21st July 2010

Wedding Planning Made Simple!

Need a helping hand with wedding planning? There are quite a few sites out there to help with planning your wedding, but we just wanted to tell you all about mywedding.com.

Although the company is based in the US, you can use this site anywhere in the world to communicate to your guests about your upcoming nuptials – which is particularly handy if you have relatives in another country or are getting hitched abroad. Create a free website and get replies to RSVPs, make announcements, blog about what’s going on, share photos and pick up inspiration from their Ideas and Trends section (definitely worth a look even if you don’t need help planning your wedding!)

Check out these screen examples of a website made by Cordelia who has used it to plan her two ceremonies – one in Germany where she is from, and one in England, where she and her fiance live.

mywedding1

Wedding Events section to let your guests know what’s going on and when

mywedding2

Guestbook so that your guests can leave comments

mywedding3

RSVP section for your guests to reply

13th July 2010

Louise and Graeme’s Wedding at Cakebread Cottage

After a church wedding at The Church of the Holy Cross, Sarratt, Hertfordshire, Louise and Graeme held their wedding reception at home in the sweetly named Cakebread Cottage. Louise had spent all year doing all the preparations for a home wedding and as you will see from these pictures, it definitely paid off! Graeme is a pilot for Easyjet and his Scottish heritage was worked into some of the details of the day from the Scottish piper that piped them into marquee to the Ceilidh dancing, and of course Graeme’s kilt!

Louise looking radiant in her dress

Louise and Graeme were married at The Church of the Holy Cross

Gorgeous pinks and purples used in the bouquets

Making their way to the reception

The reception was held at home in Cakebread Cottage

What wonderful colours in the decorations!

The guests make their way to the marquee in the field behind the cottage


Scottish piper piped them into the marquee


Top tier of cake made by Graeme’s mum

Ceilidh dancing in full action!


The marquee lit up at night

22nd June 2010

Vintage wedding in Jersey

We are excited to show you more of this lovely vintage wedding. The venue is Longueville Manor, on the stunning island of Jersey, and it was styled by wedding planners, Grace & Tailor. The whole idea for the wedding came from a simple square of lace, found by Gemma, the bride, in a vintage store. The dress was made in Spain, in the style of a 1930’s wedding dress. The bridesmaids’ dresses all had an individual twist to suit each of them and the brief for the hairdresser was ‘to look like they were about to walk down the catwalk’. Their hair was amazing, as were their shoes! Being a shoe-aholic I was very envious of the pairs of Laboutin, Chanel and Jimmy Choos that lay around the room.

Gemma wanted to keep everything as locally sourced as possible. The flowers were all grown in the grounds of Longueville Manor, and arranged by the hotel’s own florist. The vegetables for the meal were also all grown in the hotel’s vegetable garden. The bridesmaids gifts were bracelets made from Jersey Pearl.

The entertainment throughout the day was very well coordinated. Nick, the groom, is a musician so having music at their wedding was very important to him. First there was a string quartet when Gemma walked down the aisle. During the service, Nick’s fellow band members performed a song they had written especially for the couple. Then a jazz quartet played during the afternoon reception. After the meal, while the marquee was being made ready for the evening, an acoustic performance took place by the pool.

During this, suddenly a Scottish band walked onto the lawn, loudly playing their bagpipes and drums. It was a great surprise for Gemma and Nick – and it gave me goose-bumps is was so good!

Finally, Gemma’s father, a huge Beatles fan (being a Liverpudlian himself!) had brought in a Beatles cover band to play in the evening, called The Classic Beatles. They were the best cover band I’ve ever heard.

The party continued way into the night, and it was with great reluctance that I managed to tear myself away from the wonderful hospitality of the bride and groom and their families.

Gemma in her dress made from Portuguese lace

Gemma in her dress made from Portuguese lace

Arriving at the ceremony - both are very excited!

Arriving at the ceremony - both are very excited!

