2011 has been an odd year business wise for me because I only worked for 6 months and did half the number of weddings I normally do…because of being on maternity leave from January until July. But the weddings I did photograph this year have been with some absolutely lovely couples and it has been an absolute pleasure being a part of their specials days.

On a personal level 2011 has been the best year of my life…getting to meet my little boy and learning how to be a mummy. I can’t wait to celebrate his first Christmas and look forward to the fun and excitement that 2012 will bring (especially when he gets mobile!).

I hope you all have a wonderfully relaxing Christmas time and a fantastic 2012…especially those who are getting married next year!

Katie says “Winning the competition feels so surreal. We had a truly amazing day and it’s great to know others appreciated how special it was too. We are so excited about the prize! Being wined and dined for a whole evening together means more to us than we can say”. I’m so pleased for them!

You can check out the full details of their Easter celebration on pages 48-49 of the current issue of Your Bristol & Somerset Wedding magazine. My favourite quote from the article (of course!) is this from Katie; “We recommend our photographer Caroline Pilling. She was really professional, had lots of suggestions and knew what we wanted. She was also very unobtrusive which meant we got lots of really nice natural pictures.” Katie & Paul’s wedding album is one of the designs on my featured venues page here.

Your Bristol & Somerset Wedding magazine have re-launched their competition again, to find the Wedding of the Year for 2010. I’m excited to say that two of my couples have been entered into the first round…I’ll be announcing who when the next issue of the magazine comes out in a few weeks time!

This was the first time I’d met with Fran as he wasn’t able to come in with Charley when she was doing her photographer research so it was nice to get to know him as well as to see how the two of them were together. We had a really great time wandering around the gardens and made use of some of the flowers that were in bloom to add a bit of colour to their photographs.

I’m really pleased with the results – so hopefully they will be too!

Amanda was quite nervous about having her photograph taken but she gamely let me shoot away and try out different settings and poses so she could give me feedback later on what she likes/doesn’t like. I was really pleased with them all – so hopefully she will be too!

Here are a few pictures from their portrait session:

The current edition of the magazine is also running a feature on my wedding couple Catherine & Jake Lewis who were the winners of the December/January heat of their Wedding of the Year competition (page 37) as well as a two-page spread on all the finalists of the competition of which TWO of my couples are in (page 38-39)! Check it out now.

The portrait session around Barrington Court was loads of fun and afterwards we rewarded ourselves with hot chocolates in the cafe. It was great to chat in person about Jenny & Adam’s wedding plans and to help put their minds at rest about photography on the day. I can’t wait to meet up with them again on the wedding day!

Here are a few pictures from their session:

David has just discovered this in light of the recent stories run in the daily papers suggesting that Jon Venables (who was convicted of murdering Jamie Bulger) was going by the name of David Calvert. Since then David’s photography site has had over 50,000 hits. Normally we’d be thrilled that his site is so popular, but at the moment he is obviously very concerned.

As his colleagues we are doing all we can to help David disassociate himself from this dreadful story. He is in no way  related to David Calvert of Fleetwood, who has also been highlighted in the press and is in no way connected to the tragic case of Jamie Bulger.

David, 46,  is a national award winning photographer and his business David Calvert Photography, based in Hertfordshire, specialises in family and child portraiture. David has our complete support in these difficult circumstances and we hope very much that they pass without impact to him, his own family or his business.

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.