Why I did Start-up Weekend and why you should too.

I was a little hesitant at first, but I've heard about it for a few years and I was always curious. I thought at best, I might make something cool, make a few new friends and meet inspiring people.

What I got out of it was far more valuable than that.

I was reminded of how much you truly can get done in a short space of time, if you have the motivation. However much time you allow yourself to do something, is usually how long it will take. It truly reminded me how valuable and precious each second really is. 

I didn't just make something cool, I contributed to something truly valuable. I'm not slightly bothered if we never make a dime off it. I contributed to something that made me feel warm from the very depths of my soul, and you can't put a price on that.

I made some very cool contacts and had the privilege of spending my weekend with awesome people. Everyone has their own story, and it's always awesome to hear a new one.

As for meeting inspiring people, I absolutely, without a doubt did.

I am so incredibly proud of how my team did, the work that was put into it, and I'm super proud of the design work I did for our app and our presentation. Our presenters did an incredible job. I couldn't be prouder to be a part of my team.

Whilst our team didn't win the weekend, we did win peoples choice, and we had so much good feedback on our product, presentation and design. So that's a win in my book. Below is the logo for our app.

If you are thinking of participating in Startup Weekend next year, do it. If you are hesitant, do it. If you don't have a business idea, don't see yourself as an entrepreneur, it doesn't matter, still do it!

How to save money on your wedding - Stationery

Being a designer too (If you want to check out my stationery you can find it here), I have a fair bit of knowledge when it comes to wedding stationery. So today, I'm here to tell you how you can have beautiful stationery without compromising on quality, whilst saving money. 

Firstly, don't feel the need to have a RVSP card. I absolutely adore RSVP cards, but if you are on a budget, I do suggest they are the first things to go. That saves you not only on the physical card, but the extra postage for the stamped envelopes for your guests to send them back. 

Secondly, don't feel the need to have fancy envelopes - whilst matching printed envelopes, lined or metallic envelopes look beautiful and awesome - they often aren't kept (whilst heaps of people might keep a pretty invitation as a keepsake, I know I do!). 

Added to that, don't feel like it's necessary to upgrade to fancier papers. If you want to, by all means do it - linen, metallic or textured papers are awesome and absolutely stunning - but most invitations also look great on a good quality, thick white matte card. I design all my stationery to suit a white card - that way any paper upgrades are absolutely optional. 

Another tip for saving cash, consider getting something already designed from your chosen designer; these are sometimes called 'off the shelf' invites, or 'from the collection', 'pre-made', etc. This will save you custom made fees. 

Lastly, consider a digital invite! I provide digital versions of all my invitations, as well as custom made ones, which are more affordable than it's printed counterpart. This not only saves you on the actual invitation, but it saves you a bundle on postage. It's easy as to attach to an email for most of your guests, and because you have the invite, it's easy as to get a few printed for your elderly guests that maybe don't have access to a computer. 

I think that's enough text for today - next week, table stationery! 
 

How to save money on your wedding - Accessories

Hello and welcome to my 'how to save money on your wedding' series - today's tip - accessories!
I'm going to be talking all accessories - your accessories, (Jewellery, shoes, perfume), your bridesmaids, the groomsmen, and the Groom. 

Let's start with the shoes! My first tip, as previously talked about in other parts of this series, is to consider buying second hand. I see scores of white shoes on buy and sell pages, in op shops, and on TradeMe, and most are only lightly used. Once you have your feet in them, you cannot tell the difference. 

Guys often already have dress shoes for work or past social functions - but if not, wait for a good Hallensteins sale, or again, look for second hand. Unless he is likely to get great use out of them, don't feel the need to buy new. 

Next up, Jewellery! I wholeheartedly believe that the best jewellery has some significance to it. If you can, take the opportunity to wear something that has been in your family for generations. I promise you will treasure those images and that memory for years to come. For dressing your bridesmaids, ask them what jewellery they already have - you don't need to be one hundred percent matching - matching style is enough (Eg - all pendants, all chokers, etc).

Don't feel the need to buy brand new perfume. By all means, splurge if you want, but there is absolutely no need for a new bottle of perfume, especially if you already have a favourite at home! 

I'll leave it there for now - next week I'll chat about stationery - table stationery, invitations and save the dates! 
 

Finding the love in everyday - Week One

Week One in my March photo challenge has absolutely flown by! I'm loving the challenge of actively going out everyday and photographing something that I love, whether that be one of my pets, a hobby, or a building I find particularly cool. 

