Monthly Archives: October 2010

A Sunday Kind of Love – Happy Halloween!

October 31, 2010

I hope you have a fabulous day dressing up, munchingtoo many sweets and bobbing for apples. I’m actually not a huge fan of Halloween – trick or treaters scare me and I don’t really like dressing up (except if it’s as a bride of course!) However, here’s my bit of Halloween-related inspiration for you all. How beautiful is the autumnal-themed table spread? The classy version of Halloween methinks!

“This shoot was an inspiration of the Fall season hitting,” photographer and stylish Andi explains, “I wanted this to be a “mysterious table for two” in a woodsy yet chic style for the festive time of year that brings all things sweet, orange and leaves falling. Handmade White Cupcake Liner Pom Poms, burlap table cloth, homemade meringues and vintage thrift store finds. This inspiration came to me while thinking of an airy, yet mysterious forestry picnic instead of the bright usual garden style we see in the Spring, this is my twist. All elements that I think of when the Halloween season approaches. I hope that this can inspire brides that are having weddings this fall as well as any other autumn events!”

Happy Halloween my dears!

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A Lot Can Happen in 3 Years…

October 30, 2010

I started Rock n Roll Bride in October 2007 and a lot has happened since then. For one thing I’m busy, really busy. My life is actually pretty mental…but I have ideas and I get to run with them and I like it that way.

I work 5 days a week on the blog, writing and publishing around 20 articles of unique content every week. At the weekends I still work at a shopping channel and produce 4 hours of live TV every night. I get home at 3.30am. I sleep. I get up. I neck approximately a litre of coffee.

I write.

I upload.

I download.

(Gareth moans at me for slowing down the internet)

I email email email…

Then there’s the magazine deadlines and of course the photo shoots – fabulous? Yes, uber hard work that takes months of organisation and a pretty knackering few days of execution? Oh YES!

Then there’s the plans for next year…and I have big plans!

I love my life right now. I’ve actually never been happier. I love that I’m busy and I love that my work helps to inspire so many people. However sometimes in amongst the slew of emails, obsessive tweeting and late night writing, I do stop and think how much my life really has changed over this relatively short space of time. 

When I started the blog there were no other professional UK wedding bloggers so I really didn’t have any idea of what to expect or anyone to emulate. By being true to who I am, I really have learnt SO MUCH and grown up in a big way. I’ve met so many amazing and talented people and made so many fabulous friends. It’s mental to think about it all actually. Mindblowing in fact.

While David and I were shooting in Paris, we set up a pose and unbeknown to us at the time, shot an image that really does show how far I’ve (we’ve!) come in this time…

Compare and contrast.

The Rock n Roll Bride, shot by her good friend and newbie wedding photographer David McNeil, just after her wedding in 2008.

The Rock n Roll Bride, shot by her good friend and stupidly successful, booked solid by Rock n Roll Bride readers wedding photographer David McNeil…in Paris!

 

Happy Birthday Rock n Roll Bride…

Sophie & Barney’s Silly & Fun, Vintage & Rock n Roll North London Wedding

October 29, 2010

I sneak peeked Sophie & Barney’s wedding on Twitter and Facebook as soon as their photographer Lisa Devlin emailed me to ask if I wanted to blog them – hello!? Look at these two…Like she even had to ask!!

The best bit though? Sophie & Barney found Lisa via Rock n Roll Bride – I love love love featuring the weddings of bona fide Rock n Roll Bride readers! Oh I can hardly contain my excitement over this one…

“We did everything we wanted do and didn’t care if anyone else thought it was right,” the couple explained. “We put together all of our loves and didn’t worry about a colour scheme or any thing particularly weddingy, we love autumn and Halloween and London and glamour and silliness and fur and penguin books and skulls so we chucked them all in. Is that Rock n Roll??!”

Simple answer – yes!

