Your Bash, wedding planning [wedding supplier]

I have mentioned before that I only promote and work with people who I like and do an amazing job.  Helen Davies, wedding  and event planner extraordinaire who owns Your Bash certainly ticks both these boxes.  It’s not often that you meet someone like Helen.  Helen has so much drive and passion for what she does.  If I were to plan an event I wouldn’t have to think twice about booking her services.  In fact when we (I say we, mainly my wife Suse!) were planning our wedding, we spent so long researching suppliers and trying to make sure everything was perfect,.  Some of the suppliers we used were absolutely brilliant but others made what was already a stressful time even more so. Helen certainly would have made life a lot easier for us!

Helen puts a lot of effort into meeting suppliers, forging strong relationships with them and understanding the services they offer inside out. Equally, she gets to know her clients just as well, so gains a really good understanding of what it is they want to make their day perfect.. I could spend forever trying to describe Helen’s work but she does a much better job in this post : What exactly does a wedding planner do

 

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Coniston Hotel [wedding]

In December 2010 I had the opportunity to shoot with Steven Gerrard Photography (Steve has just added this wedding to his blog this week so it wouldn’t have been fair for me to blog it first).  Steve was one of those people who’s work I loved so it was great to get the opportunity to second shoot for him.  It was Suzanne and Jonathan’s wedding which was held at the fabulous Coniston Hotel.  I met up with Steve early in the morning and whilst he was photographing Suze getting ready I was with Jonathan and the boys in the bar.

The wedding took place in St Peter’s church just down the road from the Coniston Hotel.  I was up in the rafters photographing the ceremony while Steve stayed at the front.  After the church I went back to the wonderful Coniston Hall where the guests were having a drinks reception and canapes.  My job was to get lots of candid pictures of the guests, while Steve went off for some quiet time with the bride and groom.

When Steve returned with the happy couple, we shot the formals and then headed back to the Coniston Hotel.  There is something special about winter weddings, candles and Christmas lights are wonderful (despite being a photographic challenge!).  Whilst the guests were eating I got the opportunity to sit down with Steve and talk about his business which was an added bonus.

The party started, the fun booth came out and I even got to see Steve do one of his famous night shots.

This was only the second time that I have assisted another wedding photographer. I had fun doing it and it was a great opportunity to see someone else work. Not having met the couple beforehand proved to be a bit of a challenge – it’s much nicer to have built a rapport with the bride and groom before their big day. In all my wedding packages I offer a pre-wedding shoot – this is invaluable as it gives me and my clients the chance to get to know one another,  for the couple to get used to being in front of the camera and to gain my trust. Most important of all, we have loads of fun and get some fab pictures! By the time the wedding comes I’ve got to know my clients pretty well, everyone’s more relaxed and there are no camera faces which means even better shots!

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Photo fun booth

This is a quick post to let everyone know about my photo fun booth.  The fun booth is included in all of my wedding packages (no hidden extra) so if you’re up for a laugh and want to add some wackiness to your wedding photos, it’s there.

Ah, but what is a photo fun booth I hear you ask?

To help get the party started in the evening, I set up the booth (a background with some lighting) in a convenient location (this will have been arranged at the planning stage with the reception venue).  I have lots of fancy dress kit, you and your wedding guests then take it in turns to come up individually or more often in small groups, act daft and have your photos taken!

There are only two rules with the fun booth:

  • To have your photo taken you must dress up (it’s not a prom!)
  • You must have FUN!

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A new year’s resolution

One of my new year’s resolutions is to keep my blogs updated.  I will continue to blog about all the shoots I do including: weddings, pre-wedding shoots, lifestyle portraits and sportraits but as well as this I will talk about wedding suppliers that I would happily recommend and give some general advice. I want to make this blog as interesting and as interactive as I possibly can.

What would you like to read about? All ideas welcome!

 

New Year, new website

Happy New Year everyone.  I hope you enjoyed the festivities?  I am really excited about 2012 as I feel it’s going to be a brilliant year for John Steel Photography.  I believe in a fresh start so to mark this occasion I now have a shiny new website!

I am stoked with the final result and Split Pixel the web developers have done such a fantastic job.  I was after a website that showcased my pictures, provided information but most importantly portrayed my personality.  I think the new site ticks all of these boxes.  I must also say a big thank you to Fiona Kyle who provided the copy for my website – she too has done a great job of capturing my personality.

What do you think about my site? All feedback welcome!

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