Last month I was literally just down the road photographing an Abingdon Abbey buildings wedding for the lovely Laura and Oliver.There are three venues within a stones throw of my house. Coseners House, The Crown & Thistle and The Abingdon Abbey Buildings. I've shot at Coseners and The Crown & Thistle multiple times, but so far The Abbey buildings had eluded me until now.The Abingdon Abbey buildings are a fabulous place to get married and your host a reception.Laura and Oliver opted to have their ceremony in the wonderful Unicorn theatre.The meal was a very relaxed bbq with seating in the long hall and the speeches were held in the gardens next to the river.This was a fabulous wedding with all the elements I think make for an awesome day including ceilidh dancing. The perfect way to get everyone involved.

Here's what Laura had to say about their wedding

What was your favourite part of the wedding?Tricky one! We really did enjoy every minute - was just so great seeing everything we'd planned come together, and everyone having a good time. We were especially pleased to see everyone enjoying exploring the venue (and being guided around by own very own resident "monk") - it's such a unique building and we loved being able to share it, and Abingdon, with our guests - many of whom hadn't been to the town before. The speeches were quite a highlight - especially as we were able to do them outside by the stream. And of course the ceilidh band - just such good fun and we loved that everyone got involved!

Please let me know about any personal or DIY touches you added to make the day a little more ‘you’.The decorations were homemade, mostly by Laura's mum, some during the hen do (which featured a "crafternoon"), and some by Laura's sister-in-law. In terms of the food and drink, we tried to use local suppliers as much as possible - including locally sourced meat for the BBQ, fresh ice-cream made in Oxford (genuinely the best we've ever tasted), Abingdon Bridge beer and Oxford TOAD gin. In general we just wanted it all to be very relaxed and informal - everyone moving around the space freely, no sit-down meal or seating plans, and lots of opportunities for people to explore the venue and mingle with each other. We also had a great registrar who really worked with us to personalise the ceremony and who helped explain our story - including planting a tree to mark our engagement, and getting matching tattoos instead of wedding rings.

Why did you choose your venue?Neither of us are from Abingdon, but it's where we've made our first home together and we love the town. The Abbey is just so unique - such a long and rich history, at the heart of the town, and also still very much a part of Abingdon life. We'd been to various events there, including live music and film screenings, and when we found out it was available for weddings we jumped at the chance!

How did you find using Lee Dann Photography, were there any particular things about my approach that you liked, and how did you feel about the photos once you received them?We were looking for a photographer who specialised in documentary-style photos - informal, candid shots that capture the spirit of the day. We liked Lee's portfolio and also liked the idea of working with a local photographer - based just around the corner from the venue. The more we spoke to Lee and got to know him (including for a mini pre-shoot), the more confident we felt that he "got" us and what we wanted from the day and from the photos - and he just did a fantastic job. We were really excited to get the photos and they absolutely lived up to expectations. We also loved the slideshow Lee put together - this has been great to share with family and friends to look back on the day. Overall, brilliant memories and the perfect way to save and share them.Thank you Lee, you are truly an awesome photographer!

If you were doing it all again what would be the one bit of advice you’d give yourself at the start of the planning process?To be honest, probably just the same advice we did give ourselves: don't overthink or overplan (or overspend!) - keep things simple, and if it starts to feel stressful, take a step back. Do what feels right for you, and above all ENJOY IT!