30

Apr

2024

Karina and Luke’s Family Friendly West Sussex Beach Wedding by Matt Ryle Photography

Today I am taking you to gorgeous West Sussex for the wonderful wedding of Karina and Luke who were married on 31st June on west wittering beach in Chichester. They had 110 guests, and planned their wedding over the space of about 2 years. The day took place on the beach that Karina visited many times as a child, so it held extra meaning to them. The reception then took place at Karina’s parents garden, where they held a chilled reception, full of lots of dancing and lots of smiles. Matt Ryle photography was there to capture the day for us.

The first big family get together after covid so it was highly emotional and everyone made the most of being together and danced the night away. The most important thing for us was to bring our friends and family together to have fun! 

How they met 
Met on Tinder in 2014 when both lived in London. Moved to New Zealand together in 2017, back to UK in 2019 pregnant with our first child. Our June summer beach wedding was officially an unofficial ceremony on west wittering beach – (where Karina went regularly as a child and has lots of happy memories. Luke’s best friend was the ‘celebrant’ then we had the wedding breakfast and party in marquees in Karina’s parents’ house’s garden in West Wittering –  and neighbours garden for the party (fence was taken down for the occasion).

The proposal
We were living in New Zealand. We went Paddle Boarding around some beautiful bays with a picnic. Luke carried the ring in a sock in the drybag and proposed while we had a picnic on a secluded beach. Nov 2018.

Where did you splurge and where did you save?
Splurged on food by Vanilla Catering – Amazing. We are veggie so did all the food veggie! Saved on venue flowers (Karina’s mum’s friends organised them and bought from supermarkets), dress, cakes – we had a cake and cheese table with lots of cakes made by friends and family and lots of cheeses..

How did you choose your photographer?
Matt Ryle of course, was fantastic! Found through searching Google and really stood out, then chatted on the phone and instantly felt comfortable with the choice. We had an engagement shoot on the same beach we got married on, during which we had a lovely walk together with our son playing on the sand getting to know each other.

The dress
Wedding dress – I bought from a charity shop in Worthing. St Barnabas House – which has a bridal section upstairs. It was a designer but I can’t remember what designer it was! I had it altered substantially. I had bare feet.
I switched to a vintage sequin dress in the evening that I also had altered substantially.

Entertainment
Band Ended up having Vintage Roots – very good – as our original band couldn’t make the new date – booked through Tailored Entertainment

Theme or colour scheme
Theme was floral and colourful!! Lots of bright colours!! Bunting made by mother in law.

Special moments
(For Karina) walking over the sand dunes seeing friends and family I’ve not been allowed to see for months all together!! Very emotional moment. – singing ‘All you need is love’ on the beach and passers by joining in!
Luke being heckled by our almost 2 year old during his speech, saying – ‘dada singing!)
Our magical evening escape to the beach for photos – also a moment for us to pause and soak in the moment

 

 

Matt Ryle photography

www.mattrylephotography.co.uk / www.mattrylephotography.co.uk/blog / 07855736899 / FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM

Based in Chichester West Sussex. Headshots/weddings/family photography

 

 

Why not visit our Supplier Directory

Comments

Please leave your comment

We reserve the right to remove any comment that we feel is distasteful, rude, hurtful or inappropriate, so please be nice. Remember the weddings featured on this blog are real people and their weddings mean a lot to them. Please be mindful of this and other people's feelings. If youhave a problem with any of the content please contact me directly.

Thank you xx

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.