Wedding: Choosing Your Photographer

One of the most important aspects of organising my wedding was definitely making sure we had as many memories as possible of our big day! I am the kind of person who gets nervous and anxious easily; my mind starts to race and I become super self conscious. I know that when this happens I find it very difficult to recall what is going on around me and don't tend to remember a great deal. The wedding day is certainly one that triggers anxiety in even the most relaxed bride and it just goes by in a whirl! I therefore wanted to make sure that we documented our wedding thoroughly to look back on and remember the happiest day of our lives. I really wanted every moment to be captured and to have a variety of couple, family and general/reportage style photos, as well as a record of all the little details I had worked so hard on to make our day special!

I was determined to find the right photographer who would be versatile and who could capture all our special moments without being intrusive! After months of extensive searching and looking through numerous websites and portfolios nothing felt quite right. Most photographers had a style that was either very soft, where the photos looked overly casual or very posed and impactful, but lacking the general ambience and emotion of the day. That is until we came across Balance Photography at a wedding show. The photographs in their booth were breath-taking! Many of them had a lot of drama, while others perfectly captured raw emotion. There was a great mix of staged and posed photographs, as well as more natural behind the scenes observations. Another thing that stood out was their really inventive ways of organising group shots to make them fun and interesting. The fact that Balance Photography were a lovely married couple themselves immediately put them at the top of our list.

We met them a month later to discuss the style of our wedding, the photos we wanted, our venue and to generally get to know each other. We then had a little engagement shoot about 3 months before our wedding, which was part of the package. I would very much recommend doing this as it not only gives you some fun photos (that you can maybe use for invites or save the dates), but also allows you to practice a few poses in front of the camera and for your photographer to understand how you interact as a couple and what you feel comfortable with. My husband definitely benefited from this as he built confidence in front of the camera and felt much more natural after getting to know Oliver.

On the day I think having two photographers was a huge advantage and I would really recommend having more than one if you are able to fit it into your budget. On the morning of the wedding Rachel came to my house, where I was getting ready, to take some bridal party photos, while Oliver was at the church snapping away the groomsmen and guests arriving. As we had different venues for the church ceremony, drinks and the reception it was great to have them be able to cover everything so we didn't miss a minute! However, even in a small wedding or with one location having two photographers gives you a much better range of images. For example, as I was walking down the aisle Rachel took all the photos of my bridesmaids and myself with my mother from the back - capturing the back of our dresses, veil and the decorations leading into the church. Oliver was at the front of the church, capturing Luke's reactions as he saw me coming down the aisle, the church scenery from the front and my mother giving my hand to Luke and lifting my veil etc. One photographer would not have been able to capture these special moments and I am so grateful to Oliver and Rachel for working as such a seamless team!

 (Just to illustrate this is the same moment taken by Rachel from the back and Oliver from the front)

Oliver and Rachel are the loveliest couple. They are super friendly, warm and fun to be around and all our guests absolutely adored them! They fitted in so well and made everyone feel really comfortable, which you can definitely tell from the images as there are no awkward poses. As well as knowing what aspects of the wedding day to capture they also have great vision and skill when it came to editing the photographs. Rachel worked so hard in making sure that each image was cleaned up perfectly. We didn't want any heavy airbrushing, but the simplest little touches, such as removing a bridesmaids' scattered shoes in the corner of a photo or even editing out a videographer in the background makes everything look just that little bit more polished!

(In this photo the videographer was standing in front of me, but has been airbrushed out!)

If you are looking for photographers for your wedding, or indeed any special occasion, I would urge you to check out the Balance Photography website. Rachel and Oliver are so lovely, fun to work with, talented and enthusiastic. We really can't say enough good things about them!!

Wedding Series: Update!

I am so happy to say that, just like me in the photo below, our official wedding photos are finally ready and are on their way! 

Though I was a little bit disappointed to have to delay the wedding series posts I promised you, due to our photographers having a backlog of photos to edit after the busy Summer season, I hope they were worth the wait! Here is a sneak peak of two of my favourites...

Please let me know if you have any particular requests. I can't wait to get started on the posts and I hope you enjoy them! xxx

My wedding makeup!

Among all the tutorials, forums and posts on the internet wedding makeup has to be the most requested and hotly debated! I have done a few bridal themed looks in the past, but planning your own makeup can be quite the challenge. I opted for a defined, but classic look not too different from my every day (but a lot more neat and product heavy) as I wanted to look like myself, but the best version of myself... I personally don't think your wedding day is the right time to try anything new or risky and I despair a little when I see brides who never wear makeup suddenly decide to try that dark smokey eye they had always admired in magazines. Not to say they don't look beautiful, but you don't ever want to look back at photos and think that you don't look like yourself.

The most important things to consider are the weather (opt for long lasting, oil free products in the hotter months), your location and wedding style. If you are going for a boho Summer wedding a red lip and lashings of eyeshadow may not look quite right, but may be perfect for a Winter Wonderland theme!

Our wedding was quite a traditional, classic summer wedding with lots of flowers and a neutral palette of blush pinks, ivories and a hint of silver. I therefore went for a classic look with clean skin, defined eyes, rosy lips and cheeks. However, not taking my own advice with regards to preparation in the hurricane of wedding planning it was a week before the big day when I realised I hadn’t even planned my makeup! I had booked an MUA for my bridal party, but hadn’t planned what to do for myself… Luckily being a hoarder I managed to shop my stash and only had a few essentials to pick up. I did a quick (half face) trial the weekend before the wedding and just hoped that my nerves would be steady enough to execute liquid eyeliner on the day!

