There is a growing trend for photographers to cover all aspects of the wedding day, from the early morning preparations through to the last guest at the evening reception. Melissa from Looking Glass Photography has a wealth of experience and has written this article to give brides an insight in to what they can expect from her approach.

“The thought of being snapped while getting ready may make some brides a little nervous. However, in my experience, this is a photographic opportunity not to be missed! It is the perfect time to get some gorgeous shots of the bolder bride, looking her best in her wedding lingerie. Being a female photographer can be a real advantage at this time and I am always highly respectful of the shots brides wish to have taken and those they wish to avoid! With brides preferring a little more privacy, the photographer can focus on the fun hustle and bustle, and special moments of the bride and her close family and friends, before the formality of the wedding day kicks in. By being there from the very beginning, the photographer helps the bride and bridal party to become more relaxed in front of the camera.

Capturing beautiful detail shots – which look fabulous in the album - is also best done at this time. To help create the optimum setting and mood for these shots, there are a few things the bride can do:

· If possible, choose a room with big windows and plenty of natural light

· Try to keep clutter and anything that is not wedding related to a minimum– wedding shoes, invitations, the veil, flowers, jewels are all fine. Do flag to the photographer if there is an item that is particularly special

· Hang your dress up - ready to go - so it provides an aesthetic back drop to shots and also enables your photographer to capture the dress before you put it on

· Plan to leave plenty of time to put your wedding dress on (complicated corsets and buttons can often take longer than you predict). It is best to try not to rush final portraits before the ceremony when you are at your perfect best!

Although the wedding is obviously all about the bride (!), it is also becoming more of a trend, if the opportunity arises, to photograph the groom and guys making their final wardrobe adjustments. In addition to being able to report back to the bride about how the boys are getting on (but don’t tell your husband-to-be I suggested this!), it is fun for the bride to see these shots when back from honeymoon and like-wise, grooms are always curious to see what the girly morning entailed!

Preparation shots make for a superb introduction to the story of your day in your wedding album. When it comes to choosing shots for the album, most brides I work with surprise themselves with how many preparation shots they absolutely love and decide to include.”

For more information, please contact [email protected] or visit her stand at the Harrogate show in September 2011.

“My name is Chris Denner, and I’m a photographer with over 12 years practical experience.

Your Perfect Day was created out of my desire to create a more personal type of imagery for weddings. Gone are the clumsy, stiff portraits and instead I supply my clients with wedding photographs that are beautiful, innovative and natural. I’ve shot weddings all over the world and love mixing romance with creativity and inspiration, to create beautiful wedding photography.

Weddings are fun, fabulous events, full of colour and emotion and as such I love turning my mischievous eye to capturing photographs that you will love and cherish for years. This way of shooting has gained me a reputation as one of the UK’s most exciting wedding photographers.

I pride myself on my friendly, enthusiastic and honest service, and promise to treat you and Your Perfect Day as unique. Clients have told me that they love the relaxed and authentic way I deliver service, as opposed to other wedding photographers that can come across as clumsy, unnatural or inappropriate.

So no matter if you are planning a very large event, or you’ve chosen a more intimate affair, you can be confident that I will provide you with stunning bespoke photography that you will treasure forever.”

Chris can be contacted at his studio on 0116 2616826 and will be exhibiting at the Ricoh show in January 2012.

Visit the website for more information about Chris’s work at www.yourperfectday.me.uk

What’s Booth Revolution? It’s you laughing so hard with your friends there’ll be tears in your eyes. A fun addition to any event and the perfect way to entertain guests at your wedding reception, the photo booth craze steadily sweeping the UK has finally arrived in Yorkshire.

Founded by wedding and portrait photographer Peter Leese and his business partner Susie Hughes, Booth Revolution provides a photo booth hire service for weddings, parties, birthdays, charity and corporate events, to name but a few.

The trend which started out life in the US has quickly become the latest entertainment to have at your wedding reception.

Susie Hughes, Creative Director said: “We decided to start the business after chatting to couples about what they wanted out of their wedding photography. The desire to have fun and spontaneous pictures of their guests was a recurring theme. We had noticed how popular photo booths had become in the States and the idea just grew from there.”

After researching the different types of photo booths available, they chose to design their own. So what prompted that decision?

Peter Leese, Director and Photographer said: “As a photographer I was concerned with the quality of lighting in some of the conventional booths. We decided early on that we wanted our booth to produce studio quality prints. We also wanted to be able to fit larger groups of people in, so the only way round it was to design one ourselves”

The resulting booth is impressive. It’s fully automated and its unique shape makes it one of the most spacious photo booths available. Fitted with the latest digital technology and lighting system, it produces studio quality images, but retains the retro appeal and fun of the old fashioned machines.

