Vicki & John got Wed!

Hello!

This has to be one of my quickest wedding edits ever!  The wedding of John & Vicki actually only took place on Friday but my Hols are approaching fast...YAY!! I have a million & one things to get done before I go so I didn't want to hang about, plus it was such a special wedding, I couldn't wait to share it with you.

John & Vicki now hold the record for the most intimate wedding I have photographed, just 19 guests attended the ceremony at Dudley Registry Office,  the sun shone despite what the weathermen had predicted & it really was a lovely day.

My day started at home with Vicki getting ready, she was extremely laid back & was dealt a lovely surprise when her friend's Grandad came to pick her up in his vintage Rolls Royce. She was totally unaware!

Dudley Registry Office is such a lovely old building set in beautiful grounds, unfortunately the registrars there do not allow photography during the ceremony but we had plenty of time afterwards to get some great shots.

   

After the ceremony we headed down to the Old Priory ruins which are located in the same grounds as the registry office & form a lovely backdrop.

Then it was off to the Red Lion Pub in Bobbington for Sarnies & Chips (& the odd chocolate eclair!), the day was so relaxed & I was able to really get to know everyone. John's Dad made a little speech & commented on what an inspiration the couple were to everyone..it really is true...they proved that you can have a fab wedding day without the bling (not that there is anything wrong with bling if that's what you want!). They just needed their closest family & friends....and each other...that was enough!

Then it was off to the Blakelands Country House for the evening reception, how Vicki squashed her wedding dress into that Ford KA I'll never know! Just time for some portraits with the Bride & groom before the evening guests started to arrive & John & Vicki were pretty much up for anything..including indulging me in my love of peeling paint...check out the shots in front of the green door!

John's Mum is a florist & as well as making Vicki's bouquet & the button holes she also made the most gorgeous table decorations & did a fab job of decoration the room ready for the evening.

Whilst looking out of the window I spotted there was a tree swing in the grounds.  I told John & Vicki...we took one look at each other & off we ran over the car park!

As the predicted rain finally started to fall, John & Vicki had their first dance to Michael Buble's "Home", actually one of my favourite songs.

So there we go...John & Vicki's big day, thank you so much for letting me share such a wonderful, intimate day with you, it was an absolute pleasure.  I would also like to say that I hope Vicki gets better soon...she's been ill since the wedding, bless her...not the way you expect to start married life. At least she has plenty of time to recover before their honeymoon in New York.

Us 3 against the world - Hollie & Ashley (& Frankie) - Married!

My latest wedding is rather special, well..actually every wedding I photograph is special to me but this one is extra special. Firstly, it's just been featured on the UKWP blog & I'm very proud of that, but mainly because I totally blame this wedding for being a wedding photographer at all!!

Hollie called me up quite some time ago now when I was concentrating mainly on Family Portrait Photography..I hadn't even really thought about doing weddings, she had seen some of my work on Facebook & contacted me to say she loved my style & would I photograph her wedding at the Stone Manor in Kidderminster!  I was a bit gobsmacked as I didn't even have any wedding photos in my portfolio, however I agreed & then about 10 mins later it sunk in, I had a majorconfidence crisis (don't tell Holllie!) & started to wonder what I'd let myself (and Hollie & Ashley) in for! The next year was spent attending workshops, assisting & second shooting for other wedding photographers, if I was going to do this I was going to make sure I really knew what I was doing.

I think what sold it to me so much was the way in which Hollie first described their wedding plans to me, she said it was "us 3 against the world"...by that she meant herself & hubby to be, Ashley but also their 4 year old Son, Frankie..she really wanted him to be as much part of the day as them (which was always going to be the case anyway as he's gorgeous!!)  She was also slightly concerned that I might not be able to control the 10 Groomsmen..they turned out to be little pussycats which is fortunate as the Best Man & Chief Bridesmaid are getting married next year with all of the same Groomsmen & guess who's the official wedding photographer???

