Thursday 13 October 2011

Photography - where to start and what to expect


Long after your special day has passed, your wedding photos will be the main reminder of your wedding day. This is why it is really important to find a photographer that understands your needs, whilst understanding your budget.
The single most important thing to look for when looking for a great photographer, is whether or not they are part of the regulated guild ‘The Guild of Photographers’. If they are a registered member of this association then you can trust that they are a quality photographer.
Cost:
The prices of hiring a photographer will vary greatly depending what you require from them. For example, if you only want the ceremony and post-ceremony family shots covered, you’d expect to spend less on the services of a photographer. However, if you wanted multiple photographers to stay for the entire day, covering the Bride getting ready, all the way through to the evening celebration, plus professionally made albums using their photos, you’d need to expect that you’d be paying a considerable amount more!! If you are on a budget, ask for a ‘disk-only’ package. You will get all the images on a disk and you can print, edit and copy them as and when you like. Its a load cheaper than buying an album from them, and plus you get to have free choice over how you want to use the pictures!
Prices will also depend upon how long the photographer has been in the business; a photographer with 20 years professional experience will be considerably more than one who has not long graduated and is just starting up in the wedding business.
Although it can be tempting, most Brides would advise against using a guest/member of the family/friend to be your photographer. Yes, they may have a photography qualification and they would be cheap/free, but surely you want them to enjoy your day, and not have to ‘work’ through it? My sister has a photography qualification but even though she wouldn’t charge to take our photos (which is a tempting offer), she is also a Bridesmaid and cannot physically be in the photo and take the photo at the same time!
Mr M and I have chosen our photographer already; she is a young lady who has just started in the wedding photography business and is a friend of one of my sister. Her prices reflect that she is a ‘newbie’ in the wedding photography world, but the testimonials received from the couples’ weddings she has covered show she comes highly recommended. We are going for a simple half-day coverage – shots from before, during and after the ceremony provided on a high-resolution disk. I am not a fan of traditional wedding albums (or their cost) and I have found a company that will create exactly what I am after, but for a considerably smaller cost.
Previous experience and photography style:
A good photographer will be able to show you examples of previous weddings they have covered; look at the style of the photos.. are they mostly posed shots? Or are they shots where you can imagine the individuals had no idea the photographer was there (in a good way)? The kind of photos the photographer shows you says a lot about their style;each photographer has a style they stick to, so if you are looking for a photographer that shoots naturally (i.e. no set poses), then it’d be unlikely they’d feel comfortable at (or be very good at) taking all posed shots.
If you have a large family, or you want to have photos of certain guests taken, give your photographer a list before (and on) the day. Make sure you voice exactly what you are looking for, and who you want photos with and of, because you do not want to receive your photos a month after the big day and be devastated because you didn’t have a photo taken with your favourite Granny. The photographer may be a professional, but it is partly YOUR responsibility to make sure they know what you want to get from hiring their services. This day only comes once and you cannot recreate missed opportunities like these.
Using props in your wedding photos can be great fun – but make sure this is something that your wedding photographer likes to do and is prepared for. It is unlikely that a really-traditional-posed-family-photo photographer will encourage you to take fun shots where you are jumping about, or holding balloons or signs – these kind of photos will just look awkward and wrong if you and your photographer don’t ‘get’ each other.
Ask your photographer beforehand if you can make some time for you and your partner to have a bit of time away from the rest of the guests. This wedding is about YOU and although getting shots of your guests is an important part of wedding photography, you want to make sure that the photos are as natural as possible – there is nothing worse than posing for a photo whilst you know you have 100 beady eyes staring at you.
REMEMBER:
Wedding photography is often one of the biggest expenses of a couple’s wedding day (excluding food and drinks) and so you want to make sure you get it right. Do your research, MEET your photographer (I cannot explain how important this is – simple contact through the internet is just not good enough to base your decision on) and go with what you feel is right!

Autumn weddings - photo inspiration


With all the excitement of setting a date for my marriage to Mr M, I jumped straight into thinking about winter wedding inspiration and totally bypassed all you autumn Brides!
Autumn is my second favourite season – the temperature may drop yes, but the sun still shines, and I love the transition you see in the natural environment between summer, autumn and winter.
The most obvious colour scheme to lean towards if you are planning an autumn wedding would be yellows, oranges, reds and browns, as this ties in perfectly with your surrounding environment. Of course, you can go against the grain and not use these colours at all! I’ve seen plenty of Brides who have gone for navy blue, or fushia pink instead and it hasn’t looked out of place at all!
Use the natural environment to your advantage; grab handfuls of different coloured leaves and dry them out to use as confetti or table decorations, carve numbers into pumpkins to use as a multi-functional table centrepiece and table number! No one will think of you as silly; in fact your guests will most probably be impressed with how you have incorporated the changing seasons into the big change that is happening in your life!
Check out these fab inspirational images to give your wedding dreams some substance and guidance!

Wedding insurance - is it worth it?


