A Little Update...

Well, there's just so much going on here at the moment, I thought it was probably a good time to fill you in with all the news...

I'm rather excited this week because I have a meeting on Thursday with someone I admire very much (all hush hush at the moment, wish I could say!) and then on Friday, I'm off to Dorset for a shoot with the very lovely Courtenay Photographic. I'm going to be frollicking in bluebell woods and some brilliant suppliers have got involved too to make this a shoot to remember. Huge thanks to 'the bluebell girls' - Jo Barnes Vintage, The Tea Party and Genii Cupcakes. Can't wait to blog the shoot and show you the pics!

It's a little way off I know but on June 16th, I'm hosting a wedding inspiration Ladies Lunch at the truly stunning l'ortolan restaurant near Reading. If the idea of a day of wedding chat, prosecco, canapes and a three course lunch in a Michelin star restaurant appeals then book up soon. A perfect way for brides to spend a day with their Mums being pampered, indulged and inspired (and there are the cutest goodie bags too!)

Next week is going to be a bit more cake fuelled than usual! I am so pleased to have been asked by the truly lovely Ruth Clemens of The Pink Whisk to get involved with a series of wedding related posts she's written for her bake-tastic blog. UK readers of my blog might know Ruth from The Great British Bake-Off and you're going to love the recipes she's come up with. Ruth is featuring on BBC2's The Great British Wedding Cake which airs on Wednesday 20th April at 8pm and I'll be interviewing her on my blog on Tuesday 19th April. If you love cake and/or weddings, you won't want to miss any of this!

Julie Tooby and I are running another workshop for anyone interested in becoming a wedding planner on Sunday May 8th in Reading. These are great days - packed with information and where else can you pick the brains of two multi award winning wedding planners?! We've only got a few places left so read more here and if you're interested, get in touch soon!

I've also been asked to write a column for a new magazine - very excited about this and I know it's going to be a brilliant project to be involved with. More details as soon as I can tell you...  There's also another big project that I'm working on at the moment that makes me smile hugely. It's going to be rather special, beautiful and fabulous for brides. Lots of 'behind the scenes' work going on at the moment so when it's launch-time, it'll be announced on the blog first. So want to tell you all now because I'm just bouncing about it but I must be good!

And then there's this blog. I am totally blown away by the response to my wedding ramblings. In the last month, the numbers of you visiting every day have more than quadrupled and that's rather mindblowing. So, to you, wherever in the world you are, thank you. There's much more to come...

If you want to keep right up to date, the please follow me on Twitter - I'm @tamrynkirby. Hope to 'tweet' soon!

The Supplier's Speech - Essentially You

 Before I start this week's 'Supplier's Speech', I should admit to a little bit of bias here because I truly love this week's featured wedding professional - the wonderful Julie Tooby from Essentially You. Julie is a multi award winning wedding planner, co-ordinator and all-around fabulous woman. So, before I get totally carried away like a winning actress at the Oscars, I'm just going to hand over to the woman herself...

Tell me a little bit more about your business...
I founded Essentially You in 2005 and I've now been planning & co-ordinating weddings for over ten years. Our aim, our goal and our business is to ensure that our couples have an amazing, memorable and enjoyable day. Whether we are planning the entire event or just applying the finishing touches, we are professional and committed. Our knowledge and expertise means that all we work with can rely on our excellent advice. We work closely with our couples, to deliver their perfect day but never taking over.

What's so great about working in the wedding industry?
Everything! To me, this industry is something to fall in love with. Meeting with lovely couples and being part of the magic of the day and seeing the smile on a bride's face when she sees her special day come together is priceless. For me, this isn't a job, it's a lifestyle.

In your opinion, what are the most important questions a bride should ask when booking suppliers?
Really, I think they should have a list of what exactly they need to achieve with each specific suppliers and work to a specific budget. It's very important to cover all the groundwork at the early stages and then there's no surprises further along the line. A key question is always costs - do quotes include VAT? Are there any extras such as mileage charges? But mostly, you have to ask yourself if you like that supplier and want to give them the honour of being involved with your wedding.

Have you got any great wedding tips you'd like to share?
Feel comfortable with every one that will be working on your day, especially suppliers such as photographers as you'll be spending a lot of time with them over the months of planning and on the wedding day itself. If your clever with your budget, you'll be able to afford an 'on the day' co-ordinator and they will look after you and make sure the day you've planned is the one you get. It's an affordable but invaluable service.

What makes a wedding really fabulous?
Personal touches. A wedding should be all about the couple and guests should be leaving saying "that was a great wedding because it couldn't have been anyone else's day but theirs".

