Wedding Photography

How do you choose your wedding photographer? Nowadays there are so many photographers and packages to choose from that it can seem like an impossible task. But don't fret, here are a few key questions you can use to help you to establish potential candidates:

• How did you get into photography?
• Can we see some samples of your work?
• Describe your photographic style?
• How do you deal with bad weather/bad light?
• Will you personally be shooting the photos on the wedding day?
• Will you bring an assistant photographer with you on the day?
• Do you carry spare equipment in case of failure?
• What happens if you're ill/late for the wedding?
• Will you provide a written contract?
• Do you have insurance? If so, what does it cover?
• What does the photography package include, e.g. engagement shoot, wedding albums, DVDs, editing and touch-ups, and is VAT included?
• How much input we will have in terms of image editing, and choosing photos for our wedding album?

Using these questions as guidance will help you to quickly weed out the bad eggs from the good but, ultimately, you should just trust your instincts. You need to comfortable with the person who'll shoot what are likely to be your most precious and personal photographs. If you find you have a good rapport with the person in front of you, and their quote fits your budget, then they could be for you!

I'd also highly recommend the website Wonderland Avenue, which showcases a hand-picked selection of wedding photographers who offer all different styles and packages. Happy hunting!

Wedding Flowers on the Cheap!

I'm sharing something very useful today – how to do wedding flowers on the cheap! I spent about £200 on flowers – good going when you think some brides spend the same amount on their bridal bouquet alone! Everyone has different priorities I guess, and I decided to keep my floristry budget to a minimum. Here's what I did (with lots of pretty pictures).

Firstly, I decided whether I actually liked the idea of flowers at my wedding, and when that turned out to be a yes, I considered the types of flower that would make my heart sing. After a long time spent reading mags and cutting out pictures, I came up with the concept of a mixed bag of dainty wild flowers with that just-picked look.

After that, I employed the best florist on the planet: Becky from Peony Flowers. Becky helped me to design a delicate bridal bouquet, consisting of a variety of seasonal wild flowers. I didn't want anything too large or heavy to hold so I opted for a small-sized bouquet (which also kept costs down).

In addition, Becky incorporated my home-made paper flowers into her arrangements for my bouquet, the bridesmaids' corsages and the groom's buttonhole. The other buttonholes comprised small flowers, similar to those in my bouquet, with stems wrapped in old book pages. Not only did the paper flowers tie in with my vintage theme, but they were also an inexpensive substitute for real flowers. (I'll tell you how to make my paper flowers in another blog.)

I didn't adorn the church venue with flowers, as this was not a priority of mine. For me, the focus was on the ceremony, not the decoration. In any case, the church had already been dressed beautifully with flowers, by the church wardens. Why pay to replace perfectly good stuff, I say?

At the reception venue I used a combination of flowers from a supermarket and my mum's and her neighbour's garden. I displayed the flowers in old jam jars that I'd been collecting for yonks, to add to the home-made feel. The piles of old books added to the vintage theme.

Although I gladly left the production of my bouquet, buttonholes and corsages to the professionals (thank you Becky), I managed to save so much money by creating my own paper flowers and centrepiece arrangements, with the help of Auntie Glinda, my mum and Janine. If you have the time, give it a go! It's not as scary as you might think.

Calling Out from Newly-Wed Area 51!

A weird thing happened about two weeks after we got married...people started to ignore us, even our closest family and friends, and it's still the case now, even though it's four months on!

I'm pretty sure they all enjoyed sharing in our special day – they seemed to laugh, cry, eat, drink and dance at the right times, but I've come to realise it was only on this precise day that they wanted to partake. After that, we were on our own!

It's as if they've decided being newly-wed means hubby and I no longer want visitors, phone calls or texts. It's like they think we'd think they were intruding, trying to burst our beautiful wedded bubble. They've moved swiftly on to the next husband-and-wife-to-be combo, posting hubby and I to some strange sort of Area 51 for newly-weds.

I've observed that this awkward Billy-No-Mates period happens to lots of new married couples. It seems to be the natural order, and we just have to accept our weddings are never going to be as interesting to our guests, once the literal honeymoon is over.

But the frustration is newly-weds do want to see people, and it's a real shame our wedding memories have to be curtailed in order to avoid glazing over of eyes. Hubby and I are still really buzzing from our wedding day; we've probably viewed our video highlights at least 20 times already!

So I was wondering, what's wrong with reminiscing about the biggest day of your life from time to time? It's something we need to do, in a way, to get used to the idea of being married.

Therefore, I'll continue to share my wedding stories, ideas and tips with the only people who'll now care to listen: you my fellow newly-weds and would-be brides and grooms. And I'd love to hear your wedding news too – you don't have to be alone!

Table Plan with a Twist?

This week I thought I'd share with you our bespoke wedding table plan, designed by yours truly. (If you can't see the images clearly, then double click to see them at full size.)

