Helen & James - The Gallivant in Camber Sands Wedding.

What do you do on one of the hottest days of the year? You gather your nearest and dearest to get married in a gorgeous nautical boho wedding reception, of course at The Gallivant in Camber Sands!

Though Helen and James got married on an EXCEPTIONALLY hot Saturday in June, they brought all the nautical cool to their Rye and Camber Sands wedding.

They got married in one of my favourite boho wedding venues, the wonderful Gallivant in Camber Sands . It’s relaxed yet polished, and offers fantastic, locally-sourced food and drink, something that was important to Helen and James when choosing their suppliers (they used instagram to find their ‘local trio’ consisting of me, Hire Love, and Wild Rubus. A dream team, if I may say so myself!) The Gallivant also boasts a stunning seaside location, which we made full use of in the portraits session. More of that in a minute!

Before that, however, Helen and James got married in a Rye Town Hall ceremony, which they chose to add a more traditional element to the day. Though it was traditional, it was by no means stuffy – the day was full of love and laughter (and heat! Oh god, the heat.) Their bridesmaids wore pale yellow off-the-shoulder dresses from Coast, while Helen wore a sleek, laidback Grecian-style high-neck number from Charlie Brear. James looked super suave in a three piece suit with a tweed waistcoat, and his groomsmen all wore tweed ties to complete the look.

Caroline from Wild Rubus really worked with the brief to create some incredible, show-stopping flowers. Combining local flowers and wild grasses, Helen and her bridesmaids’ bouquets were pastel pops of perfection. But her real feat of magic was the roof of the marquee for Helen and James’ reception. Clouds of glasses and florals were suspended from the ceiling, tied around old shipping rope and hung next to rattan lampshades to pull the nautical, boho theme together. Hire Love knocked it out of the park with the boho props too, including peacock chairs for the bride and groom in front of a big dried grass wreath backdrop and macramé for the table runners.

After speeches – including Helen’s mum and Helen saying a few words too, more women doing speeches please! – they cut the cake (which was baked by James’ mum) and hit the dancefloor for a gorgeous first dance. Whilst their guests were tearing it up on the dancefloor or soaking up the evening summer sun outside, I snuck away with Helen and James for their portraits session. As I mentioned before, the Gallivant enjoys a breathtaking seaside location, hence Helen and James’ boho nautical wedding theme, and with this comes rolling sand dunes. We climbed them barefoot – Helen hitching her beautiful Charlie Brear dress up without a second thought – to get some photos wandering through the tall grasses, and then dipped our toes in the seawater too. The evening light made for a perfect backdrop as Helen and James enjoyed 15 minutes just the two of them, spending time with each other on their own as a newly married couple.

Get in touch if you would like Matilda to photograph your The Gallivant in Camber Sands Wedding.