September 11, 2012
It's unusual for me to blog engagement sessions, but when I saw Francis & Mayone's (potentially NSFW!) I really could not resist. After sharing that, I hoped that their wedding might be as awesome (and that they'd send it to me too) and oh boy did they deliver! Glamorous and elegant, personal but spectacular, sexy but sophisticated, these guys sure know how the pull off a wedding in style!Read more...
September 10, 2012
"Our family and friends MADE this wedding happen," explained Natalie when I asked her about her wedding. "Brynn & I didn't want to have a wedding designer, but I think my mother now holds that title. She spent the eight months of our engagement collecting wine glasses and silverware from thrift stores. Her and my aunt accumulated all the décor and oversaw virtually every design detail. My grandmother sewed all of the napkins and a family friend arranged the flowers for the centerpieces. My father created and made the cocktails and roasted coffee beans for the wedding favors (Brynn’s mother sewed the favor bags). My super-talented friend, the visual manager of an Anthropologie in DC, built the ceremony backdrop & platform and made all the signs. We asked a family friend to bartend. My best friend’s father and my cousins hung all the lights for the reception. One of my friends recently started an event-planning business and she handled all of the insane day-of coordination. Our friend is in a band and graciously offered to DJ the entire wedding." The couple were married in Maryland in July. With a laid back approach, and as much help as their friends & family could muster, they planned the wedding of their dreams with little to no stress. "Our inspiration for the ceremony was a combination of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Lord of The Rings", she continued. "Obviously having the ceremony in a forest was a must. I envisioned my bridesmaids looking like little wood nymphs or fairies. They all picked out a white dress of their choosing and everyone looked smashing. We wanted our reception to be like a party Jay Gatsby would throw. There were lights strung everywhere, non-stop music, endless drinks, and next-level dance moves. Brynn's brother and best man even secretly got a limo to take us away."Read more...
I Love that Glove
September 9, 2012
Honestly? I struggled with what to write about today. Usually on a Sunday I'll post something non-wedding related that's caught my eye or I'll share something exciting that I've done in the week. But I shared my Photography Farm retreat escapades in this week's Thursday Treats and since then I've basically been chained to my computer replying to the squillions of emails that came in whilst I was away and writing as many blog posts as physically possible. I also spent rather a lot of time on the phone to Cosmopolitan Magazine. NO BIG DEAL (more on this soon!) And then this wedding pinged into my inbox and it all became clear.Read more...
September 8, 2012
Jordan & Michael wanted a wedding that truely reflected them and the things they love, so they grabbed their children and were married in private on top of a mountain in Canada. "Our inspiration was definitely nature and our love of hiking", explained the bride. "We chose Gros Morne National Park in the beautiful province of Newfoundland and Labrador known for its mountainous terrain and unbelievable views. This in our minds made the perfect backdrop for our quiet intimate ceremony. We knew that hiking boots were a must so why not include them on our special day? We kept our attire simple and clean and focused on more important details like the photography and the food!"Read more...
September 7, 2012
Eileen & Peter were married at Glasgow University Union. They had a tiny budget, but with the help of wedding blogs sharing affordable and DIY options, they were able to plan the wedding of their dreams. "We really just wanted to have a fun wedding that meant something to us personally rather than just doing things because you are supposed to", explained Eileen. "I was really inspired by blogs like Rock n Roll Bride that showed how you can have a wedding anyway you want. We had to explain our decisions a bit more than most to some people who didn't get it but I knew it would all come together in the end. Things like not having a religious ceremony. This upset our families to begin with but they later realised that they had pestered us for so long to get married that any way we wanted was fine just as long as we did it! So we had a small intimate ceremony filled with songs and poetry we love and lovely romantic things we had said about each other. Then we just wanted to have a big fun party to celebrate with all our extended friends and family. We didn't set out to be 'Rock n Roll' but we definitely ended up that way. Ha ha!"Read more...
