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"Absolutely the best photographer and videographer I have ever come across! Captured the entire day perfectly and for that we will be enternally grateful! Such friendly lovely guys and will definitely be keeping in touch! Couldn't recommend enough from the initial call to enquire to these moments now! Just fab! X"
Well testimonials are all well and good, but what is the offer, I hear you ask? Cut to the chase will you? Fair enough - here it is. My February and March are dead. And I’m going to get bored.
SO IF YOU ARE GETTING MARRIED IN FEBRUARY AND MARCH OF THIS YEAR AND ON A BUDGET, LET ME KNOW WHAT IT IS AND IF I WILL DO MY UTMOST TO MATCH IT!
No haggling, no extras, no messing around. Just one amazing deal.
Below, just a few of my favourite photographic moments in what was a wonderful year full of wonderful couples!
Drop me a line: https://www.deliriousweddings.com/
FREE LONDON CHRISTMAS ENGAGEMENT SHOOT WHEN YOU BOOK ANY PHOTOGRAPHY, VIDEOGRAPHY, OR COMBINED PACKAGE
There is possibly nothing as romantic as huddling up and cuddling up amidst the Christmas Lights of London
The whoosh of the traffic, the excited hurry of people shopping and going home, the colour and energy and the festive atmosphere, the contrast of cold and warm, the smell of mulled wine in the air, and what was that? The echo of carols being sung wafting from St James’ church?
A Christmas engagement shoot is a special kind of yuletide event in itself. You get to spend an evening dressed up - or not if you prefer - you get to visit some of the sites of the capital at it’s best and most romantic, you get to be the star of a photoshoot, and to have a professional bring out your best side with your one true love, AND you get a set of 50+ beautiful, memorable and professional seasonal photos to gift to each other.
If it sounds irresistible fun for a couple, it is also irresistible for a photographer who loves atmosphere, glitter and light. For me it is one of the loveliest creative challenges, working with a couple in love AND taking in the amazing glitter and atmosphere of London at Christmas time.
This year, as a special promotion I am offering a yuletide engagement photo shoot for up to three hours -value £350 - absolutely for free for all couples who book before the end of the year.
Yes, the offer is very simple and straightforward. All couples who book any photography or videography package through this advert before 25th December will receive a completely free professional engagement shoot of up to three-hours.
Check out my award-winning and incredible value videography and photography and combined packages and drop me a line in the form below to claim your free Christmas engagement shoot
What is a formal group shot?
Don’t be embarrassed, loads of people ask this. For some people it is the reason you hire a photographer, for other’s it is an unimportant afterthought, but one thing is true for all couples. Everyone always wants them. It’s when you get people together after the ceremony in groups for quick portraits of who attended the wedding. Bride and Bride’s Parents , Groom and Groom’s Parents, all the Bridesmaids and Groomsmen etc
So are they formal?
They can be, they don’t have to be. It’s your wedding, you do it the way you want. Or they way you like your photographer to do it. Some people like to line up formally, others like it to look like a shoot from Harpers Bazaar. Some like it to be fun and quirky. It’s your call.
So how many group shots would you recommend?
This also is your call, but be mindful of time. Even though a photo takes 1/200th of a second, simple logic says it will take a minimum of two or three minutes per shot to get everyone in a line looking at the camera and looking presentable. Remember doing maths at school? If you have 50 group shots, that is 100 minutes. That’s a long time for guests to be waiting their turn to stand in line with Aunty Joan. An even longer time if it’s hot and they have small children.
Who should be in them?
Once again it is up to you. But it can be difficult narrowing down the list of all those people you love and who will be offended if you don’t ask them in. So don’t leave it till the day, as this will be confusing for you. I always recommend couples send me a group list beforehand, and because even then it can be overwhelming, below is a simple guideline to how you might set up a traditional set of formal group shots
The List
Bride and Groom
Bride and Groom and HER parents
Bride and Groom and HIS parents
Bride and Groom and BOTH parents
Bride and Groom, BOTH parents, siblings and their partners and kids
Bride and Groom and bridal party: bridesmaids, flower girls, best man, ushers and page boys
Bride only with bridesmaids and flower girls
Groom only with best man, ushers and page boys
Bride and Groom and any other group you may wish to add, such as grandparents, favourite uncles and aunts, university friends, etc
The main two things to remember about group shots; dont let it eat up your wedding day, and do it how you want!
