Tuesday 27 September 2011

Our perfect wedding town!


We recently took part in a Frodsham wedding supplier collaboration as there are quiet a few of us based on the high street in this small town and decided that we would all try and help and support one another. We are all putting ourselves out there during a bloody awful recession and instead of all bricking it quietly by ourselves sat away in our little shops we decided to come together.
We all complement one another services pretty well, there is us 'Felicitations' by Mark Reeves Photography, Rachael at 'Wedding Belles Boutique' with a lovely dress shop, the 'Devonshire Bakery'  with outstanding cakes, 'Manuela's' florist, 'The Old Hall Hotel' perfect venue for an intimate wedding, 'Les Harris' jewelers, Vintage crockery, Vicky with Wedding make-up and many more.
Having all this in one town does make it the perfect town to visit when planning a wedding in Cheshire. With this said we held a wedding fayre at 'the old Hall Hotel' with a great turn out form the high street and local suppliers.
We had a good turn out and to be honest one of the more satisfying aspects was meeting so many other like minded businesses and people all in the same boat.  All ready to help each other out and recommend each business.
I often get the feeling that working in the wedding industry people are afraid to turn to each other for help, frightened that we are all touting for the same business. We are not always going to book every wedding that comes our way and we are not always going to be to everyone's taste, but that is what is so great about this business is that there is plenty of choice and we all need to support one another who are along for the ride. There will always be those in business who think that it is ok to bad mouth another company to get the work themselves but i think that will only come back and bite you in the bum! And for everyone putting you down there can be three people in your corner fighting for you. It only tends to be people who are jealous of your work and are less sure of themselves!
xxx

Saturday 10 September 2011

My Best Friend is getting Married!!

My Best Friend is getting Married!!!

And I could not be happier for her!! Jenny has been a friend of mine since we were about 9 years old and we are photographing her wedding!


Jenny and Julian are getting married in Anglesey at her grandmas local church and then they are having Tee Pees in their friends Field! It is a 3 day event and we are there for the duration.

It is a real family/friends affair with loads of people pitching in to help, either be it ironing table cloths, pitching tents or hanging bunting.

We are taking it in turns to watch Ruffie, photograph the goings on and helping out too! It also happened to be the same weekend as the famous Royal wedding of Prince William and Kate. They just pipped them to the post and got married the day before- that also meant we all got to watch the royal wedding. All the men came in and pretended to laugh at all us girls but i think they secretly wanted to watch it too!!

It is a beautiful spot, and the Tee Pees ( by PapaKata ) just nestle in the landscape. They look fairly small next to the the wind turbines but actually they were huge!!!

As they were not having a venue they had bought in their own caterers who needed their own tent pitching too! They hired in all the ovens and catering facilities which is a whole job in itself! As they were being savvy with their money ( not needlessley wasting it ) they found a lot of things were cheaper to buy then actually hire. Granted they now own enough fairy lights to rival Blackpool!!

On the day of the wedding Jen stayed with her family in some cottages down the road to get ready ( Menai holiday Cottages ) The cottages were lovely, airy and had a hot tub! What better way to spend your last day as a single lady!!


Getting ready for a wedding whilst camping is not my favourite way i have to admit!  Although the showers are great for when camping, i could not quite get rid of the damp camping feeling! nor did i feel that my legs were really properly shaved!!! What can i say i must be more high maintenance that i thought.


One of Jules's many surprise pressies has got her crying!




The Church where they got married was Jens Grans family church so it had a lot of sentimentality, and was also the prettiest little church around. We then left the to meet Jules at the Church. I must have looked an absolute delight, as i had the camera bag on, Ruffie in the carrier and a camera! 





The best man and Jules waiting for the gorgeous Jen to arrive!!









Beacause we know the pair of them so well we can capture real emotion in the pictures. They were like giddy school children all day which makes for some very fun pictures like above!
We always try and take the couple off for some pictures after the wedding so we can focus on some really lovely portraits of the bride and groom without guests disturbing us and them. So off we went to the beach by the church for half and hour. We always gind it gives the couples a bit of time to reflect on the fact that they are now married before they get swept up in the rest of the day.





Big into Salsa the pair strike a pose!



The ever romantic Julian needed this moment capturing!


Picking pictures of this wedding for the blog has been a chore in itself as there are so many of them, This is just a smattering of my favourites but it could go on forever.
I often find it quiet hard to photograph a friends wedding as you are torn by wanting to enjoy the day but to keep working and get the best pictures for them, I hope we struck a decent balance for them?! I also hope they had the wedding they dreamed of, i know they put a lot of hard work into it.

The weekend ( long one thanks to William and Kate) was fab, only blighted by my trip to Bangor Hospital for antibiotics due to awful tonsillitis :-(

Julian being the extrovert that he is (only kidding Jules) decided to do a series of surprises for Jenny in the run up to the wedding, some successful some not so much. But Jules being Jules decided to take his own stance on the boudoir photography and that of course had to include us! a few weeks before the wedding Jules comes round with a series of props and eye liner to recreate a homage to a John Paul Gaultier advert for Jenny. Below is a copy of the real add and then our handy work on Jules which involved me using eye liner on Jules's half naked body!! I think we deserved a bloody medal for the work we did!!!



