2 0 1 9
W E L C O M E
G U I D E
W E L C O M E
&
C O N G R AT U L AT I O N S
Y O U R
W E D D I N G
O N
B O O K I N G
P H O T O G R A P H Y
U S
A S
S T U D I O !
This is such a wonderful time in your life. Thank you for letting us be a part of it! Soon, you’ll be putting on your beautiful wedding dress and walk down the aisle. You’ll be waiting in front of your family and friends for the love of your life to come down the aisle to meet you. It’s one of the most important days of your life. Our passion is to preserve moments like that - to make them unforgettable. Timeless, authentic photos for sophisticated couples, where all the images are captured with intent. That’s how we would describe our style. To achieve this unique look of soft, dreamy pastel tones, we use a combination of medium format analogue film as well as digital photography. Trends will come and go, but your wedding photos should stand the test of time. It might be captured today, but just as well, it could have been captured 20 years ago or 20 years in the future. We have put this welcome guide together to give you a bit of an overview of what your day could be like from a photographic perspective, and some things to consider to make things run a bit more smoothly, and to get the photos that you want.
P / 3
T H E
W E D D I N G
D AY
GETTING READY THE DETAILS THE CEREMONY YOUR COUPLE PHOTOS FAMILY PORTRAITS LIGHT YOUR RECEPTION & EXIT PREFERRED VENDORS
//
//
T H E
W E D D IN G
D AY
When we begin the coverage of your wedding day, we start by focusing on the little details. It gives us a chance to blend in to the background and let you and your bridesmaid’s just hang out and enjoy the morning. Sometimes we’ll go to great lengths to capture your details the day before your wedding. But don’t worry, if this is what we decide to do, this won’t affect your package or hours on the wedding day. When you are in your element and the mood is on top, that’s when we start capturing the moments with you and your bridesmaid’s together. Everyone’s excited, emotions are real and that’s when the candid, honest moments happen. When deciding on a room to get ready in, it’s helpful to have a lot of big windows for bright, airy, natural light and beautiful neutral walls. We are mainly natural light photographers and we just love when we can capture details in beautiful soft natural light. It makes a huge difference for the end result. On your wedding day, we show up geared with backgrounds and props that fits the wedding stationary and your chosen colours. We want to be sure we complement your choices in how we choose to photograph your wedding and to make sure there is a colour story and a flow to your day. That’s why we ask you as much as we can about your details. So please do fill us in on everything you can think of. The more we know, the better we will photograph your day.
E V E RY W O R K
W E D D I N G H A R D
T O
S TA N D
I S
U N I Q U E
M A K E O U T
A S
Y O U R
A N D
W E
W E D D I N G
Y O U R S .
P / 5
GETT IN G
R E AD Y
When you choose your getting ready rooms, think about a room bathing in light and please ensure that both of you have a room to get ready in, close to each other so that we easily access both rooms without too much time in between. While it can naturally get a little hectic in the getting ready room, there’s nothing wrong with that, but keeping the room where you get ready as tidy as possible helps immensely for creating beautiful photographs. Please have one of your maid of honour/best man arrange all of your personal items including your dress/suit, shoes, full invitation set including name tags and table numbers, garter, flower bouquet, rings (both yours and his wedding band) and other accessories in one spot where you’ll be getting ready. That way we can start photographing it all first thing when we arrive and concentrate on candids of you & your friends soon after. When you get dressed, we’re happy to step outside if you like. Whether we stay in the room or not, we will not photograph you when you are not ready. When you decide to have someone help you into your dress/suit, be it your mother, brother, sister or friend, have them getting ready before you. This saves time, helps them concentrate on your when you need them, and they look better in photos too. And more importantly, take time to enjoy the moment. Don’t feel like you have to “stage” it, we’re there to capture your undisturbed moments. We only interfere when we ask you to step into better light, or to rearrange a messy background. Brides, plan to be in your dress a little before you need to leave the room - a minimum of 30 minutes prior - which will allow for some portraits of you in your dress, veil and with flowers as well as to go outside and capture you together with your bridesmaids. And guys, when you’re getting ready, if you have any personal details that are important to you, like those personalised cuff-links, the vintage razor set, or a hand-written note for your bride, let us know so that we can document the little things for you, too!
