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Claire's wedding dress

A new year, a new start.  For MyWeddingStory and the Marriott Tudor Park too!  It’s a little while since I was over there for a wedding and in the meantime they have spent a reported £4 million on redevelopments.  It certainly looked pretty posh.  But I wasn’t there just to look, it was Clair and Russel’s wedding!

Of course that’s not Russell’s suit hanging up next to Claire’s dress.  It a gorgeous miniature suit for their son Harris.  Here he is with his mother in her tiara.  And yes, you’ll note that he’s not wearing his suit yet.  It took a short while to persuade him….

Claire and Harris at the Marriott Tudor Park in Maidstone

The guys were much more organised.  I’d already been over to take pictures of them getting ready (OK, mostly they were drinking champagne) at the Hilton in Maidstone.  Same suits, less fuss :)

The guys getting ready at the Hilton Maidstone

And of course when everybody was ready, it was time for the wedding.  Harris played his part beautifully delivering the rings, Claire looked fabulous, Russell got nearly all the words right and Liam gave a perfect reading.  What did you expect?  Every wedding story is perfect.

The wedding of Claire and Russell at the Marriott Tudor Park

After the wedding it was time for fun.  The weather was a little chilly, but that didn’t stop Claire and Russell popping outside for some beautiful portraits.  Even if Claire did have to nip into the gym to warm up!

Clairte and Russell Durnford

While inside, there was a conjurer to entertain, err, the children….

Close up magic MyWeddingStory style

While the guys managed to check out the improvements at the hotel….

The bar at the Marriott Tudor Park Maidstone

…and show off their cufflinks.

Custom made cufflinks

Two things will stick in my mind from the wedding more than anything.  Firstly there’s the slightly unusual (but totally delicious) “cake”.  Yes they are donuts.  Yes they are crispy.  And the one I tried had cream in it.  That would make them a tower of Krispy Kreme Donuts.  And scrummy.

Wedding cake made of Krispy Kreme donuts

The second would be the amazing sing-along-a-speech.  Which followed the soon to be famous Mexican Cuddle.  Really – you had to be there.

Sing-along-a wedding speech - details matter by MyWeddingStory

And of course, no wedding could be complete without a first dance.  This time beautifully choreographed to the lilting sounds of the Fat Back Band.  What you wanted a normal wedding song?  This was the wrong day for “normal”.  We were there to have fun.

Claire and Russell's first dance to the Fat Back Band

The kind of fun that makes you run round the room screaming!

High spirits at the Marriott Tudor Park - stunnign wedding photography by MyWeddingStory

More pictures when they return from honeymoon.  In the meantime you can leave your messages for the new Mr and Mrs Durnford in the box below.

3 Responses to “Claire and Russell at the Marriott Tudor Park”

  1. Russell Durnford Says:

    Jonathan,

    Fantastic photos just one note Liam did the reading not Josh, oops!!

    Cannot wait to see the rest of them.

  2. admin Says:

    Ooops. Now corrected ;)

    But…..aren’t you supposed to be on honeymoon?

  3. Real wedding pictures from the Marriott Tudor Park | MyWeddingStory Says:

    [...] Claire and Russell are back from honeymoon.  They popped into the gallery at the weekend full of stories about helping stranded drivers and generally off roading through the snow to get to the cottage near Bath.  And yes, it really was in the middle of nowhere. [...]

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