St Augustines Priory wedding photographer, in Bilsington Kent

A while back in 2018 I travelled not too far from my Whitstable home to Bilsington in Kent, for the wedding of Charlotte and Bob.  When Charlotte and Bob asked me to be their St Augustines priory wedding photographer, I jumped at the chance! Finally, a wedding in the beautiful Kent countryside. In 2017 I moved from London after 15 years living there to Kent, and I was keen to get to know more of the county.

Bob & Charlotte met in 2011, at the amazing In The Woods festival that was held at a secret venue not too far from Bilsington. Bob sings in the bands The Laurel Collective and now Ilk (formed with fellow former Laurel Olly), and I’ve known him since 2004 when he drunkenly asked us to look after some champagne he’d bought for friends, that he couldn’t take into the gig we were helping out at! It was a real pleasure to be asked to shoot their wedding, and a good opportunity to mingle and catch up with old friends. 

Charlotte rolled up in a vintage Jaguar, wearing a beautiful dress made by her own mother. After tying the knot in the nearby St Peter & St Paul’s church, we moved on to the next venue. The venue in Bilsington near Ashford was recently awarded Heritage Wedding Venue of the Year at the Kent Wedding awards. A gorgeous old building, it’s perfect for a Kent wedding photographer like myself to add to the atmosphere. Beautiful old walls and rolling gardens, loads of secret knooks and pathways, perfect when I got the couple away for a shoot with just the 3 of us. The weather gods were on glorious form, as the sun beamed down on both the shoot and the drinks reception, we even got a gatecrasher in the form of a particularly affection tabby cat who joined in the fun. 

After dinner the dancing started, fuelled by Bob’s old band, The Laurel Collective, getting the party started.