This was my first time photographing at the beautiful grounds of Pond Valley Manor. What a gorgeous venue! Melissa & Kevin had the most perfect day: amazing weather paired with an amazing view at their venue! Everything about this day was great, even running into some mutual friends that we didn’t know we had! The couple put so much hard work into the details and decor of their wedding and it sure paid off. Kevin made that beautiful LOVE sign featured in their reception, which made a great backdrop for their sweatheart table. I love that we got to sneak out a magic hour to capture some glowy sunkissed images! Congrats to Melissa & Kevin, we had such a great time capturing your day!

Describe the vision/theme you had for your wedding in 5 words or less: Rustic, vintage, DIY, floral wedding

What are your favorite memories of your wedding day?
Bride: walking back down the aisle with my new husband! And seeing our family and friends enjoying the small details that we worked on together.
Groom: At the First Look, turning around to see Mel for the first time. And the vows with my bride, I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

Best wedding related decision: the venue, it was completely customizable and gorgeous. It was also a lot of work, so the second best decision was the wedding coordinator!

Favourite detail: the giant “Love” marquee letters, Kevin made them himself and they were the perfect backdrop.

Advice for future brides & grooms: for other DIY brides and grooms, plan and do as much as possible as far in advance as possible. And don’t leave seating charts and place cards until the day before!
The last month sneaks up fast, though in the end everything comes together and is totally worth all the work!

Would you change anything if you could do it all over again? No, it was perfect, exactly as we had envisioned.

Best surprise of the day: Feeling all the love! We’ve heard people say their wedding is the best day but we didn’t really believe it until our wedding day. It definitely was the best day of our lives so far, surrounded by love and laughter, having so much fun with our favourite people in the world!

Anything else you’d like to add:
DIY weddings are so much work, but we had lots of support from our families and also help from some experts. We spent months working together and while it was sometimes challenging, it was worth it to have a perfect day that reflected us as a couple, and to be able to share that with each other and with our friends and family.

WEDDING SONGS:
Processional: Pachelbel, Canon in D
Recessional: The Beatles, Blackbird
First Dance: Dave Matthews, Where are you Going?
Parent Dances: bride/father: Jasmine Thompson cover of Guns N Roses, Sweet Child O’ Mine
groom/mother: cover of Coldplay, Yellow

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Melissa + Kevin

{Pond Valley Manor Wedding Photography}