Stunning Photography by Dinendra Haria

This weeks guest blogger is Dinendra Haria, an Asian Wedding Photographer based in London who has a passion for photographing weddings of all cultures.  Dinendra specialises in Asian/Indian Weddings covering the Hindu wedding ceremony, Gujarati wedding ceremony, Sikh wedding ceremony and Muslim wedding ceremony and also photographs English weddings.  In his blog, Dinendra shares with us some of the stunning photos that were taken during a traditional Hindu wedding and an English Civil Ceremony for a lovely couple.

"Minal and Gavin's wedding was the perfect demonstration of the joining of two cultures - they had a traditional Hindu wedding followed by an English Civil Ceremony, at Manor of Grove, Hertfordshire. The day started dramatically with a few rumbles of thunder and rain, and then it got warmer and the sun shone in all the right places. Minal and Gavin chose beautifully co-ordinated Indian wedding clothes for the Hindu ceremony, which included the 'Jaimala" where they exchanged flower garlands and 'Kanyadaan' the most important ritual where Minal's hand was given to Gavin as his bride.

The families from both sides had a role to play in the ceremonies and Minal's brothers and cousins were on hand to wish the couple happiness as they completed the 'Mangalpheras' or circling of the sacred fire, the 'Havan'.

The couple changed into romantically understated and chic English outfits for the civil ceremony. Minal's bridesmaids also wore stunning dresses throughout the day, and the colour schemes for the outfits and the surrounding decor were altogether quite mesmerising."

You can contact Dinendra on his Website, Blog, Facebook, or catch him on Twitter.

Alex Kilbee Photography

If you're looking for a great photographer for a Suffolk wedding then check out the work of Alex Kilbee

"A year ago on Saturday we had amazing weather, unlike this year, so it was really great that Hayley and Craig chose that day to get married. One of the great things about Suffolk is that it's awash with fantastic wedding venues and Haughley Park Barns is one amazing place. Unlike a lot of barn wedding venues, Haughley isn't just a barn in a field with some pretty lights, but a whole beautifully laid out and landscaped country park, complete with stunning Tudor style hall.

Up at Haughley there is a lovely farmhouse where Hayley spent the morning getting ready along with her mum, dad, bridesmaids and lovable pooch 'Teddy'. It's always great to spend time with the bride while she is getting ready as there are so many opportunities for story telling moments which make wonderful photographs and really help set the scene in the album. While Hayley was getting, Craig had arrived with his best man and I spent some time with him before Hayley made her grand entrance. It was a simple ceremony and the clouds which had been threatening to rain on us decided to move on and let the sun shine down as the happy bride and groom were presented to their friends and family for the first time.

Haughley also has some fantastic glass sculptures dotted around the grounds and really, you just can't pass up a photo opportunity like that can you?

One of the things I love about taking bridal photographs is creating something that the bride and groom can look back on in years to come. Something Hayley and Craig certainly have done as to mark their anniversary Hayley created a Youtube video of photographs from their wedding."

Alex

Many thanks to Alex for sharing this lovely wedding with us. For more gorgeous photos go to the website and  Facebook page, you can also follow Alex on Twitter.

Whisper Boudoir Photography

Forget sleazy, think stylish - Whisper Boudoir Photography offers a much more modern approach!

Since photography was invented many years ago, women have always found themselves in demand as models for somebody else.

Here at Whisper Boudoir Photography, we hope to reverse that trend by offering gorgeous, sensual images of women for themselves or as a gift to loved ones.

We have developed a style in our studio of very stylish, glamorous images, that show you at your very best.

Gone are the seedy back street studios that used to exist in the 70s and 80s to be replaced by a more open,modern approach to boudoir photography. Sensual images of women are now in high demand by women themselves, and we are seeing a dramatic upturn in the amount of enquiries, not only from brides to be, who use the images as a wedding day gift for their partners, but also from stereotypical mums and daughters.