September 7, 2012
This beautiful wedding was sent over the channel to me by French newlyweds Virginie & Julien. They were married at Church of Saint Joseph des Fins in Annecy. After cocktails at the adjoining church hall, their simple reception was held in a restaurant, La Ferme des Ollieres, in Les Ollieres. The bride handmade her outfit including her dress and headpiece and she wore shoes from H&M. "I own a ready-to-wear clothing line but I plan on making a bridal collection because I had so much fun making my own dress!" she explained. "I bought my shoes for 7€ (about £5) from the high street two days before the wedding! I was planning to wear off-white shoes but I found this pair much cuter."Read more...
September 6, 2012
Oh hello September how glorious you've been so far! Anyone that follows me on twitter or instagram will know that this week I've been living it up at the Photography Farm retreat. Basically, everyone who comes on the Farm always wants to come back, so Lisa & I thought, hell, let's just hire it for a week and hang out! So we did. And it was fabulous.Read more...
September 6, 2012
Taylor & James kept things small... tiny in fact. They were married at home, the bride's father officiated, and their only guests were their immediate family - 6 adults in total, with one extra, Taylor's sister, who watched the ceremony over Skype.Read more...
September 5, 2012
I think green is a totally underrated bridal colour. We see brides in white, red, even black, quite often, but rarely in green - and doesn't Ruth show us how wrong this is? She looks incredible! "I remember looking at photos of my Gran in her wedding dress from 1960 which was blue with a pink petticoat and telling myself that I was going to wear my favourite colour when I got married too", Ruth began, "and so the green dress was born. My something old was my Gran's actual pink underskirt from her wedding dress." "Finding a green dress was hard work though. At first I tried on bridesmaid dresses but I never really felt myself or special enough. I was also being pushed into trying on white dresses by everyone but I didn't recognise myself. I'm a total tomboy at heart and the concept of being feminine for the day felt alien to me. I still don’t understand the concept of feeling like a princess on your wedding day. The most important thing was to feel like me. I found Vivien of Holloway online after looking at the adverts on Rock n Roll Bride. After three trips trying on various Vivien of Holloway dresses, I ended up ordering from a limited run of only 4 (!) plain green circle dresses. I love the fact that I can and will be able to wear my dress again and that I'm only one of 4 people to have bought it!"Read more...
September 5, 2012
I was asked recently by a new blogger how I went about making my industry connections and friends. Like, how did I approach people and ask if they'd like to work together or collaborate on various projects and shoots without coming across as a bit of a weirdo? So I'm telling you what I told her... If it would be weird in real life...Read more...
September 5, 2012
What is it was all the exotic weddings I'm getting submitted recently? I think the universe must be telling me I deserve a long, sunny holiday! Well when Myles & Barbara's Bali wedding landed in my inbox I just about spat out my cuppa with the anticipation of blogging it. Have you ever seen a wedding party so a) cool, b) expressive, & c) hilarious? No, me nigher. I couldn't wait to hear more... "Myles proposed whilst sitting on the toilet, pants around his ankle. In Elfish," explained Barbara. "It really was very romantic... I promise you. We just wanted our wedding to be a big party, fun and happy with a little bit of looseness mixed in."Read more...
September 4, 2012
Ahh Palm Springs you are on my travel wish list for sure, and seeing weddings like Tasha & Curtis' makes me yearn for your palm trees even more. The wedding was held at the achingly cool Ace Hotel in June. "I'd describe our wedding theme as 1970s Rock n Roll", explained the bride. "Curtis is much more traditional than I am (shockingly - he has long hair and tattoos covering most of his body!) so we wanted to find a way to use the traditional ceremony but make it feel really personal and our own. We had our parents walk in at the front of the wedding party, then all of our 'Allies', as we called them, came in separately (no boy/girl pairs - they each stand alone in awesomeness) and then we came in together.Read more...
