Planning Your Wedding – Insider info from NKW Weddings.

March 4, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Today’s article come from Nadine at N.K.W. Weddings. They are experts in helping you to plan, run and design your big day. They work hard to make sure that no detail is left undone and that your day will flow beautifully. Here’s a bit about Nadine and her business:

I’ve been planning and co-ordinating weddings professionally since 2005 having trained at the Wedding Planner School.
Before that I seemed to always be the one organising family events, the charity days at work and helping friends organise their weddings which really led me into this profession. I have always absolutely loved weddings and the whole happy atmosphere that is created on the day. I’ve always thought it such a shame though when things don’t go to plan and as a guest worried for their music or candles fading along with any atmosphere they had hoped for.
Oh to have one person taking care of these little details for you and to ensure everything is in place, on schedule and kept true to your wishes for the day. That one person who will be on your wavelength and just know what to do and when, this is why N.K.W Weddings was created.

Since then, I have moved the business into venue decoration and hiring centrepieces, also realising how difficult these aspects can be. N.K.W Weddings now has a wonderful little shop in Poundbury for all those hard to find details and reception accessories. This is how I came into contact with Courtenay as he had taken wonderful shots for Chloe and Ben with their stunning umbrellas supplied from the shop. Chloe and her Mum had also chosen our Oversize Martini Glasses for their reception tables and wonderful they looked too in their marquee. It is great to hear back from our Brides and their families and I love to see the photos and how well everything turned out.

I am still true to the wedding planning which I consider to be my main role. No two days are ever the same for me and I so enjoy meeting new couples, visiting venues and suppliers and getting to know everyone for a new event. I like to build good working relationships with the companies that I come into contact with to ensure that the best wedding day can be achieved for our couples. I like to be discreet on the big day and just quietly work behind the scenes to ensure that all is perfect and to plan. Quite often by the time we reach the wedding day, I will have gotten to know the couple and their families well and being there for the final preparations and watching their ceremony can be very emotional.

I begin the day very early and liaise with all parties during the festivities, probably having walked miles by the end of the evening. I wouldn’t swap it though, when everything has worked beautifully and everyone is having a great time, I take my leave from the party knowing that the bridal couple are completely thrilled with their big day.

I have to say that I actually miss my couples afterwards as you can’t help to become involved in their hopes and anxieties.
So when the new Mr and Mrs keep in touch, it is just great. Only last week, I heard wonderful news from Sarah and Mark that they will become three this year!

How great is my job?!!

Best wishes Nadine

www.nkwweddings.co.uk

Wedding Photography Dorset – Courtenay Photographic

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Planning Your Wedding – Insider info from Chococo

March 2, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Today’s article comes from the lovely people at Chococo. They make all things wonderful in scrummy chocolate! Here is Sally to tell you more:

It seemed like a perfect union when Courtenay contacted us about making personalised chocolate treats for his clients – we were happy to create beautiful bespoke chocolate hearts, with ribbon to match his corporate image, which went down well with both Courtenay and his clients alike!

The world of fine chocolate is a wonderful one full of glorious beans such as criollo, trinitario, cacao nacional & carenero superior, all grown in exotic equatorial countries, each creating chocolate with very different, complex flavour notes which are also influenced by how it is grown, harvested & processed…similar to wine & quite fascinating. As a Dorset based, husband and wife led team, we make fresh, multi-award winning handmade chocolates using the finest Venezuelan Origin chocolate & fresh local produce.

Here at Chococo, we specialise in making the perfect wedding favours to match each couples’ wishes:

The Gift boxes – We can offer a range of bridal packaging options from traditional favour boxes to more contemporary boxes, organza bags or clear bags tied with ribbon. Our boxes and bags are available in a wide variety of colours (with white, silver & gold being most popular) Ribbons & chocolates to match your colour scheme – We can finish with satin or organza ribbons (all we need is a fabric swatch to match to) to fit in with your colour scheme of the day.We can also wrap certain truffles in coloured foil to enhance a desired colour scheme.

The chocolates – Choose any of the handmade chocolates from our range that you would like to put inside your gifts. Champagne, raspberry or vanilla fresh cream truffles and praline-filled milk or dark chocolate hearts decorated with edible silver leaf are the most popular wedding choices.
A smart finishing touch – Finally, we can personalise the label on the outside or inside of your gift to reflect your choice of chocolates, the date of your wedding or a message from you.

