I met Devri & Michael for their London engagement session on a chilly, but beautifully bright, February afternoon . The couple were visiting from the US so they wanted to have some of the more well-known sights of London as their back drop. We braced the biting wind on Westminster Bridge, walked along the South Bank and warmed up with some jumping and laughing in St James’s Park. It was such a pleasure meeting these two and witnessing how head over heels for each other they are!
Me and the lovely Steph, of Fairy Nuff Flowers fame, met while working on Katie & John’s beautiful Northbrook Park wedding a while back, and instantly hit it off. We have a very similar sense of style and share a love for all things pretty, whimsical and rustic. While we’re lucky to get to work together on the same weddings from time to time, at some point we got the idea for a day of creating something purely for the love of it and on our own terms, mostly in order to keep our creative juices flowing. The shoot was something nice to plan and look forward to in the dark winter months.
I’ve been obsessed with a pink & turquoise colour scheme for a while, so that was our starting point. Our plans evolved slowly from there, following trips to antique markets and local thrift stores. We ended up with two different set-ups; a quirky tea party with a twist, incorporating surprising elements such as deer antler, and a rustic picnic type set-up, for which we wanted a cute Victoria sponge cake, decorated with flowers, as a focal point. This is where Charlotte from Restoration Cake came in and made the most adorable cake, plus some decadent cupcakes for the tea party setting. To complete the picture, two start up stationery design companies, Rose and Ruby Paper Co. & Berinmade, created the prettiest paper goods that fitted the briefs perfectly.
All in all the day was just bliss. After a long time of planning, and collecting items for the shoot, we were surrounded by so much beauty that represented exactly the kind of things we would love to see at real weddings. And it goes without saying that Steph’s flowers were the perfect stars of the show.
As well as the table settings, one of my goals was to take some flowery pictures that would work as fine art prints, and I’m pretty pleased with how these came out as well. If you’re interested in having some flowery goodness on your walls, you can see a selection of wall art over at mnoo.com. Some of these images also ended up on the pages of the latest issue of You & Your Wedding magazine, so if you want to see more check out the March/April issue, out now!
P.S. I took sooo many pictures that it was quite hard to trim this post down to something sensible, keep on eye on the other girls’ blogs as you’re bound to see more prettiness from this shoot to come.
Happy Valentine’s Day, people! (Or ‘Friendship Day’ to those in countries such as Finland!). I wanted to do something a bit different for a Valentine’s post this year, so I asked all of you to share your stories of that moment when you knew you were falling in love (you can still continue sharing over at my Facebook page if you want!). I just love all the stories you told me, so many magical moments! And since this post needed some pictures to go with your stories, I pretty much went to town with kissy pictures (usually I try to avoid posting too many of those in one post), if now isn’t the time for those I don’t know when is!
(N.B. The pictures are, for the most part, NOT related to the stories, they are there just to add a bit of colour and V-day vibe!)
‘My hubby and I met online dating. We had both been burned by previous long term relationships, and had a few disastrous online dating experiences! We were both about to give it up for a bad show when did the “one last look to see who’s there” moment. I was instantly attracted to his photo as he had the most amazing smile. This was in mid December so we chatted all through Christmas and arranged to meet in early January. I was so insanely nervous before our date (as was he!) but as soon as we had a drink and got chatting we totally hit it off. Our date ended up lasting nearly 12 hours as we moved from bar to bar as they closed, and ended up in the open all hours Italian coffee shop in Soho amongst all the bar workers who had just finished their shifts! It wasn’t love at first sight, but there was something so right and simple about being together. A second date was just presumed so there was no stupid game playing. Our third date was on my birthday, where he met ALL of my friends in one hit (serious brownie points given for this!). It was the first relationship I had ever had that just felt right. I knew I was in love within about a month and he was the same. Not really fireworks in the sky at first sight but almost like it felt so easy, like being home and able to just be yourself.’
‘When he wrote “from M” in his Valentine’s card to me instead of “love from” I got so upset as I realised I loved him and thought he didn’t love me back… of course he did but was too scared to put it in writing!’
’We met at university in halls of residence. Or more precisely over the dining room table. We quickly became friends although she wasn’t interested in anything else. It took me almost a year to wear her down. I call it the “erosion technique” :D We finally got it on whilst travelling in SE Asia. 9 years later we’re getting married.’