Sophie looked every bit the Rock n Roll princess in a genuine vintage dress which she bought from My Sugarland in North London. “It was the first and only dress I tried on,” said Sophie “and its beyond special having been a museum piece and nearly 100 years old! It was covered in mould and little rips, I owe Zoe at My Sugarland a massive thank you because she helped my Dad see beyond the grubbiness of it and talked him into buying it for me! She also passed me on to the wonderfully stern but kind Jacqueline Byrne who used to be a seamstress for the Queen no less (!) who tidied the dress up perfectly, even recovering all the buttons on the sleeves.” With her perfect dress, Sophie wore a custom made headdress from Lilly Lewis which she customized with a brooch belonging to her Mother. She also also wore her Mother’s silver fox fur jacket which was a gift from her Dad on the day she was born!

On the morning of the wedding, Barney surprised his bride with a Vivienne Westwood handbag as a wedding present (my kind of guy – Gareth take note!) Sophie told me she almost walked down the aisle with her flowers in it but her Mother said no! hehe (ps best photo ever! Reminds me of some photos Lisa took of me when we met up…)

Sophie dressed her bridesmaids in different high street and vintage dresses to keep in with the laid back vibe. Vintage touches were added with their accessories, including an amazing 20’s pearl collar necklace and brooches from different decades collected by the bride ever since she got engaged. She also collected antique lace and made hairbands for them all.

The couple saved money by decorating the venue themselves. The collected 115 old penguin books from charity shops and Sophie’s Mum covered them. A lot of work but totally worth the effort – they look fantastic dotted around the venue don’t they? Before the wedding both Barney & Sophie went down to a local market and bought pumpkins and pomegranates to decorate the venue with. Everyone they know had also been collecting glass jars for the humbugs that we covered with black lace and put on the table. They also screen-printed the cameos to put on the back of the chairs. Originally Sophie had planned to not have any flowers at all, but at the last minute she feel in love with some “mouldy looking bruised roses” and her Mum bought them for her and made them into her bouquet. The finishing touch to the decor really is the incredible ‘Til Death Do Us Part’ cake by Brighton based Choccywoccydodah. Magnifique!

Music was a big part of this couple’s day with a number of entertainers lined up for the evening reception, “It was started by the wonderful Ellen playing tunes from the 30’s-60’s. Honky Sausage, a fantastic Ska and Swing covers band that do the most original sausage based meat raffle in the world! Next came the Fantastic Ryan Knowles with some dancey beats, followed by the effervescent Miss Sami Fitz who closed the party with some absolute classic party tunes!” the couple explained.

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A Hippy Chic Family Affair

October 29, 2010

Rissy & Mike’s wedding was a real hippy and family affair. They involved everyone that was important to them in order to make it totally perfect. First off, Rissy carried their son, Casey down the aisle with her. “I was wearing Casey in a sakura bloom sling,” Rissy explained. “Wearing him down the aisle and during the ceremony was very important to us because we wanted him to be with us as we all became an even closer family. We also practice attachment parenting which puts a lot of emphasis on the importance of baby wearing.”

With having a young baby, it was hard for the couple to go out and buy everything they could for the wedding, therefore about 99% of their wedding supplies were bought online. “Clothes and decorations pretty much everything else as far as decorations I bought at Anthropologie  and World Market,” Rissy continued. “I didn’t want to hire a wedding planner as we didn’t want to pay for one and I really wanted the event to be “us”. I felt like I could do it best. The few things that were really important for us to have was an outside wedding on the water or in the woods and a dress that buttoned down the front so I could breast feed in my dress.”

The venue and vibe it created was also very important to the couple. They explained, “At first we wanted to get married on Assateaugue Island, this cool tiny island in Maryland where there are wild horses that just roam free. Originally we wanted to turn the wedding into a whole camping weekend but with resistance from the older generation and with complications with reserving campgrounds, we changed our plans. We wanted it to be outdoors and have some privacy so we searched online for vacation rentals on the eastern shore and found the most amazing beach house called Cambridge Beach House. It sleeps 22 people, has a great kitchen, a pool and bbq, a private dock and beach, it came with the use of three boats and five bikes, we had a blast there, and never wanted to leave.”