So how does it work? The Booth Revolution team will arrive and set-up their photo booth with a selection of stylish backdrops to choose from. They can custom design these to fit the theme of your event. They provide silly props for inspiration. You and your guests can do the rest!

After pressing start the camera takes four shots at four second intervals, giving you just enough time to strike a different pose for each one. The resulting images capture people in a spontaneous way, being themselves. What could be more fun than that?

As well as hiring their booth out for weddings, it has proven popular in other situations.

Susie went on to say: “All events are different. Whether it’s a product launch, store opening, party or fundraiser, our photo booth provides unique entertainment that your guests will remember long after they’ve gone home. It’s also a fantastic branding opportunity, with the ability to display logos and text on all prints. We also offer numerous affordable ways to brand the outside of the photo booth with your corporate identity.”

Based in Harrogate, they cover the entire Yorkshire region and will travel to most destinations in the UK.

For more information about Booth Revolution or booking a photo booth for your event, visit www.boothrevolution.co.uk, call 01423 206277 or email [email protected]

Choosing your wedding photographer can be one of the most expensive, daunting and difficult wedding services you will arrange. As well as a love for their style of photography, you need to feel comfortable and relaxed in their presence, otherwise you will not enjoy your day.

We spoke to Jose Cardoso, a highly sought after photographer from the North West, who gave us an insight in to how he works and some tips on what to look for when choosing your photographer.

“I often get asked what style of photographer I am, which I find difficult to answer as I feel my style is quite unique to anything else on the market. Brides will often say to me that I work very quickly and unobtrusively, so much so that they forget I’m there! The only time I require the full attention of the Bride and Groom and guests is when we shoot the group photos, which also tend to be quick, casual and fun.

I always take the bride and groom on a pre wedding shoot a few weeks prior to the day and this gets them used to me and how I shoot, and what I am looking for on the day. This never fails to get them 100% relaxed in front of the camera, allowing them to enjoy their wedding day rather than focusing on what I am shooting.

My advice would be to take a good look on the Internet and do your research; a good photographer will have a blog which they are constantly updating as they will want to show you their continual high standard of work by uploading ‘actual’ real weddings. You will soon know who you like and who you don’t!

It is so important that you choose the photographer for their particular style of shooting and not because they are good, it is wrong to ask a contemporary photographer to shoot a formal wedding when this is not their style. It is amazing how many people ask us to do just this!”

Jose’s work is very popular among young couples looking for something different. His work is consistently one step ahead of the game, with his experience in the fashion industry, and his ability to think ‘outside the box’, sending his images into a whole new dimension of wedding photography.

Jose’s work can be viewed on his blog here www.fotografy.co.uk/blog

Jose Cardoso 07738365040 [email protected]

Meteor meet and greet announces a specialist seasonal service for stressed-out newlyweds.

With the wedding season now in full swing and Kate Moss and Jamie Hince marrying right at its peak, this Saturday, 2 July, thousands of brides across the country will be dreaming of their honeymoon but have left how they will get to the airport until the very last minute.

Meteor meet and greet, the UK’s favourite meet and greet parking operator has launched its own specialist ‘emergency’ wedding service for stressed-out brides and grooms who haven’t had time to think beyond their big days, to the day after. The service will run from Saturday, 2 July until the end of October.

Meteor meet and greet takes the pain out of parking for over 100,000 travellers each year, by sending members of its professional uniformed driving team to customers at the terminal to take their car away and look after it in a secure compound for the duration of their trip.

As the nation’s favourite meet and greet parking provider, with 27 years of dedicated meet and greet experience, Meteor meet and greet runs dedicated services for business travellers, families, skiiers and for a short period only, honeymooners. Meteor meet and greet provides parking services at major airports throughout the UK, including Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool.

Sarah Anglim, Director of Meteor meet and greet parking, says: “Brides are often famously late for weddings – but you’d be surprised how many struggle to make it to the check-in desk on time! Meteor meet and Greet has delivered 1,000 newlyweds to the airport in the last year alone – and always with the space for a relaxed glass of champagne before departure. No matter whether you are an über organised or ‘last minute’ kind of bride, we’ll get you to check in with plenty of time to spare. Meteor meet and greet ensures stress-free and straightforward journeys for all its customers.”