Whisper Boudoir has turned boudoir photography into a fun and enjoyable experience. Our clients enter our comfortable studio and are greeted by an all women team, if this is what they require. All types of packages are available. Many of our clients take a simple taster session to get a feel for the style of photography, before coming back to have a fuller session with our team at a later date.

For those women who think its a scary situation, we get a lot of clients who, when they arrive, are extremely nervous, but our professional team soon get to work and have them relaxed in no time at all, in fact many afterwards can't believe how much fun it actually was and how stunning they feel after a makeover. In fact many women bring along their friends and enjoy a giggle and a glass of wine during their time with us.

For those who would prefer to have a shoot in a more natural setting, we can even hire hotels or country homes for shoots. 

You can see and find out more from Julie through her website, follow her on Twitter and on Facebook.

New Arrival & White Gold Images

Having recently spent a few days in the West Country a tweet from a photographer about a wedding in Cornwall caught my eye this morning. I lived in Devon as a small child, had numerous happy family holidays on the Cornish coast and spent a fair few weekends driving around Dartmoor with my Grandfather in his later years, so am reasonably familiar with the area. On Friday I needed to get from Plymouth city centre to Saltash to visit my niece and the newest addition to the family, month old baby Nathan.

Fuzzy pic of gorgeous baby Nathan taken on my mobile phone

Now, I rarely rely on Wanda, the satnav, to take me anywhere as I swear she has a very warped sense of humour - she famously took Mr LG and I from village 1 to village 2 in Italy up and over a mountain rather than round the main roads. Yes there was a 'road', yes it was registered and useable (?!), but although it was a two way road it was only one car wide with a sheer rock face on one side of the car and what must have been a 1 in 2 drop on the other side - I do not have a great head for heights and Mr LG does not have a great tolerance for gibbering wrecks in the passenger seat so this was not a pleasant experience for either of us!

Anyway, last Friday I was a little unsure of how to get to my niece's house as I've only been there once before so I turned Wanda on for guidance. I was pretty sure that I should be taking the A38 in the opposite direction to Exeter and so set off following the signs whilst waiting for Wanda's gps to find me. Was a little surprised when she started to direct me away from the A38 but obeyed her anyway - should have listened to my intuition! When she instructed 'in 300 yards take the ferry' I suddenly realised that I was in a queue, one way, heading towards a stretch of water and a ferry with absolutely no idea how to avoid it. What should have been a 10 minute drive across a bridge over the Tamar to Saltash turned into a 45 minute journey involving the Torpoint ferry, thanks Wanda!

Ages ago the lovely Yvonne shared some valuable advice for those of us who hate having their photo taken. This morning I've been reading her blog  and I felt I just had to share with you the beautiful and intimate wedding of Vannavy and Oliver in Cornwall as captured by Yvonne. With a mixture of black and white and colour photos Yvonne has captured perfectly the joy and happiness of the day in a way that Vannavy and Oliver are sure to treasure forever. Please do read her blog and visit her website!

Amethyst Photography

As mentioned in a previous post, working from home I do miss out on 'office gossip', but make up for it by going onto Twitter. Not only do I get to tweet with people I now consider to be friends but I also make valuable contacts within the wedding industry and I get to introduce them to my readers here. Today I'm pleased to feature Wayne Cook from Amethyst Photography, who I consider to be a friend as well as a great photographer - so if you're in the Stockton on Tees area and need a photographer check out his work. Here he shares with us one of his favourite weddings - he sent more photos across than I asked for so that I could pick and choose from them, but I couldn't, and I make absolutely no apology for using them all!

This is the wedding of Claire and Andrew a couple from Billingham, who married at Judges Country Hotel in Yarm.

Claire is a senior buyer for a company and Andrew is a trainee teacher, and had been planning all aspects of the day for a couple of years.

Sadly, Claires father had passed away a few years ago, and wasn't able to walk his daughter down the aisle so she was given away by her twin brothers John and Kieron. Andrew is a bit of a sporting celebrity locally, as he plays semi professionally at football and also cricket.

The day itself was pretty cold, and Andrew and Claire, decided as it was that once in a lifetime day, they would brave the cold winds and wander around the grounds for their photographs, as Judges has many lovely areas to have shots taken, from the bridge over the lake, to a circle of thorns.

