The Bell At Ticehurst Kent Wedding Photographer

The Bell In Ticehurst, Kent

You don’t tend to expect your Kent wedding to be Mallorca conditions, but Lucy and Sam’s wedding clocked in at a steamy 36 degrees plus. It was HOT. And while The Bell in Ticehurst is a venue gorgeously suited for all weathers, it’s still a challenge for us all to exist in that kinda heat. Lucy (she/her) and Sam (he/him) and all their guests took it all in their stride. With the help of fans, water, ice packs, cold baths and a wedding party so attentive they were running to the pharmacy for nausea meds mid-meal, even the heat couldn’t stop this wedding being a remarkable one.

The Bell at Ticehurst Wedding Videography

A Seriously Quirky Wedding Space

The Bell in Ticehurst is the kind of wedding venue that you could attend over and over again and never see the same thing twice. It is full of quirky memorabilia, giant head statues, wallpaper straight out of Bridgerton and rooms that keep opening into new surprises. Lucy and Sam both got ready on site which meant Tristan and I were able to pop in and out of the action all morning making for the best kind of wedding prep documentary coverage. No big photoshoots, no cringe ‘stand over here and put on your tie seventeen times’ - pure observational action.

Ceremony in ‘the Big Room’

Without a doubt my favourite room at The Bell at Ticehurst is ‘The Big Room’. With colourful walls and huge windows it lets in the right kinda dreamy light that adds a little bit of magic to a wedding ceremony. The Art Bunch dressed the room with the most beautiful flowers - spilling over the fireplace, the window sills and of course the magnificent backdrop the ceremony itself. Andrea from the Art Bunch made it all look so easy, even her toddler was helping out!

Adapting to the HeaT

If there’s one thing that comes from twelve years in the wedding industry it’s being completely unflappable on a wedding day. I’ve had worked every scenario, every possibility, every weather and you learn to adapt. Lucy and Sam’s ceremony finished at 1.30pm - the hottest part of the day where the sun sits at it’s highest point making for very little shade. It was just too hot to be outside and with the team turning the ceremony room around for dinner and guests mingling in the Stables no inside space for ‘formal’ photos. No biggy! The wonderful thing about Summer is the sun sets nice and late - so we decided to wait until the evening, when the sun was at it’s lowest, for the important stuff (their wedding party and the two of them) and we’d tick off a few group photos when the room was ready upstairs. That meant they had their full drinks reception to mingle and be a part of the action!

Personalised tarot & Magic The Gathering Favours

As their guests took their seats (after a wild napkin flailing entrance!) they each discovered a personalised Tarot card and Magic the Gathering card waiting for them! The perfect mix of Lucy and Sam and a great conversation starter.

Speeches in the Stables and Golden Hour Photos

After the meal (and a cold bath for Lucy to cool down) we headed back down the stables for an hour of very emotional speeches, only somewhat interrupted by a national emergency alert from every single phone in the room telling us it was hot. Say what?! There are some situations you really can’t plan for on your wedding day! Thankfully, but the time we finally got outside around 8pm it was cool enough to take a few minutes for some wedding party silliness and a quiet sit on a sofa we found in the car park to soak it all in before heading in The Big Room one last time for a very sweaty dancefloor…

A Lesson in Rolling with the chaos

Things can and will go wrong on your wedding day. There will be stuff that is out of your control and there will be questions that you might not want to answer. I am so proud of how Lucy and Sam navigated this day with patience, teamwork and trust in their suppliers. We had the most fun and didn’t feel for one second stressed or anxious - knowing that our clients put their faith in us to adapt as we go makes our jobs a breeze.

Lucy and Sam chose our All Day Photo & Film package.