For more information please contact the Meteor Meet and Greet team

at Launch Group on 0207 758 3928 or email: [email protected]

‘The seating plan’ - three words that have a habit of causing hours of stress and headache for many brides and grooms to be. It’s widely recognised that working out who’s going to sit where at your wedding reception can be one of the most stressful parts of planning a wedding. Even those fortunate enough to have relatively uncomplicated families can find themselves struggling to work out how they’re going to arrange three groups of five friends onto two tables of eight.

The top table can often be the hardest to arrange. It can be a nightmare to work out where to sit parents that have separated and perhaps have new partners and often you’re left to decide which parent you risk upsetting by leaving off the top table.Then there’s Aunt Maud and Aunt Edna who can’t be seated together because they haven’t spoken in years, but both will be offended if they’re not sitting with immediate family near to the top table. There’s also the dilemma of where to sit children, other elderly relatives and those few colleagues from work you’ve invited that don’t really know anyone else.

Fortunately there are a few golden rules that you can follow that’ll take much of the headache out of arranging your wedding seating plan.

Start Early - Many couples naturally leave the seating plan to the last minute, waiting for all the RSVPs to come back first. They start the seating plan a few days before the wedding, not realising how long it’s going to take and end up in a complete panic when they should really be enjoying those few days. Instead, start the seating plan as soon as you can, even before any RSVPs have come back at all! There’s bound to be plenty of close family and friends who you’re sure are coming anyway and you can work out where they’re sitting right away.

Have an Alternative Top Table - If the traditional top table layout doesn’t work for you, don’t be afraid to try something different. There are plenty of alternatives including having a romantic ‘sweetheart’ table for two! Or have all the bridesmaids and ushers on the top table and ask parents to host ‘VIP’ tables of immediate family.

Different Sized Tables - Trying to arrange everyone onto tables of eight can be really tricky so ask your venue if they can accommodate a few different sizes. It’ll make your seating plan a lot easier!

Finally, try and do what’s right for you and don’t feel pressured to put certain guests on certain tables. Ultimately it’s your day and all your guests should respect that, as difficult as that might be for some!

This is a guest article that was written by Adam Leyton from www.toptableplanner.com

Adam set up Toptableplanner in 2007 as a solution to the problem of arranging wedding seating. Instead of drawing endless circles on pieces of paper or getting buried in Post-It notes, you simply move your guests around the screen until you’ve created the perfect plan. You can save different versions to see what works best and last minute changes are a breeze! There’s a free trial on the website so you can see for yourself just how easy it is.

With wedding season well and truly upon us, those making their last minute plans should take stock. Whilst doing so, their number one on the list of priorities should be making sure that they have adequate wedding insurance.

Wedding insurance is no longer a privilege of the rich and famous, although it is almost a certainty that the recent royal wedding had insurance cover in the event of some catastrophe. An average traditional wedding will set you back a whopping £20,000 at today’s rates, so it would be financial suicide to have all that at risk without having some kind of insurance protection. That is one of the main reasons why many couples and wedding planners have wedding insurance at, or very near, the top of their list of things to do.

As the popularity of this type of insurance has proliferated, so has the competition, therefore the overall cost has gradually come down. This has made it affordable for even the most modest budgets. With premiums starting at around just £20 for the most basic cover, there is no excuse for not taking this type of insurance out to protect your wedding.

If you want to strike some kind of balance between the cost of the insurance and the cost of any loss or damage during your wedding and afterwards at the reception, you should make a list of your commitments and prioritise them according to their value.

Most people would have the cost of the venue at the top of their list, along with the cost of the wedding attire including the wedding dress, groom and best man attire and the bridesmaid’s outfits. After that, you will probably have a list of the services you have hired, like the caterers, wedding flowers and entertainment. One thing that you should bear in mind is that you not only need to insure yourselves against loss or damage to physical items, but the cost of say, finding a new venue at the last minute due to double booking, or the caterers go bust. It may sound extreme, but these things are surprisingly common.

You only need to take a quick look at the top ten list of claims made against wedding insurance policies to realise just how common some of these events are, and how much they cost to correct. One item that is often overlooked as not necessary is Public Liability insurance. You are making a big mistake by omitting this particular type of cover. You only need to watch daytime television to realise just how many accident claim companies and solicitors there are out there searching for people who have had an accident or some kind of accidental loss whilst on third party premises. As the organisers of the event, you could be found liable for these claims and they can run into thousands of pounds.

Do not let something like that ruin your day, especially when the premiums for this type of insurance are relatively small. Your wedding day is already stressful enough without having to worry about some guest tripping over something!

This guest article was written by Adam Leyton from www.compareweddinginsurance.org.uk, a wedding insurance comparison website that compares a number of leading UK providers of wedding insurance.