Emma Bettes Photography

It was in August, this couple didn't have a huge budget so they got married in a forest. The guests were on hay bales and brought their own picnics for the wedding breakfast. It was a very small, intimate affair with fairy lights all over the place and colourful petals on the floor to mark the aisle. It was super cute!

Simple, timeless, candid, documentary, pretty

That I had the courage to do it in the first place and that I'm capturing other people's memories for them.

Keep your lists digital. When I was planning my own wedding, I had lists of everything all written down on pieces of paper which I then found I easily lost. It would have saved me a lot of time and stress if I had kept it all digital.

The couple typically emails me with roughly what they are looking for, I confirm a quote and if they are happy to book I then send them the Ts & Cs along with a booking form. I ask couples to also put down a non-refundable deposit to secure their date and this is taken off the final amount due. We then aim to get together a month or so before the wedding when they will have a clearer idea of the details of their day. I'll take heaps of notes. Then it's the wedding day itself (HURRAH!). After the wedding day, I'll send the couple a few 'Sneak Peaks' within a couple of days and these will also typically go on social media (unless they've told me they don't want their pictures on social media). It will then take another few weeks for me to finish editing the remaining photographs and get them sent to the couple. Once they are edited, they will have an online gallery they can access and send to their families and friends while they wait for their USB to be delivered. VOILA! :)

One with all of your guests. I know group photographs can take up time from the day and get a bit tedious (it's best not to have to many) but having this one photograph where you can see all of your nearest and dearest will become really important over the years as people grow older.

Get a really pretty umbrella for the couple shots or make sure there is an attractive inside room - I once got stuck taking photographs in a bride and grooms bedroom because the rain was so bad outside, there wasn't a decent umbrella and the paths were so muddy. The photos are still beautiful but it did limit the amount we could take.