My top tip for any special occasion makeup where you will be photographed is to go for a base that has little or no SPF and a powder that doesn’t have too much titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, silica or mineral sunscreens. These are the culprits of the intense white glare that you get with flash photography! For longevity you may also want to consider oil free products that verge on the matte or velvet rather than dewy or glowy finishes.

(Quick selfie after I finished my makeup - with flash)

I primed my skin with Clarins Beauty Flash Balm and used Giorgio Armani’s Luminous Silk Foundation which gave a lovely finish without being too heavy. Summer weddings are definitely the most difficult to prepare for in terms of skin as you want to have flawless makeup that will last through the heat well into the night without looking too heavily made up, especially in the day and in bright sunlight. I therefore chose an oil free foundation with buildable coverage and used layers of powder to ensure longevity rather than piling on too heavy a foundation.

For concealer I used various textures on different areas of my face. Under the eyes I used my favourite L’ancome Effacernes mixed with Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer. I find that the L’ancome concealer is pigmented, but light enough in texture to be used under the eyes without too much creasing. It also has a peachy tint that helps to counteract dark circles (and having been woken at 5am on my wedding day mine were awful). The Sensual Skin Enhancer is a much heavier, waxier texture that I used sparingly on top (mainly because it is a much lighter shade) to add some highlight to the under eye area. On the rest of the face I used MAC’s Studio Finish Concealer (from the PRO Conceal and correct Palette) which has great coverage and staying power.

(No flash)

 
To set I used Clarins Mineral Loose Powder pressed into the skin with an old fashioned powder puff. Getting married in July with oily skin I would definitely recommend copious amounts of powder!

For a little contour I used MAC’s Sculpt and Shape duo. I would say this is an absolute must not only for photographs, but also because on your wedding day you are wearing one solid block of white or ivory so your face needs a little dimension to overcome some of the reflection. This duo is great as it contains minimal shimmer so the highlight will not create glare when using flash. I used MAC's Dame as my blush for a cool toned pink flush.

For my eyebrows I used MAC’s brow shader and set them with an old mascara wand sprayed with a little hair spray.

Contrary to the order of this post I actually did my eyes first (except for the mascara) to ensure there was no eyeshadow fallout. I primed with my longstanding favourite Urban Decay Primer Potion in Eden and used Urban Decay Sin shadow all over the lid. I then used a MAC 219 pencil brush and MAC Quarry shadow to define the crease and a MAC 217 brush with Wedge to blend it out. I then dipped in and out various soft brown and muted grey tones to ensure the crease was well defined and blended. I used Urban Decay strange (from the NAKED 3 palette) as my highlight with a tiny bit of MAC Phloof! at the highest point of the Arch. I then finished off the eyes with MAC’s blacktrack fluidline and L’ancome Hypnose Doll Eyes Waterproof mascara (on the lower lashes).

 (Close up from my mini trial)

Given my natural eyelashes are absolutely tiny, and I definitely wanted a more dramatic lash look on my wedding day, instead of risking false lashes that could start curling off in the corners (like they did in our engagement shoot) I had eyelash extensions. These were done by the wonderful  and super talented Asma at her Boudoir Lashes Parlour in Shoreditch (my previous review of her eyelash extensions can be found here with detailed photos). Unfortunately as I was still working all the way up to my wedding day I had to have my lashes done a week before so they were not at their best, but they still looked so much better and more natural than falsies. I was also happy knowing that I didn’t have to worry about them in the heat and through any tears!

For the lips I used my trusty MAC cremesheen lipstick in Crème cup, which is a very natural blue toned pink.

To ensure longevity I touched up my t-zone just before leaving with MAC’s Mineralize Skinfinish Natural and sprayed Urban Decay’s All Nighter Setting Spray. The wedding was at 2pm and given I had to finish my makeup by about 11.30am (so I could do last minute prep and have enough time for hair) I was impressed that it lasted well over 12 hours of rain, sun, smiling, crying and dancing. I touched up with powder twice throughout the day to take away shine, but other than that it was pretty much worry free!

I hope this helps if you are planning your wedding day makeup. I would say a trial is the most important thing - get your makeup done in the morning and see how it lasts throughout the day and night and make sure to take some flash photos in the meantime! Please do let me know if you have any questions. 

Always happy to help! xxx

Our Wedding!

After over a year and a half of meticulous planning, organisation and anticipation on the 5th of July I married my greatest love and best friend. We had the most beautiful day surrounded by our family and friends and my only regret is that it passed by all too quickly! It was absolutely the happiest, most special day of our lives and I am so excited to share it with you all.

We are still waiting for our official photographs (and I am dying of anticipation), but in the meantime I thought I would share a few sneak peeks that our photographers have sent us!

Arriving at the church was such a blur!

Planning a wedding is honestly one of the most overwhelming and demanding, yet enjoyable and fulfilling challenges I have ever had! I really want to share as much as I can with you all in the hope that it may help in some small way if you are planning your own wedding or helping a friend. I feel I have learned a great deal through the process and if I can make anyone else's planning just that little bit easier by recommending an amazing supplier or just providing some inspiration, tips or advice then the hours of wedmin would be made even more valuable!

I will be doing a series of detailed posts about our venues, suppliers, plus all the little extras so please do let me know if you have any particular interests or queries? Even if you are not planning a wedding I do hope you enjoy the photos!