September 4, 2012
Oh Dita you are so wise. There will always be someone, somewhere who doesn't agree with you or like what you do. But you know what? Screw 'em! The best lesson I've learnt through running my business is that I can't please everybody so I'm not going to waste my time trying.Read more...
September 4, 2012
Shep & Sarah were married at Ettington Park Hotel, an elegant 4-star venue just outside Stratford Upon Avon. With its tranquil location and beautiful architecture it proved to be the perfect place for their glamorous wedding. The exterior of the hotel was actually used as the setting for the 1963 film The Haunting.Read more...
Blush
September 3, 2012
As a girl who's more than slightly obsessed with weddings and photography, there's pretty much nothing more thrilling to me than discovering new (to me) wedding photographer that is INCREDIBLE. It doesn't happen very often, but when it does I feel like I've won the wedding-blogging-lottery. And don't even get me started on what happens when I discover a videographer with as much talent as this. Actual tears people, there were actual tears.Read more...
September 3, 2012
After knowing each other for 16 years the couple were keen to walk down the aisle as soon as Phil proposed! So after just a 6 month engagement, the couple were wed in a movie themed wedding in July. The bride wore a custom made dress and yes... her bridesmaids wore dresses made of Star Wars fabric!!Read more...
September 2, 2012
On Friday Gareth & I packed up the car (again!) and drove down to Brighton (again!) for another School of Rock blogging workshop. The event was fabulous, my class were ace, and the whole thing left me with a warm n fuzzy feeling inside. As we drove away that night (slightly topped up with the celebratory after-workshop-wines - don't worry Gareth was driving!) I turned to him and gushed away about how incredibly blessed I feel. Like, how is this my life? As someone who tentatively dipped her little toe into the blogosphere all those years ago, I can't quite believe that people now line up to come and hear me speak about my journey. Like seriously... this is nutso. Even Darren Rowse of Problogger is singing my praises. Yeah no big deal or anything...Read more...
September 1, 2012
Are any of you considering getting tattoos to commemorate your marriage? Well Rob & Kit not only did it, but they had their wedding photographer, John Nicolay, come along to take photographs of the event. Oh it's like all my favourite things rolled into one - I LOVE this idea. The couple's relationship and wedding plans were anything but standard - they actually had two weddings! - as Rob explained, "We met in September 2007 as office mates but we never really spoke to each other. Our first conversation lasted for 30 seconds and we only spoke a total of 5 words combined. I simply complimented the comic book that she was reading. Then in December I finally confessed my feelings for her but she told me she didn't want to be in a relationship. Gutted. But I was persistent. I wrote a poem for her daily for the next 4 months. In March 2008 she finally cracked and agreed to be my girlfriend but quickly after she had to leave the country to work in Qatar. We maintained a long distance relationship 5000 miles apart by writing each other daily emails.Read more...
August 31, 2012
Emma & Charlie were hitched in style at The Crown Hotel in Dorset. Although their day didn't end up as they first imagined it might, it was totally perfect. "Our wedding was completely different to what we first had in mind," Emma wrote. "We nearly got married in a church but instead had a civil ceremony, and I originally pictured myself in a short vintage dress but instead fell in love with a long, floaty contemporary one. But I think it turned out so much better."Read more...
August 31, 2012
Lauren & Matt's started their wedding planning knowing exactly what they wanted: something relaxed, stress-free and fun. They were lucky enough to have a friend whose parents own a farm, so everything else really stemmed from that. Lauren told me all about it. "As soon as we got engaged we knew how we wanted our wedding to be, we just didn't know how to do it! The first and most important thing was to find a photographer. Being a enthusiastic photographer myself, I spent weeks searching for one that she liked, we finally came across Sassy of Assassynation and sent an excited email straight away. She immediately told us to phone her for a chat as we hadn't set a date yet, but when she told us she only had 2 Saturdays free in the 3 months that we were looking at we booked her there and then! Everything else was then planned around her."Read more...