How to save money on your wedding - the dress!

Welcome to the second blog in my series of 'how to save money on your wedding - the right way'. 

Today's topic - the dress!

If you are looking for a blog that was going to tell you the best aliexpress buyers to use, or how to buy a dress off DHGate, I'm sorry but you have come to the wrong place. 

I believe in buying quality. Dresses on Asian emporium websites are cheap for a reason. They take the designers image, claim to be selling that dress, then replicate said dress with cheaper materials, and likely slave labour. 

Tip 1: Keep an eye out for sales and take advantage of them. In the last three months alone, two bridal stores I follow have had brilliant sales, as they have been clearing out their old stock to make way for new collections. Many a bargains were scored in these sales by budget savvy brides, next time, make that you! Locate the bridal stores in your area, follow them on facebook, wait for the right time of year and grab yourself a bargain - if you want one! 
 

Tip 2: Browse TradeMe - TradeMe and Buy and Sell pages have a flood of good quality, amazing dresses after every wedding season. Keep an eye on these pages, and you never know what you may find. Get the most out of that dress and pass it on to another bride when you have had your turn too! 

Tip 3: Buy from a retail store. If you are looking for something a bit different than your average wedding dress, I would seriously recommend checking out some clothing retail stores - I've seen some seriously cool white dresses on ASOS and Modcloth - I've even purchased from Modcloth myself for a styled shoot! These dresses are often perfect for a budget friendly, low key wedding - see the image on the left for the dress in question. 

Weddings - Your Day, Your Way!

Today I am going to write from the heart, and I'm going to talk about doing weddings your way. One thing I can't stress enough to future couples is the importance of doing a wedding your own way. 

Too often people get caught up in the commercialisation of weddings, and worried about pleasing everyone. 

Well I say, don't.

A wedding is the celebration of YOUR love story. The only two people you need to please are yourselves. 

If someone is pushing you to have a church wedding, but your dream is an intimate ceremony in a forest, then do it. 

If someone is pushing you into traditions and formalities, but you are more 'jandals on a beach' kind of couple, then embrace it. A wedding day should be a direct representation of your inner most self. 

Don't want to wear a white dress? Don't wear one! 

If you are a bride, and your bestie is a guy, have him in your bridal party. The tradition of the 'identical' bridal party only started in ancient times to scare off and confuse potential kidnappers and evil spirits as they wouldn't be able to identify the bride and groom. 

If you want to elope, go for it! Have a party later on. 

What I want to say is that you shouldn't be scared to break tradition, you shouldn't be worried about others thoughts and feelings - this is your love story! 

Some of my favourite weddings have been 'non-traditional' - one bride got married at the top of a playground and made all her guests slide down the slide in celebration. She even arrived by (kids) train! 

As always, I can't leave you without an image. Here is a shot from a wedding that reperesented what it means to be family, a community, and to be full of love. 

Wedding Day tips - A Bride's Emergency Kit

You've made it, it's your wedding day, and the last thing you want is a disaster. But never fear, there are 1000s of resources out there to help you prepare, and now you have one more! 

I've put together a pinterest board for you to browse and it pretty much covers everything. I'll list some essentials below and attach an image with some examples. 

View my pinterest board for a bridal emergency kit here. 

A few essentials across every list were:
Face Wipes
Bobby Pins
Cotton Buds
Water
Pain Killers
Band-Aids
Clear Nail Polish (For stocking runs)
Sewing Kit  
Tissues

There are heaps of cool ways to package this up too. A cute little bag will usually do the trick. 
Bridesmaids and Maids of honour can win themselves huge brownie points by making an emergency kit for their brides. 

Some vendors I have personally worked with.

I thought today I would talk to you about some of my favourite vendors around Southland, and include some tips that can help you with your wedding planning, and I thought it would be a good idea to order the list to mimic a wedding timeline!

So in that regard, let's start with getting ready! I have had the pleasure of working with Allure Hair Design, who is run by the very talented Kimberly!

I've also had the pleasure of working with Steph from Steph Mac Make-up Artist on a number of projects. Steph oozes talent and that definitely shows with her work!

For florists, I have worked with Karen from Windsor Florist, who is located in Windsor here in Invercargill.

I've also been lucky enough to work with Joyce from Lilly Jackson's in Gore, who provided the florals for a Vow Renewal that was donated and put together by various Southland Vendors. 

