Pinterest Weddings: How to make your day picture perfect!

Collecting up some anecdotes and testimonials from old couples this landed in my inbox from Alyson, whose wedding I photographed in April... and I felt it needed a blog post all of its own. 

This.

A million times this!

"When we started planning our wedding, I spent a lot of time on Pinterest. It was a great resource for ideas, most of which we didn't use wholesale, but which served as inspiration and helped to get a feel for what we wanted the day to be like. I pinned A LOT of ideas for photos...you know the ones. The blurry bride and groom kissing in the foreground and the wedding party gasping behind them. The giant bride's foot hovering over cowering groomsmen. The bride surrounded by a circle of bridesmaids with iPhones, instagramming the heck out of the dress. I thought these were fun poses we could do on the day to bring a bit of frivolity to the photos.
And then the day came. We didn't do any of them. We were way too busy getting married and having THE BEST time. And you know what? I didn't miss them at all. We got our photos back, and - like the wonderful impish pixie you are - you'd captured some far more frivolous and hilarious moments. Like a groomsman vogueing. My bridesmaids "doing" Bridesmaids, unprompted. Me running up a muddy hill with my dress hitched up. My mum making people double over with laughter. My father in law raising his eyebrows as if to say "they've really gone and done it now..."
These are some of our favourite photos. In the end, I'm glad we didn't have a "Pinterest wedding". It wasn't perfect and it wasn't a cookie-cutter copy of anyone else's. It was ours, and we loved it. And you captured the whole thing and reflected our personalities (and those of all our friends and family) so perfectly. Far better than any number of clichéd shots could have done." 

Alyson has put it so perfectly. I think about this a lot, the more I see of Pinterest. Pinterest is great for inspiration... but don't let it rule your day. You could spend so much time trying to recreate "must-have" photos that you miss out on making your own moments which might just be so much better.

London Wedding | Ani & Chris

Since the sun has shown its face over the last couple of days I've been getting all excited about it not being winter any more so I thought the next wedding for me to blog should be this one. It was so full of sunshine, and looking back over the photos and film makes me realise how much I've missed that summer light, even if it can be a total nightmare dealing with harsh highlights and mega shadows… I just want summer now, ok?  

Ani and Chris (all round good eggs and generally beautiful people) were married at Islington Town Hall, which always manages to be a pleasure to shoot at despite being such a busy venue… when you arrive it's always a bit overwhelming as you try and figure out which guests are actually with the wedding you're shooting and trying not to accidentally photobomb another wedding. But yeah, I have a soft spot for the beautiful ceremony room, and Ani and Chris' ceremony was pretty darn lovely. From there we all took a stroll round to The Canonbury for the reception. 

Everything with these guys felt very laid back - I was in my element. There was no formal sit down dinner and they spent most of their time just mingling in the dappled shade of the garden with friends and family, which meant I was able to just get plenty of guest shots. I stole them away for a bit for some portraits in the leafy (seriously guys, I miss summer and leaves and things… can all the green be back now??) streets of London. And can we talk about that cake??? Jeezy Chreezy… a total work of art. Yeah, this was a rad wedding and these guys are awesome.

There's No Place Like Home - Derby Wedding Photographer

It's no secret that I love to see new places. There's only a handful of venues I've worked at more than once… I'm lucky enough to have shot destination weddings in Dublin, Cork, Cologne, Azerbaijan… with weddings in Tuscany and Denmark coming up soon. Long may it continue. But so far… in Derby, the city I live in… I've shot less than half a dozen. I've shot the UK from coves in Cornwall to clifftops in Scotland… and as much as I love a good cooked breakfast, it'd be nice to go back to my own bed after a wedding from time to time, rather than a little room with a tiny kettle (now I'm giggling because of that episode of The Thick of It with the tiny kettle). Our own wedding ceremony was at Derby registry office and it's where I shot my first ever wedding so it's a special place for me. So, if you're getting married in or around Derby I want to shoot your wedding. For a limited time I have a special price for local couples… get in touch to find out more.