JOANNE JACOBS FOTO

Ohhhh good question! My bride and groom Molly & Wallace welcomed me into their African world. It was incredible to see and capture the unique traditions of their celebration. It was filled with so much energy and dancing. I had never experienced anything like it.

Real, timeless, artistic, creative and natural.

I feel so proud that I have turned my dream of capturing love stories into a full-time reality. Most of my couples find me through recommendation and this makes my heart glow. The guests on a wedding day always say they can tell how much I love my work by the constant smile on my face.

My top tip would be to maximise your mingling time. By this I mean the time that you have between getting married and sitting down for your wedding meal. This is your mingling time. Use this time to hug, kiss, connect, congratulate and just immerse yourself. I would suggest a minimum of 1.5 to 2 hours for this. If you want some group portraits do this just before you sit for dinner and your couple portraits can be after dinner when the light is more golden and you are happy to have some alone time with me to capture your magic.

Wedding guests were sent out table cards in advance of the wedding day and they had to draw/paint/design a self portrait that was used as their place card at the table. This was super unique!

I usually meet you in the morning and once I am ready to begin I click my fingers and from that point forward I am invisible. It is what allows me to capture your story as it unravels.

That really depends on the couple. I always love to give my couples a scenario. Imagine you are 10 years on from your wedding day, sat on your sofa together holding a box filled with my amazing photos. There is one problem. I am going to take the box away from you and you can only keep one photo each. I get them to think about who is in this photo, what is happening and which moment is it capturing. This helps me to understand what is most important to each individual.

To be absolutely honest the best photos are the ones you didnt even dream of. We have an idea of the images that will be captured, but it is the in-between moments that very often take your breath away. The ones you had no idea that were being captured.

I always have an indoor and an outdoor weather plan. Sometimes the most creative images can come from the most challenging weather situations. Water drops on the lens create a beautiful arty lens blur. Puddles and pools of water give you reflections. Rainy days also may mean you are gifted a rainbow. The best thing to do is prepare! Wellies and an umbrella. Dance in the rain.

I was always creative, I just never really knew what I was good at. So, I went back to college as a mature student and studied art & design foundation and also photography at night school. I started working as a nightclub photographer in Manchester. Hence why I love the party part of weddings and create cool dance floor lit images. I then started to work as a wedding photo assistant and fell in love with the day. I contacted the Princes Trust and was given a business mentor and a grant to get me started. I always wanted a job that I love. I made my dream come true. I love that my mind and my perspective are gifted the opportunity to capture and communicate a couples love story.