  

There are also many secret gardens hidden among the grounds and we explored all in our time with them.

This was quite a surreal wedding for us, as we not only knew the bride and groom and family, but also a large majority of their guests which made ordering them around for shots so much easier.

Despite the weather, everyone had a fantastic, and at times emotional day.

 

I'm sure you can all see why I found it impossible to chose which photos to use. I love the mix of black & white and colour and the way Wayne has captured the essence of happiness and joy without formality.

So, a fun, friendly and above all professional photography company with competitive prices! You can contact Wayne through his website, find him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.

White Gold Images

Today we welcome the lovely Yvonne White, principal photographer for White Gold Images who has a few words of advice regarding  your wedding day photography ......

Hello Everyone, it’s lovely to be here on the Lilguys blog and many thanks to Mrs Lilguys for inviting me to say a few words. Hopefully I can offer brides and grooms to be a few words of advice and comfort when it comes to your wedding photography.

I was thinking about boring with you with all the reasons why having a professional photographer at your wedding has huge advantages over Uncle Bob and his clever camera, but to be honest, you can read that in a hundred different places, including my own blog at whitegoldimages.co.uk/photoblog. You don’t need me to explain about the advantages of experience and knowledge, you are probably more than well aware of that from your own career. So instead I thought I might tackle another matter, one that almost everyone has mentioned at some point or other in their lives and one that even I, as a photographer, find tumbling out of my mouth before I can stop it, often unbidden and usually to a response of rolling eyes and tuts:  “I hate having my picture taken”

Rest assured, many people do, even the most photogenic people say it to me, they aren’t sure how to look, what to do with their hands or how to stand or sit. Add on to those worrys the usual fears about being overweight, having a double chin, big bum, skinny bum [yes, really, I got that from one chap], and a million other real or imagined imperfections and our natural ability to be self conscious can be almost crippling for some people when a camera is pointed at them.  Best advice I can offer – talk to your photographer, tell them about your fears, worries or minor irritations. My job is to help you overcome them and whilst some problems are more obvious than others and I would naturally work to minimise them for you, there are some that I promise, only you can see. However, if you can see it, I want to know so that I know I am producing the best pictures possible for you on your wedding day. This is where having a good relationship with your chosen wedding photographer makes all the difference. If you are not comfortable with someone, then you are unlikely to want to tell them your personal likes, never mind dislikes. A pre-wedding shoot can help build this relationship and help you feel more confident about your wedding photographer and about being the centre of attention.

‘Posing’ – wedding photography comes in many guises, reportage [no posing at all], formal, informal, fashion and so on and unless you chose purely reportage, you will have to do some posing of some description, though personally I prefer to use the word ‘direction’ as posing always reminds me of those shop dummies you see arranged in little groups around M&S, it’s all a bit ‘fixed’. The idea of direction is to show you how to be much more relaxed in front of camera and the end results will be pictures that show the real you rather than anything too rigid and fake. Do allow your photographer to guide you and if you are unsure of what is being suggested, ask, and above all, as hard as it may be, try and relax. Have FUN! Remember it’s your day, you have spent a lot of time and money preparing for it so when it arrives, enjoy every minute of it – your photos will be worth it. You might hate having your picture taken, but the aim is do everything to ensure you love the end results.  I won’t womble on much more, other than to say I am always around if you want ask any questions photography related or check availability for WhiteGold Images wedding photography. I am based in North London but I do travel so don’t feel that I am too far away to help you in anyway. 

Thank you Yvonne for some very sound advice!  I would just like to add don't forget that it's also your photographer's reputation on the line, so it's in their best interests to make you feel comfortable and natural in front of the lens so that you have a very special collection of images to look back on.  I have seen a fair few photographers at wedding fairs in the last couple of years and it really does show if care has been taken.  I think the montage above of some of Yvonne's work speaks for itself!  Go and visit the White Gold Images website to view more spectacular examples of Yvonne's work!