The Liberty Pearl Photo & Film Collective
Natural & Relaxed Wedding Photography & Film Collective documenting your love, joy & happiness in Devon and Cornwall
Top Tips For Planning Your Wedding – The List Before The List!
Posted on August 4, 2017
So, you’re getting married, Congratulations!
Getting married can be daunting and perhaps overwhelming. Ask any bride and they’ll say that there can be so many surprises on your wedding day, I know this well as a wedding photographer who has photographed over 100 weddings but also in my experience as a bride who planned her own wedding in 9 weeks!
There’s so much to think about and each element comes with a million choices. Through it all, you want to remain authentic and true to you and your partner’s personality, making sure it’s the magical day you’ve both dreamed about.
So here are my top tips for getting started with planning your wedding:
Grab a cup of tea and write down the 4 most important things for you and your partner on your special day. These are so different for every couple…..
1. Do you have a specific venue that you love whether it’s urban or beach or perhaps somewhere in the countryside?
2 .How many guests would you prefer to have there? Perhaps an intimate ceremony would suit you better, or a large wedding with all your friends and family around you.
3. What would you both like to wear? What will suit the season and you as a couple?
4. Do you dream of pink peonies or peach David Austin roses? Which flowers suit you and your dream wedding?
Spend a few minutes every day researching wedding photographs that you LOVE and store those inspirational images in your dream wedding Pinterest board. Look at the four priorities you’ve listed in point 1, and pin images that inspire you to plan your dream wedding. Whether you’re traditional or totally alternative, you’ll find images that will help you create your perfect wedding day.
Get organised! One of the most important things for me when I was planning my own wedding was to get the information out of my head, you can do this in to ways; creating an online checklist or getting it onto paper, and I did both! Your mind is busy enough without trying to remember the finer details. Buy yourself a beautiful folder for all of your wedding planning suppliers and notes. Separate your folder into categories such as venue, flowers, dress and photographer.
If you prefer being organised digitally then use an online checklist, I LOVE the fabulous online planning system provided by WeddingWire. These lists are completely customisable and will manage anything from your ‘to do’ lists and manage your budget, you can even track your progress on each task. This gives you lots more time to plan the fun stuff whilst feeling rest assured the important elements are taken care of!
Start looking for your wedding photographer right away. I know just how quickly a good photographer gets booked up. It’s not uncommon for me to have weddings years in advance! Find your perfect wedding photographer who just gets your personality and will capture your special day and get them booked in.
I’ve had the pleasure of photographing so many amazing couples, capturing their most magical moments together. I love connecting with people and I would love to connect with you too. If you’re planning your special day and looking for a professional wedding photographer that really values getting to know you, then get in touch! We can start talking about all things wedding!
Is the wedding industry a rip off?
Posted on May 1, 2017
Such a fab article from Alison at the PLANS AND PRESENTS wedding blog, about the wedding industry. I know lots of people who have had to give up their beautiful creative businesses because they just don’t pay the bills!
People don’t realise how much all the ‘behind the scenes’ items cost especially for photography, people think I make XX per day after looking at my wedding photography fees, I have had comments such as “you make more in a day than I make in a month!” but really the profit is very very low or non existent after paying for all the licenses, insurances, equipment, stationery, fuel, staff, marketing, branding, office costs, storage, computers, online galleries, advertising, car, websites, tax, VAT, national insurance, the list could go on….
Since I started my business I work on average in the office 50 hours per week and if I have a wedding or photo shoots that week it could go up to 70 hours! So my hourly rate is pretty awful to be honest. I didn’t taken a proper holiday (which didn’t include a destination wedding) for 2 years and I had flu pretty much the entire time I was away because I was so run down, and I haven’t had the time to take one since!
So you may ask why I and other wedding suppliers have chosen this career?
I for one love making people happy! I love providing a bespoke, creative, personalised service that suits my clients needs, I love working hard to make their wedding day so special, I love meeting new people, and getting to know them and spend time with them planning their wedding day, I love visiting beautiful wedding venues all over the world and seeing how couples add their own personal touch with their wedding styling. I love sharing such a special day with couples and capturing their family heirlooms that will last a life time.
If wedding suppliers were working in the industry simply for the money I don’t think there would be an industry to be quite honest!!!
So before you criticise people in the wedding industries or other creative industries, please think about all the behind the scenes work that goes into the beautifully hand crafted products, the sacrifices they make to their social life and their families by working weekends and during the holiday seasons, and the amount of pure LOVE they have for the industry, their wedding couples, and making every wedding day so unique and so very special! xx
Read more on the Plans and Presents blog post.
A whirlwind wedding: Why you should consider one and my top planning tips
Posted on January 26, 2017
I planned my own wedding in 9 weeks so you could say I am an expert at whirl wind wedding planning!
Planning a wedding is fun – but drag out the process for years and it can take a little excitement out of the big day. You can find yourself overanalysing every element of the wedding and see fashions and trends changing – just as you’ve finally decided on the theme of your day. A whirlwind wedding, on the other hand, promises a real adventure. The wedding planning experience is full on from start to end. But you’ve got so much to be getting on with that there’s not really any time to stress. Believe me – I planned my own wedding in 2016 in just nine weeks!
The perks included:
A budget-friendly day
The only money we had available was that in our bank accounts, so we had to stick to budget. This meant we didn’t go overboard and were sensible with our spending. It was also nice not to spend years of savings on one day.
