Choosing a wedding photographer, especially in Sussex and South-East England, can be a bit of a lottery. Your wedding day will go in a flash.  After months (or even years) of painstaking planning, the day itself flies by and your photographs are the only physical proof that you had a good time! So choosing the right photographer to help create beautiful memories of your special day, is vital.

Innovation images’ insider guide to wedding photographers, will help you navigate your way through the wedding-snapper maze and find a wedding photographer who truly captures one of the most important days of your life.

Tip #1: Rapport:
Your photographer is responsible for making the bride look like a goddess, the groom look like Adonis, and the mums looking radiantly happy! If you don’t get on and feel a connection with your photographer, then the chances are you will feel awkward and uncomfortable and your photographs will show it!  Many people don’t like having their photograph taken, so using a wedding photographer with an engaging personality and a easy-going, calm manner, is essential to get those all important relaxed, beautiful and natural looking wedding photos.

Tip#2 : Experience:
You want a professional, who can handle any situation and (almost) any weather condition without getting in a flap.  It’s vital to choose a wedding photographer with either a professional qualification in photography and/or one who has membership of a professional body such as The Master Photographer‘s Association. They will need to have a quick eye, they’ll need to spot unique photo-opportunities and they’ll certainly need to be on the ball to make sure they capture key moments that occur throughout the day.  Years of experience certainly helps to make sure they capture that first kiss between a new husband and wife, or the look of pride from a doting parent.

Tip#3: Try before you buy:
By choosing a wedding photographer who offers you a free, no-obligation test-shoot, you are giving yourself a head-start!  You will find out how your photographer works, whether you will get on well during one of the most important days of your life, and most importantly, if you like their photographic style.  This will make the decision-making process that much easier and give you peace of mind that your day will be captured the way you want it. 

Tip#4: Questions, questions, questions:
Write down everything you want to ask before your meeting with a potential photographer, no matter how small, and fire away.  Don’t worry that you may seem demanding;  this is a hugely important part of your wedding expenditure and a good photographer understands that.  Questions you might like to include are:

• Is there a wet weather plan?
• What if they are ill on the day?
• What exactly is included in the price? Are there any extras?
• Are travel/accommodation expenses extra?
• Are the final images subject to copyright?

Tip#5: Be Flexible:
By all means have an idea of your ideal ‘wish-list’ of pictures but try to be flexible.  Your professional wedding photographer should have the skill, experience and creative vision to help you capture the best shots on your big day - so relax, enjoy and let them work their magic - after all, that is what you are paying them for!

Tip#1: Keep ‘em busy: “Idle hands do the devil’s work”! Giving children jobs to do at a wedding can help alleviate boredom and get them to ’buy in’ to the whole wedding day deal. Even the youngest children get a sense of pride at being entrusted with a special job, and will generally rise admirably to the occasion, eliciting many ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ of admiration.  Dish out jobs according to age and ability and not only will you have an army of helpers, you will have angelic little cherubs all keen to impress on your big day.

Innovation Images Top Tog Tip:
Brides who want having formal photographs taken with younger guests might want their wedding photographer to do their shots first, before the children get too restless, cranky or (god help us all) hungry.

Tip#2: Family Planning!: Spontaneity goes out of the window once you have children.  Boring though it is, children (especially young ones) need regular feeding, and nap times throughout the day in order to function angelically.  By letting parents know the general running order of your wedding in advance, they can plan for their child’s needs accordingly so that everyone enjoys their day.

Tip#3: Make it a happy meal: Not of the golden arches kind, obviously, unless that’s your wedding cuisine choice of preference, but it pays to offer some child-friendly wedding-food options.  And if the kids’ menu is less than gourmet, don’t worry - better to have well-fed children, than uneaten plates of haute cuisine and toddlers in a hunger-induced melt-down.

