March 26, 2012
Just a little note today in case you missed it last week, but I've announced my next School of Rock tour date! On Thursday 26th April Gareth & I will be heading to Muddifords Court, Devon in my bright pink tour bus (yeah..that's a lie I don't have a tour bus let alone a pink one...but maybe one day!) and I'd love to see you there.Read more...
March 26, 2012
Back in February 2011 I was at exhibiting at the first Designer Vintage Bridal Show, Birmingham. Luckily for me the organisers plonked my stand right next to one of my ultimate besties, wedding photographer Emma Case. On the second day of the show in walked bride-to-be Aneesha, who had decided she wanted Emma to capture her 2012 wedding. After chatting about wedding planning, blogging and photography Annesha went upstairs to try on wedding dresses. Always one to get excited about this part of wedding planning Emma & I followed to see what the bride-to-be would pick. Aneesha & Ed were having a traditional Indian ceremony in the morning, but for the evening reception they wanted to change into western wedding attire. As soon as Aneesha tried on the slinky Yevonde by Jenny Packham the tears started to fall and we all knew it was the dress for her! I'm honoured that I was allowed to witness this experience and I'm even more thrilled that today I get to share their full wedding story with you.Read more...
March 25, 2012
When shooting in Vegas, make up artist LaVey asked what I'd like on my lips, "bright pink please" was my reply (obviously!) "Well I've got something that will blow your socks off," she replied, "this stuff won't budge all day." And she wasn't kidding. When we wrapped shooting at 5.30pm the lip stain still looked exactly as it did when she applied it that morning. I'd eaten, drunk, talked, giggled...all in the desert heat, and this stuff was still there! Nope, I wouldn't have believed it myself if it wasn't me wearing it! Look at these photos if you're still not convinced...Read more...
March 24, 2012
Hello Kat & Rock n Roll Bride readers, I’m Rebecca Douglas of www.rebeccadouglas.co.uk a Kent based wedding and lifestyle photographer who loves working with people and making and creating beautiful things! When I’m not shooting and doing photography related stuff I love to get a make on with all sorts of materials. I really loved the images that I was seeing from wedding photo booths and so wanted to develop these blackboard speech bubbles for guests to write messages on while in photo booths at weddings.Read more...
March 23, 2012
In my opinion, every business lives or dies on the strength of its customer service. To most it means complaining when there are queues at the store, when a check out girl is grumpy, when we wait too long for our order in the restaurant – i.e. the term is mostly pulled out when customer service is lacking. When it works well, it’s like an invisible comfortable blanket that makes you feel good when you think about visiting your favourite bar or when you are ordering an item from an online store that’s always reliable. When Kat asked me to write about customer service, I first started writing a very matter of fact, hypothetical kind of article. But I soon realised that, actually, speaking from personal experience would make my point come across a lot better than any bullet points ever can. So, I hope you’re sitting comfortably, as I’m about to tell you the story of my tattoos…Read more...
March 22, 2012
Wow what a day yesterday was. Bright and early Gareth & I bundled into my car and headed up to Sheffield for my School of Rock (n Roll Bride) blogging workshop. The day was held at the amazing Chimney House. It was perfect for our intimate event (20 students in total) and Sally and her team made us feel very welcome. All the students were girls which was lovely for me but poor Gareth was definitely picked on because of that! After my four hour presentation (don't worry we had tea breaks) and a lengthy Q&A session we all trundled off to The Milestone for dinner and drinks and to get to know each other a little better. I can't even tell you how seriously nervous I was about talking, I'm certainly not a natural public speaker, but I'm so incredibly greatful to everyone that attendeed for making me feel some comfortable standing up there whittering on. Knowing nods & smiles, the sound of notes being scribbled and plenty of questions made me feel a whoooole lot better. You girls ROCK!Read more...
March 22, 2012
When Mark & Manilla's colourful wedding landed in my inbox I just about burst with excitement. There's nothing quite like a rainbow wedding in my opinion! The South African wedding was held at The View Boutique Hotel, a glamorous hotel in the heart of Johannesburg. "I felt that the ceremony should be the serious part of the day but I wanted the rest to be a very relaxed and festive carnival style celebration!" the bride told me.Read more...
March 22, 2012
For Terry & Elle their wedding wasn't about a big show or how much money they could spend. After a health scare in October 2011 they decided they wanted to get married quickly so planned the whole thing in just 4 months. They wanted a wedding that represented them and didn't cost a bomb. As the bride explains, "We held a wedding for 90 guests, including bridal party plus all bridal attire, wedding rings the works for under 15,000 AUD (that's about £10,000) - the average Australian wedding is $36,000 - do it all yourself and be resourceful and you can achieve wonders!"Read more...
March 21, 2012
I've known about Julie & Jaques' wedding for a long time because the bride's sister and maid of honour is one of my best friends, wedding photographer Shell de Mar! I've been hearing all the exciting details of the wedding plans for so long and now I'm thrilled to not only see the results but to share them with you guys too. The wedding took place in Melbourne. The ceremony was held on the rooftop of the Arcadia Hotel and the quirky and cute reception was at Garage Cafe, Carlton.Read more...
