epic lightning wedding photo by a Talbooth House & Spa Wedding Photographer

Talbooth House & Spa Wedding Photographer // Lucy & Matt

An Intimate and Beautiful Essex Venue

I love photographing weddings at Talbooth House & Spa in beautiful Dedham, Essex. It’s one of those one-of-a-kind venues where you’ll instantly know whether it’s the right venue for you the second you drive through the gates. Classy yet comfortable, stylish yet friendly. It has that homily feel but is also super special. The two words which jump out which make it particularly unique are “pool” and “house”. In how many wedding venues can you entertain your guests by a pool during the afternoon reception? Of course, you’ll be able to use the pool the following morning too after a lovely night spent in one of their stunning rooms. Like all Milsom venues, Talbooth House & Spa also has super friendly and helpful staff and some of the best food going in Essex. It’s definitely my favourite Essex wedding venue for a small wedding (up to 50 guests).

The Stunning Couple

I’ve shot a few times at Talbooth House & Spa but this one was particularly special for me as Lucy and Matt are good friends of ours. My wife Rachael was one of the bridesmaids. A few days earlier we were also married and Lucy was one of Rachael’s bridesmaids. As friends, I got to really experience Talbooth House & Spa not just as a photographer but as a guest who stayed over too and I have to say, it was fantastic.

Lucy, originally from Essex, and Matt from Bavaria, are two of the loveliest people I know. They wanted a small wedding with their very closest friends and family and travelled all the way over from Germany to have it at Talbooth House & Spa. Their mid-summer wedding was perhaps hotter than they expected with it being the hottest day of the year! I’ll let the images and Lucy herself tell the rest of their story…

Pomeranian at the wedding! Maison Talbooth Dedham Essex Wedding Venue Bride makeup hugging her bridesmaid the puppy and the baby - funny picture veil and bridesmaid bride and bridesmaid

How did you guys meet?

We met in a club in London. We had actually both changed our plans at the last minute to join friends for a weekend in the city- a very happy conincidence for us both! Espeically as it was Matt’s first ever visit to the UK. Matt approached me in the club and we spent the rest of the night talking until around 5 in the morning. We shared our contact details (although I never thought we’d see each other again with us living in different countries) and 2 weeks later I flew to Berlin to meet again for a long weekend. We then traveled back and forth between Germany and England at weekends for just over 3 years until I moved to Germany.

groom anxiously waits for bride at the alter bride walking by the poolside happy groom by poolside bride walking down the aisle bride and groom meet ceremony in the pool house guest watches as they exchange rings

Tell us a bit about yourselves

Matt comes from Bavaria and I come from Essex. Since meeting I’ve learnt to speak German (fortunately Matt could already speak good English). We’ve been living together in Germany for the past 5 years now, initially living in Cologne and since then moving into our own house which we built together near Düsseldorf. We also have 2 children together, our daugther who was a part of our wedding day and we are very lucky to have welcomed our little boy in September 2020 completing our family. Not forgetting our little dog Peaches too of course!

bride and groom sign the register bride and groom leave the pool house confetti at Maison Talbooth canapes cocktail hour smiles guest having a laugh

How did the proposal go down?

Matt planned a surprise weekend away for us, picked me up from work on a Friday with a suitcase and drove through the evening to Berlin (where we had our first date). We stayed in a lovely hotel and had some spa treatments before heading out to dinner at the Berliner Fernseh tower. We had an amazing view over city, delicious food and live music. It was a beautiful evening and just before dessert Matt popped the question. He did have a little scare on the way into the tower as you have to go through a security check- similar to that of an airport. He had a quiet panic when he had to empty his pockets but somehow I didn’t notice the all-important ring box and all went smoothly.

Bride and Groom with their dog photo smily faces during speeches Bride speech Groom watches speeches Laughing guest natural photography Laughing happy couple Black and white photo of bride

How did you choose your wedding venue?