Our Masterpiece!!

 And on that note i am going to end this blog with this wonderful image fresh in your minds! i think we have found ourselves a new market as male boudoir photographers!

Bye for now xxxx

Monday 5 September 2011

I've been a pondering

Being surrounded by weddings almost all of the time it often gets me wondering if I was todo it all again would I do it any differently?
The honest answer would have to be yes! And no! Being a few years older I am a little more sure of myself and think I would be more confident to just do what I wanted rather than what was expected or to feel the pressure of others, whether they meant it or not.
Daft things for example was I reply really wanted a cathedral length veil with a lace scolloped edge, but my mum and the lovely people in the shop said it would distract from the detail in the back of the dress. It may well have done but non the less it is something i have always wished i had changed.
But in the grand scheme of things, i married my best friend and get to spend the rest of my life with him (give him a big head!)and weather i would change the colour of the favours or the type of dessert we had is by the by and not a detail most people really remember.
I have to admit being around a lot of weddings i do often find they all have a similar look and feel of them but that is also because that is what has been tried and tested over the years and seems to work.
I do however find it refreshing when a couple manager to stamp a piece of themselves onto their day, and is something i look forward to seeing and capturing in every wedding and their photography.

xxx

Thursday 25 August 2011

Kat and Chris

This was probably one of our slightly more unusual weddings as in the fact we were hired by my step father-in-law to take some pictures of his nephews wedding. They were not going to get professional photographers but my father in law wanted to get them some real photos to last as their present.

It was a lovely relaxed do- they had already got married before anyone arrived with just their son and immediate family. They then went through all their vows again when all their guests arrived.

They had marquees and tents in Kat's brothers field and lots of toys and games for all the children invited. With ice cream stands and coconut shy's. It goes to show what you can do when you put your wedding together yourself- a great day and atmosphere! The whole day had a vintage feel with an almost village fayre feel. It truley was a pleasure to be at.

A real pleasure to photograph and spend some day with this lovely couple!



 
The gorgeous Kat and Jack

The walk to her second set of Vows









The Very popular ice cream stall


Kat's beautiful dress was vintage from America


Ooops

Well what can i say- it has been a while!!

 I can only say that i have let the blog slip not due to my inherent laziness but due to the fact that we have been very busy- Honest!!!

I think i will probably break all the things we have been doing down into a few blogs or it might become a bit too wordy.

On a business note- a few business's in Frodsham have all got together to create a Wedding fayre based on Frodsham high street suppliers as there are quite a few of us all in the wedding business together. It feels like a really productive thing to do. We are starting off with a Wedding fayre in 'The Old Hall Hotel' on the 22nd September between 6pm til 9pm. So come on down to meet all of Frodshams very friendly wedding suppliers and then know that if you need to find them again they are all here on the high street too! 

We are then going to talk about all opening late one night a month so people can come and sort out wedding jobs after work rather that using all their weekends up!

Will keep posting more info on the late nights as they are set in stone!

Bye for now
xxx

Monday 23 May 2011

The end of an era

Well, i am now officially working my notice, and to be honest i am pretty bored. I've been off for over a year and need retraining in just about everything, but now they know i am leaving that is not happening (fair enough) So i am kind of sat here ( typing my blog) with nothing to do. I have changed my google places to reflect the new shop address, i have read  a few other blogs and i have only been in for a few hours, 6.5 hrs to go :-(
I have had a fairly boring weekend (with too many takeaways!!)- i think i need a good kick up the backside and do something a bit more exciting or productive.
I am planning on ordering some new flyers and brochures for the shop and will get these delivered but not sure that it is strictly 'correct' to be doing this on work hours!!
Think i will sit here and look at holidays i dont currently have the time or money to go on- we all have to dream!!!!!
Bye for now x

Thursday 19 May 2011

A strange week

Its been a bad week for attendance at Felicitations this week, every thing seems to be fighting against us;
 
Last week my dad snapped his Achilles tendon playing football so i going to be in plaster for a long time, My mum had gone away on a girls weekend so he was on his own and somewhat stuck, so i spent the day with him. Early Saturday evening i get a call from Mark, the lock on the door had broke and he was locked in the shop. Mad dash down with Rufus and my Dad with a bunch of tools. It is proving fairly difficlut to get him out. How thieves manage to break locks so quickly is a mistery to me. Their skills really would be better off used more productivly. We call a locksmith and they quote £175 not inc VAT just to break in, so i decided to leave it much to the womans amusement!! After an hour or so we finally break in and free Mark. Who is fairly peed off by this point. A new lock is purchased and fitted! Enough drama one would think. My Mum has other ideas!!