I've photographed quite a few private venues (Parent's land, farms, etc), but I have shot at The Cabbage tree for a number of events here in Southland, and it is certainly a good choice. It provides a beautiful backdrop for your ceremony, spots for family photos, spots for your bride and groom portraits, and is just a stone's throw away from the beautiful Oreti Beach. They are a good choice for an all in one venue. 

I've also had the pleasure of shooting some stunning Central Otago Weddings. I shot at the stunning Orchard Garden's in Alexandra last season, and I can't begin to describe the beauty of that place - it's much better to show you. Again, a fantastic option for an all in one venue. 

I hope you found this list helpful and informative with some of the decisions you are making with your wedding planning. The more vendors I work with, the more my knowledge expands and the more helpful I can be to my future couples, so I am hoping to do at least one of these a season. 

A Queensberry Wedding Album

A Queensberry album is breathtakingly beautiful in a way that I've never seen replicated by anything else. Everything is an incredibly high quality, and they help take your beautiful wedding images to the next level. This album isn't just for you, it's a family heirloom. This treasure will last long enough to show your grandchildren, and your great-grandchildren. I think it's amazing that we live in a generation where we can show our grandkids all those details we spent hours picking. 

But firstly, let me allow you to fall in love with these beauties. It comes in a beautiful keepsake box, and comes wrapped in a velvet bag. First you have your choice of album covers. My favourite is white leather, it just screams luxury. Embossing is included and it's an amazing little touch. 

The cover sheet not only helps protect the images, it looks amazing. You'll feel like a superstar seeing your name in print. 

We work together to select the images in the album, and I will always give my advice where it is needed and wanted, but ulitimately, this album is about your love story, your family, and your legacy. 

It's about telling the story of your day for not only you to relive, but to show those that weren't there. It's looking back and seeing how beautiful your nana looked at your wedding long after she leaves you. 

Queensberry have a number of pre-selected lay-outs that we can use, and I'll work on the flow and lay-out of the album - but if you want some images to be swapped around on the page so your favourite is the feature - that's fine too.

If you want to see these amazing keepsakes in person, contact me and we can arrange that. But I can't promise that you won't want one for yourself. 

The album pages are all beautifully matted, to protect your images and promote longevity. You have a choice of papers, but my favourite are the art papers. 

Invest in your own history, because you deserve to be immortalised in the most beautiful way, and so does your love story.

Exist in photos, and make sure your family does too. 

Shooting for myself and how I keep passion alive.

One thing I cannot stress enough about the creative industry, is the importance of creating for yourself. No matter what part of the creative industry you are in, it's so important to make things for yourself for no other reason than wanting too. 

Don't get me wrong, I love client work. I love creating beautiful works of art I know will be treasured for a lifetime.

But what helps keep my passion alive is shooting for myself and creating art outside of my client work. It inspires me and keeps me going. 

Some of that work is my award work. 

The tree was an illustrative piece about my family tree/history, and earned me a 'Bronze' in the Student Assistant Category in the NZIPP IRIS awards in 2012.. 

The flowers on the right were simply me wanting to create something pretty and different with the brides details, and they earned a 'silver' in the Wedding Creative Category in the NZIPP Iris awards of 2015.

Sometimes I go looking for an image, and upon exploring I am lucky enough to come across some beautiful scenery. By lucky I of course mean travelling through the countryside and 7:00am on a Sunday. The below shot earned me a 'Silver' in the Student/Assistant Category in the NZIPP Iris awards in 2012. 

Other personal work includes when I want to try out a new lighting technique or perfect one I've been thinking about for months, or create some beautiful deep character portraits of friends. 

Lucky for me I had some very willing models and I was able to bring my vision to life.

Actually I was very lucky to go to UCOL.

I was taught right from day one the importance of creating for yourself.

I was shown that it was okay to have multiple interests.

It was okay to squeeze in beautiful landscapes, falling apart buildings and cute cats in with my everyday work. 

Which is really lucky, because sometimes my client work includes pets (Not an unusal request at a wedding)

Some days, my personal work involves me wanting to update the portraits of my pets, and portray just how nuts my cat is. 

Whether you are lucky enough to be able to live your dream everyday like me and be able to create beautiful things for clients, or you work a more regular job, creating things for yourself to keep your passion alive is truly important. Whether thats knitting a cool toy, baking an awesome cake, taking photographs, painting a canvas, or making an app for a game, its going to ignite a fire inside you that nobody can extinguish. 

You can't put a price on that. 

Wedding Tips - Planning.

I thought today I would put together a little guide of collected tips that I have learnt by not only planning my own wedding, but through working in the wedding industry. First, lets start with the guest list. 

