July 11, 2012
Serving clients all over the UK, Elizabeth's Cake Emporium specialises in unique and one-of-a-kind creations in confectionery. From dragons to superheros and designer shoes to fairy tale castles, Elizabeth has done it all. Or how about a wedding cake that looks like a stack of cushions or one that emulates a chandelier!?Read more...
July 11, 2012
Gareth & I joke that we should change the name of The Green Room to The Lisa Devlin Room in honour of her services to guest posts! I'm always so thrilled when Lisa offers her insight into something as she's pretty much always spot on with her advice! With 20 years as a professional photographer under her photography ninja belt Lisa has got to be the perfect candidate for an Inspirations interview right? She runs the phenomenally successful Photography Farm, sells PhotoShop actions, shoots weddings all over the country... oh and she's the 2011 British Journal of Photography Wedding Photographer of the Year. NIIIICE!Read more...
July 11, 2012
Ronnie & Richard were married at Calistoga Ranch, California. Originally from Taiwan, the couple's families knew each other and had often joked about setting the two of them up, but they'd never met. It was only when they both moved to America (her to New York and him to Austin, Texas) that they started emailing and arranged to meet. The bride readily admits that she's not a very crafty person so DIY was out of the question for their April wedding. She did however fall in love with etsy and used it to source as much as possible for the wedding. "We didn’t have anything handmade ourselves except for the 'here comes the bride' flag which Richard made", she told me. "I am not crafty, but I like the unique touch that comes from handmade products which is why I used etsy so much. I am also very into vintage style clothing and décor. I spent a lot of time researching on the site, searching for vintage wedding dress, bridal accessories, wedding favors and paper goods. At the end, I feel really fortunate to have found things I loved with affordable prices."Read more...
July 11, 2012
So this is an unusual turn of events! On Monday we launched the latest School of Rock event in Brighton. Within 2 minutes 2 spaces had sold... within 5 minutes 6 spaces had sold... within 11 minutes 9 spaces had sold... within an hour and 45 mins we were sold out! HOLY CRAP YOU GUYS.Read more...
July 10, 2012
I don't see enough brides with dreadlocks. Where are you hiding my dreadlock wielding readers?! My sister and her boyfriend have them (his are down past his waist!) and I find them very intriguing and totally beautiful... So you can imagine my exuberance when Gavin & Hollie's wedding landed on my lap. "My good friends Gav and Hol got married in April", wrote wedding photographer Anna Clarke. "They are a beautiful and too-cool-for-school couple who had a yellow and green wedding. They did everything themselves including all the printed stuff, going to the flower market to get the flowers, decorating the village hall etc etc. I just love all the colours and Hollie's dreads piled into a big beehive. Her shoes are amaze-balls too..."Read more...
July 10, 2012
Wedding blogs are amazing. Getting featured on them is a fantastic way to elevate your business and put yourself and your work in front of hundreds of thousands of potential client's eyes. But what if it's not working for you? Are wedding blog features reeeally the be all and end all? You might think this is a strange thing for a wedding blogger to say... but erm... no. No they're not. At last week's School of Rock workshop I had a few students saying "I love blogs but I know my photography wouldn't get featured. It's just not the style they promote." And while initally I was taken aback "but i like to promote as much diversity as possible!" I thought, in retrospect they were actually right. Wedding blogs do have their own very specific criteria for featuring real weddings, wedding suppliers and products. And more of often than not, that criteria doesn't hugely deviate from blog to blog. No matter what style of wedding they're promoting (alternative, vintage, traditional, regional etc) they all still want to basically share the same things - cute, affordable, aspirational wedding ideas. They want to show cute couples, inspirational (and attainable) wedding ideas and lots and lots of details for brides to copy.Read more...
July 10, 2012
If you want to see photography that pushes boundaries then look no further than MangoRED. This Filipino duo have been pushing my buttons ever since I first discovered them waaaaay back at the beginning of 2009. Their work continues to inspire me to this day. Why? Because they're continually pushing themselves to create. Their work has evolved - almost into a completely different beast - but the essence of unadulterated and unapologetic creativity has remained a constant.Read more...
July 9, 2012
Recently I've been getting so many weddings in my inbox where the couple describe their wedding theme as 'laidback'. This makes me very happy indeed. I think a lot of couples stress so much about having the perfect magazine or blog worthy wedding that they forget about actually enjoying the whole process! Well not my readers... you guys know where it's at! Gemma & Liam's Camden wedding couldn't have been more gorgeous. The relaxed vibe of the venues they chose, and their quirky and fun fashion choices made this wedding stand out from the crowd. "The whole wedding was a very laidback affair, from organisation through to the actual day," Gemma told me. "I didn’t even write a to do list until 2 weeks before the big day and I’m not sure if I even used it!"Read more...
July 9, 2012
It's a huge cliché but I really have been truely blown away by the response to my School of Rock blogging workshops so far. Each event has sold out quicker than the last, with the most recent one being off the market within 8 hours! You guys really do know how to flatter me. I know I keep saying this too, but the last event, at Curradine Barns in the West Midlands has got to have been my favourite yet. The venue was stunning, the group that attended were awesome and we even got fed an amazing 3 course meal (all made in house by their head chef) afterwards! Triple win!Read more...
July 9, 2012
Nic & Will hired the gorgeous Cliff Barns in Norfolk for the entire weekend (and then some!) for their wedding. The venue sleeps 20 and with family coming from far and wide they decided having the space from the Thursday to the Tuesday would make for a nice mini break for everybody with a wedding thrown in to boot! "We decided to make a long weekend of it, and invited our family (from NZ, NYC, Canada) over to stay in the house with us for 4 days", Nic told me. "It gave everyone a chance to get to know each other and meant that we didn’t feel like we had to squeeze all our 'hellos' into one day."Read more...