No. Lol.
There is a smell that hits your nose as you enter this well-known hotel chain. The smell of human bodies and fried food and disinfectant. You sigh, knowing the most important thing is the sheets will be clean and it will be quiet.
You prep your kit, check your schedule, charge your batteries, copy over your SD cards from today’s wedding. All this in your pants, feeling like one of those minor criminal characters in a cop movie who sits around in a vest all day before being shot by Russell Crowe. Bake Off is on the TV. This doesn’t help with the still-in-your-pants guilt.
You kid yourself you will go out for dinner as a healthy treat, but of course you are too tired after 12 hours on your feet from today’s wedding, and the 2 hours of driving to get to this one. This is what photographers call a back-to-back.You eat downstairs something that tastes somewhere between a normal dinner, baby food and glue.
The next day, loaded with Full English and fizzing with caffeine you drive to the Bride’s house. Everyone is in their pants – except you this time hopefully - and drinking champagne at ten in the morning. After years of weddings, this is so normal to you, you don’t even notice it. You shoot jewellery, dress, flowers. You shoot girls having their hair done, having their make up done, having a laugh. The bride is stressed. You give her space and head over to the groom, who is also stressed and doesn’t want his picture taken. No problem, but now you have lost time and have to drive like Russell Crowe in that cop movie chasing the guy in his pants who escaped in a Porsche. It’s like the French Connection car chase. Only you’re in Slough. Going to Church. You fight for a parking space and lug your gear in, sweating. It’s summer. You are in long trousers with heavy gear. Hereon in it is all about the sweat.
The vicar eyes you like the naughty choirboy who did a wee in the collection box. You appease, you charm, you wipe the sweat out of your eyes, you await the bride. You will not stop now for the next three hours as you shoot the ceremony, the confetti, the group shots, the portraits.
You jump in your car and try not to kill yourself as you speed to the venue, to capture the arrival of the couple. The sun is high up in the sky. You forgot suncream. Is that a vulture up in that tree eyeing you up as you tuck your shirt in, guzzle water to stave off sunstroke. You can’t die now, they haven’t even served the canapés.
Finally it is meal time. Everyone now is sweating. It’s August, but the meal looks like Christmas dinner. You’re in a marquee without ventilation or fans. Your camera smells of palm-sweat, your shirt is soaked, the maid of honour has a moustache of perspiration, the father of the bride looks like a tomato. Someone somewhere has fainted. Everyone drinks more alcohol, everyone sweats some more. They say the human body is 90 per cent water, and right now most of it has collected in your shoes, your eyelashes and your armpits. You ARE sweat, it is who you are.
Finally your meal comes, and two mouthfuls in, the speeches start. Now you are sweat AND indigestion.
Then it’s cake cut, first dance and party time. Miss any of these moments and you will chew your own arm off. Miss out the most important relatives, same rule applies. The party kicks off and you struggle with a room so dark even Dracula would be nervous. Your lighting skills kick in, you nail it. You check your watch. Eleven hours on your feet have passed in a blur of frenzied activity so intense it feels like two hours.
You drive two more hours to get home, copy across the files, have a shower, kiss your loved one. You are wired way beyond tired. You have driven three, four hundred miles, put in 22 hours on your feet across a two-wedding weekend, yet sleep is a long way off, as your adrenaline is still set at house fire level.
And you wonder why would you put yourself through all of this? Of course you know the answer. Because you were just part of the most emotional, important, powerful day in two people’s lives. They let you in and you caught all those moments, of anxiety, apprehension, excitement, passion, hilarity, fun, love. It has been part fashion shoot, part paparazzi shoot and part obstacle course. You have been privileged to be let in to this wonderful party and be paid to do what you love for eleven glorious hours. And you know you nailed it, your bride will love you, and you got to help make someone’s special day that little bit more special.
