OUR KENTISH CEREMONY
MARRIED AT ELMLEY NATURE RESERVE
ELMLEY GAVIN MONKS AND ABIGAIL RECKER HELD THEIR STUNNING SUMMER WEDDING AT ELMLEY NATURE RESERVE , A VENUE CLOSE TO THEIR HOMES AND HEARTS
Photography by : Ellie Gillard Photography
THE VENUE I grew up on the Isle of Sheppey and Gav just over the Swale in Sittingbourne . I had heard about Elmley through word of mouth . Immediately after the engagement , we visited and fell in love ! As soon as we saw Elmley we knew it was the one - we didn ’ t see any other venues . We wanted a local venue with a relaxed feel and once we visited and saw the nature and beauty of Elmley , we knew it was perfect . Our wedding was rearranged twice because of the pandemic , but the team at Elmley looked after us so well - on what would have been our original wedding weekend , they let us stay in one of their huts , which was so kind of them .
THE DRESS My dress was a Justin Alexander dress from Isabella Grace Bridal in Tunbridge Wells and Ami Elisah Bridal did my alterations . I tried on about 10 dresses and I ’ m embarrassed to say I did cry when I tried on ‘ the one ’ and so did my mum and my bridesmaid , Roberta . It was just ‘ me ’. To complete my look , I wore a pearl necklace that my mum wore on her wedding day to my stepdad and my late father ’ s watch which is special to me . I also added some drop earrings and a ring from Gav .
THE FOOD Funthyme , the catering partner for weddings at Elmley , provided the most amazing menu with seasonal ingredients fitting with the setting . We didn ’ t have starters but larger canapés of buttermilk fried chicken , crab and fennel tarts , croquettes and sweet potato tacos . We wanted everyone to feel relaxed so for the main everyone feasted on sharing plates of barbecued lamb rump with salsa verde , mango glaze jerk chicken and miso glazed aubergine with potato salad and summer slaw sides . The dessert was a burnt basque cheesecake . So many of our guests said the food was the best food they ’ d ever eaten , let alone at a wedding !
THE DÉCOR The setting at Elmley is so breathtakingly beautiful , we wanted to keep the decoration simple . We used home-dried hydrangeas , local grasses , thistles and pampas to create the backdrop for our ceremony in front of the linhay and to decorate the dining tables . It was really important to make our day an expression of us . For instance , we love plants so we decorated Elmley with oak trees grown from seed by my parents which we gifted to our guests as favours to plant at home or somewhere special and watch them take root , grow and flourish .
THE PHOTOGRAPHY Our wedding photographer was Ellie Gillard . We found her on Instagram and fell in love with her candid style and knew it would fit the relaxed feel of our day . She ’ s lovely and really captured the special moments and essence of each part of the day . Her use of light and dark in her photography is sensational .
THE HIGHLIGHT Our absolute highlight of the day was being on the dancefloor with all our loved ones !
96 | AKENTISHCEREMONY . COM | SUMMER 2023