P / 6
T HE
D E TA IL S
Details make your wedding unique. This is how you can express who you are as a couple and make it really personal. If you guys love traveling; including maps, travel photos, globes, vintage suitcases are a great way to personalising your big day. If you are big antique lovers, show everyone by including some of your favourite vintage pieces at the reception or add vintage champagne goblets & linens to your table set-up! You and your planner pour yourself into your wedding ideas, you plan and create. Then we come in, to ensure your efforts won’t be forgotten. We know how much it means to you and we go to great lengths making sure that we capture all the little things at your wedding. One of the things that are worth spending a bit extra on is the stationary invitation suite. It gives your guests a feeling of what kind of wedding you will have, before even getting there. And when they attend your wedding, it’s the one thing that ties everything together. Make sure you print 2 extra copies of all your stationary for us, for the day of the wedding. Include 2 envelopes that have are addressed to two of your guests and your monogrammed wax seal if this is part of your suite. Include a few copies (more than 2) of your ceremony program and five or so extra of the table name tags. We also love to photograph your wedding attire and the shoes (yes, we’er big on shoes!) laid out in a beautiful way, or against a pretty wall. And don’t worry, we always look for a clean surface to make sure we don’t dirty your dress! Your and your bridesmaid’s bouquets as well as the groomsmen’s butonnieres should all be ready and delivered to your room by the time we start our session in the morning. This is good to double-check with your florist or planner.
P / 8
T H E
C E R E M O N Y
During your ceremony, we usually stick to the edges of the aisle or stay in the center aisle (out of your way of course) so that your guests can concentrate on you and not the back of our heads. Sometimes we might squeeze in somewhere or hide in the first row. We try to balance getting the best shots without causing any distractions. Some celebrants have restrictions for photographers or flashes at weddings, especially inside of religious sanctuaries. We strive to respect your faith as well as the rules of your celebrant but it may limit the amount of photographs we can take. Please be sure to clear this up with your celebrant prior to the wedding and let us know. When you and your bridal party are walking down the aisle, you might feel under a lot of pressure about “looking good” in the photos. Don’t. They are the last thing you should be worried about. Don’t worry about anything. Just go with it. Take your time and enjoy your day! Sometimes couples opt for unplugged weddings. We think it’s a great idea but we also have no problems with your family, friends taking photos at your wedding. Unplugged weddings provide your guests with something luxurious in this day and age. They get to turn off their cell phones, and just enjoy the moment with their own eyes and hearts. We’re there to document your day and if you like, you can always invite your friends and family to have full access to your online photo gallery as well. Here’s a sample message for an unplugged wedding our couples have used in the past: “We want you to relax and have fun today! Your biggest gift is to turn off your cameras for now (we’ve got that covered), put your phones on mute, and just be present in this special moment with us! We promise everyone will have access to our photos later.”
P / 1 1
Y OU R
C O U P L E
PH O T O S
This is usually the only time during the day where you enjoy a few quiet moments together and can take everything in. Many of our favourite photos are taking during this time, for which we would recommend you to set aside at least 1 hour or 1,5 hours. Estimating around an hour to an hour and a half gives us some wiggle room if anything else goes off schedule. All weddings are delayed and to catch up, we usually take that time from the couple photo session. The most important factor for beautiful portraits is LIGHT. Evening light tends to glow and is beautiful for lovely, elegant photographs. The two last hours before sunset is the best time for dreamy portraiture. Prior to your wedding, feel free to reach out to us to plan the perfect timeline for your wedding day. Light is the single most important factor to creating beautiful photographs so we’re keen to help you create a great timeline. Well, that and the chance for you to relax:) From October the sun starts setting at 6pm and just sets earlier and earlier until the start of December when the sun sets at it’s earliest at 5.30pm. From the end of January we start seeing sunsets at 6pm or later again. So if your sunset is at 5.30pm, you should really try to have your ceremony no later than 2.30-3pm. If you anything special in mind or you’d like to ensure you get a particular photo, please - don’t hesitate to let us know. We generally try to sense your vibe and plan your photo session around that!
W E
L O V E
C O U P L E
N AT U R A L
T O
P H O T O S
Y O U
A S
A
T H AT
A R E
C O U P L E .