These days people feel like they should insure everything they value in case of any problems arising, and weddings are no different.
With couples pouring so much money into their special day, many choose to protect themselves by taking out wedding insurance. Wedding insurance can protect against problems with your suppliers, wedding dress and suit damage, extreme weather and cancellation due to illness or bereavement.
Wedding insurance is definitely something Mr M and I will be taking out. Although our wedding budget isn’t huge and compared to some couples we don’t have quite so much to ‘lose’, issues could arise due to the weather at the time of year we are holding our big day – winter.
Wedding insurance can cost as little as £18.20 (a one off payment), and can be tailored to your specification. Many companies offer different bands of insurance, based upon how much you consider your wedding to be worth (for example, you have paid a total of £5,000/£10,000/£20,000 for your wedding). Of course every penny spent on something like wedding insurance is an extra cost that you’ll have to work into your budget, and it may not even be  needed in the end, but I’d personally have peace of mind and spend £20 to protect against loosing £5000.
There are loads of companies which offer wedding insurance; some are very familiar high street names! The most important thing to do is research which one is best for YOU and YOUR wedding. Many can be tailored to your needs; for example if you are not having a cake, you can choose not to cover that in favour of protecting your ‘priceless’ shoes.
What’s even better for Bride’s planning a wedding that isn’t imminent, is that some companies allow you to purchase the insurance up to 2 years in advance, which gives you piece of mind – especially in this financial climate where businesses are no longer guaranteed to be stable.
Here are just a few of the companies Mr M and I are considering purchasing from:
  • Debenhams
  • John Lewis
  • E and L
  • Ecclesiastical
Links to the websites mentioned above can be found in the Directory, but it could also be worth your while to visit a comparison website and see if there are any better deals out there!! Moneysupermarket.com compares lots of different companies for you!

Monday 10 October 2011

Presents for your Groom


It has become tradition for the Bride and Groom to buy a present for each other to give to one another on the morning of, or night before the wedding – I’m not entirely sure why, as surely making the promise to marry each other is thanks enough? But however you look upon this idea, most couples these days tend to buy a little something for each other.
Men are notoriously hard to buy for at the best of times; they tend to only show enthusiasm for things that are way out of any average person’s budget, which makes having another occasion to buy your man a gift even more painstaking.
So where do you start?! I’ve seen and heard of loads of fab ideas thought up by some clever Brides which I thought I’d share with you to give you some inspiration!
Cars
Now I’m not suggesting you should buy your husband to be a brand new car as a thank you gesture, but an affordable way to give your petrol-head man a morning to remember is to hire a car to take him to the ceremony.
Whether he is into vintage cars or flashy new sports cars, there are plenty of affordable companies around where you can hire something fab. An even more affordable way of hiring a car is to contact your local motoring club – most towns have a group of motoring enthusiasts, some of which may be willing to drive your husband to the ceremony in their own car. Just make sure you write a contract, to protect against them not turning up, or breakdowns etc.
Autographs and memorabilia
A lot of men love sport, and so purchasing a signed photo of their favourite sports personality, or getting a tshirt or ball signed for them often goes down very well with sports-mad men.
These can cost a fair bit however, so an alternative FREE option is to contact the sports club, and ask for a personalised letter to be sent to you so you can present it to your partner.
Jewellery
A lot of men won’t wear a lot of jewellery other than their wedding ring, but something that most men will wear is a watch. A lot of Brides like to splash out on a new watch for their husband-to-be, hoping that it will make sure they arrive to the ceremony on time! I bought Mr M a watch for Christmas last year from the watchshop.com – it was exactly what he wanted but cheaper than buying from the designer itself. Another watch alternative is a personalised pocket-watch. They can be engraved with a message of your choice, and it is a great heirloom to hand down to any future children you may have!
Still on the subject of jewellery, cufflinks are another affordable but fab idea. There are even sellers on eBay who will personalise the cufflinks with your partners initials for less than £10!! Bargain!!!
Boudoir shoots
One saucy way of making sure your man gets to the alter is by presenting him with an album of tasteful but sexy shots of you, taken professionally by a photographer.
Guaranteed to please, these photos are an affordable way of providing your husband-to-be with a memorable present, whilst raising your self-confidence at the same time! Your photographer may even offer this as part of their packages!
Oh so cherished journal
This is a fab little book, which has a set list of statements that you apply to your relationship with your husband-to-be.
Check out the OhSoCherished.co.uk website to see the full list of questions – I think these are a wonderful and emotion-provoking present which will really be appreciated by your Groom before the big day! Make sure you leave him some tissues though!
Groom’s goodie-box
I have decided to make Mr M a box of goodies as my wedding present to him, as I cannot decide on just one thing to get him!! HOWEVER, I have a tidily-tiny budget, and so all the items I will be getting him will be totally bargain-ous! They may look odd to an outsider, but make perfect sense in our little world.
To give you some idea of what could go in there, here is a list of things I’ve seen other Brides buy for their partners:
  • Aftershave
  • An alcohol miniature
  • Hanky
  • Hip flask
  • Socks and underwear
  • Sweets
  • Paracetamol (in case of too many Dutch courages the night before)
  • Mints
  • A watch
  • Cufflinks
  • A love letter/card
  • Mini photo album/oh so cherished book/boudoir album
The list goes on! All these items above can be picked up really cheaply, and excluding the watch, you could probably get all the items for less than £100 if you look for the deals and bargain hunt!
However, the most important thing to remember is that you are giving each other the most important and amazing present ever – a lifetime together!! No present however expensive will match that, and so it’s important not to waste money by spending silly amounts on presents that ultimately will not be remembered until after the big day has passed.
If you don’t have a huge budget, make a Groom’s goodies box; set yourself a budget, and DON’T go over it. You WILL be able to find fab gifts for your Groom that are cheap and affordable, but that help to convey your love for him.

Having you as his life-partner is the biggest and best present he could ever wish for!