The Roles at your Wedding Day - the Chief Bridesmaid (part I)

After the Bride, Chief Bridesmaid is the next important lady at the wedding! As a Chief Bridesmaid, you’d better remember that you were chosen by the Bride among, maybe, hundreds of friends and family, especially for your special affinity with her. So it’s your responsibility to repay the trust shown by the Bride and assist her in all the pre-wedding preparations as well as during the event itself.

The Chief Bridesmaid role starts quite early, around 4-6 months prior to the actual wedding date; essentially, a Chief Bridesmaid is like a shadow to the Bride in being with her, assisting her, advising her, motivating her. Careful to remember that the Bride is the decision-maker and you must respect her decision; your reasons for divergence of opinion, though, may help her to take a more critical decision (i.e. while selecting the wedding dress). 

Chief Bridesmaid is also responsible for helping the Bride in selecting your own dress and the outfits of the Bridesmaids. Coordinating with the Bridesmaids and informing them of their precise role is a part of your responsibilities. Arranging for, and conducting, wedding rehearsals is also something that the Chief Bridesmaid needs to plan and execute. 

The CB will also need to coordinate and rehearse with the Best Man, since she will be walking down the aisle with him.

A day before the wedding is usually spent with the Bride so that she remains relaxed throughout the day and doesn’t develop cold feet on the wedding eve. A positive and encouraging talk in the evening and motivating the Bride with all good things wedding will bring in her life is a sure way to set her mood for the occasion.

It’s a very good and practical idea to have an ‘emergency kit’ in the car ready for the occasion so that the often miss-able chores can be covered. Pack the bag with things like tissue, baby wipes, safety pins, lipstick, comb, brush, nail filler, mouth freshener, hair spray, hair pins, hair grips, analgesics, spare earrings and/or other jewellery, and a switched off (but working) mobile phone.

You may be expected to make a speech at the reception, so be prepared well in advance and if possible, do let the Bride know in brief what you are going to say so that there isn’t anything in the speech, which the Bride might disapprove.

Another exciting aspect of being a Chief Bridesmaid is to arrange hen party. Usually, hen parties are organized around a couple of months before the actual event. Again, a speech is something that you need to prepare well for the hen party. Essentially, the hen parties are meant to enjoy the last few days of Bride’s single status, so the idea of the speech is a goad the Bride to hit the salon and pamper herself to look beautiful on the wedding day.

More Roles to follow like this, keep posted!

NEW Wedding Albums on iPad now available

Shots of You photography is glad to offer a dedicated package that includes an iPad pre-loaded with images from your special day.

It’s a simple, yet brilliant way to get both Bride and (especially) Groom more excited about the album — while assuring their photos won’t lie forgotten in a dusty album years later.

The digital trend is catching on, the iPad adds a bit more immediacy to the images, as well as a sort of permanence in a new digital age: photos look great on the iPad. 

What better way to show off your wedding photographs, that on a bright, crisp, vivid display. 

It is a fantastic way friends and family to see you photos, and looks great set up on a shelf as a digital photo frame.

And future Grooms light up when they see the iPad package!

Of course, if you plan on actually taking the iPad with you everywhere you go, it’s a good idea to also keep a physical photo album somewhere, even if it’s in the darkest recesses of a closet. 

Hard copies may fade and collect dust, but they  are much less likely to have a data failure, break, or get stolen.

We enjoy gadgets, not because they are new diversions for an ever shrinking attention span - they are, but that’s not the only reason. We like gadgets because we are fascinated by the creativity and thought that went into making the doo-hicky.

Photography, for example, is an area where innovation relentlessly pushes technology forward. 

Film cameras are now anachronisms, relicts of a time and a discipline kept barely alive by a few diehard devotees. Further, today’s pocket cameras can produce images that equal those that came from professional quality SLRs only a few years ago.

The iPhone 4, with its 5 megapixel camera, can produce amazing photos, and it seems like there’s a new app that broadens the capabilities of what the camera can do being offered daily.

  

For information on our specific iPad package, or to have an Ipad as part of a bespoke package, or to add the iPad app on top of an album package, contact us or just get in touch on 07817 693343.

Louise & Dean, Wedding at the Farm

A week ago we got to visit a new, 'non-regular', wedding venue. It was the first time we went to Lumb Farm, just off Ripley, and this modern, refurbished farm was a revelation of originality and practicality for the married couple and guests alike.

It doesn't happen so often to assist such a 'touching' wedding like this of Louise and Dean, where personal history and family feelings come along the day with tender and sweet sensitivity.

Louise got ready at home so our first stop was to grab few shots of details, bits and bobs, and things happening. The available light was just perfect so we managed to keep a very low profile without using flash, and let everybody - especially four beautiful young bridesmaids - get on with what they were getting on with.

We wandered up to the church to meet up with the bridesmaids, some of whom were less sure of us than others.
It was a shame we were not allowed to take any shots of the ceremony but we managed to record the unfolding of the day just outside the Eastwood United Reformed Church with family and friends.

With a vintage car on hand, and a front door like this, you simply have to make use of it for a smiley posy picture.
Then we spent some more time floating around for informal shots, and yes, the kids stole the show :)

 

 

We finished off by walking a very obliging Bride & Groom around the grounds to get as many shots of the gardens as we could before dinner.

 

Congratulations Louise & Dean!