WEDDINGS AT LEEZ PRIORY

Weddings at Leez Priory are always special, but how about the bride getting to wear two wedding dresses and having two ceremonies on the same day. That’s exactly what happened when Silke (a bride from Belgium) and Jake (a groom from Malaysia) married at the stunning 16th Century mansion in Chelmsford.

The one thing I love about Leez Priory is that the bride (and her besties) can stay over the night before in a beautiful and very English looking cottage just a stones throw away from the main building. This gives the bridal party a head start and a stress free way to begin prepping for the big day ahead. Then, at around 11am, the bridal party can head on over to the main building overlooking the courtyard to finish up.

This is when I joined Silke and her sister. We still had restrictions in place at the time of this wedding so not everyone was able to attend. The couple wanted to proceed with their big day and simply had their nearest and dearest present.

The red wedding dress you see here is honouring the Asian culture where the colour red is considered a sign of prosperity, long life and good luck. I stayed with Silke right up until Jake arrived on-site. There is a nice cottage for the guys tucked away to the left of the car park and it’s here where I met Jake and took some candids of his groom prep. I’ll often kick back and capture the scenes in documentary style to portray more of a sense of who they really are for weddings at Leez Priory. Jake did have a certain look when it came to portraits and I think he manages to pull this off well.

So we now had two beautiful people ready for part one of two ceremonies at Leez Priory in Chelmsford. The first ceremony took place in what would normally be the reception room for a majority of weddings next to the car park. We had some traditional Asian decorations to set the scene & give the ceremony a level of authenticity. The guests arrived on time and tea ceremony went down well and without a hitch. We even had some tears (and I never complain about that haha). Take a peek:

Now, this was one of the weddings at Leez priory, (as mentioned earlier), that had two ceremonies, so where guests would normally head out into the courtyard for drinks and canapés, they were asked to congregate in the bar area in the main building to quench their thirst in preparation for the second ceremony. This would happen in the tower (above the archway where you can also tie the knot if you wish). As you can imagine, this second ceremony was in honour of the Western culture, so we saw Silke in a traditional white dress with gorgeous detail throughout. She looked stunning and beaming from ear to ear. This is how the second ceremony at Leez priory went down:

It was after the second wedding ceremony that the guests got to enjoy drinks and canapés on the pristine lawn in the courtyard. The sun was shining and all thoughts of restrictions had diminished. The guests that were there were making the most of it and rightly so! I usually shoot full on documentary mode for this section of the day until it’s time to whisk the couple away for their couple shots and a little breather. There are so many options for couple shots that you actually can’t fit them all in. The couple were really relaxed so we just kept everything classic and simple.

RECEPTIONS AT LEEZ PRIORY WEDDING VENUE

This is the bit that many look forward to on a wedding day. A nice sit down, food inside their rumbling bellies and then a good ol’ dance to finish the night. The sit down meal happened in the main building, (above the dance floor), because the first ceremony took place where you would usually have it. The numbers were much smaller too, so it made sense to do it this way. Once again the staff, who join the guests for weddings at Leez priory, were spot on and everyone commented on how nice the service and layout was.

The cake cutting took place down the stairs and in between the two famous, large wooden doors. This lead into the first dance straight after, (in the same area), and then down the stairs again to the dance floor where they partied the night away with the resident DJ. Here’s how the evening part of the day went:

So there you have it – weddings at Leez priory, two wedding dresses and two ceremonies. It was unusual, fun and a pleasure to be part of. I’ve covered weddings at this wedding venue many times now, but they always seem to produce a different vibe and feel every time. Please check out more of my blogs, (including some more from Leez Priory) here: https://chriswoodmanphotography.co.uk/blog/

My style is relaxed and leaning more towards documentary and letting the day flow. I do some traditional shots if needed – it keeps the parents happy haha. Check out my portfolio if you fancy seeing more of my style: https://chriswoodmanphotography.co.uk/portfolio/

That’s it for now folks! I hope you enjoyed reading about what was a truly heartfelt and special day for Silke & Jake.

Until next time

Take care and stay safe

~ Chris