Ah, the dreaded guest list.

Some invitees come easy and have no question. Lifelong besties, siblings, your favourite cousin. But do I need to invite all of my second cousins? What about my workmates partner? Mum's best friend? If you are having trouble with some of that maybe list, here are some tips that may help.

Have you spoken to that person in the last year? In person, on the phone, in skype? 

If you saw this person at a restaurant, and their card declined, would you pay for their dinner? 

Would you have dinner out with this person on a Saturday night? 

Will they make your wedding more fun? 

In ten years time, will you regret their absense? 

Okay, lets move on. Let's talk about Pintrest.

Yes, pintrest is fun. It's totally addictive. Let's not talk about how many pins I've made (It's over 2000). But much of it is unrealistic. Styled shoots in perfect conditions with 10k worth of vendor contributions that use models is not realistic or attainable. Yes, use them as reference, use it as a mood board, and use it to figure out your theme and style you are after. But don't pin your hopes on it (Excuse the pun).

When to book all your vendors. 

Ah, this is a big one. I see brides being caught up with their decorations before they even have a venue, and I see them worry about their hair before they have a dress. 

My biggest advice I can give you on this is to decide on your date and book your biggest vendors first. Once you have a date, think about the type of wedding you want to have. Do you want to get married in a beautiful historic church? Your favourite park or beach?

Once you have settled on this, decide on whether you want an all inclusive venue or whether you want a ceremony in the park and your reception in a restauraunt. 

Once you have a venue, book your photographer and celebrant/officiant. Book your videographer, catering if you need it, and any other vendor that requires a large booking time. One year out is not unusual for these vendors, maybe even two. 

Great, now you have a date and location. Pick a theme (hey pintrest) and send those save the dates! 

Yay, you have a theme! Time to go get your dream dress. I would suggest getting your dress at least six months in advance. 

You have your dress now, so you can probably figure out your shoes and jewellery. 

Go get those bridesmaids dresses! Now you have them, you can figure out their accessories. 

See how the big things trickle down into the little things? Once you have a venue, decorations become easier. Once you have theme, invitations, flowers, decor, dresses and suits all become clearer. Once you have clothes, accessories become clearer. Most importantly, take it one step at at time.

Take care of your guests

Are you getting married in the height of summer outdoors? Consider skipping favours and providing fans, water and sunglasses outside instead. Standing ceremony? Don't forget a seat for the older guests. Chance of rain? Consider umbrellas.

Feeding your Vendors

Generally, you want to feed the vendors that have a) worked all day and b) will be there for the meal. Ask your venue about vendor meals, some do a special plate at a discounted price. Always sit these vendors with your guests, that way they are still their to photograph or video unexpected events and can get straight back into it when they are done. Also, nobody wants a photo of them eating.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. 

I want to tell you this from the get-go. No question is too stupid to ask me. Ever. Don't ever be afraid to ask your vendor a question, even if it seems silly or it's just to settle your nerves. I've had questions and requests for images I would do without thinking, and it's all come from a place of worry or because someone has let them down in the past. Yes, there will be plenty of images with you and your mum. 

Don't feel the need to explain yourself

Nobody except you and your partner need to know why you are doing something the way you are doing. This is your wedding, your day, your way. You don't need to explain the reason your best friends child is invited but your workmates's four children aren't. You don't need to explain why you aren't wearing white or why you have no bridal party or why your reception is at a pub. 

Assign someone to grab important keepsakes. 

You spent hours picking your stationery suite, your decorations, your boquet, and you paid for them! Often you can't grab those yourself, so enlist a parent, bestie or bridal party member to gather up the table stationery, boquets and decorations you want to keep. 

Remember to take a bit of time for yourself, and some time with your partner. 

I'll let you in on a secret. I always allow a few minutes at the end of our bride + groom session for you to have a few minutes on your own, and it's often the only down time you will get together. Use it! 

Don't forget to thank your guests
Don't forget the all important thank-you cards. They don't have to be intricate or complicated. They can follow on from an already decided theme or they can feature your favourite wedding photo! 

Take some time off from planning

Sometimes this planning gig gets overwhelming. When that happens, take some time out, call your bestie and have some wine. Take a few days off. Your preperations will be there when you get back with a fresh and rested mind.

Beautiful Packaging for Beautiful Clients

Today I wanted to show you how I present wedding images to my clients. Everything is presented in a beautiful wooden box, with their USB nestled in wood wool. The beautiful boxes are sourced locally from Knitwood Botique! Check them out if you are in the market for some beautiful wooden crafts. 

