Sharlene and Jonathan celebrated their marriage at the stunning and grand Leeds Castle on the 19th of August 2021. After having an intimate wedding in 2020 the couple arranged to have a blessing in 2021 surrounded by their friends and family.
For us, West Sussex wedding videographers the day started at Battel Hall, a beautiful house apart of the Leeds Castle estate, where Sharlene was getting ready for her stunning day with her friends by her side. Sharlene and Jonathan were having a traditional Chinese tea ceremony at Battel Hall before their blessing at Leeds Castle but before Jonathan was allowed into the house, he had to follow some commands. Apart of the tradition is that Jonathan must knock on the door for Sharlene, but he can’t be accepted into the house until he has proved his love for her by doing whatever the bridesmaids ask of him. In this instance Jonathan’s sisters made him and his groomsman drink a variety of unpleasant concoctions, run laps around the building, do push-ups, squats and sit ups, create a song, and come up with an impromptu speech declaring his love to Sharlene. As wedding videographers, we had never seen this before and it provided a lot of laughs for everyone involved, even if they were running around with shots of siracha at 10am.
Sharlene looked stunning in her traditional Chinese bridal outfit, which was beautifully embellished with her delicate, hand-made gold jewellery. Sharlene and Jonathan had the most beautiful intimate tea ceremony with their immediate family at Battel Hall, it meant a lot of Sharlene especially as her family couldn’t come due to restrictions. Ground Films felt very privileged to witness such a special part of the couple’s day.
The couple then made their way to the expansive Leeds Castle, with the sun in full force now and blue skies creating the most gorgeous backdrop it was time for the couple to get changed ready for their second ceremony. Sharlene had the most incredible dress made for her with appliqued flowers that cascaded diagonally down her torso and continued across her back. Her hair being in a flawless updo perfectly complimented her dress as it allowed everyone to see the beautiful satin buttons that ran her back. As you can see from our wedding film above, that Jonathan was taken aback when he got a first glimpse of Sharlene as she proceeded to walk down the aisle to her husband. She had finally got to wear the dress she had been dreaming about for all this time and it was worth the wait for Jonathan’s reaction. During the ceremony there was two very touching readings read by Jonathan’s sister and Sharlene, which created lots of emotion throughout their friends and family.
The celebrations commenced out on the lawn in front of the Castle where guests were entertained by the beautiful string quartet and some of the Castles own owls. As wedding videographers, we took some of this time to explore the impressive grounds of the Castle with the couple, it was amazing to have such a range of beautiful places to capture them in. Jonathan being an architect, we made sure to capture this stunning couple in front of the 17th century Castle.
Jonathan not only nailed his impromptu speech at the front door during their morning celebrations, but he also wrote and performed the most heartfelt, devoting speech at their reception dinner. You can hear his thoughtful words throughout our wedding film above.
The couple wowed their guests with their choreographed first dance to ‘The Greatest Showman’. Sharlene and Jonathan then surprised everyone with a spectacular firework display that created the perfect ending to a glorious day full of sunshine, laughter, tears, and dancing.
Thank you to all the amazing suppliers at Leeds Castle:
Photographer: Louisa and Duncan Dettmer @louisadettmerphotography
Make up and hair artist: Julie Wong @juliew_hairandmakeup
Florist: Louise Roots @louiserootsflorist
Wedding Cake: All Shapes & Slices Cake Co. @allshapescake
Dress: Suzanne Neville @suzanneneville
Heels: Jimmy Choo
Trainers: Sophia Webster
Fireworks: Alchemy Fireworks
Entertainment: Leeds Castle Falconry & The Bristol String Quartet
Henry VIII dinning room chair styling: Chic Weddings
DJ: Choice DJ