Bride Top Tips 2012

February 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Today’ top tips come from Jessica and Daniel who got married at Dartington Hall in Devon on 4th June. To see their wedding story on our blog, click the following link – Devon Wedding

 

Hi Courtenay

My favourite picture is this one

dartington hall devon wedding venue

 

But Dan would choose this one…

 

dartington hall devon wedding venue

A bit cheeky to have two I know! ;-)

Our Three Top Tips are…

* Find and book your wedding photographer as early as possible to get the one you want as they do seem to get booked up surprisingly quickly. The wedding photos are what you are left with so it is important to have well captured memories you can look back on.

* Have a wedding book/diary so that everything is together which makes planning/organising much easier.

* Talk to lots of people that have already had their wedding and ask them if there was anything they would have done differently. Its also useful talking to others to get  ideas on things like table plans and favours, the best ideas are often ones pinched!

Cheers
Jess  & Dan

More top tips to follow shortly…

Dorset Wedding Photographer – Courtenay photographic Ltd
Filed Under: 2012 wedding planning, from our brides, Wedding Planning Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Bride Top Tips 2012

February 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Today’s top Tips come from Helen and Simon Stocks who got married on the 1st October at the Fabulous Athelhampton House in Dorset, to see their wedding story, click the following link – Dorset Wedding Venue.

 

Here is Helen & Simon….

 

Picture-wise, I love this one….

Athelhampton House dorset wedding venue

- but it’s a really hard choice, as you captured the somewhat whimsical nature of the day in so many pictures! However, I chose this one as I adore the drama and romance, as well as potentially one of the few times I wasn’t giggling or Simon lunging whilst in his kilt.

As to my top 3 bridal tips:

1. Don’t be afraid to be a geek: As a project manager, I am regularly referred to as a “spreadsheet jockey” by the adorable scientists I work with. So I guess it was inevitable that we would have a spreadsheet for the wedding – but I cannot tell you how invaluable it was! Sharing the document between the two of us, it was an indispensable tool to keep supplier contact details, breakdown the budget (as well as highlighting when Simon overspent) and keep tabs on who had sent an RSVP as well as where they would be staying. Having all of the information in one easy to access place that can be backed up took a weight off my mind.

2. If you have an artistic side, use it! Although we had a relatively small wedding, it meant that I could add a personal touch for each place setting. From name cards to velum tealight holders, favours to the table plan and card box: I made them all. There are countless blogs and forums scattered across the internet that are full of hints, tips and inspiration. It means that you can create exactly what you want for a fraction of the price of buying it. If you don’t have time to do it all yourself, call the girls and bribe them with wine for an evening of fabric, ribbons and PVA glue.

3. Keep calm and carry on: On our big day, people were surprised by just how zen-like I was. My theory? If it hasn’t been done, it’s too late and nothing can change that. If something is starting to go wrong, you are surrounded by friends and family who love you and will try their hardest to avert disaster. Just go with the flow and enjoy what will inevitably be the most memorable, and wonderful, day of your life :)

All our best,

Helen and Simon.

 

More top tips coming very soon!…


Dorset Wedding Photographer – Courtenay Photographic Ltd
Filed Under: 2012 wedding planning, from our brides, Wedding Planning Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Bride Top Tips 2012!

January 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment

So, if you are a regular subscriber/reader of our blog feed you will remember that for the last couple of years we have asked the previous season’s Brides and Groom’s to provide us with their Top Tips on planning a wedding for the coming seasons couples. Whilst giving us all a little insight into their thoughts and idea’s we also asked them to pick their favourite picture(s) from their wedding day and say what it meant to them. As an extra incentive we have also offered a stunning 12?x18? canvas which will go to the “Top, Top Tipster” of the year, so we wish all of our participating couples the very best of luck and thank them for joining in.

