{Wedding Wednesday} Kimberley & Jamie’s Engagement Shoot at Hylands House!

Today, we’re delighted to be showcasing a gorgeous engagement shoot from a self-confessed anti-bride! Believe it or not, planning a wedding isn’t everyone’s idea of fun and this couple epitomise those who walk down that aisle only for the right reasons – for love. Not being a fan of the spotlight, the idea of an engagement shoot was, for Kimberley & James, an uncomfortable idea. But, of course, we all know that a good photographer can easily banish that awkwardness and get the best from a clearly very happy couple – and that’s just what Emma from Bloomwood Photography did! Over to the bride & groom-to-be for their story!

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Jamie and I met at 16. We were both at the same college and had no intention of settling down. 8 years, 2 houses, several faraway holidays and a dog later I was stood at the top of the Burj Al Arab being presented with a diamond ring on the sly. No down on one knee, no rose in the teeth, no string quartet. No fuss. No muss – much  like the rest of our relationship, but perfect for us. 

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                        As a die hard anti bride the thought of planning a wedding filled me with dread and nausea in equal measure as well as much eye rolling and sighing, but within days I was up to my eyeballs in venues, centre pieces, favours and flowers and to my surprise, ( and everyone elses) in my element!  
                   The one thing I didn’t waver into my manic wedding planning was an engagement shoot. As a bridal virgin I had no concept of what it entailed let alone if it was ‘me’ (or ‘ us’ should I say! ) but when Emma at Bloomwood photography called to say that I had won an engagement shoot, courtesy of a flippant competition entry one sunday afternoon ( who knew people genuinely gave such extravagant  prizes away!) at non other than our wedding venue,  the gorgeous Hylands House, I felt myself getting excited at the prospect of formally remembering our previously casual engagement. 
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                  Emma made us both feel incredibly comfortable and encouraged us to embrace the spotlight, something previously avoided by the both of us. Thank god we listened and went for it as we were left with an array of both fun and formal images to keep forever, reminding us in the best possible way of our pre wedding celebrations. We framed as many as we could and have never received so many compliments from our family and friends, most of whom nabbed some pictures from the shoot themselves. Our next dilemma will be replacing Emma’s engagement pictures ( a tough act to follow) with our actual wedding collection, courtesy again of Emma of course. 
Huge thanks for Kimberley & Jamie for sharing your beautiful pictures and, of course, to Bloomwood Photography for your gorgeous work, as always!
Do you have an engagement shoot planned? Were you nervous about the idea at first? Let us know your experiences too!

{Wedding Wednesday} Vintage Tandem Bicycles & Hog Roasts In The Countryside; Kath & James

Oh yes, our dear lovely readers – It’s WEDDING WEDNESDAY!

So, what have we got in store for this week? Well, plenty of inspiration and some rather amazing photographs both of the wedding AND the engagement shoot (I know, we do spoil you!) courtesy of Stefanie of Photography By Stefanie.  I’m sure that you will agree that the photography, is as always, wonderful. How adorable is the flower girl? Of course, we are loving the retro car!

Anyways, enough of me rambling on.  I now hand you over to the photographer behind these gorgeous photographs; Stefanie.

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I actually met Kath on a friend’s hen do before she was even engaged and she was so lovely, we all had a fab weekend away in Brighton.  I knew that she had a partner called James but we didn’t really have a chance to get to know each other properly, so I was very touched when she got in contact with me nearly a year later to ask if I would do their wedding photography.

Prior to meeting James, his mother rang me and asked if I would do a portrait shoot for her of Kath and Gemma  (both partners of her 2 sons) and they were all so lovely and welcoming that I knew immediately how great they would be to work with. Following that, I went on to do a pre-wedding couple shoot with Kath and James.  We incorporated their wonderful vintage tandem bicycle, which worked really well and I have genuinely never met such a cute couple!

The best part of the day was, well, anything with Kath in it as she looks stunning – she is such a beautiful woman!  Having a wedding reception at a golf course is a little unusual, but it provided the background of a lovely rolling vista of uninterrupted countryside.  The weather was great and I loved going out onto the course with them to get some fun group and couple shots.

It was a very relaxing day with no pressure or stress; James & Kath had clearly thought through their celebrations from the big bits down to the little details. They used their tandem bicycle from the pre-wedding shoot with a basket on the front as a postbox for their guests to leave cards in which I thought was a brilliant idea! It was a real party atmosphere with a hog roast buffet and kids play area outside. Everyone partied the night away by all accounts!

I spoke with Kath and James at length about the kind of shots they’d like. They weren’t after too many group shots, just a few traditional ones. Mainly, they wanted the shots to tell the story of their day from a natural perspective. I offer quite stylised photography, shooting from unique angles and capturing the essence of a day. Kath exuded vintage elegance and so I tried to reflect this through my photography and from what I hear, they’re thrilled with the results!

Stef’s Top Tips When Hiring A Photographer…

I would suggest having a brainstorm with your partner before meeting with your supplier. This will help you to have a rough plan or idea in your head about the type of service you’re after. So many couple come to me without having thought about what they’d like out of the photography. This is completely fine of course as weddings to tend to develop organically as the day progresses, but if you’ve chatted about it first, it helps you both to understand what you’re looking for from your photographer and will help ensure you get the right results.

I‘m currently writing a 10 part blog giving advice regarding each big stage of organising a wedding so for more advice and tips, do keep an eye on my blog page: http://photographybystefanie.wordpress.com

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I couldn’t resist leaving this photograph until the end – I love it! So carefree and oh, so in love…

Remember, Stefanie does travel and would be more than delighted to be your photographer! Please do get in touch with her to find out more.  We highly recommend.

Until Next Time xxx

Get your skates on! Tim & Tam’s Rollerworld Engagement Shoot

Well, do we have a treat for you today!! When I saw this engagement shoot on Elizabeth Lois Photography‘s Facebook page, I just KNEW it had to be featured on A Vintage Wedding Guide! It’s just awesome. I love a bit of skating, especially at Rollerworld in Colchester and to have an engagement shoot there is just inspired! Over to Elizabeth Lois to tell us a bit about the gorgeous couple!

Tim and Tam are just amazing, we absolutely LOVEEEEEE them to bits!
We were very lucky to be introduced to them through a mutual friend, who recommended us for their wedding in March next year!
Rhoddy and I had a wacky idea that we really wanted to shoot a retro style engagement session on roller skates for agessssss, and after having met Tim and Tam we knew that they were the right couple for the job!

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Tim and Tam had exactly one year to go until their wedding day on the weekend of their engagement shoot and hadn’t ever really been on roller skates before! They were rolling around all over the place with no problems at all within minutes, they were SO good! :D

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Many thanks to Rollerworld in Colchester for giving us permission and access to shoot nice and early on a Sunday morning, and many many thanks to Tim and Tam for bringing our ideas to life!

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To see more of Elizabeth’s gorgeous work, visit her website here