photography by stefanie | A Vintage Wedding Guide

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.

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

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

Why, hello there you loved up people! How are you all?

I cannot believe that it is already time for Wedding Wednesday. Well, since it is, we are very excited to share with you the wedding of Anna and Phil who were married at Hyde Barn in Stow on the Wold, Cotswolds on Friday 4th October. We were kindly sent this wedding by Stef from Photography By Stefanie. I’ve been a fan of Stef’s work for a while now, and you will see from this wedding as to why.

Now, this wedding looks like it was so much fun – a superhero theme that incorporated, Hot pinks and black, Converse trainers (how adorable do they look on their children?!?!) and a bouncy castle! Oh, I cannot forget to mention their pug dog, Chewie, as a ring bearer! I just love it!

Anyway, enough of me going on, I hand you over to our beautiful bride, Anna…

1. Tell us about the proposal; was it expected, discussed or entirely spontaneous?

Phil proposed on my birthday last year! I knew something strange was going as he was trying to get someone to look after the kids so we could have a ‘romantic Meal’ at home. It was unexpected. We have been together 8 years and have two kids so I’d given up hope lol

2. When did you start to plan your wedding, was your husband involved in the planning or did you both instinctively know what type of wedding you wanted?

I started planning 5 years ago when I knew Phil was ‘the one’. But that was when we didn’t have kids so it all changed. Phil didn’t really have much involvement in the planning he was happy to just know the main details that involved him – the wedding vows and the venue!

4. Tell us a bit more about your day; was it a big or intimate wedding?

It was an inbetweeny wedding, not big but not that intimate, we had 59 people total. This included 9 children. But it was all the important family and friends. There was no body either of us didn’t know!

5. Where did you source your suppliers?

The food and drinks was all done by the venue and everything else I sourced locally. All of our bunting, table runner, confetti cones, table plan, invites etc were all made by myself and family members.

6. Tell us about your photographer, did you feel comfortable with them, what type of service did you get, would you recommend them?

We booked Stef (Photography By Stefanie) plus her second photographer and I would highly recommend them. They are fantastic and work great as a duo capturing fantastic photos some of which we didn’t even notice them taking. We both felt at complete ease during the whole day and had some fun shots.

7. How did you know that your wedding dress was ‘the one’? What about the shoes and accessories?

I had only been to one other dress shop before finding my dress. I’d tried on a few dresses to get the type of style that would suit my shape. As soon as I saw my dress I knew it was MY dress. It was perfect, had the pink detail that I wanted. I had some shoes dyed pink and the accessories I got locally from a jewellers.

8. Did you help choose your husband’s suit?

I chose his suit for him!! He loved it 🙂

9. What did you do to make your wedding personal to you both?

We had a superhero theme as our 2 boys love anything involving super heroes. We also had our Dog Chewie (a pug) as our ring bearer and she was there for the whole day and night. (She is our first baby after all)

10. What favours did you give to your guests, if any?

We had a sweet table instead of doing favours.

11. What was your most memorable part of the day?

The most memorable parts of the day were Just before they opened the doors for me and dad to walk down the aisle. Phil getting the vows wrong twice! Also, Phil doing his speech.

12. What song did you have as your first dance?

We had Gavin DeGraw, More than anyone. Sang by our acoustic guitarist.

13. Where did you go on Honeymoon?

We are going to Thailand. We waited a few weeks after our wedding to tie it in with other family commitments and to make sure the weather on our Honeymoon will be great.

Any tips for our brides-to-be’s?

Do what will make you happy. We had a few ‘funny looks’ when we said our dog was being ring bearer and about our theme. But we stuck with it and it came together brilliantly. Also invite who you want there not who anyone else wants.

Aww, wasn’t that lovely! Which part did you like best? For me, it had to be those gorgeous sunset photographs under the tree of Anna and Phil, oh and of course, Chewie the Pug! 😀

If you are considering a Cotswold wedding (why, wouldn’t you – it’s beautiful over here!) then I would highly recommend Photography By Stefanie. We also love Face Perfect By Jodi, who did Anna’s hair & make-up. As a special offer, you can even book Jodi for hair & make-up and Stef for photography all together. To do so, you can contact Studio Perfect at info@studiotperfect.co.uk for a combined package.

Don’t say we don’t ever give you anything 😉

Until Next Time xxx