 A few days later my mum only bloody goes and slips over and thinks she has sprained her ankle at work. After much persuasion she finally allows me to take her to A and E 3 days after she fell and she has broke it!! so that is both parents in plaster! Friday day and evening sat in A and E with a baby is not fun!
Saturday has been and gone without being able to be in the shop as i had an 11 month old and 2 very annoying parents to look after. My Dad thinks he can carry on as normal- and tried to re-grout the patio, and my mum is less than useless on her crutches so is a real nightmare. There i am telling my parents off- how the tables have turned. Mark is off photographing a first holy communion for a friend of ours so we were not able to open the shop at all. 

I have also finally gone back to the day job after over a year off on Maternity leave, it did not feel good :-( i have stuck at the job for 5 and half years as the money was good and it enabled us to achieve a lot, but there is so much more going on in my life that requires a lot of my time so i decided it was time to move on. So I have handed in my notice this week. I am pretty terrified if i am truly honest. Although we really have to put all our efforts into 'felicitations' or it just wont be worth it. If i dont we will always look back and wish we had tried harder. As Mark always says ' we slog our guts out for other companies, well it is time to do that for ours, at least we will gain directly from all our hard work'
So only a few more weeks working for someone else and then it is all down to us- exciting and terrifying all at the same time.

I am looking forward to a slightly more drama free weekend and maybe even a glass of wine and an open shop!!!!!

Wednesday 27 April 2011

Shop Images

The Beginning of the end- We had taken everything out and started to clean before we decorated.

The outside of the shop, it is one of the 1600th century shops on Frodsham high Street.

Felt good to be finally able to turn this around to OPEN

Shop interior finished

A Place to meet our couples to view and discuss their photography needs.

Friday 22 April 2011

Felicitations is Open!

Well as it turns out i am pretty useless at keeping up to date with my blog, but in my defense i have had a very busy month. As i was saying in my last blog we were looking at a shop, which we now lease!! It is all very exciting if a little daunting.
It is a little bit different as it is not a Studio, but more of a gallery. It is so couples can just drop in for a brew and have a look through the albums and pictures, or make an appointment. Online advertising is amazing but sometimes you need to view a product in the flesh to get a real idea of quality so we are taking it back to the high street.
 We completely gutted it and have redecorated, and it now looks fab even if i do say so myself, I will add pictures soon.
 Juggling being a mum, wife and setting up shop makes for a busy life but i wouldn't change any of it, just need a few more hours in the day, as the main thing that seems to be suffering is the house work (and the hubby's sanity) A very clingy baby does not help either.
Will at some point get round to adding some more weddings on and photos of before and after of the shop as well.
Bye for now xx

Wednesday 16 February 2011

Busy week

We have had a busy week! We are looking at getting a shop in our local town in Frodsham to base our wedding photography. Its not a definite yet but is certainly exciting.  It would be fab as it would give us a base for couples to see all our work and products. I think it is important for people to have look at your work in person as i don't think you can always get a true idea just online. Me and Mark (my husband) have been looking at decorating ideas for the shop already and nothing is even finalised yet- im far too giddy!!
With the hubby not only working on his stock photography he has also been busy finishing his teacher training. The sooner that is finished the better! he is not happiest when being a student again. He lives and breaths photography, he has his own advertising photography business ( www.markitecture.co.uk ), teaches photography and we work together on the wedding photography. It is not as hectic as it sounds- honestly!
Hopefully it will all work out will keep you posted!!

Saturday 5 February 2011

Joanne and Dave St Albans Cathedral



Joanne and David are a lovely couple that we met through my mother in law, who worked with Joannes Mum.  Joanne was originally from Mersey side not far from us in Cheshire, Her and her fiance  now live and work in St Albans. They wanted us to photograph their wedding so off we trotted down to St Albans, and i was glad we did. It truely is a B-E-A-Utiful city!
And as David worked in the School attached to the cathedral they were allowed to marry there in the cathedral. I dont think there could be a more spectacular building to say your vows to one another. They then had their reception party at St Michaels Manor Hotel, with its vintage chic feel.
Grand Four poster room at St Michaels Manor Hotel in St Albans.
Joanne was not sure initially that she was worried about getting a photo of her shoes until she had picked them! Maybe it is just me but i love a Shoe!




Posing for a photo on the way out of the hotel


Joanne talking to the priests before her walk down the isle. They took their vows in the Lady Chapel. Although in the vast Cathedral the lady chapel had a small intimate feel. 

I have to admit i was a little jealous as the married couple made their way out of the cathedral as it was possibly the longest walk i have yet to see at a wedding!


St Albans Cathedral in all its glory.

St Michaels Manor Hotel



All in all this was a pleasure and honour of a wedding to photograph, the cathedral was breath talking and the hotel was lovely. With most ( not all admitadly ) couples you get to spend a good deal of the day that they will class as the best day of their lives, what other job can you do that with?