They open their box to be greeted with presents and information. Every part of my presentation comes with instructions, such as Digital File preservation and how best to hang your images. 
There are wee gifts for the bridal party, your parents, and a gift and treats for you!

Everything is all packaged together nicely and the instructions sit with their appropriate package. I take care of all my clients from their first contact, right through to the delivery of the finished product. If I am lucky, I get to continue taking care of them when they come back for their maternity, child and family portraits. 

Each and every client is a gift, so it's important to me that they know this, and that they feel it. 

Do you want something like this after your wedding? Drop me a line today here

How I started and why I love what I do.

I've been reflecting on my journey recently, and how it came to be that I get to work from home and do exactly what I love. I want to take you back to where this photographic journey all began. 

My older brother was always interested in photography, and bought himself and SLR camera. This was in 1994 so yes, it was film. For all your purists out there, you might be glad to know that I got my start when film was very much a thing! 

He took this amazing close up shot of my kitten chewing on a branch. That photo is one of my most treasured possessions to this day. I was fascinated that the camera could see something that we couldn't see for ourselves. 

I was only five at the time, so understanably, my older brother did not want me touching his brand new expensive camera. 

Fast forward to 2002, when I was thirteen and my thirst for photography renewed. I was finally old enough to touch the prized possession. I knew nothing about depth of field, shutter speed, light metering, etc. But I had two new subjects that seemed pretty willing to be moved from chair to chair while I captured them. So, for your viewing pleasure, one of the first images that I ever took.

I know, it's a masterpiece! 

When I started Year 12 (Sixth Form), we got to take Photography as part of art. I was so excited. They started to train us to use our cameras. I learnt about the basic technical aspects, developing my own film and developing my own images.  We also learn some cool techniques - such as creating a negative print! I absolutely adore the darkroom, and I really hope my journey takes me back there some day.

Due to a number of reasons, I didn't take it beyond that in school. I still really enjoyed it, but I stuck to doing it in my down time. For my 18th birthday, my mum bought me my own digital camera. I was over the moon. Although it was just a compact, that didn't stop me taking 100s of photographs when I went to Australia. The rule of thirds allows you to take some pretty lovely landscapes, and Australia had plenty to offer! Sometimes, you have to break rules too. 

The above image was one of the images I submitted for my portfolio for entry into UCOL. It's nothing to write home about by any means, but it's in image that brought me pride at one point in my life.  I went to Massey University in 2008, and it wasn't until late 2009 that I happened to be in UCOL and discovered a pamphlet for the Bachelor or Applied Visual Imaging. I fell in love. I wanted to get back into Graphic Design and Photography. Graphic Design was originally what I wanted to do, but I ended up in an English Degree instead. So I decided to dip my toe in the water, and take their photography paper whilst I finished my first degree. 

I was hooked. 

I enrolled full time the following year, and dove head first. Originally my plan was to focus on design and study photography as a minor, but the more I learnt, the more I fell in love with what I could do with my camera. It wasn't until I took this image that I discovered that I really enjoyed making people look and feel good. This was the first image that ever bought me pride as a photographer, rather than just someone with a camera. After that, I was absolutely clear with the direction I wanted to take. I entered my first NZIPP Iris awards, and walked away with a High Pro standard. Someone told me my work was good enough.

Fast forward a few years, and now I'm here. 
Looking back, I wouldn't change a thing. 

Wedding Traditions - From weird, to wonderful!

A couple of years ago, we were required to research Wedding Traditions for our first ever wedding assignment at Polytech. Recently, I found the little book that I made, and had a good read about why we have certain traditions in Weddings today, even if the symblosym behind them is a thing of the past. I often see brides asking about why we do the things we do at modern weddings. So I thought I would share with you where our modern wedding traditions came from. 

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue.

This tradition started in England. Something old symbolised continuity; often a piece of lace, a grandmothers scarf, or and old piece of jewellery. Something new symbolised hope for the future, and could be anything from a new piece of clothing, to the wedding band itself. Something borrowed symbolised future happiness, and was often provided by a married friend of the bride. Something blue dates back to ancient times when blue was the colour of purity, and often both bride and groom wore a blue band around the bottom of their wedding attire. 

The White Dress

Prior to the 16th Century, white gowns were uncommon. Many brides simply wore their best dress. It wasn't until 1499 that a white dress began to symbolise virginity and purity, and became part of the European Wedding Culture. Prior to that , blue was the colour that symbolised purity. In 1840, Queen Victoria wore white to marry Prince Albert, and cemented the trend of the white dress that we still see today. 

