On Saturday I had a great time photographing the wedding of Sophie & Jimmy at Kingdom in Penshurst. My day started with Jimmy & his groomsmen at One Warwick Park, where they’d hired The House and celebrated the night before. By the time I arrived, there was little evidence of the party – the place looked immaculate, and the guys were looking sharp.
I then headed through The Pantiles to join Sophie & her bridal party at The Tunbridge Wells Hotel, where Liz from Simply Beautiful Wedding Hair was styling and Becky Flynn was on make-up. Sophie wore a stunning ¾-length pink dress from Dig For Victory paired with statement shoes from Irregular Choice – she looked incredible.
On the drive over to Kingdom, the sky darkened again (it had rained on and off all morning). By the time Sophie walked down the aisle, it was pouring, and umbrellas were handed out to guests. Then, right as the registrar asked if anyone knew of a reason the couple shouldn’t marry, the rain stopped. The sun came out – and stayed out for most of the day. Burying the sausage worked again!
Drinks and canapés followed on the roof terrace, before speeches inside from Sophie & Jimmy, the father of the bride, and best men James & Juan. A special mention has to go to the best-men and groomsman Nick, who were so on the ball all day – Jimmy clearly has some great friends around him.
After dinner, I whisked Sophie & Jimmy away for some portraits in the golden light before they cut the cake and had their first dance to the acoustic version of Latch by Sam Smith. A few more songs followed, and then a surprise: a roaming band burst in (Heavy Beat Brass Band), moving through the room and instantly lifting the energy sky-high. Their interpretations of well-known songs were brilliant, and the guests loved it.
The DJ then took over, evening food was served, and the party carried on in full swing, with Sophie & Jimmy at the centre of the dancefloor.
Congratulations Sophie & Jimmy & thanks for having me a part of your amazing day!
Here is more about their amazing wedding in their own words with lots of images from their beautiful wedding:
How did you meet, & how did you become engaged?
"We met working together in A&E at St George’s Hospital during covid in 2020. We were both at a leaving party for a friend when restrictions had relaxed where Jimmy first asked Sophie to go on a date and from then we fell in love. After 4 years Jimmy decided to propose to Sophie on a trip to Iceland in March 2024, it didn’t quite go to plan as the spots Jimmy had planned were a bit different to what he expected (he last went on a trip to Iceland in summer and the same spots had been completely snowed over and were not accessible) and by luck Sophie picked a new spot to stay which was not part of the original plan, a stunning area called Stokksnes which had a black beach with striking mountains in the background. After camping overnight there Jimmy went for a walk there in the morning and realised how beautiful it was and that this was the perfect spot to propose, so they went for a morning walk along the beach and he asked the question…"
How long did you take to plan your wedding?
"We started looking for venues in May 2024 so approximately a year and a few months. Realistically, the majority of the planning and booking was done in the first 6 months, and then about 6 months before they were due to get married, there was a lot more organising and planning in the lead up to the big day!"
What made you choose your wedding venues and how did you decorate them?
"Sophie’s favourite wine is a Bacchus from Chapel Down, for her leaving gift from A&E in 2022 she got some Chapel Down vouchers where she realised that other than the vineyard it could be used at one of their other sites, she always really liked the look of Kingdom so when we got engaged she suggested looking at this venue first. We both really loved Kingdom as soon as we arrived, it was unique and in a beautiful setting and without looking at any further venue we decided that this was the one! As the venue was so lovely it didn’t require a lot of decoration, but Jimmy’s stepmum made some stunning flower arrangements and his family got together a few days before and made all the table flower arrangements. Jimmy also thought it would be a nice idea to make some signs which corresponded to the table names with a little note to explain each name."
What inspired you to style your day the way you did?
"We loved the sustainability and natural theme of the venue, so opted to keep things simple where we could. Sophie loves the colour blue, so that helped to guide the decision regarding bridesmaids’ dresses."
How did you decide on your dress and accessories?
"Sophie didn’t like any of the dresses that she kept seeing in bridal shops and knew she didn’t want to wear white. Her sister had been able to design her dress at a small boutique in Brighton, which was in keeping with the sustainability aspect, as local seamstresses make the dresses. Sophie was able to find the last measure of a pink silk the shop had, just enough to make the dress she had designed, similar to one the shop had as a sample.
"Sophie’s dress was always going to be just short enough that you could see her shoes and she had spotted a pair of multicoloured heels that she knew she wanted to wear for the day. Jewellery she wore kept to a theme of opalescent and celestial shapes, matching the Order of the Day and the table plan stationery."
How did you decide on the outfits for the groom and groomsmen?
"One of Jimmy’s friends Loyd works for YSL, so went with Jimmy to help him decide (and as Jimmy is colour blind, correct him when he thought something was a different colour or shade than it actually was!). Suitsupply was recommended by him as it was reasonably priced for the quality, Jimmy wanted a 2 piece to keep it simple. We went to M&S to find something similar for the groomsmen’s suits.