I wanted our table plan to be different – a point of interest with which our guests could engage, instead of rushing straight past in search of much-needed refreshments. I wanted the table plan to tell our love story – the tale of how hubby and I came to be, despite the enormous odds.

I was inspired by funky infographic stationery I'd spied on my favourite wedding website. (If you're looking for alternative wedding ideas this website is definitely for you!) I fell in love with the modern diagrammatic approach to stationery design, and began to think about how it could be applied to our table plan, while still fitting in with our vintage theme. Matthew (yep, here's a link if you're wondering what my husband looks like) is an author and playwright, and I used to teach primary English, so I came up with a concept that suited us both: a table plan, structured like a diagram, that explains how to write a love story.

I positioned the story plot diagram at the bottom of the table plan, with an introduction (our first date); a build-up (our blossoming love affair); a dilemma (our tricky long-distance spell); a resolution (our eventual reunion) and, finally, a happy ending (our wedding day). At the top of the plan, I organised our guests into book chapters (tables) representing the fact that they'd all played a part in our love story. And finally, on the right, I added character profiles for the personality-clashing protagonists (Mat and I), just for humorous effect!

I designed the whole table plan in Word and added clip-art illustrations to jazz things up a bit. Once I was happy with the design, I got it printed professionally on cream A1-sized foam-backed card, which cost around £40. I was very pleased with the end result, and our guests seemed to like it too! I think it offered them the chance to gain a few amusing insights into our relationship, as well as giving them something interesting to do during the drinks reception.

Designing and making your own table plan is so much cheaper than getting someone to do it for you and, if you have the time, it's a lovely way of expressing yourself at your wedding. Make sure you don't print your DIY masterpiece too far in advance of your wedding though, as there's likely to be one or two guests who'll make their excuses at the very last minute.

Are You Sure the Kids Are Invited?

We all know screaming kids are not welcome news at weddings, particularly during the vows or the groom’s heartfelt speech. But with a little thought and careful planning, both you and your little guests can enjoy the big day without shedding unwanted tears. Here are my golden rules for organising a successful kid-friendly wedding:

1: Be realistic

If you decide to invite children to your wedding, you’ll need to accept there'll inevitably be a few noisy interruptions and some little people running around during the proceedings. If this will cause you to smile not frown on your special day then read on.

2: Plan ahead

It’s crucial to write a list of all the children you’re inviting, and to find out the number of kids and their ages. This will help you to plan age-appropriate activities, food and any other necessary resources such as high chairs. If you’re unsure about anything, talk to the kids’ parents. They’ll happily tell you all you need to know.

3: Consider venues 

Assess whether your potential venues are suitable for young guests. Ask staff about  access to toilets, baby-changing or crèche facilities. Will the children have space to let off steam during the reception? Are there safe outdoor play areas? As a very rough guide a child can sit attentively for three minutes plus their age so, at some point, they'll need to get up and move. Although it's a lovely idea, a quirky cave venue may not seem as great when you've got 20 or so under eights running around in the dark, over jagged rocks. Our reception venue had oodles of space, indoors and out, so it was perfect for the 25 youngsters we'd invited.

Especially at the start of the wedding ceremony, make sure your ushers tell parents about the location of toilets etc so they can have quick and easy access. (Note: some families may choose to sit at the back of the venue with their kids, to avoid disturbances. Let them as they probably know best!)

4: Remember the three Fs

Most importantly, remember that most children love the three Fs: food, fun and fascination. Stick to this mantra as much as you can, and you won’t go wrong! 

In future blogs, I'll give you some tried and tested practical ideas for the three Fs which won't break the bank!

The Post-Wedding Hurricane

I've now been married for exactly three months, 21 days, 12 hours and 29 minutes and, thankfully, we haven't killed each other yet, despite the fact that we both work from home and breathe in the same air almost 24/7.

I'm blissfully happy, especially as hubby and I are now 'official', but in truth I haven't had much time to fully appreciate our married life. This is because I've been completely inundated with what I can only describe as the post-wedding hurricane – basically a tonne of stuff that needs to be done NOW – and the worst is, it's all necessary! How come nobody warned me of this beforehand? There's so much to do after the event and you can't really escape any of it!

For those brides who haven't yet considered the post-wedding hurricane, here's an abridged version of the list of 'fun' tasks:

• Make the obligatory engaged-to-married status change on Facebook, before friends bombard you with wall posts;
• Source a cleaner for your wedding dress (can be pricey so you should shop around); 
• Dry clean your never-to-be-worn-again dress (an urgent job as stains may set in, if left)
• Arrange delivery and user-test zillions of gifts (note: immediate user-testing is essential due to the likelihood of the odd damaged item); 
• Write and post thank-you cards (takes forever, particularly if your cards are homemade);
• Send thank-you emails to suppliers; 
• Write testimonials for suppliers (only if they ask nicely);
• Inflict photo viewings on everyone that dares to knock on your front door post-wedding (including strangers);  
• Video viewings as above;
• And finally, don't forget the arduous administrative task of the 'name change', if that's your bag. (I'm still in a strange interchangeable-surname limbo.)

