Bride Top Tips 2012

February 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Good morning all :-)

Today I would like to introduce you to Rebecca and Alex Tsekouras who were married on the 3rd September last year at a fab new venue for me, the very lovely Harry Warren House in Studland Dorset.

To see Rebecca and Alex’s fab wedding story, please just click on the following link – Harry Warren House Wedding

 

Hi Courtenay,

After much deliberation, we picked the following photo…

Harry warren House dorset wedding venue

 Unusual choice you might think, but we love it as it’s a real moment captured without our knowledge, in beautiful surroundings.  The last sunlight of the day is making us glow, and there is a fuschia bush in the shrubbery  – Alex’s favorite and I painted him a picture of one as a present when we were courting!!  Also it’s symbolic that as we walk through life together, it may be uphill sometimes, but we’ll get up there side by side!  So corny I know ;-)

Big tip for 2012 couples would be find a venue where you feel relaxed.  We felt totally at home at Harry Warren House and were proud to welcome our guests there for the stunning scenery and gardens, it made us that little bit more excited about the wedding!
Second big tip would be to design your ceremony to reflect you both as a couple.  We had a totally unique fusion of British, Greek and Jewish traditions in our ceremony (Sandra at Heartfelt Ceremonies was brilliant at helping us achieve this) and every element of it was symbolic and personal.  It was the most special part of the day for us.

All best wishes,
Rebecca & Alex

 

More great Top Tips coming right here very soon…watch this space!


Dorset Wedding Photographer – Courtenay Photographic Ltd
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Bride Top Tips 2012

February 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Very pleased to be able to introduce you today to Francesca and Tim Baldwin with their Top Tips. Francesca and Tim were married on the 18th June last year in their local Church and then had a fabulous Marquee wedding reception back at Francesca’s family home in Burton Bradstock in Dorset. To see Francesca and Tim’s wedding day story, just click the following link – Dorset Wedding

 

Hi Courtenay,

Our favourite photo is this one….

Dorset country wedding marquee reception

This is because it captures perfectly how we both felt throughout the whole day – relaxed, very happy and having fun. The location is also very special to Francesca as her Grandfather used to drive these hay carts – and the scene set could almost be out of film studio!

Top Tips for Brides:

1. Everybody has a budget – and so decide where you want to spend the most money and which bits you could happily save on.

2. There’s loads of style inspiration from the many wedding blogs on the internet- our favourite was Style me Pretty.

3. If details matter to you, work hard in the lead up to the wedding, but have a cut off point where you can declare you have done everything you can – ours was 48hrs before the service, 3pm on the Thursday, when we stopped working and sat back and enjoyed the final build up and then the whole day.

Many thanks,

Francesca and Tim

 

Great tips again…more on the way soon!

Dorset Wedding Photographer - Courtenay Photographic Ltd

 

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Bride Top Tips 2012

February 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Our Top Tips today come from Joanna and Lee who got married on the 30th July last year and had their reception at the fabulous Combe Lodge in Somerset. If you would like tocatch up with Joanna and lees fab wedding day story on our blog, just click to following link – Combe Lodge Wedding

 

Hi Courtenay

 

Our favourite photo is this one….

combe lodge somerset wedding venue

The photo shows off the beautiful church and the colours are stunning, particularly the stainglass window. It captures the moment we faced our family and friends as Mr and Mrs, just perfect.

Our top tips:
1) Understand that however much you want your husband to be involved in the wedding planning, one person does need to have overall control (and that is ok!). Make all the big decisions together and then give certain jobs to the groom, that he can have full responsibility of. He will then feel involved. Never use the line ‘I am doing everything’ as most brides want to be in control!
2) Get your family involved in the wedding day as much as possible. Whether that is making favours, altering dresses, re-stocking sweet tables, making the stationary, doing a reading or being part of the grooms or bride party. It will make your wedding day so much more special for them. It also gives them something to focus on so they don’t feel the need to interfere with the planning!
3) When setting your budget discuss what is really important to both of you and make sure you spend on those things. To us it was so important that our guests and us spent all night dancing and we had just that!

A cheeky 4th tip – listen to the recommendations Courtenay gives you! He really does know what he is talking about (he sees everything at all the weddings he attends). We are so glad we booked the band he recommended!

Jo & lee x

 

More fab top tips on their way shortly..!

 

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

Bride Top Tips 2012

February 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Our Top tips today are from Jaimie and Dill Alacon who were married on the 28th May last year at The Priory in Little Wymondsly in Hertfordshire. To see the story of their wedding day on our blog please click the following link – Hertfordshire Wedding venue

 

Hi Courtenay

Our top 3 tips are as follows:

1) Create a coloured document wallet for each element of your big day, e.g. venue, photographer, wedding dress, bridesmaids, florist. Take 30 minutes each week to look at each folder to create your to do list for the week ahead. It is also easier to take a single small folder with you to each meeting with your suppliers rather than carrying a huge heavy folder with you everywhere.
2) Take your bridal party on a tour of the venue before the big day. It will ease your bridesmaids nerves and give the ushers and best man an idea of the layout of the venue so they can assist your guests when they arrive on the day.
3) Make sure you have your last nervous excited pee before you put your wedding dress on! Sorry not very ladylike I know!

Favourite picture….really tough….think we’ll go for this one because it makes us and our family and friends smile and giggle every time we see it!

The priory hertfordshire wedding venue

Thanks for thinking of us.
Mrs A xx

More fab Top Tips right here very soon!


Dorset Wedding Photographer - Courtenay Photographic Ltd
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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
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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
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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: , , , , , , ,
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