So we have been trying to think of ways of using all these lovely engagement images. My wonderful clients Olivia and Mark who are getting married in the Cotswolds in a few weeks mentioned that they were thinking of getting postcards for guests to sign instead of a book as they have a big passion for travel. Lovely, vintagey looking postcards, I LOVE that idea, so this is what we have come up with. Each design needs a minimum of 10 copies but I think they will be a gorgeous keepsake, wrapped up in some lovely ribbon. Get in touch if you want to know more about these for your Vintage Wedding.
Archive for June, 2010
Vintage Wedding / New Products
Wednesday, June 30th, 2010London Engagement Photography / Olivia & Mark
Saturday, June 26th, 2010Not having stepped foot in London for a few years (what IS an Oyster card?) I arrived at Primrose Hill for Olivia and Mark’s e-shoot feeling like I was entering a film set. This area has been used as a location so many times that I was expecting Hugh Grant to appear. Indeed this couple do have some famous neighbours including Gwen & Gavin (whose house we sneaked some pics outside of -don’t tell them!) and Jamie & Jules. Originally from LA, Olivia and Mark are cool and quirky so I let them take me round some of their favourite places in the neighbourhood including the canal at Regents Park and the top of Primrose Hill. The posy was from Fitzroy’s. I love the shot of them kissing by the Banksy man and dog.
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Stanmer Park Sussex Wedding / Sian & Richard
Monday, June 21st, 2010What a treat! I am forever thinking that it must be so lovely to be a guest at a wedding so for only the second time ever, on Saturday I was. So me and the husband donned our bestest outfits (a new maxi dress for me and his wedding suit for him) and set off for the glory that is Brighton’s Stanmer park. My gorgeous sister-in-law Sian and her intended Richard are lucky enough to live in the old farm house and the ceremony was in the orchard behind it. Theirs truly was a backyard, bring a dish wedding that was joyous and magical. A natural aisle had been created through the apple trees that were decorated with white bunting and little ceramic hearts. Sian looked so beautiful, it took my breath away as she walked in with Uncle Hugh V and her bridesmaids carrying pretty posies of wildflowers. The ceremony was all about friends, love, life and family in whatever form that takes. It was so heartfelt and beautiful that even the husband shed a tear. We then had a wedding parade through the park led by fantastic musicians and the kids just loved it. I did, of course bring a camera but without the pressure of work I just took a few shots as memories of a truly amazing day. It reminded me that wedding days are about filling a place with the people you love and celebrating the best that life brings us. We laughed, we cried, we ate a very delicious dinner, we caught up with family old and new, we danced, we drank far too much and we loved it all. Thanks to my magnificent sister and her soul mate Richard. x
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Engagement Photography Sussex / Bec & Matt
Sunday, June 20th, 2010Bec and Matt are planning a picnic wedding later this year and have been having fun collecting old hampers from vintage shops and markets. So when it came to ideas for the e-shoot, it only seemed natural to think picnic too. Before I left Brighton, I popped round to the Pollen studio to raid their hire stock for props while the Talented Mr Casey knocked up a perfect little vintage posy of roses, lavender and flowering mint. Bec suggested West Wittering Beach in Sussex as a location as it is near their home. I have never been so not knowing what to expect, I was completely blown away by this amazing location. It has picture perfect beach huts with little verandas that lead right onto the beach, proper dunes and miles of sand, yes sand! So many ideas immediately sprung to mind but we started by setting up their little table and chairs in the waters edge, which was much further away than it looked as the tide was out! Gorgeous light, gorgeous place and gorgeous couple who are deeply in love with each other and life.
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Family Photography Brighton
Thursday, June 17th, 2010When planning this family photo session, I heard that Becky and Andy have an allotment in Brighton. So we all went up there for some digging, cups of tea, radishes and sunshine. Tabitha and Polly are great little gardeners and they love making mud pies and picking flowers. These allotments are not far from my house but are hidden from view. Once you go through a locked gate, it is a magical kingdom of secret pathways and butterflies with amazing views down to the sea. After picking some daisies, we made use of the evening sun for that lovely summer vintage feel.
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Brighton Wedding/ Becky & Jon
Friday, June 11th, 2010This was a truly laid back affair. Becky and Jon just wanted to be married and have a lovely meal. They even needed some convincing to have some pictures taken on their own! Becky looked simply stunning in her David Fieldman dress despite not intending to wear a wedding gown. They didn’t want a big fuss, so only invited close friends and family to Brighton Town Hall. The ceremony was simple but lovely with their beautiful children having starring roles. After saying their vows and having the first kiss Becky and Jon had a proper hug, which was enough to set me and Amy off. Becky didn’t want intrusive photography but we got some lovely shots of the family walking through the lanes. Then we met up with them again on Hove seafront for some beach shots before heading to the Ginger Pig for the reception. The restaurant looked fabulous and we sneaked a few of the rather delicious canapés including fresh oysters. Pamela from the Ginger Pig treated us to a glass of champagne before we left but it was a very lovely way to spend the day.
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Brighton Wedding Photographer / Lucy & Paul
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010I love a bride with short hair! I have known girls who have planned their weddings to allow plenty of time to grow their hair, just so they can have it up – this is what they think is the done thing. Lucy looked fresh and funky and just couldn’t stop smiling. This is how she feels about the day, now it is all over and the story of her girlie dress.
