The Italian Villa, Dorset - Carla and Dannel

When wedding photographer bride, Carla got married, we knew the day was going to be something special.  She and Dannel were married in the Italian Villa in Canford Cliff's near Poole, a stunning mediterranean styled venue complete with ornamental lake and extensive individually themed gardens.

Carla's innate style carried through to their big day.  Her wedding dress was hand made and bespoke designed to her tastes, with a smaller version of the same gown created for her daughter.  The floor to ceiling floral decor were adorned with garlands and glittering baubles suited to match their Christmas themed December wedding.  From her accessories to the tea light candles that decorated the garden stone folly, she gave everything such attention to detail.  The surprise wedding singers were a fantastic addition to their already amazing wedding. Grace carefully posed as a wedding guest throughout the day, and even had a table place set out for her, but when the cook came in to entertain the guests in song, she stood and joined her husband in a marvellous performance. 

Here is a little insight to their fantastic big day!

Le Petit Chateau - Lauren and Simon

Lauren and Simon chose Le Petit Chateau in Otterburn, Northumberland for their wedding.  They were won over by it's quirky decor, beautiful gardens and friendly feel.  The weather sadly wasn't on our side and rain poured down the entire day. As we let our creative juices flow, Lauren and Simon were only too happy to play along to make the rain a thing to remember, and it all turned our rather well in the end!

How did you meet? What is your story? 

"We met at school, we were friends from first school but actually got together as a couple at high school."

How did you get engaged? 

"It was the night before my 30th birthday.  We were living with my parents at the time as we were in the middle of moving house. When we got back from the cinema I went upstairs to check on our daughter Fearne and found the ring box and a card in her cot and in the card it said ‘Mammy please will you marry my Daddy?)"

Tell us about your venue. Why did you pick it?

"We chose Le Petit Chateau because after having lots of friends weddings over the last couple of years we liked that nobody we knew had been married there before. We loved how different and quirky the venue was, it had a lovely feel about the place and the staff were all so friendly. We loved the inside and the outside and also that we had plenty of rooms for people to stay, however it was definitely the ceremony room that really won us over."

What was your absolute favourite part of the day? Does your spouse have a different favourite?

"I just loved every minute of it!!  His favourite part was the morning, the build up when all of the lads turned up and the adrenaline started before they went in for the ceremony."

Why was photography important to you and why did you choose 2tone Photography ?

"Photography was important because although we will always have the memories, the day really does just go so quick and we wanted some great pictures to be able to look back on over the years and remember. We chose 2tone because we loved the photos they did for my sister and friends wedding and liked how there was Nigel to be with the boys in the morning and Chrissie to be with the girls to get a picture of the whole morning both sides. We also love how relaxed they make everyone feel and the natural pictures they capture."

Do you have any advice for brides and grooms who are currently in the planning process?

"Just dont stress about the little things. Everything will come together in the end."

What is your favorite part of being married now?

"Feeling slightly closer as a family now we all have the same surname."

Venue: Le petit chateau

The wedding dress: Accent bridal

The men's suits: Moss bros

Wedding cake: Gillian banks

Flowers: The Flower Shed

Hair stylist: Reflections

Stationary: Myself

Entertainment: Proctor entertainment & Helena Pearson harpist

Wynyard Hall - Mojdeh and Trevor

Today is a day of preparation and planning - Amy and Jon's big day at Wynyard Hall is tomorrow, the cameras are ready, and the weather is looking not too dismal.  As I think of their day, my mind goes back a few weeks to another wedding celebration, the day Trevor married his bride Mojdeh.  Their elegant wedding took place also at Wynyard Hall. It was a wedding filled with tradition, two cultures blended together within the one day.  Married in Wynyard Hall's Brooks chapel, the pair went on to celebrate their day with family and friends, concluding in the conservatory with a traditional Iranian knife dance.

So as I go back to thinking ahead to tomorrow, I leave you with Trevor and Mojdeh and their wedding day at Wynyard Hall...

Finding your inner confidence and look great in your wedding photos

A childhood friend of mine is getting married next month!  She is marrying the man of her dreams and the father of her child, sharing the moment with all of those most dear.  She says to me, I am not nervous about the wedding, but I am dreading the photographs.

This is an all too common statement for us to hear.  The pre-notion of what it must feel like to have your photograph taken when most of us have little more experience of the thing than sitting for a school photo, awkward and stiff, or posing for pictures with friends on a great night out, poorly lit, badly composed and completely unflattering.  So what can we say to convince you that the experience will be nothing like that.

Anxiety is simply the unknown, a concern perhaps that your photographs may not show you in your best light.  These feelings are normal and exist in all of us, multiplied when the pressure of the wedding itself is added into the equation.  But what can you do about it?  Firstly prepare yourself as much as possible.  Get to know your photographer as best you can before the wedding, creating a relationship can do wonders for your confidence.  Get to know their work - every photographer has a different shooting style, really study it to make sure that you adore their work, and finally have trust.

Mentally preparing yourself for the experience is a huge turning point.  Allow yourself to have fun, give your self permission to not take it too seriously, relax, be yourself and the result will be naturally beautiful images that show you to be you.  Furthermore, you don’t always need to wait for instruction, we love it when a couple improvise a bit.

I want to share a little story with you.  As someone myself who chose to be behind the camera, not infront of it, I used to hate having my photograph taken.  Anxious that I was not as good looking as I would like to be, perhaps a little overweight and even a little awkward - then I fell in love and married a photographer.  The realisation came to me that I didn’t have much choice about being infront of the camera anymore.  Nigel wanted to preserve our own moments and journey through life together, as did I.  He wanted to create meaningful images of us together and record times with our children as they grew.  If I shied away, not only would I be depriving him of his enjoyment of capturing these moments, but I would also be depriving myself and our children, not allowing us to relive these precious moments and share them with one another in the future.  After a reluctant acceptance came, and a fair few awkward moments for me being photographed, one day I simply just decided to start enjoying myself.  I took these mini photoshoots less seriously, I laughed, played and had fun with our family.  Now a fair number of years down the line, I have the confidence in myself that I was lacking before along with thousands of precious, beautiful images of us and our children enjoying life and loving one another.  

I know how it feels to feel the anxiety of the camera lens upon you, but I also know that it is possible to turn things around to make the experience a truly memorable one.  You just need to allow yourself to do so!

If after all this, the nerves are still plaguing you, we have a solution that will work wonders.  Book in for a pre wedding shoot.  The resulting images from the shoot are a lovely reminder of your time as an engaged couple, however the revolutionary part is the experience.  Eradicating the fear of the unknown.  While the experience is a little different on the wedding day, it is not so far removed as to be completely different.  You will learn how we work as photographers, and get to know us in a much less formal way. You can test your own boundaries, discover what makes you feel comfortable and learn how to have fun when you are having your pictures taken.   

So try and relax, let yourself enjoy the experience and have faith, it will be worth it!

To my dear friend Emma, you are and always have been beautiful.  Have faith, relax, give yourself permission to have fun and you will have the most wonderful reminders of your first day as your husband's wife.  I wish you all the luck in the world. 

Chrissie x