The Castle Westenhanger - Kent Wedding Photographer - Matt Rock

A look back to September, 2017 - The wedding of Kayleigh & Jack - The Castle, Westenhanger, Kent.

Due to COVID-19 there was not much work on in 2020 and early 2021, so I thought I would take a look back at ‘the old days’. To a wedding held at one of my favourite Kent wedding venues.

This wedding has some great memories for me and I can not wait to work there again this year. (all being well of course)

Kayleigh & Jack were recommended to me from both The Castle, Westenhanger and their friends; a couple I had worked with the year before. Recommendations is where most of my wedding work comes from.

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The weather was good, the couple were really lovely and everyone seemed to have a great day celebrating Kayleigh & Jack’s wedding. One word to describe this wedding was ‘FUN’.

It was 14th September 2017 and as is often the case, my day started at 11.30am.

When I turned up at Westenhanger Castle the bride prep was all going well and no-one seemed to be too stressed, which is a good start to any wedding day.

I normally work alone during a wedding and most of the time the day starts with bride prep. The first time I get to see the groom is often at the church or ceremony venue. However, The Castle, Westenhanger is a venue that i’m able to shoot the boys getting ready as well. This is because there is a dedicated brides room upstairs and the boys use downstairs. They never see each other before the ceremony starts but I can go between the two rooms getting both sides of the story.

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Candid, documentary wedding photography is best when it starts at the beginning.

Which is why my wedding collections offer full day coverage, starting at the bride prep. (and groom prep if possible) This helps to make your wedding album complete and when you look back on your wedding day in the years that follow it will give you the chance to re-live it all over again - from start to finish.

“Set in 14 acres of magnificent Kent countryside, The Castle Westenhanger has it all. A medieval castle steeped in history with a stunning manor house, castle turrets, and romantic ruins, it’s the perfect location for your dream wedding.

Dating back to 1343, The Castle Westenhanger enjoys a rich history and was once King Henry VIII’s preferred party palace. It has since been lovingly restored into a fully licensed, exclusive-use wedding and events venue with three stunning inside and outside ceremony options.”

— https://www.westenhangercastle.co.uk

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I try to fuse together my candid photos with some natural portraits where possible. I find this can give the couple some time to breath and think about what they are about to do.

This portrait above was made once the bride was ready and before she was about to walk outside to meet her groom.

The image below is of the groom and his best man just after he saw Kayleigh walking out of the Castle door for the first time - his best man can tell the emotions are now starting to get real.

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There isn’t long to wait until the wedding breakfast is served and the dreaded speeches to begin. This is always a great time for candid emotional photos. Nerves and the fear of public speaking is always on show here.

My advice would be to embrace the fear and enjoy it because as soon as it’s over you will probably want to say more.

Anyway it’s really the best man who needs to worry. There is a lot more expectation on him to be funny and of course interesting.

Tip for the best man:

Not everyone finds the best man stories appropriate to share with the rest of the guests...

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As soon as the wedding breakfast has been eaten and the speeches are finished, it’s time to welcome the evening guests, cut the cake, let your hair down and start the evening off with a bang.

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This was a wedding i’ll remember and the Castle Westenhanger is a great venue to hold your wedding day celebrations. See link here: https://www.westenhangercastle.co.uk/

If you would like to get in touch and find out what I can offer you for your big day, please contact me on 07970668592 or see the ‘contact me’ link below.

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Photo-Films from The Castle, Westenhanger

Photo-Film

Hit the play button in the middle to watch Kayleigh & Jacks Photo-Film below.

PHOTO-FILM

Hit the play button in the middle to watch another wedding from Westenhanger Castle - August 2019

Photo-Film

Hit the play button in the middle to watch another wedding from Westenhanger Castle - July 2018

Photo-Film

Hit the play button in the middle to watch another wedding from Westenhanger Castle - August 2018

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View the wedding blog of Denise & Joe, Westenhanger Castle - August 2019 - BLOG

BEAUTIFUL - CREATIVE - TIMELESS

Venue: Westenhanger Castle

Photography by: Matt Rock Photography

Tel: 07970 668592 - E: matt@mattrockphotography.com

Getting married in a pandemic - Kent Wedding Photographer - Matt Rock

Wedding Photography at The Manor Gatehouse, Dartford - 2020

2020 was a bit of a curve ball for us all.

I was all set for my busiest year of shooting weddings since starting my business way back in 2006.

It was 2019, and I had a busy year after winning the Kent Wedding Photographer of the Year - 2019. I was all prepared for a busy year ahead; I had a minor operation booked in for the start January 2020 (which went well thanks to our amazing NHS) and my first wedding of the year was booked in for late March. So plenty of time to rest and recover before the hard work and fun started.

Then came COVID-19…

Fast forward a year to December 2020 and out of the 32 weddings I had booked in, only 3 of them were able to go ahead due to government restrictions.

To say it was a stressful year professionally is an understatement. However, I still count myself very lucky. Receiving the government grants, having some great clients who were still prepared to stick with me and some who paid their fees upfront. This meant I was able to keep my business going and look forward to a busier 2021.

