Wedding Information

Your wedding day is without a doubt one of, if not, the biggest days of your life. It is therefore so important that your day goes as smoothly as possible so that you can get maximum pleasure from your day & not be fussing about things that really shouldn’t be your problem on the day. So lets go through how I try to help your day be a huge success.

Initial Meeting

You have scoured the internet & shortlisted me as a wedding photographer you wish to see. Great, you are very welcome to come to my home where the kettle will be on & a warm welcome will await you. We will discuss the details of the day that you have at this time & if I can tactfully offer any guidance that may iron out a snag I’ll do that. As an experienced wedding photographer I do know what works well on the day & some of the things that don’t go quite as planned. You will be able to take as long as you like looking through albums & slideshows & obviously I’ll happily answer all the questions you want to ask. If you’re interested we can even open up the software for album design & talk through the thought processes that make your album such a treasured keepsake.

When we have discussed your day I will then sit back because the next step is entirely your decision. I don’t do hard sell, I have no gimmicks or cunning plan to make you book me. You have to decide who you want as your wedding photographer & I will happily let you go on your way to make your decision at home. I couldn’t think of anything worse than a wedding photographer trained in hard sell sales techniques. If you like what you have seen & we have got on well then hopefully you will book me, but that is entirely your decision.

Planning Meeting

Brilliant, you’ve booked me! Now the work begins. We will meet up a month or so before your wedding to discuss your day in detail. This meeting can be at my home, your home or the venue, wherever you are most comfortable. We will go through the timings for the day so we know exactly what is happening & when. We will make sure I am aware of any special moments happening so that they can be captured. We will put together a sensible list of the formal group shots you would like so that on the day those photos can be quickly & easily rattled off. I use the word sensible because some couples, quite possibly being influenced by older family members, do produce rather long lists of groups without realising that they will spend the majority of their wedding day rooted to one spot with a fixed grin on their faces. Not good. Its far better that we work together to put a short list together so that you can then enjoy your wedding day.

Finally we will have a quick walk through how we will create images on the day & I’ll pass on a few tips so that you’ll feel comfortable & relaxed on the day. The key here is not to be worried, we won’t be doing any silly, contrived poses, simply making the two of you look the loving, newly wed couple you will soon be.

The Big Day!!!!!

Its arrived, the day you’ve been so looking forward to. If you’ve booked me for full day coverage, which is by a country mile my favourite way of shooting a wedding, I’ll arrive a few hours before the ceremony to capture the fun & excitement of everybody getting ready. This part of the day is captured in a documentary way, lets photograph what actually happens & not stage some pristine, clinical image. If there’s make up everywhere, hey ho, there’s make up everywhere. It all adds to the atmosphere. Hopefully you’ll be in your dress in plenty of time for me to capture the shots of your bridesmaids lacing up the dress but I am not a photographer who will wing it at the last second to the ceremony. I like to allow time to ensure that I am there in plenty of time to capture shots of the guys, details of the rings etc & be in place for your arrival.

So, the moment has come, the ceremony. At this point photography is not the most important thing. Whether it is a religious ceremony in church or a legal ceremony in a hotel or register office it is the ceremony that is of the upmost importance. With the permission of the officiant I will, of course, be capturing these one off moments but I will be discrete, often working from the back of the church or room.

You’re married. Yippee!!! Lets get you a drink. At this stage of the day a bit of forward planning can make a big difference to how we move forwards. If enough time has been allowed in planning the day then I will happily leave you alone to enjoy your drink, chat to your guests & relax while I capture these moments in a non intrusive documentary style. If however we are tight for time I’m afraid it’s a quick slurp of Champers & into the group shots.

Group shots. Working from our list we’ll quickly get through those & again if we have the luxury of time you can have a bit more mingling time. A huge help here is to have a couple of Photographer’s little helpers who can find the people needed for the next shot so that we avoid standing around like lemons waiting for Uncle Alf who’s at the bar.

Just the 3 of us. Don’t worry, we’re not heading off into the next county for 2 hours. Lets just get you away from any distractions for 20 minutes or so to get some beautiful shots of the 2 of you. Yes I will pop you into some comfy,relaxed poses. No I won’t pose you in such a way you’ll need to see an Osteopath before you go on honeymoon. Unless you want to of course, the dip shot is great fun if you have a little practice beforehand.

Time to relax. That’s it, back to your guests & lets just capture the rest of the day as it unfolds. I will be there to get the drama of the speeches &, for the final page of your album, your first dance.

What happens next?

You go off on honeymoon & thoroughly enjoy the sun, sea, sand & anything else you can think of while I work tirelessly to put your wedding gallery together. If you have chosen a digital collection then the USB stick of images from your gallery will be presented in a presentation case. If you have chosen one of my albums then you have the fun of picking the images for your album. I’m not passing the buck here, it is your album & you should choose the images that go into it. When I have your selection I will then design your album & send you the proofs. Feel free to make any alterations you wish, I won’t be offended, it’s your album ,not mine. When we are happy with the design we can get your album ordered.

Your album has arrived

Open a bottle of wine, cuddle up on the sofa & enjoy!