The couple added their own touches house to suit their own style and Mike organised a BBQ for the meal to keep with the relaxed, party environment.

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A Fairytale Wedding for a Tattooed Princess

October 29, 2010

“My husband Dewald and I were both engaged to other people a year ago – but when we met it was really a fairytale!” Mona, the bride began. “When they say that opposites attract they are sourly mistaken, my husband and I are soulmates, body, mind and soul! We both have an affinity to all things that are unconventional, covered in tattoos and piercings and we adore all things vintage. After only two months we became engaged and I had his name tattooed on me as a symbol of my lifelong dedication to making the world rock together!”

Mona & Dewald wanted a fun, simple and personal wedding. They basically created a big party for all their friends and family and kept it as non-weddingy as possible. The pastor even arrived for the ceremony on a Harley Davidson!  The bride’s Mother is a dressmaker so she obviously made Mona’s dress. She wanted something offbeat, something unique and something completely different to a traditional wedding dress.”We combined our avant-garde taste gave birth to sexiest little wedding tutu – I felt like a princess!” concluded the bride.

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Thursday Treats – 28th October 2010

October 28, 2010

 Photography Credit: via Audrey Kitching (rest of the images here)

Are you ready for your weekly sugar rush? Thursday Treats is ready for you baby!

The Tompkins Square Park Halloween Dog Parade
Elle’s modern flapper dress – oh lala!
♥ I’m loving Ruffled blog’s DIY contest – some of my faves from this week include Ribbon Wands, Fall Inspired Boutonnières, 
Vintage Fork Place Holder and the Bride and Groom Sign
Brie and Lee Married
Options and Friendship Bracelets
Real Gay Engagement Dumbo New York: Navin and Navin
DIY Paper Flower
Engagement shoot: Geri + Zach – ruffles!
Gorgeous sparkles, gorgeous dress!
♥ I featured their wedding last week, but did you see Britt & Mike’s day after sesh?

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Sarah & Chris’ Handcrafted Tipi Wedding

October 28, 2010

Sarah & Chris got married at Croft Castle, Herefordshire followed by a Tipi reception in Sarah’s Father’s field. I have a serious wedding crush on this ‘venue’!

The whole wedding was a locally-sourced and handcrafted affair as this was very important to the couple. The tipi was decorated top to toe by Sarah and her Mother (her Mum is the lady wearing the fabulous handmade patchwork coat!) “We wanted our wedding to have a handcrafted feel and it was important that our friends and families were as involved as they could be” Sarah explained. “My inspiration for the feel of the day came from that, from getting those peoples input and spending time with them. My mother made the amazing patchwork coat that you can see her wearing, from thousands of small squares of lovely fabric, and she announced just after we got engaged that she was going to turn it into a quilt for our first baby after the wedding – this pretty much encapsulates the feel I wanted of the wedding.”

“I wanted to make as much as I could myself and took immense pleasure in spending hours stitching and crafting, using old family photos or random things picked up over the years to make everything as unique as it could be – it was so important to me that it all came, well, from the heart. Is that too cheesy? I don’t care, it was my wedding day and I loved every second of it.”

The flowers were all picked from the surrounding fields and local gardens (with permission of course!) and the bride made the bunting and 100 pots of jam! The linens and lace table runners were all found at local charity, antique and vintage shops and Chris built the campfire which everyone gathered round at the end of the night.

The bride made all the stationary and paper goods from the invites – which were little books made from wallpaper and hand stitched together, to the  save the dates, the table plan – which was made with ribbon and luggage labels and service sheets – which were hand printed and hand stitched. Sarah has since decided to start her own wedding stationary company and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with. This is some seriously gorgeous and creative stuff!

