What is your most memorable wedding?
A wedding at Peckforton Castle where the groom arrived by helicopter, they had caricaturists, magicians, fireworks, everything imaginable! It was a beautiful wedding but the best thing of all was that they were a lovely and caring couple, who included such personal touches to their day, including their daughter singing opera.
Describe your style in 5 adjectives.
Relaxed, personable, thoughtful, unobtrusive, focused
What about your business are you most proud of?
That my previous couples still keep in contact years on to share special events, such as having children. I feel proud that they still think of me and were happy enough to come back and ask for photos of their next step in their married lives. I also smile ear to ear when I see their Facebook profiles are their wedding photos that I took.
What is your No. 1 wedding planning tip for couples?
Talk to your suppliers, get to know them before you book them. It is very important that you actually get on with people that will be around on the day. Most importantly, go with your gut instinct on people, it is usually right.
What is your favourite personal touch you have seen at a wedding?
The most personal touches to me always involve families and how couples make the effort to include those that are important to them - be it the couple changing venue so that their grandma would have access after a fall, and helping support her out of her wheelchair so she could dance with her son, the father of the bride (gosh that brought a tear to the eye of everyone including me!), to a groom arranging for his wife's class to come and sing at the chapel as a surprise. It is the small and special things people do to make others happy.
Describe your typical process with a couple.
At the initial meeting I like to get a sense of what you like from other photographs or weddings you have seen, but most importantly I like to make sure we are compatible. From booking I am happy to meet up as many times as you like, and if we can, I like to meet at the venue so we can discuss the running of the day and where the best places to take shots are.
After the wedding day, I process your photos and within 2 weeks they go on to a password protected website where you can chose which photographs you would like in an album, if you have chosen to have one. As there are so many different album options I like to meet up to decide on these before ordering the album on your final sign off.
What is the No. 1 photo that you think every couple should take?
A group photo! Just make sure you get one of EVERYONE and this is easiest in one shot. Some guests may have travelled a fair distance, so they appreciate being included in at least one formal shot. After that, get the core formal ones of immediate family. Any decent photographer will make sure you get these shots and the rest will happen throughout the day.
What is the most original photo you’ve been asked to take at a wedding?
Probably I was taken aside and asked to get photographs of the bride's brother who would be doing a surprise 'golden thong dance'! It had never happened before or since, and was certainly interesting. Results can be found on my Facebook page ;)
What do you recommend for a rainy day wedding?
On my wedding day it poured and unfortunately it meant that my photographer felt stuck inside and only did formal photographs, which we did not want at all really. Make sure you stay strong and get your photographer to think of different options to get some interesting photos and not be stuck inside. Umbrellas work well and can create some great and interesting shots.
Describe how you got into photography.
Since an early age I have loved taking and processing photographs - back in the day when you used film! I used to develop my own film and then photographs. I then moved on to digital and did my degree in digital image manipulation.
When I was planning my own wedding back in 2004, I fell in love with the shots I was seeing, it felt like a dream job where I got to take and process images of one of the most important and happy days in a couple's marriage. I have not looked back since!