Wedding congratulations: Gary & Linsay

Wow, what a year 2009 is turning out to be already. I had the most wonderful time photographing Gary and Linsay's wedding at the Chelsea Registry Office in Kings Road.
This reading had everyone choking up!
Apartment 195 is a secret little gem for small wedding parties as it has so many lovely corners and places for great images.
I'm loving my video light and playing creatively with light..
Wishing you two an awesome and very happy future together.

Thanks you's
A big thank you to Bianca for being my "lightning assistant" on the day!

Suppliers
Hair: Tops Hair Salon, Chiswick
Flowers: Wheels of Flowers, Chiswick
Catering and Venue: Apartment 195, Kings Road
Dress by: Amy Hamilton, House of Fraser

Engagement rings, Wedding Speeches and some..

I've had a bit of time today to catch up on my web reading and I found these very interesting articles that I thought I'd share with you. First off - if you'd like to see "some cool wedding rings, or if you need jewelry design inspiration, definitely check out http://www.rocktographers.com/ which is an entire blog dedicated to wedding ring awesomeness". (Big thanks to the awesome Anne Ruthmann who always writes such great, fun blogs!)

Next up - a humorous and excellent article from the WPJA/Wedpix - How to starve your wedding photographer: A field guide, a gentle and of course non-offensive reminder to all brides and grooms. Please appreciate and do look after your wedding photographer and videographers on the day and ensure they're catered for, they're almost you're shadow on the day so will have spent many hours with you by then, you don't want them fainting on you! Personally I've found the best time to take a quick break away from the guests is when the bride and groom are having their dinner so you're ready to be back in the action when they've completed their meal and continue with reportage photography of their guests without forks mid-air or full cheeks. Of course there are some gems out there where the suppliers are well taken care of - you know who you are, you're my heros! But be warned, it definitely is a favourite of caterers to feed the suppliers last so you often find yourself gulping down in a hurry before the speeches, cake-cutting and first dance!

And last but not least another great article from the WPJA/Wedpix, this one had me gulping down tears..*maybe I'm just a bit of a softie* but I know how often I'm hiding my emotions behind my camera during the speeches! You can't help but be affected by all the emotions that come out during the speeches.. an excellent little read of anticpating people''s reactions: Capturing Wedding Speeches.

Wedding congratulations: David & Andrea

The lovely Andrea and David were recently married on a very cold and dark Saturday afternoon at Winchester House in Putney but inside it was very warm and cosy and all had a wonderful evening.

Congratulations! Wishing you and the boys many, many happy years ahead x

Suppliers
Wedding hair & make up: Gillian Katz of Your Wedding Hair & Make-Up and Irresistible Headdresses - Andrea loved Gillian's handy work!

Wedding: Kalum & Bhrinda

Kalum and Bhrinda were recently married (three times!) in an all day extravaganza at Shendish Manor, Berkshire. Their civil ceremony in the morning was attended by closest friends and family, then followed their Hindu ceremony and in the late afternoon their Buddist ceremony followed by a gorgeous dinner reception with traditional Mauritian Sega dancers. It was one of the most special days I've had the privilege of photographing.

Here are a few favourites from the civil ceremony:

Thank you so much you two, I had a lot of fun sharing the day with you and your families.

Wedding Suppliers for the day were as follows:
Hair & Make-up: the wonderful Farah, Wed-in-Style
Flowers: Wed-In-Style
Cake: Tracey’s Cakes
Catering: The Asian Catering Company
Music/DJ: Ashley Jugnarain, Paradise Entertainment
Videographer: Rob Lee, Lokono
Contact at Shendish Manor: Nikki Moss

See next two posts below - for more images of their day.

Kalum & Bhrinda's Hindu Ceremony

Next up in the day was Kalum and Bhrinda's very bright and colourful Hindu Ceremony.

Kalum and Bhrinda's Buddhist Ceremony

Kalum and Bhrinda's last ceremony on their big day was their Buddisht Ceremony. Here are a few of my favourites:

Next up was the reception, speeches, first dance and a special treat - Mauritian sega dancers:

Wishing you two a wonderful future full of fun and happiness together x

Wedding congratulations: Nick & Foo

The lovely Nick and Foo were recently married at Beauberry House.
Wishing you two too a very bright and happy future together! x

A very big thank you to Oleïa and her team who were particularly considerate and went out of their way on the day for this special couple.

Suppliers for the day

Hair & Make-Up: Sam Norman
Flowers: The Fresh Flower Company
Cake: Elaine Noble

Flutist: Laura CorbinGuitarist: David Buckingham
Catering: Beauberry House
Contact at venue: Oleïa

Inspiration: WPJA - Latest Contest Results

I love shooting weddings. As my style is more a combination of fun contemporary, a little formal for the groups and lots of (hopefully emotional) reportage photography, I'm not a member of the wonderful WPJA (Wedding Photo Journalist Association) who's members all shoot in a purely photojournalistic style.

However, I *LOVE* their website and will often draw inspiration from its members work. It's incredible to think that much of what these skilled photographers do is in a purely documentatry, candid and unobtrusive way.

Brides Magazine and the WPJA holds a contest every three months in the following categories - Bride, Bridal Party, Culture/Customs, Ceremony, Getting Ready, Kids, Dancing and Departure. The latest contest results have just been released - have a look here for some truly inspirational photography (I love seeing the judges comments!)

Here's a winner from one of my favourite categories:

Kara Purtell - 1st Place, Getting Ready

PHOTO CAPTION BY BRIDES MAGAZINE: "It ain’t easy being a bridesmaid, especially when you’re wearing a dress with a complicated corset. The girls form an assembly line to dutifully lace each other up. (That’s the bride, in veil and flip-flops, bringing up the rear.) Purtell catches the essence of preparation and teamwork leading up to the big moment."

Engagement: Rodney & Eleanor

I'm the lucky girl who will be photographing Rod & Eleanor's wedding in April next year and a couple of weekends ago we had a lot of fun photographing their pre-wedding portraits in Wimbledon Common. It was a fresh morning, but so lovely to be out and it was so cute to see these two together..

Congratulations on your engagement you two. I'm counting sleeps with you until April! x

Wedding: John & Irina

John and Irina were recently married at another of the gorgeous Handpicked Hotels - Nutfield Priory.

John & Irina, wishing you a beautiful and happy future together! I'm so happy for you that you found each other x

Thank you's

A big thank you to Martin and his team at Nutfield Priory - as usual the Handpicked Hotel team did a wonderful job of taking extra great care of everyone.

Suppliers

Irina's beautiful bouquet and the reception flowers were all provided by the award wining Tania of Flowers 77.