Another thing that was really important to the couple was charity. After dinner, they held an auction to raise funds for ZAMCOG. They included included art from the brides art gallery www.blackrat.com, a hamper from Scotland and a dance with the bride. For their honeymoon, the pair plan to cycle across Africa, also in aid of this charity.

“For our not so romantic honeymoon we plan to cycle across Africa, from coast to coast – starting on the East coast of Tanzania, biking through Malawi, Zambia, Botswana and ending on the West coast of Namibia,” Sarah told me. “This covers about 5,000 km and we aim to do it in 30 days. Given that we haven’t done much cycling before (not counting the 12 minutes it takes me to get to work, and the 12 minutes it takes to get back) this could be quite a challenge!”

“Chris and I are fundraising for a school in Zambia that provides education, care and shelter for orphans, street kids and other vulnerable children. Through a stable and caring environment Shitima school aims to build a self sustaining route for children to create a better future for themselves and their community. There are at present 230 children in the school and it costs approximately £300 a year to feed, clothe and educate a child. The charity that funds the school also runs a feeding programme at a nearby drop in centre for street kids. The website explains it all in full but in short its a wonderful place where children are cared for and given new opportunities. We are aiming to raise £25,000 to contribute towards new facilities that would mean that the school could take on more pupils and which would also create more jobs within the local community.”

If anyone wants to donate to help Sarah & Chris, their charity site is: http://www.justgiving.com/africacoast2coast

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Vintage Charm – A London Engagement

October 28, 2010

The inspiration for Caroline & Ian’s engagement session was Caroline’s gorgeous Vivien of Holloway dress. “‘I’d worn it for my brother’s wedding in California a couple of weeks before,” Caroline explained. “It was such a wonderful outfit to wear that it was the obvious choice when I came to select an outfit for the shoot, and that set the whole style. I also wanted a deliberate contrast to the style of our wedding.”

To match up with Caroline’s style, photographer Julia Boggio was more than thrilled to accessorise Ian. Julia is a massive fan of all things vintage and has a studio full of props perfect for vintage styling (I know – I’ve had the treatment myself!)

Caroline & Ian’s wedding is going to be published in Cosmopolitan Bride magazine here in the UK very soon!

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Patti & Frank’s Tattoo-Heavy, DIY-Crazy, Totally Rock n Roll Wedding

October 27, 2010

Patti & Frank are just the epitome of Rock n Roll Bride! Whenever people ask me what my favourite type of weddings are, weddings like this one are what I describe – tattoos, DIY, short wedding dresses, fabulous bridesmaids and happy, smiling faces!

Patti wore an original 1950’s vintage dress, awesome shoes by Harajuku Lovers and feathers in hair.  “I originally spent $2,000 on a custom made dress which I had designed myself,” the bride told me. “Well I had someone who specialized in wedding dresses make it  (first problem) and I guess our vision was not the same and I didn’t like what she made at all! I went to Cambridge Antique market looking for some vintage brooches to jazz it up and the first thing I saw see when I turned the corner was this dress. I think it had a light shining on it with my name! It was meant to be and just a week before the wedding and it fit like a glove! Oh and the best part? It only cost me $150!”

Not wanting to completely ignore the original dress that she had spent so much time and money on, Patti asked her friend Kara to cut the custom made dress shorter. To this she added some black bows and voila! it became her after party dress!

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Michael & Michelle’s “Up” Inspired Engagement Shoot

October 27, 2010

Michael & Michelle are huge fans of the Disney movie ‘Up’ and so wanted to style their engagement session around it. They actually say that they saw a lot of themselves in the main characters of the film, who met when they were children, fell in love and then got married. 

They handmade all the props themselves including ‘My Adventure Book’ which they filled with scenes from the film as well as significant photographs from their time together as a couple.

The couple chose a park down the road from their apartment in Singapore as the location as they themselves and the props they used were really the main focus of the shoot.

