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!

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!