Wedding at The Bell in Ticehurst // Lauren and Steve

Lauren and Steve’s cool and quirky wedding at The Bell in Ticehurst was pretty amazing! This was certainly no ordinary wedding. Lauren and Steve set out for a nice, relaxed and informal wedding, which they got… mostly. However, it very quickly turned into an all-out party and I would place the evening shenanigans up there with some of the very best I’ve seen. There was certainly some colourful dancing and it was great to have a boogie with everyone. Check out Lauren and Steve’s The Bell in Ticehurst wedding below.

First names: Steve & Lauren
Ages: 31 & 29
Wedding date: 19th April 2019
Venue: The Bell in Ticehurst

How did you guys meet, tell me all?
We met working for a Festival Wristband company in Tunbridge Wells, Steve was a Designer, and I was an Account Manager. We started off as mates, quickly bonding over our mutual love of food, drink and dark comedy and it kind of evolved from there.

I didn’t even realise our first date was our first date, we went for Pizza, had a few drinks (Dutch courage!) and the rest, as they say, is history. We thought we were being really secretive with our office romance, but we were about as subtle as a brick in the face! We were so obvious that half the office knew within the week.

How did you get engaged, is there a cool story?
It’s really hard to plan a weekend away with Lauren’s busy calendar of weddings so I had to get creative/sneaky. I set up a fake email account under the name of Mary Stevens (I later told Lauren it was subliminal messaging for ‘Marry Steven S’) and booked Lauren for Hair & Makeup for my ‘Office Christmas Party’ in November at Eastwell Manor in Ashford.

I knew I couldn’t get Lauren there any other way, she wouldn’t let me ‘waste money’ on a spa break so Mary was my best hope! Once I had Lauren booked, I set about having her Gran’s old engagement ring re-set and designed for her, using her best friend Simone as my design consultant – my plan was coming together.

I snuck out of the house on the Saturday morning, I texted her to say I was going to play Fifa at Matt’s and then head into town for a few drinks whilst she was doing a bridal trial so she couldn’t ask too many questions. Lauren arrived at 4pm and the receptionist told her that Mary wanted to meet her in the Garden and led her out to me, I was stood on a little bridge over a pond with fairy lights, surrounded by balloons (I could tell she was coming as little heads appeared at the curtains in the main house, the staff knew what was going on so were spying – pressure!).

She arrived, I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me, she said yes and then my 2 accomplices, our best friends, Matt and Simone popped out from behing the bushes having caught the whole thing on camera. It went without a hitch and here we are!

What made you choose your wedding venue, did you look at many?
We’re very relaxed people, we knew we didn’t want a particularly stuffy affair and with Lauren having been to so many venues with her hair and makeup work we knew where we didn’t want to go. Simone actually suggested The Bell as she had been to another wedding there and we loved it from the moment we walked in the door, we saw one other venue but it wasn’t a patch on The Bell so we booked it the next day – it’s tough to beat a place that has Tuba’s for urinals!

What was the inspiration/theme of your wedding?
Colour! We wanted the wedding to be relaxed, colourful and above all, fun! The 2018 wedding themes were heavy on blush, ivory and pastel shades so we wanted to break from the norm and let our freak flags fly! With Steve being a designer and me working in the Makeup Industry we’re not scared of colour, so we thought why limit ourselves to just a few!?

What is your first song and why?
Our first dance is to ‘Still into you’ by Paramore. We love the song so much, it’s upbeat and the lyrics really resonate with us. We kind of hope it will get people up and dancing pretty quickly so that we don’t have to awkwardly sway alone for too long!

What would be your number one tip to other couples planning their wedding?
Do as much as you can in advance! We’ve been really organised so the last 4 weeks in the lead up to the wedding have been fairly relaxed. Stick to your own style, don’t just do what you think is expected of you because it’s a wedding – stay true to who you are and the day will be a true reflection of you as a couple. Just because your Aunt Sally says ‘it’s a tradition’ doesn’t mean it has to be one you keep up!

Check out Lauren and Steve’s amazing Wedding at The Bell in Ticehurst below.

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The photography: All images captured with two Fujifilm X-T3 cameras.
Lenses:
Fujinon XF 16mm f1.4 R WR, Fujinon XF 23mm f1.4 R, Fujinon XF 35mm f1.4 R and Fujinon XF 56mm f1.2.

Other awesome suppliers who helped during Lauren and Steve’s Wedding at The Bell in Ticehurst.

Hair stylist: Sarah Yelland
Website: N/A

Make up artist: Natasha Valerie Makeup
Website: http://www.natashavaleriemakeup.com/

Brides dress: Truvelle ‘Alexandra’ – Purchased from Heart a Flutter, Hackney
Website: http://heartaflutterbridal.co.uk/

Bridesmaids dresses: ‘Regina Sparkle Pleated Dress’ – Whistles
Website: https://www.whistles.com/

Suits: Jennis & Warmann
Website: https://jennisandwarmann.uk/

Florist: Amanda @ Distinctly Floral, Lenham
Website: http://www.distinctlyfloral.co.uk/

Cake: Sian @ Cakie Wakie, Sheerness
Website: https://www.facebook.com/cakiewakiesian

Caterer: The Bell in Ticehurst
Website: https://www.thebellinticehurst.com/

Band/DJ: Ben Turner
Website: https://www.instagram.com/benjaminturner7

Stationary: Lucky Ink
Website: http://www.luckyink.co.uk/

Videographer: Harry Bristow @ Diamond 9 Productions
Website: https://diamond9productions.co.uk/

Lighting: Rob Wraight
Website: https://www.kententertainments.co.uk/

Brides Rings: Angela Clemmet
Website: http://www.angelaclemmet.com/

Magician: Andrew Kelly
Website: https://www.andrewkellymagic.com

Are you looking for a wedding photographer? Would you like someone who photographs it in an alternative, fun and natural way? Fancy seeing your wedding pictures on my Instagram and on other cool wedding blogs? Get in touch and let me know all about your day! I need to know the date, ceremony and reception details and most importantly all the ideas you have! 

Let’s chat about your day!

I am a Kent wedding photographer who has been featured within Your Kent Wedding Magazine, Rock n Roll Bride and Your Sussex Wedding Magazine, with images also published in the The Daily Mail, The Telegraph, The Independent, The News Of The World and many other large newspapers and magazines.

 

Wedding at The Bell in Ticehurst | Kent Wedding Photographer | https://rosshurley.com | Copyright Ross Hurley Photography 2019

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