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Tamar & Jon’s “Hot Mess” Wedding

October 26, 2010

“Jon & I met in New York City, live in LA, and had our wedding in Toronto – where he grew up and I went to grad school,” Tamar, the bride, began. “Our overall vision for the wedding was that it would be urban, comfortable, fun, and very “us”.  We love music and vintage stuff, so we definitely had some of that style infused but there are so many other weddings out there that are more “vintage” than ours.  We’re Rock ‘n Roll and unique because instead of trying to unnaturally contort ourselves and our wedding into a neat little category, we accepted the fact that we’re “all over the place” and went with it.  That meant having some traditional elements – a chuppah, wedding party, sit-down dinner, and bouquet toss – with other details that had special meaning to us regardless on whether or not it conformed to a wedding norm.”

“If there was one thing I was adamant about, it was taking the subway to the wedding (I’m a transportation planner) and making it easy for our guests to our wedding using transit.  So we picked a space right in the city that was only a couple of blocks from a busy subway station; even if it would be the only time in our lives that we “should” take a limo.  Both Jon & I wore “flair” on our backpacks throughout high school and college so we designed some of our own for the wedding with the Toronto & NY skylines.  There were video monitors throughout the venue, which are usually used for wedding slideshows.  Feeling awkward about our faces being broadcast throughout the night, we instead screened Andy Warhol’s “Screen Tests”, which are beautiful and intriguing.”

Tamar wore a short-sleeved, tea-length number by Dolly Couture (“I’m a grade-A klutz so really wanted a dress I wouldn’t faceplant on while walking down the aisle and really wanted sleeves”) and super-comfy green Butter shoes.

“So, maybe our wedding description would be hot mess or mish-mosh of cultures/traditions/styles” concluded the bride. “but we loved the atmosphere, had a blast doing our DIY projects (like the fabric covered table photo frames), and we smile every time we see the candid shots taken by our lovely photographer Emma McIntyre.  Our guests definitely were comfy and had fun… and most of them took the subway!”

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Cam & Candace’s Homespun Engagement Session

October 26, 2010

I’m posting less engagement shoots at the moment – not because I don’t heart them, but because I literally have wedding submissions coming out of my ears! However I do still let a small number of e-sessions through, especially when they are as cute as Cam & Candace’s.

The shoot took place around the couple’s home, in the neighborhood park and in an old building with a cool looking fire escape.

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Jim & Katy’s DIY-Fabulous Whimsical Beach Themed Wedding

October 25, 2010

I hosted a very special offer from Willow Tree Photography a while ago for free wedding photography to any lucky 2010 couples who maybe hadn’t planned to, or couldn’t afford a professional photographer. While I got a bit of stick on certain photography forums (apparently I was encouraging newbie photographers to undercut the market…well, anyone who read the post I published on Saturday will know this is certainly not the case!) I am over the moon that through running this very special offer I, and photographer Kathryn, were able to offer some awesome couples without the budget to spend on photography, the chance to have professional wedding photographs.

One of the first couples who took up this amazing offer were Jim & Katy. The pair had a whimsical seaside theme which started with an intimate ceremony at Harbour Community Church, Folkestone. “The wedding happened in our local church, its very near the harbour of our little town, its quaint but village-hall like (with a sloping floor) it helped to inspire the bunting and seaside/village fete theme”, the bride told me. “As we and our guests were outside the church after the ceremony doing the photos, a crack team of our friends re-arranged the church into a buffet for the reception, the chairs were moved from rows into circles and it was a very informal reception but with amazing food prepared by members of the church.”

“The church was decorated in hundreds of metres of bunting that was around the front and back of the church, ran down the aisle and spilled out to the rails outside, making everything look very happy and inviting. We then had an evening party downstairs at a local bar, informal, good atmosphere.”

The bride wore a custom made dress, which she had designed and created especially for her by a local seamstress. To this she added those amazing and awesomely bright Irregular Choice shoes (she also had white pumps from Schuh for the evening.)