Tip#4: Divide and conquer:  It’s often worth investing in a separate playroom for young children. Toys, games, xbox/wii, films and snacks will offer a welcome distraction, maybe under the watchful eye of a CRB-checked childminder?  Of course, some kids (or indeed their parents) won’t take to the care of a stranger, but there’s a good chance that many mums and dads will leap at the chance to enjoy some grown-up time with others who are capable of blowing their own noses, safe in the knowledge that their little cherubs are happily causing havoc on someone else’s watch!

Tip#5: That’s entertainment…: If tip#4 doesn’t appeal, consider hiring a balloon modeller, puppeteer, circus show or magician.  The beauty of this is that such entertainers can often turn their hand to more sophisticated entertainment for adults later in the evening - which makes it a very cost effective option.  If that’s still more than you want to shell out,  try some cheap and cheerful fun: A few tables with activity sheets, pens, games etc can sometimes be all you need to help keep boredom at bay. If you have older children attending, why not incorporate a themed treasure hunt, complete with clues,  within the kids’ party bags.  Older ones can help younger ones, and it will certainly keep them occupied during the boring bits! You could even use a roll of lining paper to create a huge graffiti wall that the children can all add to throughout the day - and it would make a great memento.

Today I’ll be at the Alexander House wedding fayre at Turners Hill in Sussex.  This is a beautiful hotel and spa and should be on the radar of  anyone planning there big day in the area.  Doors for the fayre open at 11am and close at 3pm. 

4th September      Amex Stadium Brighton      This is a brand new venue and well worth a look!

11th September    Alexander House Turners Hill      A beautiful venue and I worked here just last weekend.

18th September   Fontwell Park Race Course     A very popular venue in Sussex, with a new stand and old house.

25th September   Botleigh Grange Hotel, Botley    Another very popular venue over in Hampshire.

Also, due to a late cancellation I’m still offering a £100 discount on wedding photography for the 24th Sept 2011.

Unfortunately I have had a couple of late cancellations so I am offering a discount of £100 to anyone interested in booking the 20th August 2011 or the 24th Sept 2011. 

Get in touch for details.

For more info follow this link.

http://www.thewessexcentre.co.uk/detail.php?id=21

The voting is now open so please take a few moments and follow the links below to give them your votes.

http://www.yoursussexwedding.co.uk/woty_vote.cfm?GI_WOTY_ID=401

http://www.yoursussexwedding.co.uk/woty_vote.cfm?GI_WOTY_ID=589

Fingers crossed, we’ll have a winner but I need your help.

16th January - Charmandean Centre, Worthing

23rd January - Hilton Avisford Park, Fontwell

30th January - Southampton Hilton

6th February - City Cruise Terminal, Southampton

20th February - Metropole Hotel, Brighton

27th February - Botleigh Grange Hotel, Botley

6th March - Fontwell Park Racecourse

20th March - East Sussex National Golf Centre, Uckfield

27th March - Sparholt College, Sparsholt

I’ve just presented these pictures as part of a portfolio and like them enough to show them off.

Pete and Carly were married on the 16th October at the Warbrook House Hotel, near Hook in Hampshire.   A lovely venue, very pretty and they even arranged for a herd of cows to munch away at the grass in the next field!

“Much more than just a photographer, professional and organised throughout – Chris kept everything running smoothly, from getting the bride to the alter on time to keeping everyone entertained during a usually long and laborious part of the day – group photos! They were taken at speed and with ease (well it certainly looked that way!).  The final pictures speak volumes and really have the wow factor, for people that hate having their pictures taken don’t worry – we were made to feel at complete ease and the final results show.  A traditional photographer he is not, but for fun, stunning and sophisticated pictures then Innovation Images should be your first port of call – we had an amazing day and our pictures really capture that.  Thank you so much - we love our pictures and to quote our friends we look like “angels and movie stars”, we definitely made the right choice of photographer – we thought you were fantastic and everyone commented on how professional, organised and entertaining you were (you fitted in so well you could’ve been one of the guests) – we wouldn’t hesitate in recommending you, and if we ever need a photographer you’ll be the first person we call.”

Jemma and Alun Blow

Married on the 26th August at Ghyll Manor, West Sussex

Yay for us!

