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A
wedding is one of the most special days in your life and that of your
families but the organisation process can be quite daunting.
I
would like to offer you the benefit of my many years experience as
a wedding photographer in the hope that this will help with your wedding
plans.
As
appointed wedding photographer my aim is not only to produce the most
exquisite memories for you and your families to treasure for years
to come but to help you so that you day can be a relaxed and joyous
affair with your proceedings flowing with the utmost of ease.
A
Typical Wedding Day
The
Church ceremony commencing at 12.00 noon and Philip
Chisholm as your official Wedding
Photographer
10.50 am: Philip arrives at the
Bride's home or other venue and sets up his studio. He then occupies
himself putting flowers in button holes, seeing to the bride's veil,
answering the telephone, opening the front door to taxi drivers, brushing
down father's jacket and making mother a well earned cup of tea.
11.05 am: When everyone is ready,
Philip will photograph the bride alone, with her father and mother
(together or individually) and finally with the bridesmaids. Brothers
will be photographed first, because they will need to leave early
to attend to their Church duties.
11.30 am: Mother and bridesmaids
leave for the Church. One of the best parts of the wedding is for
mother to greet the guests at the Church. Enjoy it, take time to remember
it, switch on your own built-in video camera, look at everything and
create memories which will last you a lifetime.
11.35 am: Philip is set up at the
Church photographing the groom's family, best man, ushers, brothers
and sisters. Everyone of importance should be at Church by this time,
greeting guests, having their photographs taken. DonÑt forget umbrellas
and put people in charge of this duty. Rain need not spoil a wedding,
it can even be fun, but a windy day will call for more indoor pictures.
Father and daughter are now left alone. Everyone else is at the Church.
The bride is ready, after enjoying a glass of fatherÑs best champagne.
This is a magic moment to be enjoyed by you both. If you could capture
this wonderful feeling in a bottle, it would be priceless.
11.55 am: Everyone is inside the
Church waiting for the bride to arrive. The bridesmaids shelter in
the porch. The bride arrives five minutes early. Photographs are taken
in the car, getting out of the car, and at the Church doors.
12.00 noon: The bride is greeted
by the Vicar. Calming words are spoken, with reminders to father of
his duties.
12.01 pm: The bride and her father
set off down the aisle. The bride remembers to toe and kick her dress
as she walks, father glides gracefully, slightly ahead of the bride
and holding her hand lightly on his right arm.
12.43 pm: The service is over. No photographs
have been taken during the service, only a video with the VicarÑs
permission. Next is the signing of the register and more photographs.
The bride and groom walk down the aisle. Again a photograph, this
time at the door looking back into the Church, another wonderful picture!
The bride and groom stay here until everyone is outside of the Church.
We donÑt want people pushing past and standing on the dress. At this
point, we send the bride and groom back into the Church to the altar,
to have a portrait done with the Vicar, a full length picture of the
bride with her dress laid out to perfection. The lovely soft tones
of the altar and candlelight make this a perfect picture.
1.03 pm: The last of the guests
are just leaving the rear of the Church having filled the collection
tray to the brim (after all, to ensure that the Church roof is there
for your grandchildren, Churches have to rely on your gifts for maintenance).
Philip collects the guests, cameras at the ready to give the bride
and groom a tremendous exit from the Church. This is organised so
the full wedding party group is photographed at the same time. Philip
assembles the parents, bridesmaids, best man, ushers and page boys
either side of the church door leaving a gap in the middle for the
bride and groom's first footstep into the world as man and wife. To
the cheers and applause of the invited guests, it makes a great video.
Philip will take his pictures and help all the guests to take theirs.
Your guests wedding snaps are your insurance policy. In over twenty
years Philip has never lost a wedding picture. However, it could happen
for a thousand different reasons. Therefore, every picture of your
wedding is important.
1.15 pm: Lots of pictures throwing
confetti by the car. The car (or horse and carriage) have been photographed
and the wedding party is now off to the Reception venue.
1.45 pm: The bride and groom arrive
to a Bucks Fizz and go straight out onto the lawn for photographs,
while their parents greet the guests and informally welcome them to
the wedding of their son and daughter.
1.55 pm: Everyone has arrived, and
with a drink in hand, they are invited to join the bride and groom
on the lawn for a large group photograph. The group is then split
up into three groups, brideÑs family and friends, groomÑs family and
friends. Philip then divides and subdivides the party into smaller
and smaller groups and ensures all of the photographs are take that
were discussed at the pre-wedding meetings.. No-one is left out and
everyone is made to feel part of the proceedings.