We both knew from the start that we wanted a small wedding party with delicious food and accommodation. Having already known of Le Talbooth and their great reputation we called and made an appointment. From there we were introduced to their hotel Maison Talbooth (now Talbooth House & Spa) and we booked right away. We didn’t feel the need to explore or look around at any other venues as we felt it was the right fit for us.

Tearful bride during emotional speeches walking natural shot of the bride and groom group family shots bridesmaid dipping her feet in the pool bridesmaids group shot

What sort of experience did you want your guests to have?

Like most, we wanted our guests to thoroughly enjoy the day and have a lot of fun. For us that meant lots of tasty food, plenty of drinks, good music and a relaxed atmosphere. We also wanted to show our German friends and family the best side of an English country wedding- another reason why we chose Maison Talbooth (Talbooth House & Spa) with it’s beautiful English country manor feel.

classic wedding photo under the veil torrential rain bride and bridesmaids running in the rain! groom and bestman

Can you describe some of the details and stylings, did your wedding have a theme?

Style-wise we kept everything pretty classic/chic. We went for white roses, white hydrangeas and white peonies for the flowers along with refreshing greenery. We also made a lot of the decorations ourselves including name place settings, little painted and framed initials for the quests, a photo display and little containers to hold the confetti. Luckily we both have quite similar taste which made the decision-making process quite easy for us. It was also very important to us that everyone at the wedding felt comfortable so we decided to have our bridesmaids choose their own dresses- each having a completely different style and colour. A bit unusual but we love how bright and colourful it looks when we look back at our wedding photos.

bride and groom by the pool on the hottest day of the year intimate couple shot thunderstorm rainbow and lightning couple shot

What was your best decision during the wedding planning?

As most would say- choosing a talented photographer was the best decision we made. We are so happy that we have the most incredible photos to look back on, it really captured our day and we will have those photos to forever remind us of our happy day.

epic lightning wedding photo maison talbooth dancefloor girls partying happy mum on the dancefloor dancing dad

What was the hardest decision?

For me, it was deciding whether or not to keep my maiden name. I really like my name so it was difficult to let go but I went for it in the end (Matt was happy either way!). For the actual wedding day itself, we didn’t have much difficulty making decisions, we enjoyed the process and trusted the experts who were helping us.

jump around! jump up jump up and get down! groom dancing with his friends girls having a great time guests dancing and having fun

What were your favourite memories of the day?

There are so many to choose from… the actual ceremony, dancing in the evening, getting caught in a thunderstorm, a couples photoshoot in the rain, cocktails by the pool, having all of our favourite people in place… we would love to do it all again!

black and white party shot new friends hugging the final dance of the bride and groom sparklers at the end of the night

What advice would you have for any couples planning a wedding?

Definitely be flexible and open-minded. It’s great to have a clear vision for your day but being open and taking on ideas from other people really added some different aspects to our day that we otherwise wouldn’t have had. Keep the food and drinks flowing and of course invest in the best photographer!

black and white photo of sparklers at a maison talbooth wedding

Thanks so much Lucy and Matt for inviting me to shoot your stunning wedding and thanks also for taking the time to share your story.

Superstar wedding suppliers who helped make this wedding amazing:

Venue: Talbooth House & Spa
Dress: Cinderella Brautmonde
Groom’s suit: Slaters
Wedding Cake: Pink Face
Makeup artist: DIY
Hair: DIY
Floristry: Sue Rogers Designs
Flower Wall and Light Up Letters: Luxury Flower Walls
String Quartet: Sole Bay Strings
Band/DJ: Dreamwave DJ and lighting
Invites and Welcome sign: Two Become One

I’m a Norfolk Wedding Photographer who travels all over the country and beyond capturing beautiful weddings. If you’d like a Talbooth House & Spa Wedding Photographer, an Essex Wedding Photographer or a wedding photographer for anywhere in the UK or further afield, please do get in touch!

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