For further information for wedding chocolates, please contact Sally@chococo.co.uk who will be very happy to help create your chocolate gifts.

www.chococo.co.uk tel: 01929 421777


Wedding Photographer Dorset – Courtenay Photographic

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Planning Your Wedding – Insider info from Enzos

February 25, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Today’s tips come from Sue at Enzo’s Hair and Beauty Salon, They do wonderful things with my Brides hair and makeup. Sue runs the the whole show but is predominantly in charge of the hair salon, so today’s hints and tips are about hair and how to make you lovely brides look stunning on your special day. I thoroughly recommend both Sue and Sarah (beauty salon), they are simply fantastic at what they do. Over to you Sue:

Hi my name is Sue and I am the proprietor of Enzo’s salon, whilst my daughter concentrates on the beauty side of the business my main concern is the running of the hair salon.

A girls wedding day is the most important day in her life! She wants it to be just perfect, right down to the tiniest detail and this of course includes her appearance, dress, makeup and hair!
Very often a Bride to be starts to book the important things like her venue and photographer at least 12 – 18 months before her big day. We would also advise you to source you hair stylist around this time to avoid disappointment, as many good stylists will be booked up this far in advance.

Okay to get down to the subject of your wedding hair, first and foremost make a plan!

Think about the styles, look in magazines, and tear out designs you like, keep them safe in a file for reference. Now do you need to grow your hair? This of course will give you more style options and if this is the case, start growing now! However I would still advise that you have regular trims, conditioning treatment and keep up a good routine of home care in order to keep your hair in tiptop condition. All these things will help when it comes to finally styling your hair for your big day. If you are a girl who colours her hair or wants this done for her wedding make sure your last appointment is at least two weeks before your wedding day.

Consultations with your chosen stylist on a fairly regular basis are important. Information is always the key to a successful relationship with your stylist and will lead to you being more than satisfied with the end result. Some of the important information that is overlooked is as follows (I know some of these things seem obvious but believe me, these are all things that are often forgotten):
1) Wedding Date
2) Time of ceremony including travel time
3) Venue
4) Dress style and colour (images always helpful)
5) Number of Bridesmaids and anyone else to be included
6) Tiara & Veils
7) And if we are not doing the make up as well, details of who is!

Bring pictures to your consultations of styles you like (as mentioned earlier) and the dress you have chosen, it is very important to match your hair with your dress style. It is also important to remember that very often the style you might like might be extremely challenging when faced with your actual hair type (length, shape, colour etc). However, not to worry as these days there are many wonderful things that can be done – for example Extensions and Hairpieces. These are some of the things we may need to discuss at your consultations and a trial needs to be done at least four weeks prior to your wedding day.

Some final tips:

1) Always go for a design that gives comfort, never choose a look that you wouldn’t normally dare to try, familiarity is key.
2) Book well in advance to avoid disappointment, don’t forget good stylists like photographers book up early.
3) Communicate with your stylist; there is no point in being unhappy with something and not saying so, if we don’t know we can’t fix it.
4) Build a relationship with your stylist; this is key, as with all business relationships it is important you get on well. If this cannot be achieved move on and find someone you do click with.

Well that’s all from me for now, if you would like to find out more about our services or to book in a trial please don’t hesitate to contact me (my details are below).

Good luck with your wedding, I hope you have a fabulous day and look a million dollars!

Best wishes

Sue

Please contact me at:
Sue
Enzo’s Hair & Beauty Salon
3-4 Market Cross
Sturminster Newton
Dorset
DT10 1AN Telephone 01258 473123
New (temporary website – new one coming soon!) www.enzoshairandbeautysalon.co.uk

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Planning Your Wedding – Insider info on champagne

February 20, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Well today’s hints and tips are a little different and indeed about something quite specific, but I think you will agree all the same a bit scrummy…….Champagne!!! mmmm. Well all good weddings need a glass or two of the lovely bubbly stuff don’t they? But what to buy and where to get the best deal? Well here is a very good friend of Courtenay Photographic to tell you more… (and I have left her words just the way she wrote them, because read in the right way it makes so much more sense – that is, in the beautiful French accent!) I give you the lovely Aurelia…

Hi My name is Aurelia and I run the champagne & wine company Georges de la Chapelle Ltd.

A woman in the wine business? Yes it is all a family affair. My parents are champagne producers in France and I have always been living with these lively bubbles since the first drop of champagne on my lips for my christening. Following my partner to London it came naturally to create a business about it.

