For our #TBT post we present Katie and James: A gorgeous couple and a wonderful day!
Hey all!
Whenever anyone finishes off a big project they usually have a wealth of hard won knowledge. Knowledge that they often wish they had possessed when they started. Planning a wedding is no different. After the bouquet is tossed, the dress stored and the honeymoon…am…mooned (?) every bride has a nice grab bag of tips for the newbs (also known as those-with-the-really-blinding-shiny-bling-that-is-yet-to-need-a-clean).
In times gone by this invaluable knowledge would be lost, or at best shared between a small group of friends and family but in the 21st century we no longer have to let this knowledge dissolve into the ether! we can let the whole world know of our wisdom! And immortalise that wisdom on the internet forever (almost).
Here is one such bride with a few handy ‘hacks’ for the new bride to be. While a couple of tips maybe more suitable for the American market, most of what she says is good for the Aussie bride to 🙂
Enjoy!
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So, anyone who knows me will know that I am a nerd. I own a sonic screwdriver, I have Hermione’s wand, I have a Captain Kirk T-shirt (original series not reboot), My SMS tone is BB-8 chattering away, I know who the Winchesters are and Benedict Cumberbatch is a demigod (although he can’t say penguin for the life of him). I could go on. Its probably no surprise then, that I love the idea of nerdy engagement (and wedding) rings. Below are my favourites (Although I think the wonder woman ring is perhaps the most fitting -anyone who manages to plan a wedding is clearly in possession of superpowers).
PS. The cake is a lie ! (sorry, I couldn’t resist a Portal reference :-))
Enjoy!
Images taken from Mashable and Buzzfeed
Alanda & Shane had a beautiful summery wedding, to check out their slide show go to our facebook page or click the pic below.
Michelle and Russell are two of our best friends so it seemed natural that they would hire us to take their wedding photos. It was double duty for me as I was also a bridesmaid!
Singlefile winery in Denmark was the perfect setting for the vintage inspired wedding theme that Michelle had painstakingly put together. The weather also played its part well; it was sunny and beautiful with just an occasional gusty wind (we almost lost the veil to the pond/lake but I managed to save it!). The marquee ‘vintage country style’ reception was breath-taking, with Singlefile giving it a spectacular backdrop.
Michelle looked stunning in a gorgeous lace gown from Aubrey Rose, which featured a full train; the look was completed with a simple cathedral veil. The bridesmaids wore wonderful pink and cream floral dresses from Review (which we all agreed were very cute and definitely re-wearable) complemented with beaded belts. The bouquets were a delightful mixture of greens, pinks, cream and white which complemented the theme of the wedding beautifully.
Singlefile has a deck that extends over a pond that is surrounded by huge eucalyptus trees providing a lovely setting for the wedding ceremony. The couple looked amazing together with Russell clearly besotted by his beautiful bride. Michelle couldn’t stop smiling at her beau; Russell proved so much a distraction for our bride that she valiantly tried to put his ring on the wrong finger (which resulted in much cute giggling) but eventually she realised her error and the ceremony continued as expected. After the ceremony the bridal party remained at Singlefile for their shots, before the couple departed for some more photos of just them two at various Denmark locations, including Greens pool.
Returning in the evening to their chic wedding reception, they partied the night away, dancing and mingling with friends and family. At 11:00 a sparkler farewell was prepared and the couple departed; a perfect end to a perfect day.
Congratulations Michelle and Russell, we may be biased but you guys were awesome, may you have many happy years ahead of you!
So, like many women, I have a bit of a shoe thing going on. I particularly like vintage or rockabiliy shoes and sometimes even goth. But lets face it, if its cute and pretty I will probably want it (I think I just heard my husband groan).
Recently I stumbled across the quirkiest wedding line of shoes I have ever seen. Irregular Choice (Yep, that’s their name) usually make weird and wonderful shoes; you have to be into Quirky with a capital Q to be able to pull of most of their range but they are fun to look at 🙂 Now IC have a wedding line! Its pretty out there but I felt the need to share it -I would love to see one of these pairs on a bride, just so I could take photos of the little darlings! below are some of my favs but go to
Irregular Choice Wedding Collection to see more.
Unfortunately they are not cheap, prices range between 70 -149 pounds, but if you want original looking shoes these guys are it, from bride and groom heels to light-up sneakers to demure pink lace pumps they probably have something for most of us!
So, you have booked a great wedding photographer (perhaps, even Filip Welna Photography, you lucky people with fabulous taste ;-)).
To ensure great wedding photos this is half the battle, but if you really want to maximize the great shots, there are a few things you can do to help. Choosing great locations for your photography is a big plus. In this blog I will look at how to get the best out of your bride or groom prep shots.