And a slightly belated congratulations to Vanessa and Terry who came back for their viewing on Friday.  It was especially gratifying when they said that they loved the pics as they were a personal referral from Tracy at Stylish Events Wedding Fayres. 

Terry and Vanessa

I’ll be attending at the following-

3rd October          Brighton Metropole and Hilton Avisford Park

10th October       Worthing Charmendean Centre

17th October       Southampton City Cruise Terminal

24th October       Southampton Hilton

31st October        East Sussex National Golf Centre

7th November    Winchester Holiday Inn

So come and pay me a visit!

Lydia and Jamie were married at the Hilton Avisford Park Hotel on the 1st May 2010 and are annoyingly nice people!!!  The guest list also included Dave the Darlek!

Please take a moment to follow this link and give them your vote.

http://www.yoursussexwedding.co.uk/woty_vote.cfm?GI_WOTY_ID=589

So encase you’ve not come across it yet can I suggest that you become a fan.  My fansite will be where I post some of my favourite new pictures and will ensure that you get regular blog updates.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=566178670#!/pages/Chris-Harmer-Photographer/18231534182

I have officially survived the busiest week of the year, slightly drained and frazzled but enthusiasm undiminished!  So congratulations to

Peter and Kate Simons who were married at Sparsholt College on Saturday 21sst.

Jemma and Allin Blow who were married at Ghyll Manor, Rusper on Thursday.

Rob and Sarah Jones who were married at Careys Manor, Brockenhurst on Friday.

Richard and Kate Noble who were married at St John’s Church, Baddersley on Saturday.

Steve and Leta Meyer, who christened baby Leta on Sunday.

and…

Jennifer and Andrew Cam who were married at the Fratton Kingdom Hall on Monday!

The evening was especially significant for the folks at Fontwell as it also marked the opening of the new stand. 

Pictures from the evening can be viewed via the My Gallery section of my website.

Congratulations to Adam and Katherine who were married last Friday at Botolphs Church, with their reception at the Old Seldon Barn near Patching.  It was a really sweet ceremony and it was my second opportunity to work at the barn.  Old Seldon Barn is a new venue for the area and is likely to become very popular with its space, views and facilities.  It’s also quite unusual in that it doesn’t feel like a barn on the inside and is more like a very large marquee! 

The day was especially fun for me as the wedding guest list included loads of old friends from the wedding of Paul and Kerri Standing, who I had the pleasure of working for last year.  Katherine was Kerri’s bridesmaid last April and Kerri returned the favour on Friday.  It meant that there were loads of familier faces amongst the guests, but it also meant that I couldn’t use the same banter!!!

We were mostly lucky with the weather but it did get very wet as the day went on, causing some disruption.  But I say to every couple that the weather is the one thing that you can’t control so just relax and go with the flow.  If the weather is bad, it just becomes part of the story that you bore your kids with later on in life!!!  Photographically, bad weather can lead to some great pictures as it forces us to be even more creative than usual and to break with the usual formulas.  Give me rainy, dark days any weekend and something special will always happen!

If you are bringing a videographer to your wedding then please make sure that they are not bringing a stills photographer as well.  It is a breech of the terms and conditions of your booking and will effect our ability to get the best from your day.  I am quite happy to make stills available to your videographer for use on dvd cases etc.

I felt like such a party pooper when I solved the mystery.    It’s traditional at some Chinese weddings to release floating lantern like balloons towards the end of the day.  They’re made of paper and have a really ethereal quality as they gently float away.  They’re so bright and spooky looking that from a distance they could be mistaken for alien invaders, especially if you happen to be a drunken German tourist!   They are also banned close to the sea as they can be mistaken for off shore distress flares and can be a hazard to people sitting in flats minding their own business.  At a recent wedding in London where they were released there was a moment of panic when the balloon drifted closer and closer to the net curtains of an open window in a tenth floor flat! 