We are still not out of the woods just yet, but with the vaccine being rolled out and an amazing NHS - it’s got to a positive move forward.

2020 will be a year to remember - or maybe forget.

Amy and John were great throughout all of this. They had originally booked me almost 2 years before, in 2018 and their original date was set for 10th April 2020. They even recommended me to John’s sister and I shot her wedding in 2019. But as soon as the lockdown was looking like a possibility their date was soon changed to later in the year and we postponed it to 14th November 2020. At this point we were all hopeful this virus would be under control by the summer of 2020.

As this new date approached however it was clear that things were getting worse - not better. So they made the difficult decision to move their wedding date for a second time and bring it forward to 30th September 2020. Which as it turned out was a great move on their part as another venue lockdown was just around the corner…

Below are some of my favourite memories from their wedding day - 30th September 2020

So that was the moment it all happened - all the years of planning a wedding, postponing it twice, a pandemic and the compulsory wearing of face masks.

It all came down to the fact that two people just wanted to get married!

That’s it!

There was not going to be any lavish after party with 150 guests, no big embarrassing speech from the best man, no DJ, no first dance and no honeymoon.

Just two young people who were desperate to get married and start a new life together as Mr & Mrs.

Then it was all down to the local pub for burger & chips & few drinks.

It was great to be part of Amy & John’s special day and although it was not as they would have chosen, I felt they still had the best day, spent with close friends and family. I mentioned before that i’d photographed John’s sisters wedding back in 2019, so for me it was good to catch up with the family again too.

I made a music photo-film from their wedding and you can see this below.

Thanks for reading and as we look to March / April and the summer of 2021, let us hope it will be a bit more ‘back to normal’ and weddings can once again be a regular occurrence in our diaries.

Suppliers:

Ceremony: Manor Gatehouse, Dartford Registry Office, Dartford, Kent - A Kentish Ceremony @kentishceremony

Pub: The Malt Shovel, Dartford, Kent @maltshoveldartf

If you know any suppliers that I have missed, please contact me me as I would love to include their details here.

Need help deciding? See my BLOG below for some more inspiration.

“pandemic noun
plural pandemics
Definition of pandemic
1 : an outbreak of a disease that occurs over a wide geographic area (such as multiple countries or continents) and typically affects a significant proportion of the population : a pandemic outbreak of a disease
a global pandemic
Influenza pandemics seem to strike every few decades and to kill by the million—at least 1m in 1968; perhaps 100m in the “Spanish” flu of 1918-19.
— The Economist”

— https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pandemic

Kent Wedding and Portrait Photographer Matt Rock - Black and White Photographs

If you are like me, you love seeing beautiful, creative & timeless black and white photography.

Wedding Photography - Candid photograph of a bride - Allington Castle - Kent - 2019

When I make an image during a wedding, portrait shoot or a big corporate event, I always like to make it look as natural as possible - so it doesn’t look stiff, posed or forced. Working in a documentary style means these will often be candid images, during corporate events or weddings and sometimes they will be a directed portrait where I am in complete control of how the image will look; with lighting and expression etc - often during a Wedding portrait shoot or a studio portrait session. These photographs can then be processed to black and white or kept in colour during the editing stage.

Below are some black & white images of my work during portrait sessions and inc. weddings, corporate events and portrait shoots.

Black and white images will give you that timeless look which feels unique to this style and look as good in the future as they do now.

Corporate Events - Museum of London

Studio Portrait

Corporate sports events - QPR - 2018

Candid Portrait

Natural / directed Portrait

Family Portrait session - Kent

It is my job as a portrait photographer to look for the best light or create it and then to get the best expression from the people in front of the camera - without directly asking them for it.

Black and white photos seem to be less complicated and more future-proof, without splashes of colour to distract you the viewer from the subject matter or overall scene.

As I said, I am always looking for the best quality of light for my photographs. Whether it’s available light from a window in a room, the sunlight and shade outside or the studio lights I have set up. Quality of light or interestingly the shadow is even more important with black & white as the tone can set the mood of an image and when you add to that, the moment and composition it can be very powerful.

Do they look nervous before the wedding? - Are they happy that the pressure is now off of them? - Or are they in love during a bit of quiet time together?

Wedding Portrait of Groom - window light

Event Photography - Goodwood Revival - September 2019

Corporate Events - London

Corporate golf days are always interesting to photograph - The London Golf Club

My love of black and white images does not mean I only shoot this way.

There are often different reasons for shooting in colour and or black & white - my clients wants and needs will affect this for the most part and often the client needs a colour image for what they are using the images for. But sometimes they let me make them how I want to as well.

Firstly, thank you for reading this far down, I hope you enjoyed what you have seen.

If you are looking to hire a multi skilled photographer to capture your corporate event, wedding, portrait or headshot, please get in touch.

Equipment used: Fujifilm XPRO 2 & XH1 with 16mm f1.4 - 23mm f2 - 50mm f2 - 90mm f2

Other useful links: Documentary event Photography - Headshot Photography - How to choose a wedding photographer

All Images and copyright belongs to Matt Rock Photography.