Lara and Pete’s wedding day had finally arrived and today we were at the beautiful venue that is Cooling Castle Barn. The three barns neighbouring the castle originate from the 17th century in surrounding of outstandingly kept gardens bursting with vibrant flowers. The venue is of real intimacy and guests can rely on a peaceful and personal environment. Cooling also offers fabulous onsite accommodation with 15 bedrooms available for all guests. In the morning of the wedding Lara and her bridal party made use of this luxury and Ryan captured some great footage in Lara’s morning preparations. Whilst Ryan was with the bridal party I made my way to the bar, where of course I found the groomsmen. Suited and booted I met Pete and best man Glen, who were profoundly calm in the situation.

With the ceremony soon to start guests were seated and it was time to mic up Pete. Now this is something new to Talking Fly and it drastically improves the sound quality to the videos in speeches and ceremonies. The concept of having a microphone recording Pete’s every word became a humorous occasion and I definitely admit to sitting having a listen to the jokes they were cracking. “I’m being recorded, it’s like Big Brother” said Pete and the distant cackles from best man Glen in the background. Perhaps Pete should apply for Big Brother 2016? I’m sure you’ll have an even better time with the microphones!

Today we were working alongside photographer Claire Johnson, in whom we had never worked with before. It’s a pleasure for us videographers to meet new photographers and Claire is such a sweet lady – we’re looking forward to seeing the pictures. We were also in the company of some old faces, Steph and Tim who we filmed in their beautiful winter wedding at Westerham Golf Course in Kent last year.

The ceremony was lovely and the celebrant was amazing! We had met the two gentlemen prior to today’s wedding and they are so good at putting their couples at ease. The ceremony was relaxed and an existent sense of loving and happiness was among friends and family – exactly how it should be. Of course not forgetting to mention our bride Lara who graced us gorgeously, looking beautiful in her white dress. Standing very close to Pete I could almost feel his tear jerking emotion as he beheld upon a moment he would forever treasure.

The guests were a brilliant bunch and we had many laughs throughout the day, we were eagerly excited for the speeches. First up, father of the bride and it was at this moment when we were told that when Pete was first introduced to Lara’s family they initially saw a resembling duplicate of Joe Swash. To be completely honest in the matter, we see it too! So Big Brother and EastEnders are in the line-up for our groom Pete.

Now the funniest speech we’ve seen has to from the legendary bestman, Glen. He began by saying something along the lines of “Now that Lara is married, all men will have to return Lara’s house keys” and several male guests stood and walked to the top table handing in a key each. It turns out that almost every man in the building were to stand and hand in a key. The funniest bit however, yet to come… I had already painted my own little picture of Pete’s father from Pete’s adjectives “Drunken” and “Pirate”. Although sober and looking completely dapper, he was certainly an admirable character. So during Glen’s speech after most men were seated, up jumps Pete’s father and his walk across the top table to return the remaining key, was hysterical. Everyone was in roars of laughter and it was so funny, a massive well done to Glen! We even uploaded a snippet of his speech to Talking Fly Facebook page where it received nearly 1,100 views.

A particular mention goes to Pete’s son Charlie who was an absolute sweetheart from start to finish. Something so clear is the love and devotion between Pete, Lara and Charlie. A lovely little family in whom are so caring towards one another it was lovely to see. I remember feeling slightly emotional myself when I saw little Charlie in the ceremony in tears with the happiness between his dad and step-mum. Of course you can immediately see where he gets his emotion from as Pete reached for his second packet of Kleenex.

We were joined by Cooling’s resident DJ Robin Chappall who is amazing with the guests. Robin is really experienced within his work and always has the dancefloor full.

Guest were entertained with a magician and a photo booth by Juiced.

All in all, a really lovely day with some wonderfully friendly and warm hearted guests. We had a real blast and it was a pleasure to be a part of a great day. We wish Lara and Pete all the happiness in the world and hope they have a long and happy marriage together.