Monday 29 June 2009

Dan Kerr 2010 Collection preview

The lovely guys at Dan Kerr Brides in Blackpool hosted a 2010 collection preview last week and very kindly invited me along to show some of my work to brides to be as they browsed around the shop. There were several other of my wedding friends there including the amazing Flower Design showing some beautiful bouquets and swing singer Paul Guard entertaining the guests.


Stephanie from Dan Kerr introduces the models into the shop:





All the models did a great job of chatting with guests, talking to them about the different gowns they were wearing and got changed several times so that the guests got to see a large range of dresses actually being worn.










Dan Kerr supply a huge range of accessories, shoes - even suits for the groom and ushers. They really do offer a great service!





Paul Guard had our models dancing along with him! (from left to right: Sancha, Shannon, Becky and Emma)


Jane from Flower Design explaining to Emma a shot she wanted me to take...


And here is the shot (just for you Jane!)





The girls with some of Flower Design's beautiful bouquets:





The unstoppably enthusiastic Jane Thompson from Flower Design talks colour schemes with the recently engaged Sheree (congratulations Sheree!) from Dan Kerr.

Paul Guard with our lovely models!





Thanks for inviting me along! It was a great evening!

Friday 26 June 2009

Polperro - Couch's Restaurant and last Polperro post!!!

Phew! I didn't realise I'd taken so many shots in Polperro and I didn't realise how much I wanted to talk about them!

This final post about Polperro (for this year anyway!) is dedicated to our favourite restaurant in the village, Couch's Great House Restaurant.


We always eat here at least twice during our Easter break and this year was no exception. Executive Chef and owner, Richard McGeown (who trained with Gordan Ramsey, Marco Pierre White and Raymond Blanc) has done an amazing job with this place.

He personally welcomes us, presents the food to us himself and explains exactly what produce he has used and the techniques he has employed to cook the dishes he serves. And when we see him around in the village is always eager for a chat about what we've been up to in the day.

My two favourite anecdotes that relate to Couch's and Richard himself are ones that I regualarly tell when people are talking about exceptional service. A couple of years ago, on one of the nights that we were eating in, I'd decided that I would cook duck risotto - could I get duck breasts from anywhere? No way! So I cheekily knocked on the kitchen door at Couch's in the morning and asked Richard if he could order some for me on his daily fresh produce order. He was more than happy to and of course was in no way obliged to - he did it because he's a lovely bloke who wanted to help us out.

My absolute favourite story about Couch's is actually from last year and the fishing trip we went on then. We caught a monster haul (honestly!) of nearly 50 mackerel which we had no idea what to do with! So we knocked on Richard's door (recurring theme?!?!) as we were booked in for his 'taster menu' that evening and asked if he would prepare some of the fish as part of one of the courses. He was only too happy to take all the lovely fresh fish from us and cooked us an AMAZING course of mackerel with spiced apple and balsamic reduction. Awesome stuff!




But back to this years visits to Couch's. We often have the taster menu one night and then go from the al a carte menu another, but this year we did the taster menu on our first night and it was so good that we asked to have it again! Richard of course didn't do the same courses, he came up with 7 different courses on both nights and every single one of them was superb!




As a family, we couldn't recommend Couch's and Richard's hospitality enough, it's one of the highlights of our week away when we go there for dinner and we can't wait for more of the same next year!



Thanks for reading this series of holiday posts - hopefully they gave you a sense of what I like to do when I'm not shooting weddings, the kind of places we like to go and what a beautiful part of the world Polperro is!

Next year is our 10th Anniversary of visiting Polperro at Easter, so expect some SERIOUS blogging after that landmark holiday! This has been nothing compared to what will be coming next year!!!

Thursday 25 June 2009

Dreamcatcher Bridal 2010 collection

The lovely ladies at Dreamcatcher Bridal in Kirkham were holding a preview evening, showcasing the 2010 collections from various designers including Benjamin Roberts, Constantina and Blue by Enzoani.

I was invited along to do a little bit of mingling with the brides to be and of course I took my camera along as well!




Cupcakes from The Little House of Cupcakes went down really well!







'Katie Cupcake' herself! Katie had done gorgeous canape sized cupcakes for the evening. There weren't many left at the end of the night!


Georgina from Dreamcatcher getting the lovely Erica Wild dressed. Erica and the other ladies modelling for the evening spent the whole night in and out of the dressing rooms, trying on a huge number of different gowns for the brides to be to get a good look at!








Flower Design in St Annes supplied a huge number of stunning bouquets for the evening.










Georgina (reluctantly having her picture taken!) and Erica.


The very lovely Janet Fenton from The Graham Fenton Experience and her daughter Sophie Heald.



Rebecca from Flower Design got in on this one!


Gorgeous canapes from the guys at Twelve Event Management.




Rebecca from Flower Design gave the chocolate dipped strawberries the big thumbs up!






Swing singer extraordinaire Paul Guard provided the entertainment.