If you would like to look back at some of the previous Top Tips click on each of the following links:

2010 Bride Top Tips

2008 Bride Top Tips

2009 Bride Top Tips

So, keep an eye out on the Blog over the next few weeks for some great wedding planning tips from our 2011 couples, you never know the answer to your question may be out there!!

Have fun :-)   Courtenay

 

Dorset Wedding Photographer – Courtenay Photographic Ltd
Filed Under: 2012 wedding planning, from our brides, Fun Stuff, Other stuff, Wedding Planning Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Real Bride Top Tips Winner get their Prize

April 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Received a lovely picture today from Sarah and Jon Farrant, who you may remember were the winners of this years real Brides Top Tips. Here they are with their prize in hand – a fab 18″x12″ canvas of their choice.

Congratulations once again guys, well deserved :-)

 

Courtenay Photographic Ltd – Dorset Wedding Photographers
Filed Under: from our brides, Fun Stuff, News from us., Other stuff, Wedding Planning Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Bride Top Wedding Tips

February 11, 2011 By 1 Comment

Happy Friday everyone :-)

Today we bring you the last in our Bride top tips and favourite picture for this year. I would just like to say a huge thank you to all the couples that took part it has been great. Good luck to you all with the canvas draw, we will be announcing the winner on here in the next couple of weeks so keep an eye out…It could be you!

Today’s tips and picture choice come from Marnie and Ben Lavery. Marnie and Ben were married on the 30th April 2010 at the exclusive Summer Lodge Hotel in Dorset. To see their Dorset Wedding story on our blog, click the following link…. Summer Lodge Wedding.  And to see a complete Dorset Wedding Album from Summer Lodge click this link…. Dorset Wedding Venue.

Here is Marnie and Ben….

Hi Courtenay

Our favourite photo is this one…

We love it because we it captures the setting of our wedding and the time of year perfectly, blossom everywhere!

Our Top Tips.

.?Tip 1-Research your venue and do not pay your deposit until you are 100% sure that it is perfect for your big day. Just because it looks nice this does not mean that you will end up with your perfect wedding. Ask friends, family and people linked to the wedding industry to share their knowledge of the venue with you. Wedding forums on the internet can be useful for information regarding venues.

2 – If you want to try to keep your costs down in certain areas consider buying ready made invites from good stationers and have them print the text in your choice of words and font. We chose some Vera Wang blank invites and had the store print them for us. We ended up with stunning invites without the huge price tag.

3 – Make sure you spend time in the run up to the wedding having some serious pampering. Facials, body wraps, massages will help you relax and feel special. If you look after your skin your make up will go on more evenly and you will be positively glowing. You are getting married so don’t just think about the day, food, guests. Stop and think about yourself.

See you soon

Marnie and Ben x

Dorset Wedding Photography by Courtenay Photographic Ltd
Filed Under: Dorset Wedding, from our brides, Fun Stuff, Other stuff, Summer Lodge, Wedding Planning Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Bride Top Wedding Tips

February 8, 2011 By 3 Comments

Todays Bride top tips and favourite picture(s) come from Tori and Jonathan Nicholson. Tori and Jonathan were married at Highfield Church in Southampton on the 9th October 2010 and then after a lovely stop in the New Forest for some romantic pictures went on to Highcliffe Castle in Hampshire for their fun packed reception.

To see Tori and Jonathans Hampshire wedding story on our Blog click the following link – Highcliffe Castle wedding.

Here is Tori and Jonathan…

Hi Courtenay,
A hard choice but I think our favourites are these (we couldn’t choose just one!) …


Our Top tips -

Stick to your guns.  Just because somebody tells you its difficult, or not normal – is even more reason to do it!  You want people to remember your wedding day, not have it merge in with others!
Experiment, I spent ages in Marks and spencers mocking up table designs.  I used bathroom towels to get the colour of the table cloth and then all their different glasses and candles etc to try to get an idea of style.  We got quite a few strange looks, but we did get our table design out of it!

Don’t assume something is out of your price range, ask! I found a fab group of singers after they performed on Radio 2 and they were amazing (close knit harmony singers called The Marjory Belles).