Enough about me and Courtenay asked me to give you some advices about the champagne so I will try my best.

The champagne is often an obvious choice for a wedding because it is the festive wine and the wine of love. I am sure the champagne has been part of the best moments of your couple life even before your wedding: perhaps your first date, some romantic dinners, the moment he proposed or she proposed, to celebrate with your family and friends… So you want it to be part of the biggest day of your life.

Which champagne should you choose? There are about 100 major houses of champagne (Among the best known Moet& Chandon, Laurent Perrier, Veuve Cliquot, Roederer) and more than 5000 small/medium size champagne producers (Among them my parents). A good champagne is not always about the price, it is about the passion and the care the producers have put into its creation. I don’t think there is THE champagne you must choose but there is YOUR champagne, the one that suits your taste, the one you enjoy and will drink happily with friends and family.

How to find it? The best way is to try and taste whenever you have the occasion. For a wedding, most of the venues will offer you their wine list but if there is a champagne you really like and against the payment of a cork fee most of them will let you bring your favourite champagne (it can even turn out to be cheaper)
If you have the opportunity to travel to France, just make a small detour to the Champagne area ( about 3H from Calais on your way to the Alpes or the South of France). Most of the small producers will offer you a free tasting and you could buy the champagne at cellars price.
Can you drink any champagne at any time? Yes and No. Choose a Brut for the toasts, pure chardonnays are perfects. For the dessert or the cake choose a sweet champagne either a demi-sec or a vintage (old champagne are sweeter). For additional colours why not try pink champagne?

Something original? If you purchase your champagne from a producer or some special companies in the UK you could personalise the label with your names, your pictures… and surprise your guests. (Be careful how the champagne will be served, if the guests never see the bottle it is perhaps not worth it). Big bottles like Magnum( =2bottles) or Jeroboam (=4 bottles) can be a special treat and you can sometimes even have them engraved with your names .
I hope you will have lovely bubbles at your wedding and you will have a sparkling time.

Feel free to contact me

Aurelia

Georges de la Chapelle Ltd
Tel : 02088417387
aurelia@delachapelle.co.uk if you have any question.

I am remodelling my English website at the moment but here are some useful links:
www.champagneprat.com (My parents’ website)
www.champagne.com (Everything you want to know about the Champagne)
www.tourisme-champagne-ardenne.com (to help you plan a trip in the Champagne area)


Wedding Photographer Dorset - Courtenay photographic

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Planning Your Wedding – Insider info from… Us!

February 9, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Today’s hints and tips are from, well us actually! Well there’s no point in having our own Blog and getting loads of great advice from other wedding suppliers if were not going to add some good advice too. Instead of telling you everything at once however I have decided that its probably best to break things down into bite size portions, that way its not an information overload and none of our brains will go pop! Anyway today I thought I would tackle a very topical subject and its possible ramifications! Happy reading……

The Big Budget Issue.

There’s no point in beating about the bush – we know from many of our recent inquiries that in the current climate, people are looking for ‘a deal’. And there seem to be a scary number of people looking at finding a photographer based on price alone. Yikes!

When searching for your photographer, try and remain focused on the actual quality of the work you are looking at. Don’t be seduced by the promises of all they can provide for your money. Of course everyone has a budget – but it’s important to use that budget wisely. Remember that you can always come back later to buy the album and extra prints you’d like; but you can never go back and change the sheer quality of the photographs taken of your wedding day.

We do advise our clients that if you need to make a package more affordable, then start by dropping some products. Cut the prints, remove the album… but don’t just opt for a cheaper photographer simply because they are willing to give you all the products you could wish for. Nothing is truly cheap; they are cut-price for a reason, and after the wedding when you see your album will the decision based on price alone still feel so wise?

A really great wedding photographer is so very much more than the person who turns up and takes photographs. Of all your wedding suppliers, your photographer is the ONLY one who is present throughout the whole day. They not only know about the photography, but an experienced photographer has been present at hundreds of weddings, working with countless other wedding suppliers, and really knows his stuff – they’re an amazing resource of information and advice, so be sure to use them. If you have a question, chances are they will either know the answer, or know the right person who will.

At the end of the day, it comes down to the old cliché (and only so because it is so true) “when the flowers have died, the cake is eaten, the dress is boxed… all you have left are the photographs”. Remember that your budget for photography isn’t a wedding investment – it’s a lifetime investment.