Chateau Challain

We have recently had a very interesting weekend working at the beautiful Chateau Challain in the Loire region of France.  We caught the early ferry on the Friday over to LeHarve and were hit by 30 degree heat as we arrived in France.  The drive down was great with the roof down on the car and a cheesy french classics station on the radio.  The Chateau was stunning, like a cross between a fairy tale castle and a Victorian museum, with huge four poster beds, beautiful gardens and more stuffed wildlife than I’ve ever seen outside of the Natural History museum in London.  This included a stuffed adult giraffe in the study!    The wedding was late on Saturday, giving us time to explore and shop, and we were able to meet some very interesting people.  This includes the irrepressible Jean-Marie, probably the best florist that I have been able to work with, who looked after us so well during our break in the evening.

All in all, a stunning venue and not too diffcult to get to for English couples, well worth consideration for your big day.

Congratultions to Lizzy and Amir.

A mother and her daughter recently shared their wedding days together by walking down the aisle one after another.

Nineteen year old Katie Lear and her forty six year old mum Sharon Bunn were happy to share their big day with each other as they have always shared a close bond with one another. Both couples got engaged at around the same time over two years ago and after much discussion about a joint wedding, they began to put their plans into action. Not only did it make sense that the close pair share the day but it would also save them quite a chunk of money to have the one wedding day.

First up and given away by her dad Colin was Katie who married twenty one year old Chris Hughes. Shortly after Chris and Katie were pronounced man and wife, Sharon walked down the aisle with her father Anthony Shaw to exchange vows with forty four year old Aiden Lowe, her partner of three years.

Sharing the day with each other was not enough for this duo; they wore exactly the same ivory wedding dress, matching jewellery and even had the same bridesmaids for each ceremony; Katie’s sisters twelve year old Amy and Lucy who is eight. Their brother Jay was best man for lorry driver Chris and Aiden who is a warehouse worker. Katie’s son Rhys who is two years old completed the wedding party as the pageboy.

The ceremonies took place at Hanley Register Office in Stoke on Trent in front of thirty guests with a reception held at Sharon and Aiden’s house in Milton. Katie was heavily pregnant with her second child so was unable to go on honeymoon with her new husband who she met through her brother when they served in the Army together.

Both couples thoroughly enjoyed their shared day stating that it was just perfect.

Sharing Your Day

Sharing wedding ceremonies is not that unusual, particularly if the brides are from the same family.  It also means that if the family members are travelling a fair distance then they will only have to so the once, but brides must be prepared to share the attention.

Just recently an unusual wedding took place involving three siblings who were married at the same ceremony in Lee Park, North Bay Ontario in Canada.  The trio consisted of a bride Elaine Lemay and her two brothers Rick and Francois who married their partners Danny Morin, Ann Turncliffe and Ann Monaghan respectively.

A couple from Oxfordshire surprised their wedding guests by throwing out the traditional wedding list and asking them to donate blood instead.

Daniel and Jane Cluff, both 35, from Abingdon, have never needed a blood transfusion themselves.

The pair have both donated blood since the age of 18 and thought it would be a good idea to encourage more people to sign up to the National Blood Service.

Twenty-five of their 120 guests agreed to donate blood.

‘Quite surprised’

As well as the invitations, guests had a chance to find out more about giving blood via an information board they made especially for the day.

“Some people were quite surprised,” said Mrs Cluff.

“A couple of friends said they’d been meaning to do it for ages it actually spurred them onto donate which was really good and hopefully they’ll continue doing so.”

Jonathan Sewell, lead donor relations manager for the National Blood Service, said: “A lot of people do tend to go for a big gift list at weddings these days, so for someone to turn round and be as generous as this is incredible.”

Mrs Cluff, a social worker, and Mr Cluff, an occupational therapist, married in the summer at Lains Barn near Wantage.

Seven thousand units of blood are needed every day to meet hospital demand. Last year 2.1 million donations were collected from about 1.6 million donors. That figure reflects only 4% of the population, giving two or three times a year. Almost anyone between the ages of 17 and 65 can become a new blood donor.

Jane and Daniel Cluff donate blood up to three times a year

So a big thank you to everyone who we’ve spoken to and good luck with your arrangements!

Cheers

Chris, Andrea, Helen and Jill