In the grounds at Longueville Manor

In the grounds at Longueville Manor

The bridesmaids looking like they've just stepped off the catwalk

The bridesmaids looking like they've just stepped off the catwalk

Marquee styled by Grace & Tailor

Marquee styled by Grace & Tailor

The seating plan in an old traveling trunk

The seating plan in an old traveling trunk

Table centre pieces and room decor - all flowers from the garden at Longueville Manor

Table centre pieces and room decor - all flowers from the garden at Longueville Manor

Nick & Gemma

Nick & Gemma

The acoustic band by the pool

The acoustic band by the pool

The Scottish band

The Scottish band

The brilliant Classic Beatles cover band

The brilliant Classic Beatles cover band

Party time

Party time

Gemma & Nick Swietlik - their own box of daisies

Gemma & Nick Swietlik - their own box of daisies

17th May 2010

Victoria & Ben Brocklesby, Micklefield Hall, Hertfordshire

Victoria and Ben were married on May 1st at Christ Church, Chorleywood. Their reception was held at one of our favourite venues, Micklefield Hall in Hertfordshire. The bride looked stunning in dress made for her by her Godmother and the colour scheme for the day was predominantly silver and white with a dash of aubergine, simple but very stylish. The weather had been predicted rain but it held out until just after everyone was inside the marquee – perfect timing!

The wedding was kept on schedule by the toastmaster, Vanessa King, and the moving images of the day were filmed by the lovely Damo at Reel60. If you want to see more of the images from the day, please take a look at our Flickr page.

Victoria getting ready

Victoria getting ready

Outside Christ Church, Chorleywood

Outside Christ Church, Chorleywood

Victoria & Ben at Micklefields Hall

Victoria & Ben at Micklefield Hall

Guests in the gardens at Micklefield Hall

Guests in the gardens at Micklefield Hall

The group shot

The group shot

Beautiful table flowers and the cake

Beautiful table flowers and the cake

Father of the bride and Ben giving their speeches

Father of the bride and Ben giving their speeches

Granny on the dancefloor!

Granny on the dancefloor!

9th March 2010

A unique boutique wedding planner..

Savoir Weddings organise boutique weddings for contemporary couples.

Run by Josie and Dan – oh yes grooms-to-be, you can have your very own male planner – Savoir Weddings work with couples who want to do something a little bit different and step away from tradition. “We felt there were many companies catering for more conventional weddings but we wanted to offer something for those who wanted to do things differently” says Josie. In particular, Savoir specialise in planning festival style weddings (both Josie and Dan have a background in music events), green/eco friendly weddings, home receptions and weddings abroad.

Savoir Weddings can come in to help couples at all stages of the planning process. They offer a variety of services from sourcing creative and unique wedding suppliers to consultancy in a particular area, to full planning. “We like to think we make the planning process and day as smooth, relaxed and stress free as possible for all our brides and grooms and help them have a wedding they didn’t even know was possible!” concludes Josie.
http://www.savoirweddings.com

The following are some photographs from weddings Pearl Pictures have photographed in the theme of festival, eco and home reception weddings.

musicians

cool musicians


making use of existing materials

making use of existing materials


home reception

home reception


teepees - festival style

teepees - festival style


flowers from the garden

flowers from the garden

18th January 2010

A Christmas Wedding, London

Sasha and Christopher Morphitis were so lucky with the weather for their Christmas wedding – it snowed! They were married in Camden Registry Office, witnessed by their families, and then went on to enjoy an entertainment-filled evening at the Old Crown in Highgate, North London. Here they were joined by all their friends. After the speeches, the bride took centre stage and sang for her new husband. She was followed by her husband, Christopher, who entertained the guests with a musician friend with wonderful cultural music.

Sasha before the ceremony

Sasha before the ceremony

Sasha & Christopher Morphitis

Sasha & Christopher Morphitis

Sasha sings at her reception

Sasha sings at her reception

Christopher Morphitis

Christopher Morphitis

Wedding cake made by Sasha's mother

Wedding cake made by Sasha's mother

9th November 2009

Wedding at Orchardleigh, Somerset

Early in October Pearl Pictures shot a wedding at the stunning location of Orchardleigh in Somerset. The bride and groom were Vicky and Gordon Duncan, who were accompanied by beautiful bridesmaids including their 1 year old little girl, Daisy. Vicky’s vintage dress was decorated in streams of beads and pearls, and styled in the 1940’s. The whole style of the day was very ‘vintage glamour’ with Orchardleigh being the perfect backdrop.