An up-to-date wedding theme
Although suppliers were limited – due to the fact that lots were booked out already – we were still able to plan a stylish wedding. Of course, we had to have an open mind about theme and style but we still ended up with the wedding we wanted.
No waiting around
I didn’t want a long engagement and thought it was pointless. I was too excited about being a wife and a bride! I also didn’t want wedding planning to take over my life for months or years – so a whirlwind wedding was perfect
All about love
When planning a wedding you can get so caught up in the little things – but they really don’t matter. By minimising time spent planning our wedding, we realised what was important about the day and were able to prioritise better.
Eight tips for planning a whirlwind wedding
Of course, I’m not telling you that every single part of the process was easy. As with all weddings, there were good and bad parts about the planning – but it only lasted nine weeks. With this in mind, I wanted to share my top tips to help you plan your wedding in just a matter of weeks too. If I can do it while juggling a busy business, so can you!
- Keep things simple
Don’t be too over-ambitious with your wedding ideas. Instead, keep things simple, as you won’t have much time to make things for your wedding or to plan extravagant décor. A simple wedding will always look stylish and sophisticated.
- Be organised
This one’s crucial. Good organisation is key when you’ve got a tight deadline. We had spreadsheets for everything but they really helped us keep track of everything we needed and dates they needed to be done by.
- Decide on your priorities
A good wedding planner friend gave me some great advice. She asked, “What are the three most important things you want on your wedding day?” Mine were guests and their enjoyment, lots of flowers, and a beautiful location, near a beach or in lovely gardens. This helped us focus our day and all the planning.
- Improve your decision-making skills
It’s so easy to go back and forth with ideas when planning a wedding but why stress yourself out about the perfect day? When planning a whirlwind wedding you have to make decisions quickly. For example, I purchased my wedding dress from the first shop I visited.
- Ask for discounts
If a supplier isn’t booked nine weeks before your wedding date, it’s unlikely they’ll receive many offers. This gives you bargaining power and many will offer you a discount in order to fill their last minute availability.
- Ask for help
If you’ve got lots to do in a short time, help from family and friends is a must. So many helped us leading up to the wedding and on the day, which was amazing. Everyone loved being part of putting it all together and it just made the experience even more special.
- Go digital
Speed up the invite process by going digital. We sent invites to our wedding website via Facebook and email and only a handful of invites were printed off for older family members. The wedding website was great and the replies were instant.
- Pick your bridesmaids wisely
Last, but not least, pick you bridesmaids carefully – after all, they’ll be providing reassurance throughout your journey. They will need to be calm, supportive and helpful and definitely not cause unnecessary stress!
Good luck! Remember, if you’re looking for a photographer for your big day, don’t hesitate to get in touch to enquire about last-minute availability. Contact me and we can have a catch up about your wedding plans over coffee!
25% off wedding photography in January 2017
Posted on January 4, 2017
We are offering 25% off all wedding photography packages booked in January 2017.
To celebrate the start of 2017 we are offering 25% off ALL full day wedding photography packages! Yes we are CRAZY!!!!
See some of our wonderful world of weddings over the past 12 months on our recent blog post.
Claim the 25% discount and check our availability via our contact page.
We cannot wait to hear about your wedding!
How to make the most of your wedding photography
Posted on July 30, 2016
Looking for beautiful wedding photographs that tell the story of your big-day romance?
Your wedding photography will perhaps be one of the most important parts of your special day. After all, at the end of the day you’re left with just your rings and precious photographs, which together help you to remember all those magical moments. With this in mind, here are some top tips on how to make the most of your wedding photography…
Tip #1 Do your research
Ensure the planning process and your wedding day is stress-free by thoroughly researching all of your suppliers. Meet your photographer in person, look for feedback on your photographer’s website or social media channels, and take a closer look at their wedding galleries online (ask to see full weddings not just a few images from each wedding) ask to view their albums too. This will give you a good indication of their whole package, style of photography, and what you can expect from them on your big-day.
Tip #2 Choose a photographer you feel comfortable with
Posing in a wedding dress and feeling relaxed on one of the biggest days of your lives isn’t always that easy. However, choosing a photographer you feel comfortable with can help you to feel much more relaxed throughout your special day. A trusty friend, there to capture all those special moments, the right photographer will be able to bring out all those bits of your wedding that are uniquely you – while ensuring you feel comfortable.
Tip #3 Book an engagement photography session
Practise makes perfect! Get comfortable in front of the camera and practise your posing with an engagement portrait session with your photographer. You’ll also be able to get a sneak peak at the type of photos you can expect from your big-day. You might like to hold the session at your wedding venue so that you can identify all the best spots for your big-day portraits and your photographer can get familiar with the venue.
Tip #4 Think about any particular moments you want captured on the day
Whether you have a long list of must-have family portraits, or you’re feeling all inspired by some fab, fun images on Pinterest, deciding what you want from your big-day photography is key. You may prefer more natural, documentary style photography or perhaps you have some more dramatic shots in mind? Whatever it is you’re looking for, discuss any needs and requirements with your photographer.
Tip #5 Embrace the unexpected
While it’s great to have a plan, sometimes things may not always go the way you hoped on your wedding day. Whether there’s a torrential downpour during your summer nuptials or the timings of your day run off schedule, embrace the changes and recognise that together, they make those special memories of your wedding day.
Thank you for reading my top tips on how to chose your wedding photographer.
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