Think about your guests.  We didn’t want to have that “loose end” bit between the end of the wedding breakfast and evening entertainment, so we got rid of that part altogether!  We had an evening meal instead of afternoon, and gave our guests afternoon tea instead of a buffet later on.  It meant that by the time everybody sat down to eat, they had mingled a bit and conversation flowed a lot more easily.

Ditch the sugared almonds!  Who really likes them?  We wanted favours that people would appreciate and so hired a silhouette artist to give everybody a real keepsake from the day.  The majority of our guests have put theirs in a frame and talk about it all the time.

There are so many things to think about, but just remember there are only 2 people who the day should revolve around, and they are not the in-laws!  Be true to  yourselves and you will have an amazing day!

Laura said people wanted to know about my dress.  Its a Jenny Packham Dress, called Carmen. It comes in Oyster and Ivory, but mine was in Oyster – just love the vintage style of it. (from Shay Harris Bridal in Southampton).
Best wishes
Tori & Jonathan

Courtenay Photographic Ltd – Wedding Photographers in Dorset
Filed Under: Castle Weddings, from our brides, Fun Stuff, Hampshire Wedding, Highcliffe castle, News from us., Other stuff, Wedding Planning Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Real Bride Top Wedding Tips

February 7, 2011 By 2 Comments

Good Morning everyone, welcome to the start of a brand new week. And to kick us off, today’s top tip and favourite picture(s) come from Lisa and Chris Bartlett. Lisa and Chris were married on the 19th June 2010 at the very lovely Athelhampton House, before jetting back to sunny Australia where Chris is from and where they both now live.

To see Lisa and Chris’s Athelhampton House wedding, click the following link to visit them on our Blog… Athelhampton House Wedding Dorset.

Here is Lisa and Chris….

Hi Courtenay,

Happy New Year!

As far as my favourite picture goes, this has been really hard to decide and generally changes each time I review them. If I could say my entire album, I would! That said, I think there are a few which stand out:
This one captures my dress, veil and arrival perfectly…

This one highlights the real mood of the ceremony including all the minor difficulties – such as the two piece ring being in two pieces!!!

This one which captures the setting beautifully and reflects the calm feel of the day…

However, I feel that the one which sums up what we were going for is this one…

This is the photo of us leaving Athelhampton as husband and wife for the first time. We were both extremely happy, and this photo captures that perfectly. It also highlights the whole feel of the wedding which was an English country garden wedding, and the colours and architecture are perfectly shot.

Our tips for any bride planning a wedding for 2011 would be:

1. Don’t compromise – If there is an item that you really must have, you should have it. Your wedding will only happen once and you don’t want to look back wishing you had the slightly different dress, cake, flowers etc. Think photos for example. These were an absolute must for us both and it is what we can now treasure for many years to come. I recently went to a wedding where a family member was doing their photos. They cancelled last minute, and the bride is now asking guests if they can send her their snaps. Not a good way to remember a wedding.

2. If you stress easily, don’t DIY – unless you are super calm, extremely creative and not a perfectionist I think DIY should be a no no. Filling confetti boxes 12 hours before my wedding was all I could manage and even that was tense!

3. Enjoy yourself – As a whole, planning a wedding and having a wedding should be fun. How often do you get to pick a beautiful dress, match flowers, cakes, menus, venue etc exactly how you want it to be. If you enjoy yourself along the whole process the day will run smoothly too and you will enjoy yourself.

4. Finally, only have people involved in helping you plan your wedding that A you want help from and B they what to help. I was lucky enough not to have any sticky beaks and my now husband was pretty much accommodating of all my decisions (except the ones involving stuffing confetti into boxes).

Love and Best wishes
Lisa and Chris

Dorset Wedding Photography by Courtenay Photographic Ltd
Filed Under: Athelhampton House, Dorset Wedding, from our brides, Fun Stuff, News from us., Other stuff, Wedding Planning Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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