An
increasingly popular choice for the
bride and groom the programme of events for the Civil Marriage Ceremony
in an hotel when the bride is staying at home the night prior to the
event would be almost identical to that of a Church |Wedding. There
would however be more time to take photographs around the hotel prior
to the service and afterwards. The programme of a Civil Marriage Ceremony
whereby the bride stays at the hotel the night prior to the event
would be slightly different and this is a typical programme of such
a wedding.
10.45 a.m. The bride and bridesmaids
would be getting ready in their hotel rooms. Philip arrives at the
hotel to take head and shoulders photographs of the bride, her mother
and the bridesmaids. There may be the opportunity to use several locations
depending on the venue but this stage of the proceedings can be slightly
more leisurely than for a Church wedding.
11.30 a.m. Philip is set up at the
entrance of the Hotel taking photographs of the groom, bestman, ushers,
brothers & sisters. Again a change of location around the hotel could
be used. As guests arrive they will be directed to their seats in
the room where the ceremony is to take place.
11.45 a.m. The groom and bestman
check the register with the Registrar.
11.50 a.m. The bride arrives and
the Registrar talks through the wedding ceremony. The ceremony takes
place in a room which has been duly sanctioned according to law for
the celebration of marriages. After a little poetry or music the ceremony
is over.
12.15 p.m. The wedding party moves
out into the hotel grounds for all of the photographs to be taken
with Philip taking advantage of the best locations in and around the
hotel. The remaining part of the procedure of taking photographs would
be identical to the previous example of a church wedding.
Some
of Philip's Tips
Gathered from his many years as a wedding photographer
Button
Holes
Ladies
wear their flowers on the right, gentlemen on the left. Ladies need
to be sure that the size of corsage is not too heavy for the fabric
of the outfit. You can always put a corsage on your handbag. When
pinning on the flower, pin through the bulb and not the stalk, otherwise
one brush against someone can leave you sporting a length of tinfoil
and your flower trampled underfoot.
Tights & Stockings
Mothers need to carry spares. Out
of the packet they will fit inside a partners jacket. A ladder often
occurs kneeling in the church (the most common accident). Try to prepare
against a suspender belt giving way or causing a ladder or garters
or basque restricting circulation. The straps of bridesmaids under
garments can be held in place by small tabs made out of miniature
safety pins and narrow tape.
The
Wedding Dress
Mums should
carry a small piece of vanish soap wrapped in a damp piece of white
cloth in a polythene bag. This is wonderful for removing makeup and
mud stains from the brides dress.
Double strengthen the hooks and eyes on the dresses. Frequently they
become detached when sitting down in the car.
When measuring the bridesmaids for dresses, compliment them on their
figure and stress how important it is for them to maintain it until
the wedding. Quite often ladies continue to lose weight after the
final measurements causing a loose fitting dress on the day.
Brides and bridesmaids who will be wearing off the shoulder dresses
should be careful that prior to the day bra straps do not cause shoulder
dents which can take hours to clear and will show clearly on the photographs.
Children
at Weddings
If a child become noisy during the
service, don't be embarrassed, take them foe a quiet walk. Many churches
now have a play corner. A most magical moment witnessed during a service
was when a child of only 3 years old wandered forward to see what
the vicar, bride and groom were doing. He stood, looking up, transfixed
by the vicars every word. His moment came when when the groom knocked
the wedding ring off the bible as the vicar handed it to him. The
little boy just picked it up and place it back on the bible without
saying a word. It all adds to the wonderful memories you will gather
on this most special day.
Organisation
Check and re-check all of your arrangements,
especially if the wedding is on a Sunday or a week day. A day or so
prior to the wedding day, make a final telephone call to everyone
just to be sure. Philip has experienced a number of weddings when
catastrophes have occurred. These include church doors being locked,
the Organist not turning up, flowers not arriving. Philip has also
had experience of the groomÑs parents losing their way to the church,
the brideÑs veil rising in the wind and landing in the tree tops,
fainting bridesmaids and the ring dropping down piping ducts and not
being recovered for 1 hour. Not all problems however, can be foreseen.
It is always wise to insure a wedding.
The Bride and Groom & their Families
No family can be so perfect that
they will agree about everything. When planning for a wedding small
insignificant things can be blown up out of all proportion. When things
get too much, stop what you are doing and take time off together.
Go out and have a meal or a drink and talk things through calmly.
Very
best wishes for a long and happy life together
Philip
Chisholm
Studio Tristan Photography
E-mail: phil@studiotristan.com
Rothswaite House
12 Stirling Road
Redcar
Cleveland
TS10 2JU
United Kingdom
Telephone
01642
485322
Facsimile
01642
510280
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