I love having something truly DIFFERENT to work with.

I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of Rhys & Cat’s day, and thank you both for letting me experience something I may not get a chance to do again!