‘I met my husband at 17, he was my cousin’s best friend and we went to a party when I came to visit him in London from Norfolk. The whole time I felt completely drawn to him and afterwards he told my cousin that he really wanted to see me again. I told my best friend that one day I wanted to marry him, that he was perfect for me. I drew hearts around my diary entry. :) But my cousin didn’t like the idea so every time we came to visit from Norfolk he told him he was away for the weekend, hence we never met again. Then, 8 years later I moved to London and we met up in our local park. We talked so much that we ended up getting locked in! We would meet up at 9/10pm every night and walk and talk around London until 3am, falling asleep at work the next day. We’ve been together ever since, moved in with each other immediately and were married in August after 4 years together. I’m a photographer because of him, he encouraged me to follow my lifelong dream and I love him so much.’
‘We both worked in the same place whilst I was at university. As soon as I saw him from across the work place (before even saying one word to him!), I instantly wanted to know more about him! Only problem being is I couldn’t talk to him, due to nerves! Ha! It took a long time to eventually pluck up the courage to speak to him (thanks to a friend!). However getting together was anything but ,as we had a few dates, but then I went travelling and he started seeing someone else. A few months after getting back, we bumped into each other again and the rest as they say is history!! It was pretty much love at first sight for me, as I knew I could 100% be myself.’
‘We were introduced on a blind date by a mutual friend – well, in fact, he knew he was on a blind date – my friend deliberately didn’t tell me – as she knew I would have run away!! I was 21 he was 24 and I just knew from the moment we met, I knew, that we where to be together – it felt right from the very first moment we met. (Bites knuckles) I think it was love at first sight! (There, I said it! ).’
‘When I lay awake the night I’d met him & been on a date…I realised I had fallen for him- already!!!’
‘I went in to buy a roll of canvas – & came out with a husband. Ahhh, I knew he was the one within days of knowing him, whenever we are apart it hurts. We celebrate 15 years of marriage this month and he is my absolute “all” – and can’t do life without him.’
‘We met in an online chat room.. I remember the day we met for real the first time. He flew to me. We were sitting in the back of a car. He turned his head towards me and looked at me. And I looked at him. And I was looking and looking and looking. And it was sooo easy to do that, look right into his eyes without feeling any awkwardness or needing to look away. That moment I knew he was the special one… I still cannot believe that such a random online contact grew into what we have now: him, me and our little pumpkin. (And I still love to stare at him sometimes).’
‘Me and my lovely hubby “just knew” it, probably happened before we even met as we emailed a few times before our date. He had this lovely, funny tone that shone through in his emails. We even talked of marriage and babies on our first date and his face lit up like a candle when I said I wanted both! We met on Guardian Soulmates and cheesy as it sounds he is my soul mate, we are like two peas in a pod.’
‘I’m pretty sure it was an immediate thing for me. Nearly 20 years ago as a school girl, a cool (and very good-looking) guy in his denim turn-ups and Morrissey quiff walked up to me at a Suede concert and told me he was an extra for the music video they were filming. That was it. I was smitten. He’d spotted me before that day apparently and after going back to the pub I went to every week until he saw me again, I was pretty convinced he was into me too!’
I figured since I was asking people to let us peek into their most precious memories, it was only fair that I would share as well. So here’s the story of when I knew I was in love:
‘I met my husband in an online chatroom (back in the 90′s!) and while we were friends chatting with a big group of people, I did feel there was something special about the way he managed to make me laugh, like properly in stitches laugh, from across the ocean. The first time I knew it was proper – what I’d previously thought only appears in movies – kind of love, was when I was waving him off at the airport after his first visit to see me. I was so surprised to find myself feeling actual physical pain, like my heart was being ripped out of my chest, when he disappeared into the crowd. I never really believed that sort of thing actually existed and I’ll never forget that moment for as long as I live.’
I hope you’ll all have a lovely Valentine’s, whether you spend it with your significant other or a friend. And although the motivations and meanings behind the day can be debated, I think if there’s any value in it, it’s in the fact that it gives us an excuse to think about those special moments, and people, in our lives. x
Pin ItThe year has barely got going, but it seems like so many amazing things have already been happening. My couples have also been busy prettifying the pages of many a magazine. Here’s a round-up on the latest coverage.
Isla & Ewan’s Scottish wedding was featured in the January issue of Wedding Flowers magazine.
Alexis & Jack’s glamorous Bath wedding can be currently seen in the Feb/March issue of Wedding magazine.
Christian & Phil’s civil partnership at the Gherkin was featured a while back in the summer issue of Pink Weddings, but I only got my hands on the magazine now.
