A Stunning Winter Wedding at The Beacon in Tunbridge Wells. With a Beautiful Bon Bride Dress + Black Tie attire.

March 20, 2023 Lottie Topping

The Beacon is a Kent Wedding Venue I am extremely familiar with, but with each season, it brings new surprises, as the landscape changes. It’s a Wedding Venue, where the natural back drop really influences the tone and feel of the day, as so much of the Wedding takes place outside. I love it so much, because each couple brings their unique spin on the venue. I’ve had the pleasure of many spring and summer weddings here, however, it was my first Winter Wedding at The Beacon and incredibly, we had snow! It transformed the wedding into the most spectacular, whimsical day. A white blanket of snow, covered the gardens and the sun shone for most of the day. The guests were in Black Tie attire, the Groom in a beautiful Tuxedo and the Bride in a Bon-Bride dress. It doesn’t get much better than that.

As always, it’s impossible to narrow down a selection of images to share for you, when I have hundreds of photos to choose from, but here is a little story of Helen + Adam’s most beautiful Wedding day at The Beacon.

Helen and Adam were the dreamiest clients to work with, from start to finish. Completely relaxed and trusting in my photography, but with a clear vision for their day. Helen has a keen interest Fashion and flair for details and chose an incredible bespoke Bon-Bride Dress. With that in mind, I leant into my editorial way of photographing their Wedding, as requested by Helen + Adam. A lot of people ask me what ‘editorial wedding photography is’, so as a little explanation - it’s Photography that is more dramatic and artistic. It’s infused with creativity and style. Taking into consideration all the details of the day and delivering refined, aesthetically pleasing images that have a narrative or concept. Playing with movement, the ‘imperfect’ and capturing a ‘feeling’.

I’ve given you a little peek at the highlights above, but I’ll share the images more chronologically from here so you can get a feel for the day.

With Thanks to my Second shooter Bina, who covered groom preparations for me and was another perspective for Helen + Adam on this day.

With the sun shining, there was a warmth in the air. The guests were invited into the Hearth, with a warm drink upon arrival. The venue had an abundance of ways to keep everyone cosy, while still enabling them to enjoy the outside space. Every fire was lit. There were fire pits, heaters, blankets and sheep skins. It was like being at a beautiful Ski-resort for a day!

The Ceremony in The Amphitheatre

This amazing spot puts the ceremony against a backdrop of trees, as it sits on the side of the hill over looking ‘happy valley’. It’s incredibly romantic, in a very organic way. I have lots of options to discreetly move around here too, enabling me to get a really broad perspective of the ceremony. A beautiful gospel choir sung for Helen + Adam during their service. Guest were awe struck, it was the perfect soundtrack to those moments. Sometimes, it’s like living in a movie when you have these highly emotional and romantic moments, with background music that really amplifies the feeling. It makes it so special to photograph.

Couples Portraits | Just before Dinner

Helen and Adam were so laid back and relaxed, and I wanted to ensure we got some gorgeous portraits of the two of them that reflects that. I wanted to capture that element of style and creativity in their portraits. My recommendation is use the time that the guests are finding their seats for dinner as a time to get those portraits. Sometimes, just ensuring there are no guests obscuring any views and giving my couples 5 minutes to catch up, to enjoy the pretty locations within the venue makes it so effortless. When you give people time to themselves, it doesn’t require much direction from me. It stops it from being an intimidating experience, to a joyful little moment alone together on their wedding day. A little bit of walking, looking at each other and holding hands and voilà, there you have some portraits of the couple alone. From a photography perspective, I just focus on the composition and landscape.

In The Pavilion for Dinner + Speeches

The Pavilion is where the dinner reception was held was gorgeous. I adore the way you move through the grounds at The Beacon, slowly making your way down to the bottom of the garden. The flowers and candles made for a really romantic and elegant dinner setting. It was full to the brim with all their friends and family. They all whipped their napkins in the air for their entrance and the atmosphere was electric. They enjoyed food and speeches in this part of the venue. It was so cosy - I think I was actually more ‘hot’ on this wedding day, which is makes me laugh.

Up to the Garden Bar, for Dancing + Drinks….

Thanks so much for reading this far!

I am so grateful to Helen + Adam for choosing me. Such a beautiful, high energy and vibrant day.