The Veil

It is unclear where the tradition of the veil orginated from, but there are several theories. One is that it is a relic of the days when the groom would capture a woman of his choosing, throw a blanket over her head, and cart her off. Another is that during the days of arranged marriages, the brides face was covered until the groom was committed to her at marriage, so it would be too late to run off it he didn't like the look of her. One final theory is that the veil was worn to protect the bride from evil spirits that may be floating around her on her wedding day. In modern times, it has come to stand as the ultimate symbol of purity, and often the brides father will lift the veil once she reaches the altar. 

The Ring Finger

A bride's rings are traditionally worn on the third finger of her left hand. There are two main theories surrounding this, although no precise evidence is known. The first, dating back to the 17th century, is that during a Christian Wedding the priest arrived at the fourth finger (counting the thumb), after touching the three fingers on the left hand, in the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit. The second is that the ring finger contains the 'vena amoris' (Also known by it's colloquial term, "The love vein"), that runs directly to the heart. 

Cake Cutting

The joint cake cutting symbolises the couples unity in life, their shared future, and their new life together as one. 
 

Bride to the Left

During the Ceremony, the Bride stands to the left, and the Groom to the right. This originates from the days when a Groom would capture his Bride by kidnapping her. If the Groom had to fight off other suitors, he would hold his Bride to be with his left hand, allowing his right hand free to use his sword. 

Bridesmaids and Groomsmen

Bridesmaids and Groomsmen originate from Roman law that demanded ten witnesses be present at a wedding, in order to dupe evil spirits who were believed to attend marriages with the view of causing mischief and disharmony. The Bridesmaids and Groomsmen all dressed in identical clothing to the Bride and Groom, so that the evil spirits wouldn't know who was getting married. 

Horseshoes

In ancient times, a Bride was given a real horseshoe, and she was to carry it around on her wrist. It symbolised good luck, but only if the horseshoe was worn upwards, otherwise the luck would tip out. 

The Honeymoon

Following the abduction (the wedding), the Groom would put himself and his new bride into hiding, hence the honeymoon, so by the time the Brides family found them, she would already be pregnant. 

The bouquet

This tradition has a variety of origins, with two main themes remaining heavy. Some suggest that originally, a bouquet was carried to ward off evil spirits, and was primarily made up of garlic and herbs. A second theory is that brides continued the bouquet tradition to mask body odour. In ancient times, bathing was infrequent, so brides had to do something to help mask the smell, hence the bouquet. Today the bouquet has evolved into something that can express everlasting love and luck, can symbolise your culture or cultural heritiage, or simply a stunning way to express personal preference. 

And that's it! Are there any traditions I have left out? Leave me a comment if you know of any weird or wonderful traditions that I have missed, and where it originates from. 

Information sourced from

• www.celebrationstudio.co.nz
• www.weddingsguide.co.nz
• www.aomdj.com
• www.cameraphotographyevergreen.com

A reflection on the season past

As the 2015/2016 wedding season approaches, I felt it was a good time to look back on some of my favourite shots from last season. Weddings are a beautiful, romantic and celebratory occasion, so any excuse to look at past wedding images is a good one! 

Firstly, I want to talk about the morning. So many special moments happen in the morning that we take for granted, or that we don't think we will want captured. But when you get your images back and you look at them, you'll remember that you and your mum got a calm moment for a coffee together throughout the chaos of the day, and you won't believe the smile on her face. You might have forgotten how stressed you were over your false eyelashes, and it will be a great story for your husband. The day goes so fast that you don't often get a moment to breathe and soak in the beauty of the day. It's also an amazing way for you and your future spouse to share your 'morning of' stories. 

All moments of the ceremony are beautiful. From the anticipation of the groom waiting at the top of the aisle, to the moment that you and your future spouse walk back down the aisle together as husband and wife, to the embracing of two families merging as one. 

The beautiful first images of you and your future spouse are one fantastic and important part of the day. These are some of the first hugs, kisses and moments you have together as husband as wife. You still have that beautiful 'I just got married' glow. It's also a great part of the day for the both of you to relax and just be husband and wife. 

Finally, the reception. The moment that your friends and family get to congratulate you, and reflect on your journey, both as individuals and a couple. A time of celebration and happiness. You might not remember everyone's entire speech, but the emotion will come flooding back to you when you look at your images.