‘Quality is remembered, long after price is forgotten’ (Gucci Family Motto)


Wedding Photographer Dorset – Courtenay Photographic

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Planning Your Wedding – Insider info from Enzos Make up

February 5, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Today’s tips come from Sarah at Enzo’s Hair and Beauty Salon, They do wonderful things with my Brides hair and makeup. Sarah runs the beauty side of the salon, so today’s hints and tips are about all things to help keep you lovely brides looking good on your special day. Sadly at the moment they don’t have a website, but I thoroughly recomend both Sarah and Sue, they are simply fantastic at what they do. Over to you Sarah:

Hi my name is Sarah and I run the health and beauty side of Enzo’s salon, my mum Sue runs the hair salon and no doubt you will be hearing from her in the not to distant future.

So your getting married! One of the most important day’s in a woman’s life and you want it to be just right of course and definitely look a million dollars. Now because we often work closely with Courtenay, I have aimed these hints and tips very much with the importance of not only looking good in the flesh but looking good on camera too which is very important – after all your going to be looking at your pictures for a very long time! It is therefore the makeup artists responsibility to ensure that the bride looks fantastic both on camera and close up.

The following are some sound advice for all Brides to be:

1) Always apply makeup in natural daylight.

2) Check the makeup very closely for blemishes, especially redness and unevenness — the camera picks these up very easily – Corrective techniques and concealing subtly are very important.

3) Colour intensity can be lost through the camera so ensure you use the correct intensity of pigment for the effect that you desire.

4) Concentrate on structural deatils; for example making eyes look bigger and lips look fuller as detail can be lost through distance. Make sure you use it where it counts!

5) Classic looks never date and can make the most of your features, but you might want to consider a more modern look, bang up to date and this too can give room to for a little creativity to gain your desired look.

6) The colours you use must suit your own natural colouring of hair, eyes and skin tones. But don’t forget that you also need to compliment your wedding dress and maybe those of your bridesmaids, your flowers also play a role in this too.

7) Makeup needs to be durable (all those kisses and tears of joy!), but it also needs to be as low maintenance as possible. You will be so busy on your wedding day and the last thing you will want to be doing is worrying about touching up your makeup every five minutes.

Well these are some of the basic tips, if you would like some more in depth advise or you would like to book a wedding trial or indeed book your own wedding day makeup, I wopuld be very pleased to hear from you.

Please contact me at:
Sarah
Enzo’s Hair & Beauty Salon
3-4 Market Cross
Sturminster Newton
Dorset
DT10 1AN Telephone 01258 473123

What ever your choices, I hope you have a fabulous day.

Best wishes
Sarah

Wedding Photography Dorset – Courtenay Photographic

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Planning Your Wedding – Insider info from Karen Evans

February 2, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Continuing with our articles from suppliers today I would like to introduce you to Karen Evans from Karen Evans Designs who does all thing’s lovely in the world of flowers. Over to you Karen:

I LOVE JANUARY!!!!
Yes you heard right, I love January. That might sound a bit strange. January the month of lousy weather, credit card bills and diets, but I do. Well actually I love every month because every month somebody gets married and just as every month is different, every wedding is different.
Hi….. I’m Karen and I do flowers. Seasonal flowers are my big thing and it all kicks off in January with the anticipation of the coming Spring with Summer and Autumn to follow.

I see the seasons in different colours; starting pale in the Spring and hotting up as Summer arrives and moves into Autumn and Winter. But I think that might just be me as most Brides have their own ideas about colours.
The New Year finds me rushing about visiting Brides, answering enquiries and writing quotes for flowers. January, February and March are the main busy months for me and as Spring arrives while I am still meeting with prospective Brides I am also actually arranging flowers so I get even busier.

Thinking about your own wedding, when you have chosen your dress and the Bridesmaids, then is the time to get in touch to discuss flowers. Deciding on the style of the bouquet that you would like for yourself is the first step. The bouquets for your Bridesmaids can then be chosen to blend with yours. The buttonholes, corsages, table arrangements etc can then all be worked into the overall scheme.

As for the type of flowers….well the possibilities are endless so I won’t even start here. However choosing a favourite flower of yours is a good starting point and then working from there.
Arranging flowers for weddings is something I love and I still get excited at seeing photos after the event…(especially if they are Courtenay’s!) I still think Wow I was part of that…a really important day in your life.

Have a great 2009 and Good Luck with the plans for your wedding.

Karen Evans

01202 693822

info@karenevansdesigns.co.uk

Wedding Photographer Dorset – Courtenay Photographic

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