March 21, 2012
You're probably all aware by now, that at the moment I'm loving teaching, learning and exploring the ideas behind running your own wedding business (hence The Green Room, my School of Rock workshops and my work with The Photography Farm!) Very early on in my wedding blogging career I became aware of Liene Stevens and her blog Splendid Communications. I found it invaluable and full of amazing snippets of advice and guidance when I was navigating the murky waters of trying to be my own boss. When I launched The Inspirations, Liene was top of my list of people to interview. I hope you enjoy eavesdropping on our chat...Read more...
March 21, 2012
Last week saw the third Photography Farm organised and hosted by wedding photographer Lisa Devlin. I was super excited to be invited along again to talk about blogging, to help style the shoot which we asked Roo to model for. Lisa, stylists Hannah and Jayne and myself have been planning this spooky Miss Havisham-esque shoot for a few months now so it was seriously exciting too see it all come together! Hannah and Jayne did an amazing job of creating a indoor/outdoor sets in the woods behind the farm. Roo also had a lot of input into the feel of the shoot as one of the great things about The Farm is that we try to make each theme relevant to the models. It would be a bit ridiculous plonking Roo in a vintage picnic set with cupcakes and balloons for example as that just isn't her!Read more...
March 20, 2012
Wolf Whistle is a small stationery design studio based in London. Illustrator Brooke Woolley has just launched her company as she wanted to offer something a little different to what she'd seen available elsewhere. Her quirky signature style makes her stand out and she offers personalised, illustrated wedding stationery that's perfect for creative types.Read more...
March 20, 2012
I'm not going to embarrass anyone by naming names, but I've had a few people ask me if they could 'borrow some of my confidence' recently. It's a funny old thing really and a notion that I still find very strange. Inside I'm quaking in my boots pretty much daily, but apparently no one can tell - I guess that's a good thing! I really don't see myself as a confident person (seriously, just ask Gareth how annoying and stressy I've been over my School of Rock workshop that's happening tomorrow!) However what I am aware of is how I present myself in order to give the impression of self-belief. My faith in myself has come on in leaps and bounds over the past few years. However I certainly didn't wake up one day feeling top of my game...in fact even as I write these words I'm cringing a little bit inside that you're all going to think I'm a right knobber. My 'knobberness' is something I've just had to come to terms with I guess.Read more...
March 20, 2012
Sinead & Dan were married in Whitstable at Beacon House, with a reception afterwards at the groom's parent's house. The great thing about Beacon House is that it's one of the only wedding venues in the UK that's licensed for an almost outdoor wedding, on the porch of the house, overlooking the beach. However it's a small venue, hence why like a lot of couples Sinead & Dan moved to another venue for their reception.Read more...
March 19, 2012
Being huge movie buffs, the theme for Catinka & Dennis' wedding had to be set around their biggest passion - horror films! They were keen to make sure the wedding didn't end up looking like a cheesy Halloween party though, so they DIY'ed and crafted their way through the planning process.Read more...
March 19, 2012
Ashley & Jeremy are wedding photographers so were in Las Vegas at the same time as I was for WPPI. After the Airplanes & Blazers party (which I was also at...!) Jeremy was sitting at a table with Patrick from StillMotion (while Ashley was off in the bathroom) and Jeremy was telling Patrick he would love to propose. Patrick encouraged him, telling him if he proposed and they got married while they were all still in Vegas, Patrick would shoot it! When Ashley returned, Patrick proposed, right there and then by saying "Will you marry me...on Wednesday?!" So just 36 hours later, they were married in the Pop Up Wedding Chapel at the Cosmopolitan Hotel with all of their best wedding photographer friends from WPPI watching.Read more...
March 19, 2012
Stéphanie & Wendy were married in Paris, on a bateau-mouche (an open top excursion boat) on the river Seine. Stéphanie is French & Wendy is American. They live in San Francisco together but wanted to return to Paris for the wedding...and what could be more romantic that a boat ride around the city?!Read more...
March 18, 2012
If you're anything like me you'll be putting a lot of thought into your wedding day footwear, so I thought I'd give you a helping hand by introducing you to the fabulous world of Zalando. Stocking thousands of items including clothes, beauty products and (what seems like) a gazillion pairs of shoes, if you don't find something you love here there's probably no hope for you. Their website currently stocks over 600 brands including Melissa, Iron Fist, Blowfish, Converse, New Rock, T.U.K and Jeffrey Campbell - in fact over 40,000 products in total! I certainly found something I loved...well a number of things actually. I've been obsessing over pretty pastel shades of late (perfect for Spring/Summer, which is just around the corner - hurrah!) so I thought I'd share some of my favourite soft hued shoes from their latest collection. Pastels aren't just for the classic princess bride you know, all of these shoes give pastels a Rock n Roll edge!Read more...
March 17, 2012
Happy St Patrick's Day! You're probably going to either love this or hate this. I'm nearing to the side of love because of the freakiness as the fact that this really is something I've never seen before in a bridal shoot!Read more...
March 16, 2012
Today I've asked my buddy Adam from a rival wedding blog (I say this in jest, we love each other really!) to write a guest post about being...well...a man. It's something I've thought about a bit recently, what will Gareth taking a lot more of an active role in our business and all - what is it really like being a man in this so heavily female dominated industry? Not only are weddings often perceived to be 'all about the bride' but most of the people that work in the industry are female too! Obviously this isn't a topic I could really discuss myself with any semblance of authority, so here's where my mate Adam comes in! Over to you fella...Read more...