The couple, who are both recent art graduates didn’t have much money to spend and so DIY-ed a lot of their wedding – the flowers, all the decor, the favours, the buttonholes, the cupcakes – everything was made by the couple or their friends and family members.

Katy concludes,
“Our inspiration was based on three things…

1. wanting an honest reflection of ourselves and the aesthetic
preferences that are likely to hallmark our marriage, not the packaged
ideal of a modern ‘wedding’.

2. We didn’t have much money.

3. The venue, we let that dictate somewhat. it wasn’t the prettiest
building but had charm that we used our theme and decoration to bring
out. We wanted to get married there because it is our local church and
so it was an emotional choice.”

“We knew we had this village hall-like building and we were right by the sea. Also we love bunting, so to ignore our actual surroundings would be absurd. My recommendation to anyone trying to think of a theme is to not only be true to yourselves but also to the architecture and geography of where you are getting married. That way everything will gel and fit, plus that location will become even more strongly associated with your special day.”

“We also new that lots of our friends have toddlers and we didn’t want to exclude them. We felt that our theme allowed everyone to be able to enjoy the day and have fun.”

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“Rock n Revolution” – Behind the Scenes Exclusive

October 25, 2010

I didn’t want to make a huge deal of this post because I don’t want to bore you with more stuff surrounding my shoot in Paris…however it was incredible so maybe just one more little post about it?!

First up, I must say a huge thank you to Love my Dress and The Wedding Chicks for both featuring some images from the shoot on their blogs last week (click the links to see their fab posts!) Also to every single one of you who commented, tweeted and emailed me to tell me how much you loved the shoot thank you SO MUCH! It really does mean the world to me that you all loved what we did.

When David McNeil & I invited photographer Shell De Mar to come along for the ride, I asked her if she wouldn’t mind taking some behind the scenes shots and a little bit of video too. The original plan was to share theese behind the scenes images with you last week and the final images this week…but quite frankly I just couldn’t wait to blog the final results and so I switched them at the last minute. However I wanted to share these backstage aspects of the shoot, because this is the bit you never see…and it just goes to show that it wasn’t all high end glamour!

Our hotel room was tiny and David spend most of the day hanging off walls and railings to get the shots…oh and getting myself plus those huge dresses into cabs was an interesting experience! I wish we had some shots of us carting all the stuff on and off the Eurostar too – that was fun too (not!)

Anyway, I hope you enjoy looking behind the scenes at our little Parisian adventure! (My favourite shots are David wearing all the jewellery – he loves it…haha sorry David!)

If you haven’t seen the final results yet (where have you been!?) then you can see them all right here.

And don’t forget about the video!!

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A Sunday Kind of Love – Working Together, Rocking Out & Making Love Not War

October 24, 2010

When you run your own business it’s incredibly easy to become fiercely competitive and secular without even knowing it. I’ve found that especially in the wedding industry there are so many of us trying our hardest to be successful that a lot of the time, it can all get rather bit bitchy and competitive. That sucks.

I’m happy to say that although I’ve had my fair share of niggles with others in the same field as me in the past that I’ve come out the other side and brought a few of my favourite other bloggers (shock horror – shouldn’t they be my competitors!?) along for the Rock n Roll ride. I’m now happy and thrilled to call them my friends and colleagues.

The Photography Parlour does the same thing for photographers here in the UK. In a similar way to other sections of the industry, wedding photographers can often see each other (especially when they work in the same area) as competition. This is why I love The Photography Parlour, a site which brings all these photographers together so they can learn from each other and work together to make something really great.

This particular shoot was set up by some members of The Photography Parlour themselves for those exact reasons. Below is a list of everyone involved with the shoot and all the photographers that took part.

…Oh and quite apart from the reasoning behind this shoot and this post, how damn gorgeous are these images? I am totally swooning over the oh-so-very British setting and quirky and fabulous vintage styling. I approve muchly.

