The Barns at Lodge Farm Wedding Photography | Kristian Leven Photography

They always say end the year with a bang, and I could think of no better way than by sharing Chloe and Ollie’s wedding, which was held at The Barns at Lodge Farm in Essex over the summer.

I first received Chloe’s wedding enquiry in December 2018. Yup, FOUR YEARS AGO. The original plan was to get married in September 2020, and the day she described sounded right up my street:

“We plan on having guests stay over in glamping tents to really make the most of the weekend. We’ll have friends and family travelling in from all over the world, so want it to be a party to remember! The dry hire nature of the venue allows us to choose everything ourselves, from the flowers and décor, right down to the kegs of beer. No stretchy chair covers!” I have to admit, that last part completely sold it to me!

But then, disaster struck, the world went crazy and the day was delayed for another two years. However out of that misfortune, came good fortune (or something to that effect), as it allowed them to finesse the day, and gave the (at the time) brand new, incredibly rustic wedding venue an opportunity to build its infrastructure up.

And unbeknownst to me there would be another surprise in store when I got a tap on the shoulder at Phoebe and Ross’ wedding at Sennowe Park last year, and it turned out to be Chloe! Turns out I was booked by both couples completely independently, but not only that - Ollie was Ross’ Best Man, and Ross was going to return the favour for Ollie’s wedding!

So I think it’s safe to say I was completely invested in Chloe and Ollie’s wedding day at The Barns at Lodge Farm - the long wait, the serendipitous encounters, and with Phoebe, Ross, and many of the guests I got to know from their wedding returning for this one, I instantly felt like part of the wedding party.

Right, time to let the pictures do the talking, but can I just say it’s gonna be very hard for there to be a better moment at any wedding than an Ibiza style sunset session in the courtyard of a wedding venue, orchestrated and DJ’d by the weddings very own GROOM. I don’t think I’ve had a harder moment at a wedding - my mind and body was screaming for me to put the camera down and party with the group, but, professionalism…

Finally an incredibly quick shout out to the amazing suppliers - Nina, chief wedding planner extraordinaire from Occasion Queens, was absolutely brilliant, and a breath of fresh air - so on point throughout. And also a special mention to Band Theft Auto and Ignite Duo - two of the best bands I’ve heard at a wedding, and worked perfectly in tandem with one another.