“The dress was a Cymbeline Paris design, I’d looked in loads of shops but the trend seemed to be for voluminous dresses with tons of beading which wore me rather than the other way round. The lady in the shop gave me 4 tags to identify 4 dresses to try on, she said I wouldn’t need more than 4 as I would just ‘know’. The one I choose first was the first one tried on and the other 3 just couldn’t match up as so there it was!
A make up artist is a must I reckon – despite my fears of looking drag – Sylvi du Sauzay left me with flawless skin and a great look for the photos
The Flowers were by Pollen, Donal did an amazing job for our budget and I just loved them.
Imagine the Beatles where a brilliant find, I heard a busker play I Feel Fine outside the Pavilion and didn’t even know it was a Beatles track, I found out who it was and then trawled the net for cover bands – got some samples to listen to and these guys were the best plus they had their own dj who was happy to play a Motown heavy set to keep my Beatles phobic mum happy! I took our parents to see them play and my Mum got tipsy and told the head of the band she thought the Beatles were crap which he found hilarious.
Big tips:
Enjoy the planning and accept you can’t have everything you want!
Nude seamless underwear is best, keep the lacy basque type stuff for the honeymoon!
Get a good photographer! There is nothing nicer than looking back over your photos to give you a lift and remind you of the important commitment you made. The day goes by in a bit of a blur so its good to remember. My family wanted lots of staged group shots which I found a bit stressful so make sure you delegate someone with a loud voice to call people to order!
Being the centre of attention isn’t for everyone and at times I wanted to put my fingers in my ears and pretend my name wasn’t Lucy, take time out when you can to enjoy a kiss from your Husband or quick breather with your mates. It’s natural people want to talk to you but it can be tough.”
Brighton Wedding Photographer / Marnie & Bevan
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010These are Marnie’s thoughts on her Brighton Beach Wedding and the story of that beautiful vintage wedding dress.
“I can honestly say that our wedding day was the best day in my life. We wanted a joyful, intimate, classy day for us and our 50 guests…and that’s exactly what we got. So many of the guests at our wedding have said to us that it was the loveliest wedding they’ve ever attended, which is wonderful to know. And I’m also really pleased that we decided to ask guests to donate to Oxfam, rather than buy gifts that we didn’t need….people were really generous.
For my wedding dress I definitely knew that I didn’t want anything new and meringue-like. That’s really not me at all. Having said that, I didn’t have a definite style in mind…I just wanted to find something that I fell in love with. I searched high and low for several months in specialist vintage clothing shops in London, but nothing had that “je ne sais quoi” and I was beginning to panic somewhat as we now had only had 8 weeks to go before the wedding. When I did eventually find the dress, it was virtually on my own doorstep, at Andrew Fionda’s vintage bride shop in Kemptown in Brighton. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was the one. It took my breath away…and because it was vintage, I knew it was a one-off and totally unique. Just like my husband in fact…a one-off, totally unique and with all the je ne sais quoi I could wish for!”
Other special aspects for me included:
The little white Morris Minor that we hired for our wedding car
Having our wedding photos taken on Brighton beach
Having our little dog Woody at our wedding ceremony – and a model of him with us on our wedding cake!
Showing the pop video my girlfriends & I shot as part of my hen party
Due South, the gorgeous little restaurant on Brighton beach that we hired for our reception
The wonderful registrars and the beautiful wedding room at Brighton town hall
Children’s Portrait Photographer Sussex
Friday, June 4th, 2010What a lovely, sunny, giggle-filled afternoon than with my two favourite littlies? The smallest one has a tendency to explore, so we brought some vintage suitcases to represent her current wanderlust and the big one is obsessed with balloons. We had some left over from Rebecca and Pete’s anniversary shoot so took them up to Devil’s Dyke in Sussex for some fun in the afternoon sun. Happy Days 
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Vintage Wedding Album by Queensberry
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010So what to put all this gorgeous Vintage Wedding Photography in? I was looking for an album that had the Vintage feel but could match the craftmanship of my Queensberry albums. After much research and contacting other album makers, I still hadn’t found ‘The One.’ I was chatting to the very lovely Jo Newman from Queensberry who suggested looking at their Vanilla Bean cover material which is the one that Amy and I both loved from the newest swatch book anyway. It is very soft and tactile but looks weathered so tick for the Vintage cover. Jo then reminded me of the Barcelona album that the mighty Johannes Van Kan had shown at his talk back in September that had completely blown me away. This album is relatively small but chunky and lots of the images are tiny so it has a precious feel to it. Another Vintage tick. So I merrily went about designing a new sample in Photojunction, using images from Nicola and Daniel’s beautiful Sussex country house wedding. I wanted to add their names or the date to the cover but embossing doesn’t work with this material. My great friend Katharine is in the process of setting up a company offering Vintage inspired stationary for weddings so I asked her and her partner Debs to design a label for the Vintage Queensberry. Being the creative types that they are, they have come up with a gorgeous range which can be personalised for each wedding and the ribbon will be sourced to match. I showed it to some sets of clients on Saturday and one of them spent a while subconsciously hugging it, which has never happened before! So here it is, would love to know your thoughts.
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