Matara Center Wedding Photography

Where did you meet?

We met through one of Josie’s best friends on a night out, who happens to be Jamie’s cousin (and was a bridesmaid at our wedding, obviously!) It wasn’t a set up but something clicked and we were drawn to each other pretty instantly. We texted for a few weeks before meeting up again – it was obvious when our first date was drinks in a wetherspoons followed by pizza on plastic chairs that we were happy in each other’s company no matter where we were and things moved pretty quickly from then on.

The proposal

We had bought a house a few months before so money was tight (and a proposal was far from Josie’s mind) but we managed to pick up a cheap last minute holiday to Crete. Jamie had been stressing all day about finding the right place (Josie was oblivious) and had all but given up when we ended up sat on a bench in Chania harbour watching the sunset with a guitarist behind us. Even though there were a lot more people around than he had planned, he got down on one knee and said, “Can I say something crazy? Will you marry me?!” The Disney proposal of Josie’s dreams in one of the most beautiful places we have ever been.

Wedding planning

We had just over 20 months of planning before the big day and as soon as the year itself arrived it absolutely flew. We were pretty relaxed with our approach to planning, tackling things a weekend in each month so it never felt like we were overwhelmed with things to do and planning never really became a chore. It still felt like we had quite a lot to cram into the fortnight before the wedding but we took the view if it wasn’t sorted by then, it probably wasn’t important (bar the table plan which we were still putting together the night before…!)

How did you pick or decided on your venue

We went to see a few very different venues to get a feel for the vibe we wanted for the day so a manor house, a barn, a field, a castle and a church but as soon as we visited Matara, we knew that was where we wanted to get married.

It is refreshingly different whilst still managing to feel quintessentially British and very beautiful. We had a chat with the owner, Geoffrey, who showed us around the grounds and hearing him talk about Matara, and what it meant to him so mirrored how it made us feel being there that it was a no brainer and we booked it the next day.

What was the most memorable part of your day?

We both loved every single minute of our wedding and honestly there are so many moments that stood out.

We enjoyed the actual ceremony far more than we were expecting. Any nerves disappeared fairly quickly and it is hard to describe the feeling of looking around and seeing all the people we loved as we tied the knot. Our INCREDIBLE wedding co-ordinator Wayne was waiting for us at the end of the aisle with 2 beers and took us into the house so we could have a few minutes alone. We found that moment very special and much needed to take a breath together, and enjoy the feeling that we were actually married after all the planning. It also meant we had a little time to let our emotions go together before enjoying the party!

Other highlights were the speeches (all amazing), the dancing (sweaty madness) and just looking around the room and seeing all our favourite people together, having a great time, all for us. Magic!

Any advice for future couples wedding planning?

We found that if you pick suppliers you both like and trust, there is nothing to stress about – you are safe in the knowledge that if something doesn’t go to plan, you have picked the best people who will find a way to make your day perfect regardless. It is also a lovely feeling having people around during the wedding morning who you genuinely like and can have a laugh with as the morning can feel like a really long time when you are waiting to get married!

It is obvious to say, but remember what the day is actually about – you two! Coming from a family of football fans (and being pretty big ones ourselves) we were pretty gutted when England’s world cup quarter final fell on our wedding day. However, after an hour of sulking, we decided to come up with a plan for where people could watch the game if they wanted to, and a contingency for the running times were the match not to be over in 90 minutes. When it came to the actual day, the game had no impact other than adding to the evening celebrations – we must have danced to Vindaloo 20 times!

There will be setbacks and the occasional disappointment in your planning but so long as you remember why you are doing it, and who it is for, you will have the best time ever.

Matara Center

Suppliers

All of our suppliers were frankly, incredible, not just in terms of what they did for us on the day or even in the build up, but also how much we enjoyed being around them!

Sasha Field (hair) and Amy Hickey (make-up) made the bridal party so comfortable it was like having an extra couple of friends there who happened to make you look gorgeous at the same time.

The Lily Pad Florist were literally unbelievable from start to finish. Gemma is a fabulously creative and knowledgeable florist but is also a genuinely gorgeous person. We had strong ideas and wanted our flowers to be tropical, but still have a romantic feel and she understood what we wanted and implemented it beyond our wildest dreams. We had a problem in the week of the wedding where one of our core flowers was unavailable and not only did Gemma come up with a solution, it looked better than our original plan whilst still fitting with the theme. She even helped us think of other decorative ideas for the venue as she knows it well – she is the absolute dream supplier.

As soon as we met Lucy we knew we wanted her to photograph our wedding. Not only is she an incredible photographer (I mean, just look at our pics!) but she is open, warm and generous with her time. We are not people that enjoy having pictures taken, but even the portrait sessions were fun and didn’t take anywhere near as long out of our day as we were expecting. Lucy’s style means you get brilliant pictures that actually capture the day leaving you with time to enjoy yourself without worrying whether you have had a photo taken with your Nan – she was sensational. Several of our guests asked if Lucy was a friend as she just fell so seamlessly into our wedding and it was genuinely a pleasure sharing our day with her.