Have you seen anything really great at weddings recently?
A recent wedding had a fabulous 'secret midnight party' - the majority of the guests left and then the bride, groom and their closest, most party loving friends, went on dancing through til dawn and they had breakfast together at dawn. It was great!

How do you prepare for a wedding?
Prior to the day, I have a comprehensive questionnaire that I work through with my couples and once this is complete, I meet the couple again to run through the day with them. On the day, I work to this planner and check all is correct and and to check that everything is just as they wanted. The aim of the game is that the couple and their friends and family relax and worry about nothing. It should be a seamless day and one full of memories for the right reasons.

What do you think the next 'big thing' in weddings will be?
Right now, whatever happens at the Royal Wedding in April will be big news but other than that, we look to the US for a lot of our trends - they tend to hit the UK 12-18 months later!

If you could give brides one piece of advice, what would it be?
Relax and enjoy the day - it's once in a lifetime.

To find out more about Julie and the services she offers, including the very popular 'on the day' co-ordination, visit her website - www.essentially-you.net or follow her on Twitter - www.twitter.com/julietooby

The Supplier's Speech - Courtenay Photographic

A couple of weeks ago, I went on an eshoot with the ever-so lovely Dorset Wedding Photographer - Courtenay Photographic for a 'behind the scenes' report. I believe that before I tell you someone is good, I should see them work so now I feel very happy to give Courtenay a double thumbs-up.

I'm really happy to bring you this week's Supplier's Speech so you can hear from the man himself. And if the behind the scenes report, this beautiful image, this feature and gorgeous images don't convince you that this man is a little bit of a wizard behind the lens, then keep your eyes peeled for a fabulous shoot that's coming your way in a few weeks time when Courtenay attempts the impossible - to make me look good!

But for now, I give you this week's speaker - Courtenay Hitchcock...

Tell me a little bit about your business...

I've been photographing people for longer than I am going to admit but I've been a professional wedding photographer for ten years, some 500+ weddings now I think. I live in Dorset with my wife and four children (yes, I know four!) and that's where you'll find my studio. I work most frequently through the southern half of England but go wherever my clients want me to go (a Scottish castle, a Welsh manor house and a great wedding in the USA are all in this year's diary).

I'm strictly a wedding photojournalist which means I'm the exact opposite of a bossy line-'em-up photographer. I work without an assistant, without lots of equipment (I don't use a flash, I'm a natural light photographer), I dress to your dress code (if you're wearing black tie, I'll be in mine too) and I've often been mistaken for a guest. I blend into your day, I'm there when I'm needed, I disappear when I'm not.

What's so great about working in the wedding industry?

I work closely with people on the one of the most exciting, emotional, special days of their lives doing something I am utterly passionate about. What's not to love?

In your opinion, what are the most important questions a bride should ask when they're booking their photographer?

First an foremost, ask yourself do you love the images that you're seeing? Are they making you smile/laugh/feel emotional? Secondly, do you like the photographer? You're going to be spending a lot of time with them.

I wrote a blog post recently with all the essential points to consider so please take a look at How to find YOUR wedding photographer.

Have you got any great wedding tips you'd like to share?

Plan your wedding for yourselves - and then enjoy it. Take your time, plan it well, exactly the way you want it, not the way that your friends, family or relatives expect it to be. There are no 'rules' to follow. Whatever you want is totally possible and purely down to your imagination and enthusiasm. When the day comes around, it's too late to worry so just enjoy. If it pours with rain, you want to look back and laugh at the fun time you had, not how the weather ruined your day.

What makes a wedding really fabulous?

A relaxed couple. If you're having fun, your guests will too. Plan the day you want and then enjoy the day you have. On the day, the little things don't matter - once you're there, there's nothing you can do to change it, no-one will ever know and it won't really spoil anything. Just laugh and get on with it! And don't forget the details - make them unique and the wedding becomes about you, taking on your personality.

Have you seen anything really unusual or unique at a wedding recently?

Every wedding is unique - they all have their own rhythm and character. The most unique are those where the bride and groom have really taken the time to personalise the elements. There was the couple who re-created classic love story movie posters for their table numbers, the bride from Tobago in full sari and henna marrying her English groom in tails in a village church, the couple who married on a river boat, had a cruise and then came back for bangers and mash.

We're very lucky that the majority of our couples really go the extra mile to put their personal stamp and imagination into their wedding.

How do you prepare for a wedding?

