Colourful October Blake Hall Wedding

Hot pink. Bright orange. Glitter balls. Neon signs. A London bus full of wedding guests. A bride in a sequin wedding dress. Hammers scarves at golden hour. And a mum who happens to be a DJ taking over the decks.

Molly & Tim’s October wedding at Blake Hall was colourful, personal, ridiculously fun and completely their own — and I absolutely loved photographing it. The day began with a beautiful church ceremony in the outer city, before everyone climbed aboard a London bus and headed to Blake Hall for the celebrations. By the time they arrived, the party was well and truly underway.

As a Blake Hall wedding photographer, I’ve photographed lots of weddings here over the years and I’m lucky enough to be one of the venue’s recommended suppliers. But one of the things I love most about Blake Hall is seeing how differently each couple makes it their own and Molly & Tim certainly did that.

A church wedding followed by a Blake Hall celebration

Molly & Tim’s wedding day began at church, before their guests made their way to Blake Hall by London bus, and what better way to get a group of wedding guests from A to B? There’s something wonderfully fun about everyone piling onto a bus together after the ceremony. The formal part of the day is over, everyone’s ready to celebrate and the atmosphere starts to shift.

As a documentary wedding photographer, these transitions are some of my favourite things to photograph, the little moments between the big moments. The laughter on the bus, people catching up, the excitement of arriving at the reception. Those things that aren’t necessarily planned but become part of the story of the day.

Hot pink, orange, neon and glitter balls

Molly & Tim had absolutely no interest in blending into the background, they went big! Their Blake Hall wedding was full of hot pink and orange, with glitter balls, neon signs and plenty of colour bringing the reception to life.

And I loved it.

There can sometimes be an expectation that an October wedding should automatically mean muted autumn colours, dried flowers and lots of autumnal colour, well Molly & Tim clearly didn’t get that memo. Their wedding was bright, fun and full of personality, proving that an autumn wedding at Blake Hall can look however you want it to look. The venue always provides a beautiful backdrop, but it’s what you bring to it that makes the day yours.

A little bit of West Ham at Blake Hall

Molly & Tim are both West Ham supporters, so of course their love of the Hammers had to make an appearance at the wedding.

Their table plan and table names were given a brilliant West Ham-inspired treatment, bringing something really personal into the reception details and because I love it when couples embrace the things that actually matter to them, we couldn’t resist taking it one step further. Later in the evening, we grabbed a few portraits of Molly & Tim wearing their West Ham scarves during their golden hour session.

Wedding photographs with a difference — and photographs that will mean something to them because they’re about them, not simply because they look pretty, that’s the kind of personal detail I love looking for throughout a wedding day.

Molly’s sequin wedding dress

Let’s talk about Molly’s dress. A sequin wedding dress was pretty much perfect for this wedding. It caught the light beautifully and fitted the whole colourful, party atmosphere of the day and I’m an utter sucker for embellishment! It’s details like this that I love capturing — not simply because they’re pretty, but because they tell you something about the couple, all the choices about how their wedding looked add up to something that feels distinctly like Molly & Tim and that’s what I want your wedding photographs to do.

Years from now, I want you to look at them and remember your day, rather than a collection of photographs that could have belonged to anyone.

A DJ mum takes over the dance floor

And then there was Molly’s mum, because apparently being the mother of the bride wasn’t enough — she’s also a DJ! So at one point during the evening, Molly’s mum got behind the decks and took over for a bit and the dance floor went crazy! It’s exactly the sort of thing that makes a wedding feel like a wedding rather than a carefully choreographed production. When people bringing their personalities to the day, family members getting involved, it feels so natural, and me, I’ll be in the right place at the right time to photograph it.

Documentary wedding photography at Blake Hall

I’ve photographed many weddings at Blake Hall, and I’m very lucky to be one of the venue’s recommended wedding photographers.

Knowing the venue well is a real advantage. I know the spaces, the gardens and how the light moves around them. I know where I can position myself without getting in the way, and I know when something is likely to happen before it does and that means I can spend less time thinking about the mechanics of photographing the venue and more time paying attention to the people.

That’s how I work, I’m watching what’s happening rather than constantly directing it. I’m looking for the moments you might not notice yourself, and when something happens that deserves a little more time — like beautiful light — I’ll let you know!

Golden hour at Blake Hall

October brings its own kind of magic to wedding photography, particularly when the weather plays along. After all the colour and energy of Molly & Tim’s day, we were also treated to some beautiful golden hour light at Blake Hall. The lower autumn sun created that lovely warm glow that makes you want to keep photographing for just another five minutes, so we took full advantage of it.

I’m a big believer that couples shouldn’t have to disappear from their wedding for an hour to get beautiful portraits, if we get ten minutes of incredible light, we’ll use ten minutes and then it’s back to the party.

I’d much rather you spent your evening surrounded by your people than wondering where your photographer has taken you now.

Planning a Blake Hall wedding?

If you’re getting married at Blake Hall in Essex, I’m always happy to chat.

As a recommended Blake Hall wedding photographer, I’ve photographed the venue so many times and know it well. But more importantly, I don’t think your wedding needs to look like anyone else’s. Molly & Tim had a church ceremony, arrived by London bus, filled Blake Hall with hot pink and orange, added neon signs and glitter balls, Molly wore a sequin dress, their West Ham love ran through the table plan and they finished the evening with Hammers scarves and a DJ mum on the decks.

That’s their wedding, yours might look completely different and that’s exactly how it should be.

My job is to photograph it naturally, unobtrusively and honestly — the big moments, the little moments and all the brilliant stuff that happens in between. Take a look at other Blake Hall weddings on the blog – there’s a lot, so get stuck in!

If you’re planning a Blake Hall wedding and want photographs that feel like your actual wedding, I’d love to hear from you. Get in touch below!

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