1. Planning too many things into one day.
You might be the kind of person who likes sticking to a schedule to the smallest details and absolutely by the minute, I don't know. But believe me when I say your guests probably won't be, especially if it's a summer wedding and they're just looking to chill and enjoy themselves, and as the wedding day goes on trying to keep to a timetable while not impossible does become more and more challenging, and although I may not know you dear reader, one thing I can pretty much guarantee is regardless of your wedding timetable, "stress" will not be scheduled in at any point that day.

People take longer than normal to do anything on a wedding day, because like I said they want to relax as well as celebrate your wedding day. There doesn't need to be a rotation in activities or planned events every hour, relax and enjoy!
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2. Cocktail hour doesn’t have to be 1 hour.
This is carrying on a bit from my first point, but actually an hour can go quite fast if you have couples photos, group photos, congratulatory hugs, canapés and fizz drinking, trying to get round as many of your guests as you can, and potentially using a lawn game that you hired with your guests so they have something to do in that time.

Giving yourself an extra half an hour though can work wonders and alleviate the stress of trying to fit lots of things in. Plus if you have nibbles no one is going to be starving, and can wait a bit longer for dinner (and that's saying something coming from me as a big food lover!).

If you're having micro wedding, it might just be nicer to have half an hour or so of congratulatory hugs and fizz drinking, a few group photos and then go straight into dinner, so the time doesn't drag, totes up to you!



​3. Wedding cake – plans for actually eating it!
I've been to quite a few weddings now where the wedding cake is actually the dessert at dinner, genius!

Think about it, most people won't have wondered off between mains and desserts, so it's a great time to cut your cake (make sure you do mention this before you start dinner and in your wedding schedule for the day though so people know), plus you make sure that most of the cake does actually get eaten too, and everyone would have got a slice.

You don't have to do this of course, but please don't neglect that gorgeous wedding cake and make sure you have plans for displaying it beautifully, cutting it and getting it eaten by as many of your guests as possible.
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On a Wednesday in May, with extremely unpredictable weather, Patrick & Natasha got married at Southwark Registry Office, and had the quickest wedding ceremony I’ve ever seen! Might have been 5 minutes long?
 
They had a very intimate wedding with both their sets of parents as guests, with me included there was just 7 of us altogether, so it was such an honour to be there!
 
Their friend gave them both brooches as an engagement present, and they each wore them on their wedding day. I loved how laid back and untraditional their day was, and we even had time before they popped off to dinner to have some photos along the south bank.
 
Thank you both! You were such a joy to work with and I wish you both nothing but the very best ♥️

Just under 40,000 edited photos = My 2022! 

THANK YOU TO MY 2022 COUPLES, YOU WERE ALL ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! 

Every year through the winter/spring months I do a series called "10 frames" on my Facebook and my Instagram, where once a week I share 10 photos from each of my weddings from that year. So 40,000 photos became 190 🤯 and they're all in this blog post below.

2022 was a wonderful year for me. I'll be honest mentally and physically there was still a hangover from the uncertainty and stress of "the covid years" (plus two whip lash injuries and other wonderful stuff like that!), but overall it was amazing to properly get back into weddings after that covid time and just hit the ground running properly, with no sudden lockdowns and what not springing out of the blue and turning wedding plans on their head.

Speaking of Covid, after 2 and half years of managing to avoid getting it, it finally caught up with me in July - BOO! Meaning unfortunately there was one lovely wedding I had booked in that I couldn't do. Luckily a great wedding photographer pal of mine was able to step in and so crisis averted. 💪

​​My husband Pete and I also bought our first house and moved in 2022, which was in September, which was also my busiest month of the year work wise (potentially the busiest month I've ever had), so that was a tad full on 😅 but obviously totally worth it!

As I sit here now in my new office, with my dog Scampi snoring loudly while she sleeps on a bean bag, the sunlight pouring through my little window catching the left side of my body in a yummy warming winter pool of light, I honestly feel nothing but contentment and gratitude for the year that I've just had, and such excitement for 2023 and the years ahead.

I hope you enjoy the wedding snaps, and if you would like to book me for your day please visit my contact page.

I genuinely don’t know where to start with this absolute legendary wedding day!
 
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But before that we headed to The Needles for their engagement shoot a couple of months earlier. One wonderful couple + Scotty their Cockapoo + The Isle of Wight looking particularly gorgeous (on the day of Walk The Wight 2022) = YESSSSS!

