The Amazing Beach Wedding Of Cally and Drew
My story with Drew and Cally started last year when Drew asked me to photograph an engagement shoot for them on the day he proposed to Cally in London. Unbeknown to Cally he had also asked me to photograph the actually proposal that morning, ninja style. This remained a secret between us until the morning of the wedding when Drew gave Cally a print of his favourite photo from the shoot (see below). It was so cool to be there for that moment. The wedding itself was a joy. Stunning location, amazing people and endless beautiful/awesome moments to capture. From chilling on the beach in the morning all the way through to the karaoke afterparty. Thanks again so much for trusting me with your wedding photos! And now I give you Drew and Cally. Take it over guys!
What were your favourite parts of the day?
We both enjoyed every minute we shared with our friends and families throughout the day, from getting ready with our bridesmaids and groomsmen all the way through the evening of dancing in the ballroom and singing karaoke late into the night, but our highlights were exchanging the vows that we had personally written at our ceremony and the bit of time we spent right afterwards where it was just the two of us, taking a deep breath, having a bite to eat and quietly celebrating having just gotten married!
For Cally, there was a brief moment of panic right before the doors opened for her to walk down the aisle. She isn’t one to be the centre of attention, so the thought of everyone’s eyes on her as she walked down the aisle had her a bit nervous. At that moment she paused and reminded herself that all of these people had come there for us and the nerves went away.
What made you choose your wedding venue?
Cally went to look at a few venues with her family so she could narrow down the list of possible venues for when Drew would be around a few weeks later, but once they had visited this venue on the beach, they knew they had already found the place. Cally grew up loving the beach and being near the water in the summertime and even though Drew had never been, he knew if Cally loved it, he would too.
We thought the combination of the waterside location and the simplicity and peacefulness of the barn setting, not to mention having the ceremony, reception and afterparty all at the same location, made it an ideal venue for our guests.
What made you choose your wedding style?
We hope that our wedding style reflected our personalities and wanted the whole event to be one of relaxed elegance (i.e., classy with an organic feel with a lot of greenery in the flower arrangements, trees towering over the dinner tables, and a lot of candles). We wanted things to be nice, but not stuffy and hopefully that is what our guests experienced.
What entertainment did you have?
For our ceremony and cocktail hour we had a string quartet playing a mix of classical favorites, modern hits, and jazz before turning the entertainment over to the DJ to get people dancing throughout the reception. During the afterparty, he had karaoke microphones and offered the biggest entertainment of the night… Cally singing Michael Jackson!
Do you have any tips or advice for couples currently planning their own wedding?
Every detail that you have spent days, weeks, or months planning will all be coming together at once, so take a moment or two to pause and take it in as much as you can. Even if everything doesn’t end up exactly how you imagined it, when you’re marrying the person you love the most and you’re surrounded by the love and support of the people who matter most, it makes for a pretty much perfect day.
And finally, do you have any comments about your photographer?
Having Matt at our wedding was like having one more friend there and we can’t wait to see the moments he captured. Matt was there to photograph the very moment we got engaged and we spent a couple of hours with him that same day and spent more time with him in London before our wedding so well got to know each other pretty well. It couldn’t have been easier to work with him and I’m sure the quality of the photos will speak for themselves.