"Jimmy showed Sophie what suits he was thinking for the groomsmen, to make sure this matched the bridesmaids! Jimmy’s tie was pink to match Sophie’s dress, and the groomsmen wore light blue ties to match with the bridesmaids. Sophie vetted the tie colours to be sure they would match!"
Who walked you down the aisle? And did you walk down the aisle to a particular song?
"Sophie’s dad walked her down the aisle, to the Stereophonics song Bright Red Star. Jimmy and Sophie had listened to A LOT of songs before deciding on this one, which was the perfect pitch and speed for her entrance. Sophie relished in the amusing fact that she could walk down the aisle to the lyrics “she’s alright”."
Did you have any readings?
"We had two readings – the first was from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, where Spike gives a speech declaring Buffy as ‘the one’. The audience enjoyed this one, particularly as our friend, Dave, announced the season and episode it was from in a formal tone, before proceeding to deliver the reading! Our second reading was an adaptation of ‘You Deserve a Lover’ by Frieda Kahlo, which was read by Jimmy’s sister, Joyce. We wanted our readings to reflect our personalities and interests – both Sophie and Jimmy like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and also enjoy art and reading."
Please describe your wedding breakfast and the reasons behind it?
"Didn’t have much input as pretty much set by the venue apart from picking a meat or veggie option."
Did you provide wedding favours?
"We initially decided to not do wedding favours as from going to other weddings ourselves we found that it can be quite annoying to look after a little gift all night that can be easily lost. However, Jimmy wanted to incorporate some Chinese culture into the wedding and last minute we decided to have 利是 (Lai see) as our favours, which are red envelopes that usually have real money and are given out at Chinese New Year or weddings. Financially this was not possible so we included some fake money for a bit of fun but thought it would be more meaningful to also include a chengyu, which is a Chinese idiom that we picked to suit each individual guest."
Please describe your cake and why you chose it?
"We found a lovely local baker (who it turns out, actually worked at sister venue, The Beacon!). She was able to offer us a variety of delicious cake flavours to try and they opted for a 3 tier cake consisting of a tiramisu layer, chocolate with pecan praline and chocolate and hazelnut flavours. She was also able to provide small cakes for the guests with intolerances and allergies, which was a lovely touch! The cake was kept beautiful and simple, with just the right amount of detail and decoration. Blue buttercream accents to the otherwise white buttercream exterior, to match the groomsmen and bridesmaids. Then pink edible dahlias to match the bride’s dress."
What was your first dance track?
"One of Jimmy and Sophie’s shared interests is that we really like dance music and regularly go to raves, so having a Disclosure song for our first dance was perfect. Jimmy had thought for years that Latch would be a good first dance song for a wedding so suggested it to Sophie. As the original is unsurprisingly quite up-tempo, Sophie managed to find a really nice acoustic version and Jimmy using his limited editing skills managed to fade this version to the original, at which point everyone joined in. The lyrics in latch makes Jimmy and Sophie feel very in the moment, that it is just them with no one else around and nothing else matters."
What was your favourite part of the day and why?
"Jimmy really liked how the ceremony turned out in the end, with Sophie’s favourite moment was when the rain stopped during the part where the celebrant asked if there were any objections, leaving the rest of the day for everyone to enjoy glorious sunshine! Jimmy’s favourite part he really liked the surprise entrance from the band as he wasn’t sure how that was going to pan out in reality but it was perfectly timed after the first dance."
What led you to choose Parkershots as your photographer & please can you comment on the results?
"We picked Nick through a list in the little black book of suppliers given to us by Kingdom, we really liked his natural style of photography and he has a good eye for lighting and angles. We also particularly liked his night shots and are really happy with how ours turned out!"
On reflection, is there anything you would have done differently with foresight?
"Overall we think the day was perfect and we can’t think of anything that we would change! Jimmy realised there was probably a few more people he could’ve thanked in his speech."
If you could impart any words of wisdom to a bride to be planning her marriage and wedding day, what would they be?
"Book the main things early so you aren’t stressing about them, but don’t get sucked into having things be part of your day just because you saw it on social media or think you have to include it. Your wedding should be true to you as a couple."
Is there anything else you would like to add?
"Thanks so much for capturing our special day so beautifully, we are really happy with your work and it takes us back every time we look through them!"
Suppliers:
- Venue / Food : https://www.thiskingdom.co.uk/ - venue/food supplier
- Bride’s Prep Hotel: https://thetunbridgewellshotel.com/
- Groom’s Prep Hotel: https://www.onewarwickpark.co.uk/
- Cake: https://cakeblossoms.co.uk/
- Flowers : By Jimmy's Stepmum Kammy (@kammykmc on insta)
- MUA: https://www.makeupbybeckyflynn.com/
- Hair: https://www.simplybeautifulweddinghair.co.uk/
- Dress: https://www.digforvictoryclothing.com/
- Veil: https://natashanicolestudio.co.uk
- Band: https://www.heavybeatbrass.com/
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