​A few weeks before the wedding, Lizzie Harry and I went to Seaview, just down the road from the church, for their engagement shoot. Lizzie wore the shoes that she wore on her first date with Harry (cute!!) and it was so lovely to get to know these two and give them time to get comfortable in front of the camera...

​​Their day was fabulous from start to finish!
 
Lizzie wanted all her flowers to be grown on the Isle of Wight, which they were, and the night before all the bridesmaids and her got together and made all the bouquets and buttonholes for the next day, which I have to say looked bangin! The flowers were also put in the girls hair by the ever wonderful Lynzey-Marie.
 
After a walk down to the church and one lovely wedding ceremony later, Lizzie & Harry along with their guests embarked on The Old Girl vintage bus to New Barn Farm, where a surprise Samba band greeted everybody, and Lizzie & Harry even got stuck into the Samba-ing themselves 🥁
 
All the speeches were done on the lawn in the sunshine before dinner, which I LOVED. There was something more intimate and relaxed about it being done outside, and people where free to move and stand where they wanted to.
 
While we were doing couples photos out in the field at New Barn, I released that Harry didn't have his ring on. "Lost it already?!" I joked, which he hadn't but it turned out that for some reason it wasn't fitting properly, so Lizzie was looking after it on her thumb - a whole marriage on one hand!

I really loved being a part of this day and working with this great couple, thank you both for asking me to be your wedding photographer, it was such a pleasure ♥️
 
 
Food, drinks and lighting by The Events Co 
The Flowers grown by The Coastal Gardener 
Wedding cake and desert grazing table by Frostbite Bakery 
Pinstripe Band
The Old Girl Vintage Bus, Southern Vectis 
Fat Samba Band
Third Man Brewing Co.
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I was very honoured to be asked to do some new promo photos for Southern Vectis vintage wedding bus The Old Girl.

She's such a gorgeous bus, that I have seen at many weddings in my time and also had a fair few rides on, so getting time to do a shoot with her, with the help of some lovely ladies, talented wedding suppliers, on our beautiful Isle of Wight, oh what a joy!

Megan Dye- Hairstylist did a fantastic job at organising the entire shoot, and with the ladies hair of course - thank you! (Check her out she's fantastic)

Other suppliers featured are:
Amy Mills - Hair & Makeup Artistry
Bay Tree Florist
Bellemariee Bridal


Please check out Southern Vectis' website here if you'd like to hire this little beaut for your wedding.

Oh Lordy Lordy what a beautiful colourful scrumptious wedding this was! I adored how Sunell & Alice embraced colour into their stunning day at Nunwell House and Gardens 🌈
 
I loved how these ladies went for two very different outfits, but how they both tied together with the flowers in their hair and the pink in Alice’s heels and Sunell’s fabulous pink suit. When the flowers by Sarah Matthews turned up in the morning, I wished I could go back to 2015 and have the exact same ones for our wedding!
 
There were so many happy tears and great moments at this wedding, but also a very laid back and fun atmosphere which I totally digged.
 
Sunell & Alice’s friends also arranged a surprise of the macarena and the cha cha slide to kick the evening off (as they had originally decided not to have a first dance), and boy it kicked off an evening of dancing so brilliantly!
 
Also this was my first wedding at Nunwell House and I really hope it’s the first of many more.
 
Ladies, congratulations on becoming Wife and Wife, and congrats on having a truly top wedding, I wish we could go back and do it all over again! ♥️
 

Alice's dress from Brides of Southampton
Sarah Matthews Flower Styling  
All About Catering  
Crabbies Disco (Andy Crabb)
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​Time to fight the winter gloom with this beautiful sunny summer day!

​On their 20th wedding anniversary, Janaina surprised Graham with a vow renewal with their family and friends at Shalfleet Village Hall. They got married when they were 17 and now have 5 wonderful children, two of which, Brandon & Ebony, did a beautiful musical performance as part of the ceremony.
 
The two renewed their commitment to each other by reading vows which they wrote themselves, which I think are the most romantic vows I have ever heard.
 
This was such a personal event, with everything done by Janaina or a family member (apart from Eazibar who provided the great bar service), really beautiful and easy going with the gorgeous August sun making a lovely appearance. It also featured as part of the BBQ the biggest jar of gherkins I have ever seen - I still probably could have polished off the whole jar to myself if I was left alone with it!

​I loved this one, thank you for letting me be a part of it Janaina & Graham, and here’s to another 20 years!