Turquoise, Twigs and Beer : Steph and Tom's Woodland themed wedding

I'm really pleased today, to be able to share some photos from Tom and Steph's wedding in September last year. For those of you not aware, Tom is the genius behind my logo design. So I was over the moon when I was able to give him and Steph my photography skills at his wedding.

Tom and Steph got married at West, the brewery in Glasgow. Theirs was a very personalised wedding - they decided early on that they wanted to have a turquoise theme, and as a pair of self-confessed nature geeks, they wanted a natural theme running through their wedding.

Tom and Steph were also keen to make it a day which was very much all about them. Tom designed the invites (below), and they chose West as their venue, which as well as being next to Glasgow Green where we went for the photos, suited them as a brewery and a restaurant. They also decided not to do things that they felt weren't reflective of them: the meal was a very relaxed barbeque, with no formal place sittings; they didn't have a first dance or speeches. Steph added some handcrafted items, she made gorgeous birds and bunting to decorate their wedding with. The cake, which was frankly amazing, was designed to reflect their theme, and based on their wedding invites. I was also thrilled that Steph had her dress made by fantastic Glasgow based wedding dress designer, Flossy and Dossy.
 

Photographing this wedding was an absolute pleasure - it really had so many things that as a photographer, excited my photographic senses! Congratulations to Tom and Steph, and thanks very much for letting me be a part of your big day. I'd also like to say a big thanks to Zoe Campbell, who was my sharp-eyed second shooter on the day.

Resolution updates....

I thought today I'd write a brief post about my new year's resolutions, and how I'm getting on with them. It's very easy to lose sight of things you set out to do at the start of the year, once old habits kick back in and comfort seems like a more attractive option.

So to recap:

Professional Goals:
1. To provide my new 2012 bookings with a useful information pack.
2. To participate in the 2012 Murrayfield Thee Wedding Show this spring.
3. To hopefully produce more sample products for my wedding show, and showcase some of the gorgeous images that have made me proud of what I do from 2011.
4. To do more photo shoots.
5. Redevelop and assess my website and blog.

Personal Goals:
1. To shape up, so that I can complete a 10k run in the summer.
2. To read more books.
3. Sleep more! Or rather, get a better sleep pattern developed.

So where am I with each?

Professional Goals
1. Well, I've got my first meeting of the year with a couple tomorrow, and another wonderful bride-to-be on Monday, so the information packs are getting rolled out!
2. The wedding show is yet to happen. I've recruited a friend to assist me on the day, and am planning on how to make my stall attractive to potential couples looking to hire me. I'm also due to receive some tickets as well for this, which I'll be giving first to my couples if they're interested.
3. I've also sorted out my budgets for my sample products - which I'll start designing next week.
4. I've already had two photo shoots - one for a commercial client, and another for a fellow wedding supplier. I'm also lining up some more shoots, and had a great recce on Wednesday to find new locations for the shoots. It really feels like they're coming together. I've got more things in the pipeline as well, all in various stages of planning.
5. It's been assessed, and I'm identifying what the best options are. Hoping to have something new sorted out by end of April.

Personal Goals
1. Back at the gym! after a few sessions at the gym, I've also had my first outdoor run earlier this week, which was hard (cold air hitting the lungs wasn't pleasant) but I had a real feeling of satisfaction afterwards. I've also been making a point of going out for a walk on a regular basis, as well as trying to watch what I'm eating. With a bit of effort, I've lost weight already, and it's motivating me to do more.
2. I am reading more books! I discovered a brilliant website, called Goodreads recently. It's a mix of social networking and books - you can see what your friends are reading, how they rate it, and it gives recommendations if you're trying to think of what to read next. I've also set myself an annual reading goal. I deliberately set it at 15 books, because there are times when I am too tired to read after a lot of work, or I don't have time in the day. Since becoming self-employed, I don't have a morning or evening commute, and my weekends are no longer work-free time zones. Fifteen is a little over a book a month, which felt like a sufficient number.
3. Actually, I'm getting better at this... sometimes I do end up staying up later than planned, but mostly I've been quite good at trying to go to bed and give myself even half-an-hour's reading time.

I feel that overall, I am achieving (gradually) what I set out to do. I think after the wedding show, I'll be readjusting my goals for the remainder of the year, bringing in new ones, and also looking at what I did well and what I could have done better with the show.

I hope if you made any new year resolutions that you're getting on well with your plans. My advice though, is that resolutions can be made any time of year, you don't have to wait another ten and a half months to make them if your new year resolutions seemed to last a week - you could even make small, seasonal resolutions. Even if you don't "achieve" it, somehow explaining what prevented you, or what you could do to change it and make it more manageable is a good way of assessing how to make things work positively. Explain anything you didn't achieve, but don't let it be an opportunity to make excuses for not doing it. Even saying "I got bored of doing it", means you need to think of a way of making it more interesting, or assessing what aspects you actually got bored of. If your goal was too broad, for example, find a way of breaking it down into smaller goals. So "getting fit" can seem daunting, but saying "being fit enough to run a 5k by the summer" gives you a set goal and also a set date to achieve it by.


In the meantime, I'll share this with you, which is a wonderful blog feature - I really was on cloud nine when I saw this! I recently had my photographs from Steph and Tom's wedding in Glasgow featured on the incredible Whimsical Wonderland Weddings blog. I'm absolutely over the moon about being featured on the blog. These were also the photos (if you remember) from their gorgeous Loch Lomond engagement shoot .

Across the great divide....

