I started my coverage of the wedding with Shelley in the master suite where she was having her make-up done by Jess from Buff Urban Day Spa in Taunton. It’s nice when you bump into other wedding suppliers again – I last worked at a wedding with Jess back in October 2008 at Maunsel House and have just recommended her to one of my other brides getting married there this year!

Because everything was taking place at Halswell House, I was able to nip downstairs and get some photographs of the boys getting ready too. I think Mark was far more nervous about the wedding than Shelley was – although his best men Phil & Dai were doing a great job of keeping him distracted!

The ceremony took place upstairs in the ballroom which is a wonderful place for photographs – the light was lovely coming in from the huge windows. Shelley was a little bit emotional as she made her entrance – I think the nerves had finally gotten to her too. Although she wasn’t the only one as bridesmaid Steph got quite teary too! But despite the tears she still managed to do a great job of her reading. Shelley and Mark had personalised their vows which made for quite a special ceremony for everyone.

After the formalities were over everyone headed downstairs for a few drinks and nibbles. Despite the glorious sunshine and blue skies it was still bitterly cold outside and no-one really wanted to brave it! I did manage to sneak Shelley and Mark away for a while and we ventured outside in the cold to get some lovely portraits of the two of them around the house, by the lake and with some seasonal snowdrops.

If you were a guest at Shelley & Mark’s wedding you can register to see the full picture gallery (after the bride and groom have seen them first!) by clicking HERE.

Suppliers: Dress: The Bridal Chest, Eltham, London (dress by San Patrick); Accessories: Tiara/hair pins: Adelia Rose; Cake: homemade/Waitrose; Florist: Bridal & bridesmaid bouquets & buttonholes: Blooming Gorgeous, House flowers: Floral Theatre; Stationery: Mandalay; Caterer: Stickydate; Make-up: Jess at Buff Urban Day Spa, Taunton.

Remember, this discount will only apply for new wedding bookings on dates I am available in the next three months.

** UPDATE ** I have just discovered a problem with the contact form that was on this blog and I have not been receiving any submissions through the form. If you have contacted me using the blog contact form in the past few days and have not received a reply please get in touch again. Thanks!

I’m going to blog this week about a few of the suppliers I met with but first up is a picture of my stand, followed by a picture of Louise from Curious Company. The Curious Company provide theatrical entertainment for events, campaigns and parties. They have a huge wardrobe of ready-made characters and acts and wonderfully talented performers and bring something magical and relevant to your event. Yesterday Louise had an amazing outfit on that was like an old-fashioned ice-cream seller they used to have in cinemas! Except she was giving away free chocolates (very tasty they were too!) and she had an amazing hat that looked like a box of chocolates!

Then next Sunday 28th February 2010 I will be exhibiting at the Halswell House wedding fair in Goathurst, Somerset, which will be running from 11am to 5pm.

At both fairs I will be showcasing some brand new albums from weddings I photographed last year – including one from a wedding at Halswell House itself! I do hope you’re able to make it along and say “hello!”.

First up is Katie & Paul whose April wedding took place at St Bartholomew’s Church in Bath, followed by a reception at Priston Mill:

The other finalists are Catherine & Jake Lewis who were married at Halswell House in July:

Both my couples would love it if you could vote for them as the overall winner will receive a romantic night away for two at Shaw Ridge in Wiltshire, worth £300! To vote for Katie and Paul please click here or to vote for Catherine and Jake please click here. Then simply click on the button that says “I want Katie & Paul to win” or ” I want Catherine & Jake to win”. The closing date for entries is 21st February 2010. Good luck to both couples!!!

That’s why I’m so excited to be a part of MYVISION – a workshop concept put together by a group of the UK’s best wedding photographers. It’s the first workshop of it’s kind in this country and I’ll be one of the lucky few participants on it! Each participant has been assigned a team leader who will give each of us a unique photographic assignment to fulfill. The scary part is that we won’t know what the assignment will be until the morning we start it! It could be anything from documenting a day in a tattoo parlour to photographing kids in a skateboard park! We are all getting very nervous now and things kick off this Sunday – eeek!

More information about the MYVISION workshop can be seen on the dedicated website. We also have a blog that will be updated throughout the workshop to show what the participants are getting up to! Wish me luck!

Next year will see me re-aligning the business to what I love to do – weddings! I’m ramping down the portrait side of my business so there will be no more boudoir or studio portraits for me! Over the past year I’ve come to realise that weddings and location portraits are what I love to do the most and so that’s what I’m going to concentrate on from now on. I have some more lovely couples booked in for their weddings next year and I’m now over 50% booked up for 2010 and am already taking bookings for 2011!

Finally I wanted to take this opportunity to wish all of my clients, friends and general blog readers a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2010. The studio is closing after today (Friday 18th December) and will re-open on Monday 4th January 2010, so any enquiries or orders will be dealt with now in the New Year! And I’m sorry to say I roped in my poor dog Poppy again to pose for a Christmas-style picture (please don’t report me to the RSPCA – she was rewarded with treats!).

Merry Christmas!! xx