Most couples put a lot of thought into their prime wedding locations i.e. the ceremony, the on-location bridal party pics and, of course, the reception, but often forget about their preparation location. You might be wondering why it matters, but during your prep we take a lot of pics of the hustle and bustle of the build up to your wedding; photo’s that are often fun and quirky. We also take shots of any details; your shoes, veil, flowers, rings, jewellery. Finally, in the bride’s case, we take portrait photos before you take a step outside top meet the elements. You will really look your most perfect at this moment – your makeup will be fresh, your dress will be (relatively) crease free and your hair will be perfect. Often it is at this stage that we get some the nicest photos of our brides, so it really helps if the place you are getting ready in has the following features:
- Good natural lighting
Natural lighting will always produce the nicest photos, so it is always great to find a preparation location that has plenty of it – think a room with large windows that allows lots of light in. You don’t want the light to be too harsh, so preferable no direct sunlight streaming into the room, but you do want the room to be reasonably bright (See examples below). Your makeup artist will always go for the spot with the best natural lighting, which means at least some of your prep photos will be in this location. While often we are lucky and this is in a living room, we have watched some poor makeup artists squeeze into a small kitchen because it was the only place with reasonable lighting. Let me tell you, no matter what we do, literally having the kitchen sink in your photos is not a good look.
- No clutter
So you have found the room, now its time to de-clutter it. Take away anything that doesn’t need to be in the room – random papers, odd magazines, trinkets etc. In a photo the little things can often prove distracting. Also consider if the room can have less furniture in it, you want to make it spacious. Once your makeup artist and hairdresser arrive they will bring a lot of stuff with them, so they need the space (not to mention the photographer). - Mirrors
Generally speaking having a nice upright moveable mirror is really a plus, but if your room has a nice big mirror that is also good. We can take lots of nice photos of you checking your makeup, putting on perfume, looking at your dress in the mirror, below are few examples of mirror shots.
- Consider getting ready at a friends/ family members place
If you have looked at your home and feel like there is no good place for your prep, consider asking a friend or family member to use their house or apartment. We usually all have that one friend or family member who has a gorgeous well lit house, see if they would be willing to let you use it for your bridal prep. - If all else fails, consider staying at a b&b or hotel
If all else fails, there are plenty of beautiful places in Perth for getting ready, particularly in the valley if you are getting married there. Just a cautionary note – do check it out before you book and consider realistically if it works as a prep location – hotel rooms can be small and if you think you need to get 6-9 people ready they may just prove to crowded to be useful, unless you hire more than one room.
Lastly, as a side note, it’s always worth considering travel times in your prep location. When you hire Filip Welna Photography you get us for the day. But if you position your prep location 1hr away from your ceremony, we loose that hour to travel, which means you loose an hour of photography. So if you position your self 15mins away instead, you just gave yourself an extra 45min of photography!
Happy Location hunting!
We design so many gorgeous albums, so its probably about time we shared some excerpts from our efforts. These are a few pages from Cat and Mike’s Wedding day. Cat’s uncle has some really sweet classic cars which we couldn’t help but use to full effect in the album. The day was truly awesome!
Check out those wings!
Looking wonderful in red.
Our gorgeous couple looking dashing
Cat and Mike were a joy to work with and we thoroughly enjoyed our day with them at the stunning Caversham House.
A couple of nights ago I was re-watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (who isn’t a fan!) when I noticed Fleur’s beautiful and unique wedding dress. While we don’t get that much screen time for it I though it worth bring to any budding brides-to-be, particularly if they don’t want the whole traditional white dress thing. According to the Harry Potter wiki,
“French designer, Jany Temime, said that “Fleur’s dress was made in organza and decorated with a pair of phoenixes that face each other on the bodice and form the silhouette of a heart. I chose the phoenix because, like love, it is eternal.”[1]”
It is a lovely and unique dress and if you watch the movie it has a lovely flow to it as well. Fleur also had a matching head piece in a black lace design which was also quite eye catching.
I have noticed that colour is slowly creeping into wedding dresses, whether as a brightly coloured sash, or a blush tinged dress (very popular in the stores), white is not the only option a bride has these days. If you’re into getting a dress custom made and designed there really are no limits to what you can wear. We love seeing original wedding dresses on our shoots, and, even though the vast majority would be classed as traditional, sometimes a playful addition can really make the dress something special.
If you’re not bold enough to change the colour of your dress, why not just wear some brightly coloured shoes – we have seen red, pink and blue heels on our brides, which were an unexpected but lovely surprise.
Just a quick note, this is the pic used in the thank you card for one of our recent weddings! Looking good Jemma and Sam 🙂
What our Couples say….
Thank you very much for being our wedding photographer. You and your beautiful wife have done an amazing job. From the onset of our first meeting we were very confident in that choosing you as our photographer that we had made the right decision. We applaud your work, from the way you conduct your business, the countless hours and effort you put in, right down to the fine detailed spectacular finished product. Please know that as well as monetary gain, you also have our copious appreciation.
We will recommend you to everyone we know, and probably even people we don’t.
Mark & Sarah