Molly & Kerry’s Colourful Midsummer Wedding in Southsea
A joyful, rainbow-soaked celebration on the Hampshire coast, and proof that you really don’t need a fancy backdrop to make magic.
Every so often a wedding comes along that just fills your cup right up. Molly and Kerry’s was one of those. Two people so completely themselves, surrounded by people who adore them, on the sort of golden July day you couldn’t order in if you tried. There were sunflowers, there were rainbows, there was a last minute dash to the shop in a wedding dress, and there was a sunset I’m still thinking about. Honestly? One of my favourite days of the year so far.
Here’s how it all unfolded.
Getting ready
The morning set the tone perfectly: relaxed, giggly, and completely without fuss. Hair curled, Pepsi Max in hand, the girls getting ready with their people around them and not a hint of nerves in the room. Molly in her lace gown and flower crown, Kerry in that gorgeous powder blue suit. Two very different looks, both so completely them, and that’s exactly what I love to see. No trying to be anyone else. Just two brides getting ready to marry their favourite person.
The ceremony
Southsea Castle made the most beautiful backdrop for the vows. There were happy tears (from more than one bride), there was laughter, and there was that lovely hum of a room full of people who genuinely could not be happier for the couple in front of them. Bubble confetti, sunflowers, and the two of them walking back up the aisle absolutely beaming. That’s the moment, right there.
The celebration
This is where Molly and Kerry’s wedding really showed its personality. A relaxed, brilliant party at Ashbys, with none of the stiff, ordered feeling weddings can sometimes have. There was table tennis. There was a rainbow flower arch that every single guest wanted their photo under. There were kids doing their own thing and grown ups on the dance floor doing very much their own thing too.
And yes, at one point there was a full wedding-outfit dash to the shop, which is exactly the kind of unscripted, only-at-a-wedding moment I live for. You can’t plan those. You just have to be ready with the camera when they happen.
Golden hour (and a little confession)
Now, these sunset photos. People take one look and assume we drove out to some remote countryside field. I’ll let you in on the truth: we didn’t go anywhere fancy at all. That dreamy long grass was a scrappy patch right next to a main road, a couple of minutes from the celebrations, with traffic going past behind us and the Portsmouth skyline in the distance.
And it did not matter one bit.
Because it was never about the location. It was about the light, the moment, and two people so giddy in love they forgot the camera was even there. Molly and Kerry threw themselves into the long grass, laughed until they cried, and let me do my thing. The result is some of the most magical frames I’ve taken all year.
That’s the whole point I want couples to hear: you do not need the perfect venue or the picture-postcard setting. You need good light, the right moment, and a photographer you trust to say “get in the grass” and mean it. Trust your photographer. We see the magic before you do.
To Molly and Kerry
Thank you for such a joyful, colourful, wonderfully you day, and for jumping into a patch of overgrown grass next to a busy road without a second thought. I loved every minute of it. Wishing you both a lifetime of exactly this. 🤍
Thinking about your own wedding?
If this is the kind of relaxed, fun, real-moments photography you want on your wedding day, I’d love to hear from you. I photograph weddings across Hampshire, Portsmouth, Southsea and beyond, and I’m currently booking for 2027. Head over to my contact page and let’s chat.