July 8, 2012
So I tweeted & facebooked about this as soon as I saw it on Friday (I was in the middle of writing up a wedding that's going up tomorrow, and the bride was in a BHLDN dress so I popped by the website to link to it and BAM! OMG "SAAAALE SAAAAAAAAAAAAAALE!" I squealed). So yes, I already shared this via my social media but I couldn't resist adding it to the blog today too. If this isn't worth A Sunday Kind of Lovin' I quite frankly don't know what is.Read more...
July 7, 2012
Disclaimer: I'm going to try and not make this post just a boring "er, wanna look at my holiday snaps" kinda blog post. Try I sad... One of my goals for 2012 was to push myself out of my comfort zone more, and to travel as much as possible. I've never been a huge traveller, but I strongly felt that in order to broaden my horizons and provide a more well rounded and interesting blog topics that starting to do more of it was important. So when Japanese travel and goth fashion blogger La Carmina, who I've spoken to online for the past 4+ years, asked if I wanted to join her in Prague for a few days I disregarded my feelings of trepidation and nerves and said hell yes!Read more...
July 6, 2012
"Although there were some traditional elements to our wedding, we wanted to keep the day as informal as possible," began newlywed Anna. "We wanted a traditional wedding ceremony, but for the reception we just wanted to create a space for our friends and family to enjoy themselves. We had music all day, put out games and a fancy dress box, and left a jar of moustaches on the bar. The fancy dress box was well-used and our wedding became the chaotic festival-party we always wanted!"Read more...
July 6, 2012
Ansel Adams famously said, “A good photograph is knowing where to stand.” I find myself coming back to that quote a lot. Not just as a photographer, but in life, I say to myself, “Why in the hell am I standing here? I should be standing over there!” As photographers, our job is to observe and document. Wait, that is oversimplifying. We look at the world and we choose a way in which to convey what we ‘see’ to others. That better? Anyway, sometimes, we get so wrapped up in what we are seeing through our lens that we don’t stop and take a look at our surroundings.Read more...
July 6, 2012
Too gorgeous for words...like literally. I just stared and stared at these amazing photos for (what seemed like) hours before I found the words to start writing this article. There really is something utterly breathtaking about this wedding and Lydia Jane's images that captured it. I'm thrilled to be able to share it with you today so please forgive my gushing... Jamie & McKenzie were married at home. They love their lifestyle on their farm, living alongside the sheep and chickens, so a homespun wedding was really the only option. The couple have a hugely supportive family who all helped out to make the wedding what it was.Read more...
July 5, 2012
Happy Thursday everyone! I'm gonna get right down to it today so stop whatever you're doing, make yourself a cuppa and indulge in some mid-afternoon treats. I on the other hand will be taking a break to do this...Read more...
July 5, 2012
I need weddings like this is my life right now. Yes need. I hate to jump on the 'British summer, what summer?' bandwagon but jeez Louise where is the sunshine Blighty?! I do not approve. What I do approve of however is little rays of joy like Lynn & Nick's wedding crash landing into my inbox. Sunshine! Rainbows! Pastel pretty things! This baby has them all... The wedding was held at an old movie theatre in San Diego. When the couple couldn't find a wedding venue they loved, Nick suggested this place. It really allowed them to let their creativity run wild and include things that were special to them.Read more...
July 5, 2012
Facebook loves these guys. How do I know? Well because I sneak peeked a photo of them (with the focus on Jane's epic Terry Fox wedding dress) and people went crazy for it. Cue the most 'liked' wedding photograph on my facebook page ever. 430 (and counting) likes to be precisie. Mind. Blown. So needless to say, I'm assuming there's a lot of Rock n Roll Bride's out there eagerly awaiting seeing the rest of this wedding... and just when you thought it couldn't get any better I have 3 words for you. Star. Wars. Theme. And yes.. they we're married on May 4th. Contained yourself? Then I'll begin...Read more...
July 4, 2012
The East Sussex wedding of Jen & Michael had a gorgeous laid back vibe. The day started with a moving ceremony at Lewes Register Office, and ended with a rockin' reception at The Tin Tabernacle, an amazing teal green building on the outskirts of Barcombe Village. The space is a large area with high ceilings, wooden floors and white washed walls. The building was originally built as a chapel and it proved to be the perfect backdrop for this couple's quirky wedding. "Our venue was so amazing!" Jen began. "They were kind of vague and just left us to it, which was exactly what we wanted. I never wanted some stylish affair that we’d handed over to professionals – in fact the only professional we hired was our photographer Lee, who was amazing. He’s wonderfully warm and kind and fun, and his photos are absolutely stunning. I knew as soon as I’d met him that we had to have him there. At his insistence we even photographed the 50 or so handmade sock puppets in a variety of artistic poses. We had to try not to wet ourselves laughing."Read more...
July 4, 2012
Where on Earth do I begin introducing the made u look girls? These vivacious, ridiculous talented, infectious and crazily-generous women really do make my heart sing. After chatting to them online for years, I was exceptionally honoured to be able to shoot with them when I was in New York earlier this year. They flew all the way from California to do it and gosh... I owe them so much. They really did make me feel beautiful. If you're not inspired after seeing these girls' images and reading about their incredible journey... well there may be no hope for you. Christina, Alie & Marielle rock my frickin' world. I love them more than life itself and I really hope we get to hang out again one day...Read more...