Anyway..as it turned out I gained many wedding bookings before Hollie & Ashley's big day so they never were my first wedding clients after all but I still firmly believe that they planted the seed & I'm not sure I'd have gone down this path if it hadn't have been for them.

So I'm very grateful to Hollie, Ashley..& don't forget Frankie for giving me a nudge to do this job I love so much.

And here are some of my favourite images from the day..which was a scorcher by the way!!  See if you can spot little Frankie on the Wedding Cake........

Just checking in!

I really have been a little absent from my blog recently..I do apologise...I 've been incredibly busy over the past few weeks.  I'll catch up soon with my most recent wedding which was the wedding of Hollie & Ashley at the Stone Manor, Kidderminster  but for now I quickly wanted to let you know what I was up to this past weekend.

I had the pleasure of second shooting for the lovely Ruth Goalby at the wedding of Danny & Tina at Jephson Gardens, Leomington Spa .  It was a great day all round & even though the heavens opened several times that day we managed to work around it.

I'm sure Ruth took loads of great images that she will be sharing soon but here are a few favourites from the ones I captured.

Natalie & Gareth got Married...Butterflies & Cupcakes!

Last Sunday I had the pleasure of capturing the wedding day of Natalie & Gareth. The preparations started at the Mother of the Bride's house where the champagne & strawberries were flowing & so were the giggles. 

I then headed off to join the boys at the church for a bit of a laugh before the ceremony, even trying out a Beatles, Abbey Rd pose which mean stopping traffic on a very busy high street. That photo will follow later!!

The ceremony followed in the most beautiful church, St Lukes in Cradley Heath High Street. 

Then it was off to Netherton Park for a few poses before heading to The Village Hotel for the reception. 

The theme of this day was butterflies....they were everywhere & very beautiful they were too. Oh... & there were cupcakes....loads of cupcakes!!!!

And sweets.......

And they lived happily ever after.........

THE END.....

And my favourite picture from the day..

And the Abbey Rd pic

 

Sonia & Steve...Married!!

This wedding blog post is a little sooner than normal but I have a few weddings coming up over the next few weeks so I wanted to keep on top of things.

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of photographing the wedding of Sonia & Steve at The Granary,  Kidderminster.  Rain was forecast but it held off & although it was extremely windy at times..we survived!

These are some of my favourites from the day.

 

 

 

 

This is ME!

Those of you that follow my Facebook page will know that I am forever taking pictures of my children, Connor, George & Grace. I love recording every part of them growing up & being able to look back at those precious moments. I also love to show the pictures to the children so that they can see what they looked like when they were younger, how much taller they've grown in the last year & how they change so quickly.

Well..the other day I was sorting out one of my hard drives, deleting some photos I know I'll never edit & generally organising things. I was doing this whilst my Daughter Grace, aged 2 was sitting on my lap, which is actually the way I very often work! We were discussing the pictures as I went through them & she really enjoyed telling me who the people were in the pictures.."that's me with Daddy", "thats Connor & George when they were babies"...you know the thing. Anyway, after about half an hour she turned to me & said "where's Mummy?" I tried to explain than Mummy was the other side of the camera but she was having none of it & really demanded to see a picture of me. I searched through the folders to find one until I suddenly realised that there were no pictures of me, not one on the whole hard drive.

It's no secret that I really don't like having my picture taken that much & I think this is true for a lot of photographers, we tend to stay the other side, much safer! It doesn't help that my Husband doesn't really like taking photographs so it's not surprising that according to our family photos....I don't exist!

And thats just the point I'm trying to make really, if I don't make the effort to have some pictures taken of me, what will my children have to look back on when I'm gone? How will people know what I looked like, that I have a dimple in the end of my nose & it wrinkles when I laugh. That my hair changes colour almost as often as I change my clothes & that I get freckles in the summer. All small tiny details, some of them I'm not so keen on but they make me who I am & to my kids well...I'm their Mum & thats all they see!

So..the ending to this story....

I took myself off armed with my tripod & Grace to make me smile, after many unsuccessful attempts with the self timer on my camera........this was the result.

This is me.....nice to meet you. xxxxx