Matara Wedding Centre – Katie-Mai & Matt

Matara Wedding Centre  – Katie-Mai and Matt

Wedding photography at Matara Wedding Centre, Kingscote, Gloucestershire.

Katie-Mai and Matt were married at the stunning Matara Wedding Centre in Kingscote near Tetbury for their Chinese influenced wedding, they couldn’t of chosen a more fitting venue. The weather was a scorcher which was a blessing as it’s always so nice to have an outdoor ceremony around the cloistered courtyard overlooking the beautiful pond at the Matara. Katie-Mai and Matt’s wedding preparations took place in a lovely regency house in Cheltenham, the ladies and gents all got ready here with bridal prep, hair, make-up and the obvious groomsmen suiting up, with a few glasses of the fizzy stuff.

The guys headed over first, to make sure all was in place and set for the arrival of guests and more importantly the lovely Katie-mai and her dad. Matt had already pre-warned me he was emotional and you could see why. Katie-Mai entered in to the courtyard through the fabulous stone archway giving a Matt a distant glimpse across the pond of his beautiful bride. He did his best to hold back the tears but nothing was going to stop the emotion escaping, you could see how much he adored Katie-Mai. I think he was relieved and glad to have her by his side. The ceremony was carried out by Matt’s best man, a lovely ceremony, sealed with a kiss and pelting of flowers as they escaped through the guests for their traditional tea ceremony with close family. I loved this part of the day, so good to have the family play an important role in the day with this traditional part of a Chinese wedding. With the traditions completed it was time to head out for drinks on the lawn and bask in the sunshine, with the musical entertainment by the amazing Top Bananas (stilt) band from Brighton.  The outside of the Matara is spectacular (as is the inside… win, win!) and to be able to go and experience that made the day even more special. Katie-Mai and Matt had crazy golf set-up outside and everyone got involved.

Whilst everyone headed in, we had a little time to get the all important couple portraits, an ideal time for the bride and groom to get a little time together before getting back to the festivities. The Gardens have so many amazing spots to photograph in, giving a photographer a nightmare on where to use in the little time they normally have, but hey this is a good problem to have and a reason why I LOVE to photograph at the Matara. The pond and bridge being a favourite spot (as you will see at the end on this post! ).

The Speeches were like most weddings, full of sentiment, stories of past, love and laughter, another part of the day I love to photograph as everyone dials in and listens with affection and interest. Emotions are great to capture now especially when there are so many characters sharing stories or are part of them, and today was no exception!

I think that’s enough of me babbling on really, so I am going to round this up with the final parts of the day, the cutting of the cake wasn’t your standard cake cut, it was a whole table of GLORIOUS cakes, one cut by Katie-Mai and Matt and the rest served by the lovely couple themselves, at this point I was wishing I was a guest!  The first dance followed in the main room illuminated by four letters that summed up the day perfectly. There was amazing facing painting for the guests (again you will see below) and I finished my part of the day with a few night photos out in the courtyard, wonderfully lit with amazing colours. That really is all I need to say, however as I can’t stop myself typing away I really will finish off with saying, it was an amazing day, full of colour and many beautiful moments and I wish Katie-Mai and Matt all the happiness in the world for their future together. x

 

The Best of Matara Awards 2018 – 2019

Last year I was entered in to the Best of the Matara Awards for a wedding I photographed there right at the end of 2018 for Orrin and Demi. It was a fantastic Christmas wedding and they had made a huge effort for it to be truly special. The end of the day had a snow machine and we got out there in the dark for what turned out to be a great photo and I was delighted to scoop the main award, the 24 Karat Shot, which can be viewed below and here… Matara winner 2018. I was delighted to be entered again at the end of 2019 for Katie-Mai and Matt’s wedding, and yet again winning an award but this year for the Most Arresting shot, seen below.

Winner – Most Arresting Shot

Winner – 24 Karat Shot

matara-wedding-photography

Matara Wedding Centre wedding photography – If you are getting married at The Matara Wedding Centre and would like me to capture your big day here or in the Cotswolds, drop me a message with a few details via my contact page. We can then discuss availability and further information about your photography requirements. I look forward to hearing from you and finding out more about your wedding plans!