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Warning, at least one of the animal photographs may well contain elements of Artificial Intelligence editing!
Wow..wow..wow…a wedding at Chester Zoo!
I’d been looking forward to Beth & Sam’s wedding since they told us they were holding their wedding celebrations at Chester Zoo! Our favourite kind of wedding is where the couple have their own ideas of what their day will be and this was definitely up there!! What an amazingly, different day in a brand new venue, a very chilled couple, laughter, such a lot of fun… and animals too!
Wedding Ceremony at St Lawrence’s Church, Stoak
After bride prep at Beth’s mums and groom prep at the couple’s home the bridal party travelled to St Lawrence’s Church in Stoak, just a 7-mile drive, in a beautiful vintage VW Campervan.
Sam arrived in style in a super fast BMW along with his groomsmen, Best Man and Best Woman in good time to get the guests arriving in the warm June sunshine. St Lawrence’s Church dates back to Saxon times but was rebuilt in 1827 and has National Heritage listing grade II
As Beth was escorted down the aisle by her brother John, Sam became overwhelmed with emotion as he took the first look at Beth in her beautiful boho-style dress with a long train and a veil.
After a lovely ceremony, especially as the vicar had known Beth since she was a child, confetti and a few family photos outside, we headed off in a procession on the 7-minute drive to the Zoo.
A Very Different Kind of a Wedding
Chester Zoo holds many fond childhood memories for me as I love animals, large and small but I never dreamed of photographing a wedding there… what a great way to celebrate your special day. Beth and Sam are a couple who know what they want and they definitely had ‘their day, their way’ at the very new and stunningly beautiful and rather unique wedding oasis in the heart of the zoo.
The Square is the new wedding venue lovingly created from the original stable block dating back to the 1930’s having been renovated from the ground up and open for weddings just a few weeks ago.
The table decorations were out of this world, lovingly created by Beth’s family long-term friend’s mum Suzanne at Carol Anne’s Florist and admired not only by the guests but the venue staff too. Beth and Sam wanted to keep the animal theme running throughout their day and after a brief summary of what they were looking for, Suzanne and her team created magnificent ‘animal’ centrepieces for each table. There was a lion, giraffe, tiger, elephant, flamingo and of course, a penguin table for two!
Outside were games such as; giant hearts and crosses, throw the welly and hoop the flamingo. As Beth and Sam arrived in the Campervan at the archway, they were greeted with glasses of fizz and the delicious smells of the BBQ food being cooked outside by the chefs. All the guests queued in the sunshine to help themselves to the sumptuous hot and cold buffet with huge burgers, lemon & garlic chicken, giant prawn and chorizo skewers and a range of colourful salads.
A Mini Safari
After a little time for the couple to chat with their guests, we set off, with Beth and Sam for an adventure around the zoo. So many visitors congratulated the newlyweds as we moved around the zoo and bridesmaid Beth (Beth 2.0) dutifully carried Beth’s train to avoid dust and twigs collecting on our journey. An hour and a half and over 10,000 steps later, we arrived back at The Square for some delicious Cheshire Farm Ice Cream and some downtime before the evening party commenced.
The band were incredible and with a vast range of songs from Motown to Mr Brightside and had virtually everyone on their feet.
Glow-sticks and Flip-flops
After a couple of encores, the DJ started the disco with some big tunes and the glow sticks and flip-flops were brought out to add to the dancefloor action. After some energetic dancing, the guests settled down for some relaxing chat after a trip to the cake table, so it was time for us to head off. What a fantastic and very memorable day we all had, thanks, guys!
Featured Suppliers
Makeup: by_emmamay
Flowers and Outside Games by Suzanne at floristsellesmereport.co.uk
Campervan: Boho-Brides.co.uk
Venue: Chester Zoo
If you would like us to be your Chester Zoo Wedding Photographer, please get in touch!