I talk it through closely with the Bride & Groom so that I know exactly what they're expecting - this will usually happen on the eShoot (a standard part of our wedding service) where I get to know them closely to really understand them as a couple. I always talk to the celebrant so that I know the rules of photography beforehand. I visit all venues, talk to all the other suppliers involved and of course I make sure all my equipment is packed and ready to go. Oh, and I ask my wife to set my Sat Nav because I break it when I do it.

What are some of your favourite wedding memories?

Crikey. Far too many! So many moments from hundreds of weddings. Probably the most awesome was an e-mail after a wedding from a lady in Australia - a friend of a friend of a friend has shown her my blog as one of the pictures of the bride looked just like her. She was very excited - the bride turned out to be her sister who she hadn't spoken to for 25 years! It was a great story and fabulous to put them back in touch.

What do you think will be the next big thing in weddings?

Personality and uniqueness. Thankfully we’re all moving away from uniform by-the-rules weddings, and couples are starting to really create their own days. It might be a barn dance in a field, Georgian Dancing in a Castle, or a bunting-draped village hall. It doesn’t matter, anything different is good.

In terms of the ceremony itself, I hope we’re about to see a relaxing of the wedding rules and allowing the couples to marry wherever they want to marry, opening up a realm of possibility.

In terms of photography, we’ve recently professional stills cameras that create HD video, but can see that 3D may well be on the horizon. But, best of all, we're seeing the trends return to excellent photography - simple, stylish, talented. Phew!

If you could give brides just one piece of advice, what would it be?

Enjoy. Enjoy enjoy enjoy. If you're stressing, you're doing it wrong.

If you'd like to find out more about Courtenay then visit his website, follow him on Twitter or find him on Facebook and of course, keep an eye on my blog for more gorgeous images from Courtenay's camera.

Wedding Planner's Conference - Thank You!

Yesterday, I was lucky enough to go along to The Wedding Planners' Conference at Lord's Cricket Ground organised by Square Meals Venues & Events to speak about 'good weddings' and it was fabulous. Who would have thought that we would be sipping champagne in the sunshine on the Member's Terrace, eating lunch in the glorious Long Room and having a sneaky peak into the England team's dressing room?

But, best of all, it was brilliant to meet so many people who are passionate about weddings and wedding planning. I wish there had been longer to chat and swap thoughts and ideas because I'm sure we could have all talked into the evening!

I was there to talk about 'good weddings' and my role as Ambassador for Oxfam Weddings. Anyone who was there (or anyone who knows me!), is fully aware of my tendency to get terribly excited when I talk and yesterday was no exception. But, as I said, if you can't get passionate about weddings, there's something wrong with you!

My agenda for my talk was simple - I just wanted to get people thinking. I'm not one for telling anyone what's right and wrong so my goal was to share some ideas and thoughts. I feel very strongly that wedding planning as an industry in the UK is a little hard done by at times and I feel that we all have responsibilities to improve our image - we need to be professional and innovative for sure but we need to be respectful of each other. Who is to say that one person is 'better' than another when we're all so different? We plan very different weddings for very different clients and surely, when we all encourage our clients to have 'their day they way', we should be encouraging ourselves to be ourselves, not copies of anyone else. I could have talked about this for a long time as it's something I feel very strongly about so I hope I controlled myself!

I also wanted to get planners thinking about the responsibilities that we have to produce 'good' weddings - and by that I mean ones that go beyond looking good on the surface. We should be asking questions of our suppliers that are deeper than their availability and their costs. Weddings should be ethical, respectful events on all levels and not done for show.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to contact me after the event, some of the Tweets I received made me feel very humble. If I inspired you, interested you or just made you smile, then I am very glad indeed.

Thank you to Square Meals Venues & Events, Triggerfish PR and Lord's Cricket Ground for hosting a wonderful day full of wonderful people.

The Wedding Planners' Conference 2011

Just a quick post really to share some exciting news - today I was invited to speak at The Wedding Planners' Conference at Lord's Cricket Ground on 15th March 2011. I am beyond excited already - a day of mixing with others in the industry, catching up with old friends, meeting new ones and listening to some very interesting speakers.

I'll be talking about planning 'good' weddings - ethical weddings, eco ideas, charitable gifting and our responsibilities as planners to connect with the wider community (and maybe then we can change a few of those slightly unreal ideas that so many people have out wedding planners!) I'll also talking about my new role as an Ambassador for Oxfam Weddings

If you're a wedding planner and would like to attend the event or find out more, you can do so on the Square Meals website and registration details are here too.

If you're coming along, do let me know. I get very excited about meeting new people who love weddings too!