Lucy & Ben; An Engagement Shoot & A Venue Search

Written by Emma Hla

Did you read our feature on engagement shoots last week…? We gave you 6 rather good reasons to have one and today’s gorgeousness only confirms things.

We ADORE the e-shoot!

Lucy & Ben married this summer, but before their big day it all started with a question and a venue search…

Notes from the Bride-to-be

wedding-venues-in-surrey-gate-street-barn-engagement-shoot-33wedding-venues-in-surrey-gate-street-barn-engagement-shoot-38wedding-venues-in-surrey-gate-street-barn-engagement-shoot-34

The proposal… Our engagement was low key, or so I thought! I later found out he had taken my Mum and future Mother-in-law with him to London to David Marshall where he picked and designed my stunning engagement ring for me, even down to the tiny little diamonds around my sparkly diamond!

His plan was to propose to me on our first holiday to Mexico but the excitement got the better of him. He asked me to marry him that evening once he had picked up the ring.

I said YES!!

He had planned for our family to be waiting in a near by pub to congratulate us, so off we went to share the news and celebrate.

wedding-venues-in-surrey-gate-street-barn-engagement-shoot-3wedding-venues-in-surrey-gate-street-barn-engagement-shoot-6wedding-venues-in-surrey-gate-street-barn-engagement-shoot-9

The Wedding Venue search… We needed a venue big enough for our forever growing families, if we planned to stay in the UK for our wedding this was important. We also needed it close to our home town. We wanted somewhere we could have it all under one roof, with recommendations of DJ’s, caterers florist etc. A picture perfect wedding it had to be!

The ‘One’… My dream wedding involved far-flung beaches in exotic climes, with all our family and friends around us. So as soon as we were engaged, off I went to collect wedding brochures. To my amazement, nothing was catching my eye. I felt utterly deflated, until I found Gate Street Barn. Once I discovered this beautiful venue I never gave the beach wedding another thought!

wedding-venues-in-surrey-gate-street-barn-engagement-shoot-16 wedding-venues-in-surrey-gate-street-barn-engagement-shoot-12wedding-venues-in-surrey-gate-street-barn-engagement-shoot-22

First impressions count… We booked an appointment the following weekend and when we pulled up outside, the feeling was amazing. The lane leading up to the barn was lovely and the barn was itself was picture perfect. We were shown around and talked through our dream day, we looked at dates and then that was it! We were set to marry on 29th August 2015.

Gate Street Barn was the first place we went to see and the only place we wanted to see, this venue ticked all the boxes for us. Come rain snow or sunshine this venue can cater for all!

Our day… Our wedding had the shabby chic/vintage theme – so thinks lots of hearts, hessian, bird cages and of course my favorite colour grey! Alot of ideas came form Pinterest which was the most amazing tip a Bride-to-be gave me.

wedding-venues-in-surrey-gate-street-barn-engagement-shoot-42wedding-venues-in-surrey-gate-street-barn-engagement-shoot-44wedding-venues-in-surrey-gate-street-barn-engagement-shoot-43

Our photographer… We were lucky enough to find our amazing photographer through my future sister-in-law. She treated us to a New Born baby shoot for our little baby Joseph. We meet Katy from GingerSnaps when we went for the shoot and she was so welcoming and took her time throughout the day. Nothing was rushed and it was all very chilled considering we had a 2 week old baby!

We asked Katy if she was available on our wedding day as she was so professional and made both of us feel at ease, considering neither of us like having our photos done, and thankfully she was! We booked straight away and had a pre wedding meeting at home where we saw the photo albums Gingersnaps has to offer. All the photos were amazing. At the meeting we also got to see our baby photo shoot and there wasn’t a dry eye in sight. Katy truly catches every photo perfectly.

wedding-venues-in-surrey-gate-street-barn-engagement-shoot-25wedding-venues-in-surrey-gate-street-barn-engagement-shoot-27wedding-venues-in-surrey-gate-street-barn-engagement-shoot-7

For our engagement shoot, we went to our wedding venue, Gate Street Barn. This confirmed it all for us; we had made the best decision, not only for the venue but also our photographer.

Our wedding day was perfect and every moment was caught on camera thanks to Gingersnaps.

Lots of love…

More from the blog

Discover our Venues

Refine your wedding venue search by location, capacity, type, and style.

Visit Venue Finder

Be Inspired

Planning advice, real wedding edits, and venue showcases to inspire you.

View Blog

Suppliers We Love

From photographers to bridal fashion and styling, find the best wedding suppliers right here.

View Suppliers