Today's post is a bit special. This post is aimed at anyone who's engaged, and in the process of planning their wedding, and maybe feeling nervous about everything being on time, being delivered, and making the day just as you want it to be. 

I met with my friend Susan recently (who treated me to afternoon tea... she's good like that), and we were chatting about weddings, and what it's like for brides in the run up to their big day. Susan explained that the way she saw it, was as long as she was there, her (now) husband were there, they had someone to marry them, and they had a photographer, that was all that was important to her. And so it was Susan's comment that inspired this post. So thank you Susan, for the scones and the inspiration today.

I decided to ask three married ladies what they were nervous about, and how they felt about those things afterwards. What they would have done differently, and what they feel about in hindsight about their wedding day. Think of it as advice across the threshold of weddings, to brides-to-be from women who've been there, done that, and got the veil.

"I think I'm probably a bit unusual in saying this but I was terrified of being the bride! I hate being centre of attention and am quite shy and reserved by nature. Duncan and mum had to talk me into having a wedding! I wanted to go to Park Circus with two witnesses and no fuss. 



Anyway I'm so glad they talked me into it, I had a fabulous day and have many happy memories of being the 'bride' and lots of lovely photos to look back on.

"

- Wendy



"One thing that I wish I'd done differently was delegate - everyone told me at the time to delegate but I didn't trust anyone to do it right and also didn't want to be a burden, so did most of the planning and organising myself, which resulted in a huge amount of stress in the few months leading up to the wedding. I really was a nightmare to be around, especially for Allan, and would fly off the handle at the smallest thing, just because I had so much on my mind and so much to do. People did tell me at the time to delegate, but I just found it too hard to do.



One piece of advice that I held onto and did definitely abide by on the day was to enjoy every moment and drink it all in as it goes by so fast - I lost count of the number of people who told me that. I was determined on the day to just enjoy it and that if anything did go wrong, there was nothing that could be done about it so I would just have to let it wash over me. Luckily, nothing did go wrong on the day (because I had organised everything!) but I definitely did enjoy every single second of the day.

Oh, another thing that might be a bit of a regret is that we meant to do a line up of just Allan and me before the meal, but completely forgot. And I was dancing for most of the night because I loved all the music, so didn't get a chance to talk to most of the people that were there. I feel really guilty about that and worry that people thought I was being selfish, but I was having such a good time. Not sure how I would change that if I could go back, because I did have such a blast on the dancefloor, but I do worry what our guests must have thought of me, if that makes any sense?

"

- Ariane



"I've heard it said many times that people change after getting married, but we didn't think it'd happen to us because we'd been together for 11 years before then and felt no religious or social pressure to marry. We considered ourselves 'as married' already and were just waiting for a good excuse to throw a party for our friends and family and make things 'official'. 



But were surprised to notice that we do feel different. For one thing, even almost 6 months on we still get a little giddy when referring to each other as husband and wife. But the biggest change is an almost imperceptible one.

Our relationship is the same as it ever was, but we've grown... closer? More secure? More like a family? Certainly not more grown up, although perhaps a greater responsibility to look out for one another; but that doesn't make sense because we looked out for each other before marrying too! Honestly, I'm not really sure I can put my finger on it. But it's there. 

But I'm glad it's there, so I hope my advice won't scare anyone away from getting married!"

- Jenny

Many thanks to Wendy, Ariane, and Jenny for their thoughts! If you've got any comments you'd like to make, advice you'd pass on to brides to be, please feel free to contact me or leave a comment.

Valentines D.I.Y. Heart Baskets

I thought since tomorrow is St. Valentines Day, I'd share with you a little D.I.Y. craft project - heart baskets. 

Traditionally, this is something Norwegian children make at Christmas,  and they hang them on the Christmas tree and fill them with sweets, so it's something you can make again, if you want a little Scandinavian festive cheer in your house next December. It's also very easy to make - so if you've got kids, this is a great little craft project for them to try too. I've tried to explain how to do it as best possible, but I've illustrated it, so the it should be fairly clear, even without my garbled explanations!


I think it's something you could even consider for decorating a wedding if you wanted to - perhaps make a garland with them. I think they've got lots of scope and possibilities for decorative use.

So here's what you'll need: 

• Scissors;
• Scrap paper; 
• A pencil;
• A ruler;
• Two pieces of paper for each side of your heart; 
• Sticky tape for attaching a handle (optional).

First, on your scrap paper, you need to draw out your template. For this heart, I've drawn three columns, 2cm wide each, and 6.2cm in height. Then you want to draw an arch over the top - I used a drinks bottle to give me a curved shape.

Next, cut out your template. Fold your two pieces of paper, and place the template with the straight bottom edge along the fold. Lightly draw around your template, and measure out the three columns at 2cm wide by 6.2cm in height. The height of the columns is slightly longer than the width - this will give you a little more space and maneuverability later on. Do this for each piece of paper.

Cut along the edges of your columns. You should now have two arches that look a bit like this.

Next, you're going to start weaving your heart basket. Start weaving the columns by threading them through one another (e.g. in between), rather than up/under. Threading it through will give you the basket shape.

Keep threading them in and out, between the folded pieces.

Thread in the reverse order for each column. So if your first column went out/in/out, you want the next to start in/out/in.

It's a bit tricky by the last one, but using paper rather than card makes it a little more flexible. This is what it should look like when you're finished.

You should be able to open it up at the top (to put special treats inside!).

If you want, you can attach a handle at the top so you can hang your heart basket up.

You can also try making them in lots of different papers, to make these very sweet little heart baskets!

If you want to download a PDF file of this project, please visit my website here.