Wensum Valley - Tony & Claire - Lace and Lowe Photography

We arrived at Wensum Valley feeling pretty pumped to photograph Claire and Tony's day. We met them at another awesome wedding we shot back in 2019! Claire saw us in action and felt we would be a good fit to capture their day. We're so glad as these two were such a great couple to work with. We were also super happy to be working alongside the one and only Mike Savory again.

We captured the last hour of the prep which really flew by! Claire had a great bride squad who were busily getting ready and helping to keep the youngest of the group entertained! They got ready in one of the biggest suites we’ve seen! Which was a godsend because there were a lot of bridesmaids to get ready!

Ouch!!

The boys were ahead of the game and after getting into their jackets and discovering the dangers of button holes (actual blood drawn!) they were eager to squeeze in some pre nuptial drinks!

Claire told us that it was going to be a big wedding, however I don’t think we really realised the magnitude of how big of a wedding it was! It was phenomenal – family from all over the place including Ireland, Scotland, Scandi family, the Norfolk lot and many more! There was so much laughter and so many faces people hadn’t seen in a long while. It was lovely for us to see so many familiar faces from previous weddings too.

In the final moments as Claire was getting into her dress, her youngest daughter was rather emphatically campaigning to get out of hers! Claire was as cool as a cucumber and didn't let it phase her! It was soon time to head to the ceremony room which was absolutely packed out, what a treat!!

The Ceremony

The ceremony suite at Wensum Valley is beautiful and has huge windows that make for stunning photos during ceremonies.

Tony did well to hold it together as he watched the stunning flock of bridesmaids make their way down the aisle. Claire and Tony's youngest daughter made an emotional entrance which I'm sure they will forever look back on and laugh! She was followed by Claire, who looked absolutely breathtaking and elated to see Tony.

"I take you Danny!!"

Their ceremony was short and sweet, but full of cheeky surprises that had everyone in hysterics! Danny O'Donoghue's name was slipped into the vows which was by far one of the funniest moments I've ever witnessed in a wedding and the best men also had a trick up their sleeves. The one thing we learned about these two, is that they love a good laugh and there was plenty going around!

Sealed with a kiss and led out with a roar of applause and A LOT of confetti Mr and Mrs Gammell made their way out onto the beautiful terrace of Wensum Valley. What a gloriously, hot and sunny day!

Wensum Valley Weddings

The kids all disappeared early on as there were whispers of a sweet cart inside and those sweets went down fast! With so many guests I'm sure the kids made a tactical move to get in early! I don't think the adults got a look in!

After a last minute change to the days running order we cracked on and made our way through group shots to avoid delays, so everyone could get down to doing what they really wanted to do! PARTY!

The guests were soon seated for speeches. Claire and Tony are heavily involved in the horse racing industry so the table decor was a beautiful ode to their equestrian world. Each place setting also included a cheeky shot of Baby Guinness to toast with!

We absolutely loved the heartfelt and well thought out speeches! It has been such a lovely change this wedding season. More and more have ditched the usual embarrassing banter and opted for more personal speeches. (Obviously we do love the banter too!) Food soon came out and the room for the first time, dropped to a quiet hum while everyone tucked in.

Portraits

We took Tony and Claire on a golf buggy adventure to some of the grounds around the golf course for couple shots. Sally’s buggy driving is getting bloody good by this point, if only we could use one for every wedding! We only stole them away for a few precious moments, but that was all we needed. For two people who claim they don’t photograph well, they scrub up pretty damn good.

The Party

After rocking their couples shots, it was time to head back to the evening guests. They had a cracking first dance, followed by a beautiful performance from daughter Abbie. It was the most incredible second song, chosen to celebrate Tony's Irish heritage. There was not a dry eye on the dance floor! Next was a traditional Irish tap dance from their niece. Everyone was beaming with pride and pretty impressed with her moves!

Into the Night

There were flags and confetti galore and there were some mega dance moves being BUSTED. Danny O'Donoghue even made a second appearance in cardboard form on the dance floor! The rest of night went off without too much of a hitch, except from an unexpected fire alarm that paused the party for only a moment.

All was forgiven though, as it made the perfect alarm to let everyone know the hog roast and popcorn was ready to be devoured! We left the wedding feeling so hyped up after a fantastically, crazy, perfect day.