Julie & Chris’s wedding at The Hythe Imperial Hotel was the first time I’d been there since it’s refurbishment and it’s had some great improvements made. The addition of the terrace facing the sea now makes the most of it’s location, with great views across the channel and along the coast to Sandgate and Folkestone. If you’re looking for a luxury wedding venue in Kent with beautiful indoor areas and outside space this is definitely worth considering.
With it being an April wedding the weather could have done anything, as it was the sun came out and I roasted having put on the wrong clothes for the climate change that happened in a day! More importantly though the temperature was exactly right for the bride and groom and their guests to enjoy being outside, and as Julie said to Chris at the ice cream van while tucking into her 99, “it is exactly as I imagined it!”.
Their ceremony took place inside in the Imperial Suite, which with it’s white carpet lined with candles looked really special and a perfect setting for the entrance of a stunning bride and her father. Chris was looking a little hot under the collar at this stage, partly apprehension and partly just that it was hot in there, but he soon got into his stride and quicker than either of them probably could have imagined they were announced husband and wife.
Afterwards everyone made their way to the lawn at the back of the hotel for drinks, allowing me time to capture photos of the bride and groom chatting and mingling with their guests, and with the nerves no longer jangling they were able to completely relax and enjoy themselves.
Once back upstairs people could enjoy a drink on the terrace before entering the Imperial Ballroom for the wedding breakfast. This room is a vast improvement on the previous decor that had become quite dated and is now much brighter and more modern but still has the beautiful mirrors on the walls keeping that elegance it always had. With speeches taking place before the wedding breakfast, the party could then really start to get going and it wasn’t long after the meal had finished before the jagerbombs started to appear!
Chris and Julie are a lovely couple, clearly thought very highly of by friends and family and I’d like to wish them many happy years together and I’m sure now whenever Julie has a Mr Whippy ice cream she will remember her wedding day!
If you’d like to see if I’m available to photograph your wedding at The Hythe Imperial please email me via the Contact page or directly at helenbatt@yahoo.co.uk.