Photo Booth

My Favourite Subject: Our Photo Booth!

I am so excited about our photo booth! I think it’s going to be so much fun for our wedding! I hope that everyone uses it and we get some really fun photos!

To help everyone have fun we have started collecting some fun photo props!

I bought them from Etsy.com, and they arrived in about three weeks. I think they look really good but I was a little bit disappointed that they’re only made from card. I was expecting they would be made from balsa wood although there was nothing on the site to say that they were.

The props do seem quite fragile and I do wonder how they will survive the night!

Gorgeous Wedding Photos

Photos to Remember

As a lasting picture memory of your wedding, wedding photos are essential. My tips will help you to get your wedding photos right first time.

Don’ts

Don’t forget the details. Wedding favours, flowers, table crystals and confetti, boutonnieres, even your shoes! You’ve spent all this money and time to create a beautiful wedding, remember to get some photos of them!

Soul Bird Photo

I Met Some Photographers

I recently went to my friend’s gorgeous wedding and the photographers for the day were fantastic!

They were really professional, really discrete and friendly. I was chatting to one of the photographers, Asia Werbel, talking about lens envy.

The company is called Soul Bird Photo.

As well as photographing the wedding and reception, the photographers were also running the photo booth. It was a very popular feature of the wedding, visited by every guest.

I definitely recommend Soul Bird Photo, they were fantastic for my friends wedding. All the key shots were captured and the photographers stayed until the end of the night.

If you look on their website, you will see tonnes of beautiful photos of different weddings. I love the different angles and the captured details which they photograph professionally.

Soul Bird Photo are definitely worth checking out!

The Most Important List of Your Wedding

Your Wedding Photos

In a You and Your Wedding photo special, they kindly listed a lot of the photos you will need for your wedding.

The day will fly by, and the last thing you want on your special day is to be fussing about photos. Compiling a list will make things easier for you and your photographer. The list in You and Your Wedding is invaluable! Copy this list into word and print it out asap!

At Home

• Your dress on the hanger
• You getting ready
• You in your dress
• Your shoes

Tackling Your Budget

The Right Budget for Your Photographer

Setting Your Budget

The main factor in setting your budget for your photographer is the importance you place on your wedding photography.
If you only want something simple for your wedding, have a simple budget.
If you are like me and want a long coverage at two locations then your budget will need to be slightly larger. A photographer’s work begins before your wedding day and continues long after, so try not to look at the price as a day rate but rather an investment in beautiful photos that will last a life time.

Photographers

Choosing Your Photographer

Regular blog visitors will know how important my wedding photography is to me. H2b and I are amateur photographers and we try to capture our friends’ weddings as much as we can to help add to the professional photographers photos.

When we chose our wedding photographer we thought very long and hard about what we wanted.

Where to Start

With brides having such high expectations for their wedding photos, the best place to look for a photographer is in the blogs and on their websites. Try to picture your wedding in their photographs, and if you can see it then you know this is the photographer to go with.

Look for passion and style in their photographs. Some wedding photographers take photos for a job, others have a passion for their photos and challenge themselves to take better photos each time. Spend time talking to the photographer to find out about their passion.

Make sure that you like the photographer. You’re going to have to trust them to take photos of your wedding.

When to Book

Book early! Once you’ve booked your venue and your ceremony, book the photographer! Good photographers can be booked up 18 months in advance! If you really have your heart set on a good photographer, book them as early as you can!

Visit the Venue

Most photographers will visit your venue if it’s somewhere they haven’t been before. An engagement shoot is a great way to not only get to know the bride and groom but it will also give the photographer the chance to look around your venue.

An engagement shoot is also a fantastic opportunity for the bride and groom to have a nice day being photographed. It’s not often that we get to be the centre of attention, and it’ll be good preparation for the Big Day.

Rain Rain Go Away

The Rain Doesn’t Have to Ruin Your Day

Most brides wish for sunshine on their special day and a forecast of rain can dampen a bride’s spirits. But it shouldn’t worry you!

Rule #1

Have a backup plan and love it! Of course, photos taken outside are the best, with all the scenery, but a good photographer will be able to take fantastic pictures inside your venue.

If you love your backup plan you’re be more likely to stay cheerful during the downpour. It’s important to stay positive and your guests will pick up on your happy vibe!

Rule #2

It very rarely rains for the entire day and you will be able to catch up with outside shots later on. If you find you’re faced with rain, be patient and it’ll soon dry up again.

Rule #3

Make your wishes known. Have a good relationship with your venue coordinator and your photographer, these are the people who will be organising your day and keeping their eye on the weather. Make sure they know what you want with regards to the weather.

Rule #4

If you have your heart set on an outside wedding but the rain dampens events, bring the outdoors inside. Incorporate ferns and small potted topiary to give your inside venue an outdoorsy feel. Use evergreen foliage in your table centres to bring that evergreen smell into your venue. Use pine cones for place settings.

Rule #5

Banish the bridezilla. Accept that in the rain, there are certain things that can’t be done, such as lawn games and fire lanterns. Other entertainment can be moved inside, be prepared to talk to your venue early about accommodating outside activities inside. 

Rule #6

A good photographer will have already scouted out good inside shots but be prepared to spot some elegant backdrops for photographs. You could even splurge on a post-wedding photo shoot later when the weather is better.

Rule #7

Invest in umbrellas! A prepared bride is a stunning bride! Your expensive dress, hair and makeup need to be preserved and the best umbrellas for saving your look are the giant golf umbrellas. White ones match your dress, or you could get some that match your wedding colour scheme.

Rule #8

Wedding insurance! In the worst case scenario, such as a snow storm or a flood, insurance can help with alternate travel costs or rescheduling costs. I’ve blogged before about wedding insurance, and there are a lot of different policies available. I would definitely recommend using an insurer that is well known and respected to ensure you have the most comprehensive cover.

Rule #9

Put it into perspective. You are marrying the man you love. The weather and the little problems don’t really matter because you are being joined either legally or in holy matrimony to the man you love, and that’s all that matters. (I have to keep telling myself that because I am praying for good weather!) The rain shouldn’t ruin your happiness and everyone will be showering you with all their best wishes, you probably won’t even notice!

Benefits of the Rain

• Clouds make wedding pictures look much more dramatic!
  I have even seen photographers Photoshopping clouds into photos! A clear blue sky isn’t as good a picture as one with sunshine breaking through the clouds, or one with fair weather clouds hovering in the background.
• Snow looks romantic in photos. It might be freezing and causing all sorts of problems, but it will make your wedding photos look really special.
• Umbrellas are quirky and fun in photos, wellies and rain dripped windows make photos look unique and interesting!

I’m a bride, and I’m hoping for sunshine, however it’s clear that even with the rain (lets face it, we live in the UK) a wedding can be special and spectacular!