Amelia James Photography

Wow! Straight in with a hard one! Every wedding is so special and they always make me breath slowly to ensure I don't shed a tear. I think it would be so hard for one wedding to stand out above all others but there are special moments in every wedding I've shot and I have to say one of them which is consistent is the connection between the couple. Taking that time to capture your portraits gives time to share your experiences of the day and capture your emotions and relationship, is always iconic for me.

Real Friendly Honest Light Fun

I think it would have to be the friends I've made doing this job. I still now meet for lunches and drinks with some of my brides and I photograph their babies and growing children. Watching other people families grow and change is such an honour and a privilege.

Oooo - I have two! Get the big things done in good time - venues, priest/minister/registrar and photographer. By 'in good time', I mean a good 12 months before the date you'd like to get married. My second top tip would be this: weddings, as exciting and joyous as they are, often come with lots of opinions from loved ones and these can be hard to resist, especially if these loved ones are contributing financially. From colour schemes to favours to inviting Uncle Fred's cousin twice removed who came to a family party when you were eight. You need to know what kind of atmosphere you want from your big day and be clear about how you're going to achieve that. As long as you are kind and considerate in your responses to suggestions, you won't go far wrong. You don't have to agree to anything you don't want to but you should probably make sure you are as kind in your response as possible. If you feel that frustration bubbling, be as non-committal as you can about the suggestion and address when you've had time to think.

I've been forunate in a way to not have shot a wedding were a parent has been lost. Unfortunately both my sister and I married sometime after our Dad passed. we both gave nods to dad, some would have noticed them some wouldn't. My sister, deigned her gorgeous wedding dress and with it she couples a broach which had been our dad's mum's. That one little thing was so special to us. I was a bit less descrete. Stargazer lillies were my dad's favourite flower and we had them at his funeral. They were in all my florestry and informed part of my colour scheme. I also had two candles - one with my dad's initial on and with his brother's. I Kept the locket we bought after dad died with a lock of his hair in (I know it freaks some people out) in a little secrecy pocket next to my heart inside my dress. My bouquet and my sister's went to dad's grave after we were married.

We chat as soon as possible after your enquiry! we meet and go through previous weddings photographs and albums and I will answer any questions you have. After that, I send a contract and invoice for the deposit to you which you return me asap to secure your date. Once done, we have as much or as little contact as you feel we need. I will always contact you every so often to see how your planning is going and if I can help with anything - I can often recommend services to you if you are struggling to find a vendor. We will meet two weeks before your big day at your venue and do a walkthrough of your favourite places and mine to find locations for your portraits. You'll be able to tell me all about your plans and the details of you day. We will go through your timeline for the day to make sure you have allowed enough time to get those gorgeous couple shots as well as the all important photo-journalistic memories. We will let you know before we slip away from the celebrations and we'll leave you in peace for a while to enjoy your honeymoon. When your images are ready, we will be in touch and set up a gallery preview which is usually around 4-6 weeks after your wedding day. At our preview, I will share your images with you and, if you are ordering an album, it's a great time to shortlist the images you would like to include. This is a great, convenient way to have an absolutely stunning wedding album designed and delivered directly to you. Also, you can have mini versions made for your parents as gifts! How fab is that? When you leave our preview you will do so with your personalized USB with your wedding day images in high resolution, web resolution and with a print release form.

Oh well, this one is much easier. It's not one photograph. No, no. It's a feeling. It might be your new husbands hand on the small of your back. It might be your expression when you see you almost husband / wife at the othr end of the aisle. It might be that quiet conversation with a sibling which simply shows your ease and love for each other. It might be the hug you give your dad before he starts walking you down the aisle to you future husband - the man who your dad trusts above all others to look after you, prioritise you and love you the way he has and more. It may be the subtle tear on you mum's cheek when she sees you in your ensemble for the first time, knowing that her little girl will always be her little girl but my, what a stunning women she has turned in to too. There is no one photograph. There many, many photographs that reflect the emotions and love and feelings of the day and your lifetime.

My couples are great! They trust me and after our pre-wedding meeting we have a clear idea of where we want to shoot and how we might do it. Having said that, the best layed plans....I think one of the most unique, yet totally appropriate, photographs I was asked to take was of a brides brothers and father next to their classic car. posed in a 1970's bad cop way. I added two edits to their gallery one in keeping with my usual style and another that reflected the '70s era. They loved it"!

I always have umbrellas, as do most venues, so we can still get shots outside we just get more creative! Having said that, I also have ideas for shooting inside at any venue. It's just part of the planning and what we discuss in our pre-wedding walk through. All bases are covered.

Ever since I was a child, I have loved looking at photographs. I would spend hours sitting on my parents' bedroom floor, looking through their old albums, analysing the people in the images, asking endless questions about my relatives. Those snippets of time, a millisecond of a person's essence, connected me to family I would never meet or missed dearly. My love for capturing those moments grew and evolved over the years since my lovely Dad passed away and when I began my search for my own wedding photographer. I really wanted someone who would capture the importance of the little things. A glance, a touch a hidden grin. I wanted someone who would capture the moments I would cherish. It was a post wedding stroke of fate that led to my first DSLR. I'd left my compact with my sister after our wedding so she could upload the images. Of course, I forgot that I might need a camera on my honeymoon and so we had to buy one at the airport. It was nothing fancy at all. However, I did take one of my favourite photographs ever with that camera (it's about the user and the light, not the just the gear!) The Hawaiian sunset is truly breathtaking! I quickly went from my entry level DSLR to several, in my Dad's words, "serious bits of kit." and my love for photography has evolved from there. It's evolved now so I get the great pleasure of using two of my great passions in my business - photography and printing. When I think of myself as a child looking at albums and pictures hanging on the walls, it drives my passion to provide you with with beautiful images and stunning ways of presenting those images so you can have those conversations with your children and grandchildren in the future.