Love to Plan Blog

March 9, 2012

To celebrate the sparkly new Love to Plan Newsletter, I have invited a couple of leading wedding specialist companies to give tips and advice on areas within their profession.

Choosing the right Wedding Photographer can be rather stressful, mainly due to the sheer number of them – but also due to their very different photography styles and packages. Not only is it important to choose wisely, but you also need to ensure that you get the most out of them. Martin Mason of Click Here Photography has kindly shared some of his top tips:

“Where’s the photo of my late aunt from Australia who we last saw at my wedding?” “Why have I only got one photo of my Mum?” “Didn’t you take a photograph of my shoes?”…wedding photographers will always take photographs of your immediate wedding party – the bride, groom, bridesmaids, parents etc…but try as we might, we are not mind readers and we need to understand which photographs are most important to you.

Here are a few top tips to help ensure you get the most from your wedding photographer:

Trust your photographer - assuming you’ve booked an experienced and professional photographer (rather than an enthusiastic amateur or relative with a camera); you can be assured that they know what they’re doing and you can trust them to know how to direct you in photographs, and capture the story of your day.  “Posing” seems to be generally misunderstood and often perceived as contrived – but don’t be fooled, even the most natural of bridal portraits will most likely have been posed to some extent – so if an experienced photographer asks you to stand in a dark corner, tilt your hip this way and extend your neck that way, then trust them. You hire us to make you look good!

Be ready when your photographer asks you to be – if you have requested photographs before your ceremony, then you should be in your dress with your hair and make-up finished at the time agreed. Hair and make-up is one thing that can catch you out, so have yours done first. Get into your dress early – it always takes a lot longer than you imagine (especially if you are to be laced into it), and you need to give your body time to adjust to your dress before it is given a final tighten. Being ready on time allows you to enjoy a moment of calm and allows your photographer to get more relaxed images of you.

Allow time for your wedding photographs – you would not believe how fast your wedding day will go by. Timing is everything! When planning your wedding take advice from all your wedding professionals, the vicar/priest, the venue, and your photographer. They are experienced in wedding timings and can give you an accurate idea as to how long things take. You Photographer is one of the only wedding vendors who will be with you for most, if not all of your day – so talk to them and involve them in the planning of your timings.

Consider getting married earlier – probably an hour earlier than you first thought! In practice, wedding days are planned around constraints such as cost; Church to venue proximity; when you want to eat etc. You may find that adding an extra hour comes at no extra cost but allows you more time to enjoy your day, mingle with guests and get the photographs you want.

The group photographs dilemma! – group photographs are normally taken between the time the ceremony ends and the wedding breakfast starts, either at the Church or venue. But group shots take time and there is sometimes a basic choice to be made – do you want more shots of the two of you or more of your guests?

The bigger your group, the longer the shot takes to organise – especially when the champagne starts flowing! Look for ways to combine photographs as this will allow for the best use of time. Choosing to limit your group shots will allow more time for photographs of the two of you and therefore more time with your guests.

Arrange for someone to help gather people together - your wedding photographer won’t know all the relevant people for your group photographs, so arrange for a couple of ushers to find the people needed for each group shot and make have them ready when required.

Speak to your vicar, priest or venue about photographs during the ceremony - on the day of your wedding, if your vicar, priest or venue tells the photographer that they cannot take photographs during the ceremony, they must respect this.  So talk to them beforehand and alert your photographer of any restrictions – they can then plan accordingly.

Know what photographs are important to you - and let your photographer know! A professional photographer will always plan to cover the important aspects of your wedding day but if there is something particularly important to you then let them know. This might include specific people that you want photographed, a special gift from a loved one or even the groom’s sports car! Don’t assume anything – if a picture is important to you – let your photographer know!

For more information on Click Here Photography – visit their website: www.clickherephotography.co.uk

November 16, 2011

As a result of our recent shortlist for the 2012 Wedding Industry Awards, we very pleased to have been featured in the Swindon Advertiser – our local paper!

http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/local/9365167.Wedding_planner_in_line_for_award/

Thanks again to everybody who has voted, and fingers crossed for the end of November announcement!

November 11, 2011

Here at Love to Plan HQ, we are thrilled to advise that our recent Nomination in the 2012 Wedding Industry Awards has led to being Shortlisted! Love to Plan Ltd is one of five Independent Wedding Planners put forward for the South West Region Award. We would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank all of our clients who took the time to vote for us – we really are very grateful and excited to have got this far!

It’s a real honour, and fantastic recognition for all the hard work that we put into our Client Weddings.

The Regional Award Winners will be announced at the end of November…so watch this space and fingers crossed!

October 17, 2011

We at Love to Plan HQ are very much looking forward to the next Swindon Marriott Hotel Wedding Fayre which is taking place on Sunday 30th October 2011 from 11am – 3pm!

The Swindon Marriott is a contemporary 4-star Hotel and holds a reputation for creating beautiful Weddings and superior events – the perfect destination for your big day.

An excellent special offer will be running on the day of the Wedding Fayre…”Break the myth and make 13 a lucky number”…hold your Wedding at the Swindon Marriott Hotel and they will give you 13 bottles of complimentary house champagne to help you celebrate your break with tradition! Terms and conditions apply – further details available on the day. Why not look over their website in advance to find more out about this great venue: www.swindonmarriott.co.uk

Come and join us and take advantage of the venue tours, chat through your Wedding plans and meet an excellent variety of Wedding suppliers who will be exhibiting on the day. We will also have two Fashion Shows, one at 12.30pm and a second at 2.00pm

We look forward to seeing you there!

October 12, 2011

Well…what a success! The first Wedding Fayre at Lackham House run by Love to Plan Ltd took place on Sunday (9th October 2011)…and it was excellent!

Lackham House is a beautiful Wedding venue, so it came as no surprise that we had such a great turnout. Over 100 Brides and their families came through the door to view the fantastic venue and chat to the carefully chosen exhibitors.

The highlights of the day most definitely included the two Fashion Shows, both of which could not have been the success that they were without MOJO Make-Up & Photography and Beauty Call. Both did a fantastic job making over the models and keeping the atmosphere back stage very calm yet exciting!

As a result of the success, Love to Plan will be organising and running their next Wedding Fayre which will take place on Sunday 19th February 2012. In the meantime, Lackham House will be holding an Open Day on Sunday 23rd October 2011 where the venue will be shown off in all it’s Wedding glory – so make sure to stop by and take a look between 11am and 2pm.

Exciting times!