Emma & Ed // Chilston Park Hotel Wedding

Emma and Ed had such a beautiful Chilston Park Hotel wedding, surrounded by their closest friends and family. With a pastel theme intwined throughout, this wedding was just stunning. Both Emma and Ed didn’t stop smiling throughout and it was a real pleasure to photograph their big day. From the proposal on an Egypt beach to the wedding in the gorgeous Kent countryside, this is their story.

First names: Ed and Emma

Ages: 27 (Ed) and 25 (Emma)

Wedding date: 28/07/2016

Venue: Chilston Park Hotel, Lenham, Kent

How did you guys meet, tell me all? 

We met when Ed was visiting friends in Southampton, where I was at university. Ed only used to visit his friends there once or twice a year, but started visiting more and more frequently after meeting me – eventually the friends realised it wasn’t them he was visiting anymore!

How did you get engaged, is there a cool story?

Ed proposed whilst having cocktails on a beach in Egypt. He knew he was going to propose whilst on holiday and had even met with the hotel managers to find the ideal time and place! Unbeknown to me, Ed was stressed for the first few days of the holiday waiting for the perfect moment.

Finally, on 1^st April, Ed was able to relax because he knew he wasn’t going to propose that day – after all, who would propose of April Fools’ Day?!  However, we then turned up at a beautiful beach-side cocktail reception, with a live band playing all my favourite songs and Ed realised it was the perfect time – April Fools’ Day or not! He didn’t plan to propose so publically, but in the end got a round of applause from everyone else in the bar!

What made you choose your wedding venue, did you look at many?

We looked at a range of venues around Kent as we weren’t entirely sure what kind of venue we wanted. In the end, we chose Chilston Park because of the amazing setting and surroundings – it was the first venue we saw where we could actually visualise our wedding day, so we knew it was right. It’s also very close to Maidstone, which is where I grew up.

What was the inspiration/theme of your wedding?

We settled on having pastel colours quite early on and designed most of our stationary and decorations around these. We didn’t really have one theme, but focused on adding personal touches that reflected us as a couple to the already stunning venue, such as photographs of us growing up, a cake topper with a saying from our favourite Disney movie and a reading written by the children I teach at primary school.

What is your first song and why?

Everything by Michael Bublé. I’m a huge fan! Ed once bought me tickets to see Michael Bublé at the O2, on the premise that I would never be able to leave him after he had made my greatest dream come true, so it seemed only appropriate to have my favourite Michael Bublé song playing for the first dance as husband and wife!

What would be your number one tip to other couples planning their wedding?

Get your family and friends to help in any way possible – you will be surprised at how multi-talented they are! We ended up using family friends for floristry and videography, my cousins did the hair and make-up and made the wedding cake! Not only does it help to keep costs within budget, but it’s really brought us all closer together over the past 18 months!