East Quay Wedding Whitstable // Katy & Paul
The East Quay in Whitstable is a great wedding venue, and one I always look forward to shooting at. It’s located right on the beach and is exposed to the elements, and the shingle, sea and skies make for a dramatic back drop to a wedding at any time of the year. Katy and Paul chose the Lobster Shack at the East Quay for their May wedding, a warm but incredibly windy day. Katy got ready in nearby Broadstairs, and a fantastic black and red VW camper van took her to the ceremony. She arrived fashionably late; as one may expect with a vehicle of this age, powering through the weekend traffic is not something it excels at, but who cares when it looks this good?! After the ceremony, the newlyweds mingled with their guests, and champagne and oysters were enjoyed on the beachfront. I took some portraits of the couple on the beach where Katy’s veil almost blew off in the wind, and upstairs in the East Quay where the light was soft and diffused. Dinner was served and guests didn’t have to wait long for the speeches which featured a life size cut out of David Beckham, and many references to football – both Katy and Paul are huge football supporters. It stayed light well into the evening, so as guests wound down from dinner and prepared themselves for the dance floor, I took Katy and Paul to Whitstable Harbour for some more portraits. Doing two portrait sessions during the day is something I enjoy, as the light can be so different later into the evening. I didn’t keep them long though, and they were soon on the dance floor for the first dance, joined quickly by their friends and family including one tiny dancer, a flower girl who had the graceful moves of a ballerina. The DJ got the party started and kept it going all night.