Guests arrive at the church

Guests arrive at the church

The bride wore a vintage dress found by her mother

The bride wore a vintage dress found by her mother

The newly married couple

The newly married couple

Orchardleigh House, Somerset, England

Orchardleigh House, Somerset, England

15th October 2009

Lucy gets married!

Our very own Director at Pearl Pictures, Lucy, got married to Matthew Barbour on 5th September this year with an English country garden wedding in Wiltshire. “We wanted a wedding that was truly personal, so chose to have a marquee in the garden where I grew up” says Lucy. “The idea was to start with a very english, country feel at the church and move the day through to a chic and contemporary styled marquee to reflect our life in London, where we have lived for the last 10 years.”. With guests transported to the quaint country church by a red London routemaster bus, Lucy and Matthew opted for a horse and carriage. Once back at “The Chestnuts” the champagne flowed and guests mingled in the garden to music by the “Stickey Bass Jazz Trio”. Once in the marquee the guests sat at tables named after trees in the garden and dined on cannon of lamb with summer vegetables, followed by lemon and passionfruit tart. At 9.30pm, one of the Ushers, Nick, played with his band “The Black Hats”  and the guests danced the night away until carriages at 1am. Photography by Graham Morgan & Jemma Watts.

Guests arrived at the church in a red London routemaster bus

Guests arrived at the church in a red London routemaster bus

The two bridesmaids wore taupe chiffon dresses by Dessy

The two bridesmaids wore taupe chiffon dresses by Dessy

The bouquet was made up with ivory, champagne and pale pink roses

The bouquet was made up with ivory, champagne and pale pink roses

Lucy's lace gown was from Caroline Castigliano, while Matthew's suit was hired from R.Scott & Co in Cirencester, Glos.

Lucy's lace gown was from Caroline Castigliano, while Matthew's suit was hired from R.Scott & Co in Cirencester, Glos.

Fresh rose petals were thrown as confetti

Fresh rose petals were thrown as confetti

The reception was held in the garden of Lucy's parents home

The reception was held in the garden of Lucy's parents home

Inside the marquee

Inside the marquee

The happy couple cut their wobbly cake!

The happy couple cut their wobbly cake!

1st October 2009

Don’t forget the details

When photographing a wedding, it is important to capture all the small details of the day. It is the details that complete the overall vision of the day’s event and can make such a difference. When Pearl Pictures photograph a wedding we always make sure we have gone around and photographed everything from important aspects such as the bouquet, table decorations, and wedding cake to smaller details such as the embroidery on the wedding dress, champagne bottles, the ladies’ hats and garden decorations. Once we even photographed the loo roll as it was printed with a wedding themed cartoon!

Details

10th September 2009

Wedding at the Haymarket Hotel, London

Richard and Cassa were married in Notting Hill and held their reception at the beautiful Haymarket Hotel in London. The party was more like a stylish New York cocktail party that a wedding reception! It was a very glamorous affair, where fancy cocktails were poured and food was served as bite-sized portions in the sumptuously decorated rooms at the hotel. The wedding cake was a tower of cupcakes. Cassa runs a dance company so once the music started everyone was on the dancefloor, dancing their hearts out.

Richard & Cassa Bolton

Richard & Cassa Bolton

Cassa has confetti bubbles!

Cassa has confetti bubbles!

Wedding guest with the confetti bubble machine!

Wedding guest with the confetti bubble machine!

A red London routemaster bus transported guests from church to reception

A red London routemaster bus transported guests from church to reception

The bride and groom arrive at the reception at The Haymarket Hotel, London

The bride and groom arrive at the reception at The Haymarket Hotel, London

The bride laughing with her guests

The bride laughing with her guests

The wedding cake was a tower of cupcakes

The wedding cake was a tower of cupcakes