Lauren and Jake walking hand in hand across a sunlit lawn to their reception while a guest applauds in the foreground

Lauren & Jake · September 2026

Christopher Cook
The Date
Saturday, 26 September 2026
The Ceremony
Under an old tree, draped in white
The Portraits
A meadow under the mountain
The Reception
A clear tent and a ceiling of disco balls

A garden, a meadow, and a ceiling of disco balls.

Lauren and Jake were married on Saturday, 26 September 2026. The ceremony was under an old tree draped in white, the portraits were out in a meadow under the mountain with their dog, and dinner was under a clear tent hung with disco balls. I photographed the whole day, from the dress hanging in the greenhouse that morning to the last song.

The morning, both sides

Lauren’s dress spent the morning hanging in a glass greenhouse while the house filled up around it. The flower girl started the day in pajamas, with a snack.

Jake got into a burgundy suit with a little help on the cuffs, took a hug from the ring bearer, and then gathered his groomsmen for one photograph before the day got loud.

Lauren’s wedding dress hanging in a glass greenhouse, banana leaves and morning light in front of it
The flower girl in pajamas sitting on a bench before the wedding, grinning with a snack in her hand
A small black leather case stamped L & J beside striped cufflinks and a wedding band
Jake in a burgundy waistcoat having his cuffs fastened by a friend
Jake in his burgundy suit, sitting on a stone wall in the garden before the ceremony
Jake hugging the ring bearer, who looks straight at the camera
Jake in his suit beside a tall window before the ceremony, photographed in black and white
Jake in burgundy with his groomsmen in grey suits, gathered in a stone-floored room

Set for dinner before anyone sat down

Round tables on the lawn with rattan chargers and a little jar of honey at every place. Flowers in peach and cream with long wild stems. A tent with a clear roof, so the trees stayed overhead all night, and photographs of the two of them in gilt frames hung on a tree with lace ribbon.

The clear-roofed reception tent on the lawn, its entrance framed in roses and greenery
A centerpiece of peach roses, dahlias and long wild grasses on a reception table
A gilt-framed black and white photograph of Lauren and Jake hung on a tree trunk with lace ribbon
A round reception table set on the lawn with rattan chargers, green menus and a small jar of honey at each place

Under the old tree

They married on the lawn under an old tree hung with long lengths of white fabric. Jake came down the steps with his mother. The flower girls went first.

Lauren’s father walked her across the grass with her veil trailing behind them, and there were tears in the front rows before the vows were done. Then back up the aisle, both of them laughing.

Jake walking down the steps arm in arm with his mother before the ceremony
Two flower girls with flower crowns on the steps, a white dog behind them
Lauren laughing beside her father on the steps just before the aisle, holding her bouquet of peach and cream dahlias
Lauren walking across the lawn toward the ceremony on her father’s arm, her long veil trailing on the grass
The ceremony from the back of the aisle: guests seated on the lawn between banks of flowers, Lauren and Jake under the old tree draped in white
A guest in the front rows in tears during the ceremony, her hands over her mouth
Lauren and Jake exchanging vows under an old tree hung with white fabric
Lauren and Jake laughing as they walk back up the aisle as husband and wife

Parasols and blackberries

Cocktail hour stayed out on the lawn. Paper parasols for the sun, blackberry cocktails going round on trays, and guests who had very clearly dressed for a garden.

Two young guests sitting on the garden steps with white paper parasols
A tray of blackberry cocktails carried through cocktail hour
A guest in a wide-brimmed hat and pearls smiling during cocktail hour

The veil, the hydrangeas, the two of them

We went into the garden for portraits: white hydrangeas, a koi pond, long grass, and a veil that caught every bit of wind there was. Some of these are the two of them together and some are each of them on their own. That is on purpose. It is both of their day.

Jake whispering to Lauren as she laughs, white hydrangeas behind them
Lauren looking up and smiling with Jake behind her among white hydrangeas
Lauren throwing her veil out in the garden as the evening sun comes through the trees
Lauren and Jake close together under her veil, his face half hidden by the tulle
The veil lifting over Lauren and Jake in the garden, his hands at her waist, in black and white
Lauren’s hand resting over Jake’s on his knee, both wedding rings on
A portrait of Jake in his burgundy suit in the evening light
Lauren with one hand in her hair, holding her bouquet among white hydrangeas
Lauren in profile with her bouquet, her veil falling past her shoulders, in black and white

Then out to the meadow, with the dog

Past the garden there was a meadow with the mountain standing straight up behind it. The dog came too. The light was going soft by then, which is the whole reason to go.

Lauren holding the white dog’s face close to hers
Lauren and Jake in a meadow under the mountain, the white dog at their side
Lauren and Jake cheek to cheek in the meadow with her bouquet, the mountain behind them
Lauren and Jake kissing in the long grass of the meadow below the mountain
Lauren and Jake walking hand in hand through the meadow, her skirt swinging

Dinner under a clear roof

They came in across the lawn hand in hand and went straight into their first dance on a star-tiled floor. Then dinner, and the toasts, with the dog lying at their feet. By the time the speeches were done it was dark, and the tent was lit by candles and strings of lights.

Lauren and Jake making their entrance across the sunlit lawn as a guest applauds in the foreground
Jake kissing Lauren’s forehead during their first dance on a star-tiled dance floor
Lauren and Jake listening to the toasts from their chairs, his arm around her, the white dog lying at their feet
Jake hugging a guest after a toast while a little girl in white holds on and looks up at them
Lauren at the candlelit table at dusk with Jake’s arm around her waist, seen through the leaves
Guests raising their glasses under the string lights of the clear tent at night

Then everyone

The parent dances came next, under a ceiling of disco balls hung in greenery, and after that the floor belonged to everybody. Lauren changed into a white slip dress and a feathered jacket for it.

Jake grinning and Lauren clapping from their table during the toasts
Lauren dancing with her father beneath a ceiling of disco balls, in black and white
Jake dancing with his mother on the star-tiled floor beneath the disco balls
Friends laughing and holding each other on the dance floor
Lauren in a white feathered jacket on the dance floor with Jake beside her
The dance floor full beneath a ceiling of disco balls and greenery
A young guest grinning at the camera in the middle of the dance floor
A clear-roofed reception tent on a garden lawn, wedding photography by Christopher Cook

THIS WAS MADE ONCE. YOURS IS next.

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