Monday, 22 June 2009

Bridal Fashion shoot at Lytham Hall with Flower Design and Dreamcatcher Bridal

Well here it is at last! A look at some of the shots from the amazing bridal fashion shoot I did at Lytham Hall a couple of weeks ago.

It's been a little while coming as we shot for a full day which resulted in me firing off as many shots as I do at a full wedding and because I process every single shot individually, it takes a little time to turn a shoot of this volume around.

I worked on the shoot with some of the UK's top wedding and events specialists which was a fantastic experience.

Jane and Jason Thompson from Flower Design supplied some unbelievable bouquets, dressed the different rooms we used and were on hand throughout the day as acting art directors, making sure everything in every shot was perfect.

Gill and Georgina from Dreamcatcher Bridal supplied more wedding dresses than you've ever seen in your life! They worked with our models as if they were genuine brides, making sure they looked absolutely beautiful.

The absolutely gorgeous Ella and Erica wore the dresses for us. Ella works at Pure Beauty and doubled up as head make-up artist as well as model for the day! Ella has done some wedding dress modelling for us before (you may recognise her from the Flower Design Supper club post a few months ago) and it still amazes me that she isn't actually a model! She's so composed, enthusiastic, natural and obviously very beautiful which always helps!

Erica works in bridal modelling regularly and it was great to have her experience in all things bridal with us for the day.

Stewart Harland from S&P Hair created a different look for Ella and Erica for each dress they wore - no easy feat when time is against you! He did a great job and reinforced my opinion of why it's so important to work with true wedding professionals. On a wedding day, having people on board who have the experience, are used to working against the clock and can stay calm and get the job done (and a very good job at that) is so important.

Christy, the events coordinator at Lytham Hall had worked very closely with us in the build up to the shoot, advising on interior and exterior locations, opening up the entire hall for us and generally looking after us amazingly!


Here's Stewart creating Erica's first look for the day:





Gill from Dreamcatcher made sure EVERYTHING about Ella was perfect!





So what is the point behind this whole shoot?

There are many points, but from my photography point of view, I suppose it as best summed up like this.

I wanted to create the opportunity for some of the UK's top wedding experts to showcase their unique and individual talents and creativity but also demonstrate how seamlessly they fit into the bigger 'full wedding' picture. Yes, they each have their own fantastic individuality, but when working together, something even better is created.

Why choose a high-end, independent bridal boutique? Because of the guaranteed expertise, the unrivalled individual service and the attention to detail. Not to mention the amazing wedding gowns and bridesmaid dresses that Dreamcatcher supply!

Why not buy your flowers from a local chain of florists? Because one visit to Flower Design will change your mind on wedding floristry forever. Do other florists offer the number of pre-wedding consultations that Flower Design do? Do other florists have the style, the creativity, the talent and the passion that Jane and Jason do? Do other florists attend every single wedding, deliver your bouquets personally? Pin on everybody's button holes so EVERYBODY looks amazing? In case you were wondering - the answer is no!

Why pay for hair and make-up to be done when you can do it yourself? Because S&P Hair and Pure Beauty guarantee to make you look amazing and make sure that lasts all day. They have the experience, the skill and how about just giving yourself one less thing to worry about?! The morning of any bride's wedding should be enjoyable, relaxing and fun. Surround yourself with experts and you're giving yourself a great chance of starting off your perfect day absolutely perfectly.

And photography? I hope the shots speak for themselves. These are examples of what can be achieved on anybody's wedding day. No big set-ups, no dragging couples away from everybody for hours. Just using the venue and it's surroundings to shoot beautiful, contemporary, timeless wedding imagery.






Jane from Flower Design shot some of the set-ups to use on her amazing blog - she'll be posting a lot of the shots as well. Make sure you check it out as you'll be able to get a look from a florists point of view - and more importantly, a lot of detail about the flowers she used at the shoot, which I wouldn't dare try and give you! I'd get it wrong and Jane would kill me!



Ella posing with the FD van!



Jane made sure she got plenty of detail shots of her fabulous bouquets.














Jane created some amazing bouquets!






Lytham Hall has got an amazing interior - we used the staircase quite heavily as it is so beautiful!




The grounds of Lytham Hall complement the beautiful interior perfectly:




Please do leave a comment on this post - I'd love to hear everybody's thoughts on this shoot!

Thursday, 18 June 2009

Polperro Part 8 - The Red Herring in Fowey

What a find this was! I say 'find' - it's actually not hidden away, we just simply hadn't walked much further past Pinky Murphy's in the past!

We'd set out on a walk that started and finished in Fowey and we got as far as the Red Herring and couldn't resist stopping for sustenance (10 minutes into the walk!) when we saw it!


Although completely different to Pinky Murphy's, there is something about it that is similar (which is why we loved it so much)

A mish mash of furniture, cutlery, crockery, drinking vessels - really cool art and photos on the wall and such a laid back relaxed atmosphere to the place that you could sit there all day and not feel like you were hogging a table.






Alyson who runs The Red Herring was really friendly and nothing was too much trouble.


We can't wait to do a bit of sitting around outside the Red Herring again next year!