Okay, now you can sleep
So there you are, the morning of your wedding. Everyone is fussing around you, your mum, your make up girl, your bridesmaids, your hairdresser, the florist, the driver, your dad, the dog. Even the hamster has gone bonkers.
The dress is perfect but somehow you don’t feel like you look perfect. Hours have been spent putting on expensive foundation, perfume, underwear, nail extension, hair extension, probably feels like you’ve built a loft extension, hours spent getting ready but still you don’t feel ready.
Why? Why is everyone mad? Why isn’t everything perfect?
Here’s why
Because getting married is one of the biggest commitment you will ever make . Everything else, a car, a job, a house you may well sell and buy another one. Sure you might sell your husband and buy another one, but let’s not go there, my wife tried it and she didn’t get a good price.
So what am I saying here?
I’m saying it is understandable, if not expected, that almost all brides, the morning of the wedding they have looked forward to their whole lives, are overcome with nerves, with anxiety that threatens to spoil what should be the perfect day. What even is a perfect day? For me it’s taking photos and eating crisps, but that isnt the answer you’re looking for.
The perfect day is the day you designed and planned. It kicks off with the girls getting together, with Bridal prep. It is my favourite part of the day in many ways. There is a lovely sense of togetherness, something women like to take their time over, not just the pampering and the gifts, but the sharing, the joking, the glass of champagne with a croissant, the shared organising and helping and supporting and loyalty. It’s something women excel at. If only women ran the world!
But in amidst that there is often this apprehension that everything must be perfect, and, thanks to that apprehension, the fear that it will not be. Most grooms also get nervous, which is why they often hit the bar early on. But I think, much as they like to brave it out, most brides will tell you, as the big moment approaches, so do the butterflies in the stomach
And this is where Bridal Portrait comes in. Some photographers are very laid back and may not do this. Others may be very concerned with hitting a certain mark of perfection that is more about their portfolio than it is about you. I think this moment is all about finding a little piece of peace and quiet and contemplation.
For me, a Bridal Portrait taken during prep should help CREATE a moment of calm. It is one minute, literally, or maybe two , where I will take my bride aside, near a nice bit of window light and gently advise her to take this moment, to take a few breaths and try not to worry for this little island of time. Look how serene my brides look. You are welcome.
Now.
Take a moment.
Breathe in.
And relax.
Shall I tell you secret? Hundreds of weddings and I’ve never had a bridezillla
Or a groomzilla or a momzilla or any other kind of zilla. I hear about these zillas all the time, but it never happens to me. I feel cheated
Everyone else has had a zilla, why cant I have a zilla?
I worked in advertising for years and for sure I had nightmare clients, difficult bosses, impossible managers
Even then, never a zilla
The truth is how someone is and how we react to them are two different things
Sure I’ve had brides who were tense, distracted, who lost their tempers. Also grooms, also Mums, Dads and guests. Not with me but with someone. Well here’s the surprise – that someone might have deserved it, because a wedding day is a very personal, fraught, expensive experience
It’s the most significant day of your life outside of childbirth. You are planting your flag and saying here we are.
Your budget might be big or small, but to you it is big.
If you are the bride, no one should be causing you to freak out. No one should be treating you like just a number, no one should be giving less than 100%
So yes, I have had brides sending me pinterest boards
Mums asking me to remove shots from a film of a drunk bridesmaid
And Dads asking for more shots of granddad
I have had brides ask (never demand) more group shots than we agreed
I’ve had Mums trying to tell me what to do
I’ve had grooms who don’t want to be photographed, who don’t want to be filmed
I’ve had brides get in a fuss and be an hour late for their own wedding
And you know what? It was fine. All of it. Totally fine.
Being particular about what you want is perfectly normal, and perfectly fine. And I try to respect that this day has cost them a year of planning and thousands of pounds of expenditure and that the big part of why I’m there is to document things in a way they will like.
So I say no. Enough of this.
There are no Bridezillas. There are no zillas. There are only people who know what they want and who need to be treated like the valuable, beautiful people they are.
That is all :)