P / 1 2
FA M I LY
& B R ID A L PA RT Y P O RT R AIT S
We love capturing family photos outside in beautiful light in the afternoon. Open shade also provides a soft, etheral light perfect for our style of photography. These photos usually require 5-10 min per group. We try to limit family formals to five different unique family group shots. Your extended guests and relatives we can capture with you at your reception in candid moments. If you have special requests, we’re happy to accommodate, it would just need to be planned along with the timeline to ensure we have time. We usually try to photograph your bridal party separately on each side (bride / groom) before the ceremony begins, just after you get dressed. It’s therefore important to plan for at least 30 min of bridal party photographs after you get into your dress. As for your entire bridal party with both bridesmaids and groomsmen, we capture these photos right after your family portraits.
L IG H T
If it’s super bright and sunny out and it’s midday, we might head for a place where the sun can be at your backs, so that we’re shooting into the sun / backlit or where you’re in a spot with much nicer light. Having a lot of photos of squinty faces with “raccoon eyes” isn’t perhaps what you want to fill your gallery with. Therefore we assess light all the time. And we always pick your photo locations based on light primarily.
P / 1 5
R EC EP T IO N
&
E X IT
After your portraits, we head to the dinner reception area. It’s great if you can arrange for a “photography” table, close to the reception and dance floor, with two chairs and connection to a socket, this is where we keep all our equipment, back-ups and where we charge our batteries. If possible, we like to photograph the reception area before your guests enter. So much has gone into planning the perfect reception, and we like to document that for you! When we photograph your table set-up and other details at the reception, we might take one or two items and move them to an area with better light. At times, we’ll grab a member of your bridal party and photograph them holding a particular item. Don’t worry, we’ll make sure we leave everything like we found it. Giving us at least a few minutes before you enter the reception gives us an opportunity to set up our lights for the first dance. For most dances, we opt for flash photography or video lights. We usually set up a flash off camera, pointed at a wall, and another behind you, pointed at your back. If your DJ is using laser lights, we will ask him to turn these off for the first dance. Just as your guests, we like to take a small break preferably during dinner time. No one wants tons of photos of themselves eating - it can make for some awkward expressions:) Please feel free to grab us for candid shots of you and your family or friends. As the party begins on the dance floor, we take a mix of images. Most of the images are lit using the same set up as your first dance, for some we like to use slower shutter speeds to capture the frenetic energy of the moment. If you’re tossing your bouquet, please let us know so that we can be prepared to capture that moment for you. And at the end of the night, when your celebration is over, just let us know if, when and where you’ll be making your grand exit so we can set up lights for this moment.
P / 1 6
P R EF ERR E D
V E N D O R S
(We love these vendors and know you will too!)
DRESS
FINE ART HAIR PIECES
House of Moirai (UAE)
Anaqa Headpieces (UAE)
Susannah Rachel (UAE)
Enchanted by Liv Hart (USA)
Vera Wang (Kuwait)
Maggie Wu Studio (USA)
Vanila Bride (UAE) Ginger & Poppy (UAE)
HAIR Pastels
VIDEOGRAPHERS
Angelique Turner
Deneemotion
Louises Chair (Louise Auckland)
MorningJacket Films
WEDDING PLANNING Save the Date
MAKE-UP / SIMPLE HAIR Diana Mauer Monica, Blush Beauty
Jessica Roberts Design Lovely Styling The Purple Chair Lavender Blue Tesoro Events & Travel
FLOWERS Tulipano Decor BLISS Flowers
EVENT RENTALS
CAKES Dana eats Magnolia Bakery
DJs & ENTERTAINMENT DJ Enda Grimes (Irish) DJ Lari (Finnish) Production 7 DJ Teddy (Lebanease) Fushia events Sole Agency The Fridge
Innovative Hiring The Supper House Mint Event Rentals Party Social Fushia Events
STATIONARY ARTISTS / INVITATIONS Emily from Ever After Press (France/GB) Paula Lee Calligraphy (Canada) The Fozzybook (Philippines) FeatherPaper (UAE) Pret a Papier (UAE)
WEDDING INSPIRATION Style me Pretty Wedding Sparrow
P / 1 9