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The Price of Wedding Photography & How Much Should I Expect to Spend?

Julia Boggio Photography

October 23, 2010

This is a subject I have wanted to address on the blog for a while, but I’ll be honest, I have been a little afraid of bringing it up. I really do hope I don’t get lynched afterwards for talking about this unspoken subject but I really do think this is something worthy of discussion.

I need to make a few things clear first…

♥ I am a HUGE advocate of helping start up businesses. I often feature the work of brand new and up and coming photographers on the blog and this article is in no way intended to discredit or slag off newbie photographers.
♥ I am a true believer that a fantastic photographer can make even the most budget wedding look kick ass – more than the dress, the decor and the extra details. Seriously, while all these aspects are important it is the photographer that will capture these memories that will last a lifetime and I think this is the one thing that shouldn’t be scrimped on or “DIY-ed”.
♥ Everyone deserves to have a truly fantastic photographer to capture their day. Whatever your budget, I can’t stress enough how much I’d urge you to spend as much money as you are able to in order to get the very best photographer that you can afford.

I don’t want the fact that I have approached the subject of money, business and all that icky stuff to in anyway ostracise any readers of my little blog. However I do think that just how much you’re going to spend on photography is something that should be addressed. It’s something that all couples will talk about when they plan their weddings and budget but it’s a subject that is never spoken about on blogs or in magazines. Why is this? Well, people don’t really like to talk about money do they?

My reasoning behind this post is not in anyway to try and encourage you to spend more than you can afford or are willing to on your wedding photography, however I do want to make you stop and think if the service you are getting for the price you’re paying really is good value.

I have lost count of the number of brides I’ve had email me asking for photographer recommendations for under £500 and I’ve also lost count of the number friends I’ve spoken to who have recoiled at the fact that a lot of the photographers I know are charging £2000 + for “one day’s work” (seriously? do people still think photographers only work one day a week!? I was chatting to a photographer friend of mine about this subject who told me that after everything she has to do, her hourly rate is less than £20 an hour…and she’s not one of the cheaper ones!)

I know weddings are expensive things and that the thought of spending a couple of grand on a photographer is a lot for most people, but I can’t stress enough that I feel photography is really the one thing you should splash out on. If you can only afford £500 for a wedding photographer then great, but just be aware that the results that you get from a photographer who is only charging that much will most certainly be inferior to someone a bit more pricey – even if the talent is there. Someone able to charge more than this, will if anything have a lot more experience than someone still charging around the £500 mark.

If you are happy to pay under £500 for a photographer then fantastic – rock it out, but just be aware that for that price you aren’t going to get Jose Villa/ Jasmine Star/ Jonas Peterson/ Lisa Devlin… I hate to say it, but in this industry, you really do get what you pay for.

This is a subject that us wedding industry folk chat about a lot. The preconception by some brides is that in some way photographers are trying to rip you all off. While I’ll be honest, there are certain photographers out there who I think are ludicrously expensive for what they offer (and no I’m not naming names!) in the majority, the price you pay generally covers the quality of the service you are given. After that it’s just down to personal taste.

When I mentioned on Twitter that I was going to cover this topic, the response was positive if not a little wary…

“depends on your point of view!? Could provoke a witch hunt!”
“having a heated “discussion” with a friend about this very subject.He says price things lower-I’m saying don’t be too cheap!”
“haha brave!”
“wow! You are brave!”
“that should be interesting…”
“oooh sounds controversial”
“hope the amazing pics you blog already help people realise its worth paying for good photography”
“oowww that’s a can of worms on so many levels but i am sure you will do a great job!”

After reading this I hope you will all realise that my intention was not to be controversial or to even spark a debate on this matter – I merely wished to address a subject that I feel affects us all – brides, bloggers and of course photographers.