Irene & Benn’s gorgeous London wedding graced the pages of Wedding Nouveau magazine‘s winter issue.
Sarah & Will’s London engagement session was featured in the brilliant Dashing magazine. Although this was technically an engagement session (purely because it took place before the nuptials, rather than a few years after), the article talked about Beloved sessions. I’m always happy to raise awareness of Beloved, so this was perfectly fine by me.
Blush magazine chose a picture from Alexandra & Billy’s Maunsel House wedding (top right) as one of their ‘favourite photos’ in the latest issue…
…while You & Your Wedding ran a feature on Alex & Billy’s wedding in their March/April issue.
And to end on a different note, also in the latest issue of You & Your Wedding, a pretty little pink & turquoise flower shoot we did with the lovely Steph (will tell you a bit more about this shoot later on).
Oh em gee. I know, I know, by now you’ve probably already heard via Facebook or Twitter that I only went and won the national award for Best Wedding Photographer at The 2012 Wedding Industry Awards event last night. I don’t mean to be regurgitating yesterdays news over and over, but I did think a blog post was in order, just so I can have a lasting memory of what I’m feeling right now. Twitter and FB are pretty fleeting mediums after all.
If you know me, or anything much about me, you’ll probably know how out of place I feel at big fancy events. You might think that’s a contradictory thing to say, what with me being a wedding photographer and all, an occupation which entails attending events on weekly basis. But it’s a completely different ballgame when I have a camera in my hand and my job is to lurk in dark corners without being noticed. You’d think that happily covering a wedding with hundreds of people at places such as the Natural History museum would mean an awards event or two wouldn’t really faze me… you’d be thinking wrong.
The whole day yesterday I was a ball of nerves, driving everyone around me nuts. Hair stylist extraordinaire Severin was very gracious with me and my freakouts while he was creating an amazing hairdo for me, the man has the patience of a saint. I’m so glad I had good friends around me to keep me distracted and in high spirits, or there’s no knowing what kind of exit plan I might have come up with. When I stepped into Cafe dé Paris, and saw the heaving masses (yes! masses I tells ya!) of glamorous people dressed in the most amazing evening gowns and fancy suits, it took mustering up every last drop of my inner zen to not turn around and walk right back out. So. Very. Scary.
But of course that all was nothing compared to the actual awarding bit. You know, the bit where one by one winners are announced and they step into the spotlight on the stage. I actually had my fingers crossed and was muttering ‘not me not me’ under my breath throughout most of it. And then the moment came, and I heard my name… and didn’t quite know whether to pass out or escape. Somehow I made it up on the stage where Damian Bailey and Sarah Hewson presented me with my award, and then kindly made me turn to the right direction so the photographers could get a picture of me from the front, rather than the other way round… Erm.
Here’s a pictures that Susanna took of me picking up the award, trying not to fall on my face.
The good news was that that was the scary bit over with. And as it slowly started to dawn on me that I’d actually won, and was holding an award with my name carved onto it, happiness and pride started to take over. I hadn’t really expected to win, but holding that trophy (I never ever thought I’d be picking up a trophy for anything!) really did make me feel… validated. All the hours I’ve put in, all the pieces of myself scattered around in the form of people’s wedding pictures, all the risks and stresses and striving for perfection; none of it had gone unnoticed. And knowing that is… huge. Throughout the night and today congratulations have been coming in from all over (thank you so much!), each one making it all sink in more.
In the middle of writing this I realised I could finally access the comments that clients who voted for me left. And wow. I am speechless. I could never have prepared myself for how such amazingly beautiful words would make me feel, and have been knocked sideways by the kindness of everyone. Never mind titles and trophies, if the only thing I got out of this experience was seeing those comments, I would have been 100% happy. I am so so touched, and over the moon that so many people feel so happy with what I’ve provided them with. I seriously love you all and feel so privileged to have played a tiny little part in the story of your lives. Just… THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart.
Thank you also to the judging panel who had the hard task of deciding on the regional and national winners, it’s such an honour to be recognised in such a way. I’m very excited that such independent awards, where actual clients have a voice, exist in the UK, and hope they grow bigger and better year by year.
As always, a huge thank you to Susanna, for sharing some pretty amazing adventures with me, and first and foremost for being such an invaluable friend along the way.
And finally, I’d like to give a massive collective hug to the UK wedding industry. I’ve worked with so many lovely people, some of whom I’ve become close friends with, and I’m so happy and grateful of the positive and supportive spirit that most of the suppliers I work and communicate with possess. You all rock!