Believe it or not, it's taken a whole three months to do all this stuff, and there's been little time (except during our honeymoon) for much newly-wed yumminess! But I'm relieved to say the storm has nearly passed, and our lives are almost back to normal, with the added bonus of being Mr and Mrs. 

If the thought of the post-wedding hurricane fills you with dread, just do a little preparation to limber up before the wedding. If I'd done this I wouldn't have been so stunned by the unyielding post-wedding workload and I may have planned our honeymoon for later in the year rather than two days after we were married. 

This is all with hindsight of course and, in fact, there were many elements of the hurricane that I enjoyed being caught up in. So don't fret. You'll get through it. Just remember it's coming and pace yourself when it arrives!

Home-made Confetti Costs Nothing!

So I decided confetti was a bit like Marmite, and I was definitely in the 'love it' camp. But 'loving it' really only meant it had to be home-made using flowers from Mum's garden. Relieved that I'd made at least one wedding decision ahead of schedule, I kicked back and relaxed with a cuppa and yet another healthy cereal bar. I was confident; cocksure in fact that I'd resolved the question of confetti without causing myself further wedding brain ache.

But mid tea gulp, my now familiar pre-wedding panic resurfaced with a vengeance: It's been raining solidly for four months now; what if no flowers bloom? So much for home-grown confetti — CONFETTI! Who am I to think I know anything about making confetti? I've never even seen the stuff up close – only once, briefly, when I removed, discreetly, a stray scrap from my top lip at a wedding. OMG! What the hell does confetti look like, anyway? Is it even allowed at my venues? Does it need to be biodegradable? Who's even supposed to provide the stuff: me or the guests? What if every single guest brings shedloads of confetti to the church? Who's going to sweep it up? There's gonna be mountains of confetti EVERYWHERE!

I'd quickly convinced myself I knew very little about confetti's composition, production or the etiquette for its usage at weddings. I scoured my trusty wed-mags for answers, but none of them seemed that clued up on the issue. Eventually, I consulted Mum who, thankfully, was the calm voice of reason. She reassured me my plans were absolutely fine; confetti crisis averted!

Production did take some planning as we had to set aside plenty of time to dry the flowers. About six months before the wedding, Mum picked the blossoms of her lovely hydrangeas, along with a few other varieties of flower, and hung them to dry from the rafters of her loft. She chose flowers that matched loosely with my colour scheme i.e. vintage greens, burgundies and creams. (Note: blue hydrangeas can turn green, depending on the conditions.) Once the flower heads were fully dry, I picked off the individual petals, crushed them a little, et voilà:

So, if you'd prefer to avoid a mad dash to a department store to buy boxes of confetti, days before your wedding, how about having a go at making your own like I did? It was really easy in the end, and it didn't cost a penny!

And one final tip: it helps to keep the confetti in plastic bags during transportation, to avoid it being blown away. It may sound obvious but ours was nearly lost, several times, on the way to the ceremony.

Hello, Wedding World!

Getting married has caused me to make a number of observations including this one...

People tend to twitter on about your wedding plans during your engagement, and they rave about your big day when it finally arrives, but once that's done, that's pretty much it! They tend to forget about you.

Has anyone else noticed how no one seems to care how newly-weds are doing after they've tied the knot? I'd love to hear other people's views on this.

If it turns out to be a general phenomenon then I think it needs some attention, as the period immediately after you and hubby are wed is precisely when you need support, in my view. You're physically and mentally exhausted from the wedding but, also, euphoric at being married, and this should be celebrated. It's why we get married after all: for the married life bit, and, sometimes, it would be great to receive more metaphorical back pats for this achievement. Perhaps being hitched deserves more praise than getting hitched.

So, as you've probably guessed, I'm going to blog about my wedding journey, in as honest a fashion as I can, and I'll aim to leave out the boring bits.

I'll give you the lowdown on what life was like being my own wedding planner. (Doing a DIY wedding was fun but, boy, was it hard work!) I'll describe the highs and the lows of the crazy creative process that preceded me and Mr T's big day (emphasis on the word 'big').

I'll also give you a few tips on things to do or not do on your wedding day, and I'll share some of my own tried and tested ideas for creating a personalised wedding.

And then there's the all-important period after the big day: I'll let you in on the secret world of post-wedding chores, and talk about how life has changed now that hubby and I are married. By the way, a great book for newly-weds is the The Marriage Book, by Nick and Silla Lee. I highly recommend it for bedtime reading.