Therefore I wanted to get the opinion of a photographer and so I asked someone who is greatly respected in the UK wedding industry. Julia Boggio is regarded as one of the UK’s leading wedding photographers and has won many awards for her business acumen as well as her photography. She has had her worked featured in all the major UK wedding magazines and she is a regular columnist for the same photography magazine I write for, Photo Pro – and she was the one who actually got me the job so I owe her a lot! She also openly admits to being at the higher end of the market in terms of her pricing so I thought she would be the perfect candidate to address this matter.

I’d love to hear your thoughts (from photographers AND brides please!) on this subject in the comments section below.

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Rachael & Tony’s Land of Make Believe Wedding

October 22, 2010

“The theme of our wedding was inspired by us being big kids and my love for make believe, colour & Alice In Wonderland,” Rachael & Tony told me. “The garden (which was right next to the reception – which was held at Brett’s Wharf on Kingsford Smith Drive Hamilton, Brisbane) was filled with toadstools, moss and over-sized cartoon style colourful flowers. We had ‘floating’ windows and a door hanging in the entrance with a ‘Welcome’ sign on wood tied in a tree.”

“There was a lolly bar. Huge jars filled with caramel fudge and coconut ice. Mismatched furniture with colourful cushions. Once it became night all the lighting throughout the gardens came alive. Pink and blue shrubs, a psychedelic oil pattern lighting up a huge tree. Black chandeliers hung from a fairy light tree. A star hung outside throwing different light patterns over the garden.”

“Inside, the ivory drapes that hung on the wall were lit up by pink floor lights. Our Best Man has a lighting companyand made something really beautiful for us. It just looked incredible. I felt although we were in a fairytale, but a really cool one.”

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Sarah & James’ Rockin’ Rockabilly Wedding

October 22, 2010

s&jBR24

Sarah & James’ 1950’s rockabilly wedding was inspired by Sarah’s Grandparents who got married on September 12th 1953. “We wanted to get married as close to this date as we possibly could, hence the choice of 11th September 2010,” Sarah told me.  “My Grandparents celebrated their 57th Wedding anniversary the day after our wedding – the rose tattoo’s on my feet (by Sam Ricketts) have their names ‘Alice’ and ‘Mervyn’ in recognition of how special they are to me.”

“We were keen for the day to reflect our personalities,” continued the bride. “We chose a civil ceremony which was held at Pittville Pump Room, a Grade one listed building, as it is a big part of Cheltenham’s history, pumping the famous ‘spa water’ to the town (and it makes for some pretty awesome pictures!)  There was a ‘swallow’ theme running throughout (as I have swallow tattoos on my stomach) – As James is a Graphic Designer, he designed all of the wedding stationary for us – from invites, to place settings.  As wedding favours we decided on plectrums (which we ordered from the internet) as James is a guitarist, with the ‘swallow’ design and our names and the date on the back.”

“There was also a colour theme of red, black and white running throughout the day (as these are our favourite colours!) Rather than ‘table names’ we identified the tables with movie stars and singers from the era. From Marilyn Monroe, to Audrey Hepburn and Frank Sinatra.”

Sarah wore a ivory 1950’s style swing dress from Vivien of Holloway (her bridesmaid’s wore the same dresses in black or polkadots) and the new Vivienne Westwood Melissa shoes (eeek cherries!) Her hair was done in a rockabilly style, adorned with Diablo Jo’s handmade rockabilly accessories.

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Photography Friday – Carly, Cocktails & Cats

October 22, 2010

This week my bestest friend in the whole wide world came to stay. We are officially rubbish and never see each other enough (busy lives and all that) but I know she stalks my blog (her words not mine) so this should be a nice surprise for her this week!

Carly came to stay. We drank lots of these…

(Did you know they sell Cosmopolitan in a bottle now?! I saw it in the supermarket and was instantly sold! It may be a little chavvy but do I care?! They were yummers)

And by the end of the night, our vision looked like this…

(Carly took this photo – I see a new photographic talent emerging don’t you?!)

I love my Carly and I miss her muchly…

(photo from our wedding by David McNeil)