Wine and wedding photographers

Choosing your Wedding Photographer

The Event Planner – Wedding photographer’s Best Friend

This post is based on my conversations with leading London event and wedding planners and caterers like: Perrys Weddings, Niemierko, Quintessentially weddings team, Ali Welsh Events, Arens Caterers and others.

We, the wedding photographers rely on our good communication and relations with event planners. It’s a blessing to work with established high-end wedding planners as they cover a huge part of our communication with the client and vouch for us.

“The photographers are like the wine, said once Mr Errol Perry (the owner of Perrys Weddings – North London, Winchmore Hill), some people like red wine another white or rose.” He added, we are happy to supply different but nice quality “wine” to our clients.

Think about it, how many photographers get recommended by high-end event planners? Just a fraction of the mountain of “professional wedding photographers” out there. Here is a good moment for you to read my article about “The professional wedding photographer”. Good wedding planners are very cautious to recommend wedding photographers, being very picky to protect their reputation and your wedding day.

I like the wine comparison. Everyone has a particular taste, even bride and groom who share the wedding have different preferences and vision about their wedding and wedding photography. But think about it, you don’t drink and never tried in your life. You’ve been watching how others do it and now you have a serious location to buy your first bottle of wine. So, which one? Red, white, fizzy … documentary photographer, artistic photographer, local or destination photographer, etc. which one?

You start asking around and everyone recommends different colour and brand that you haven’t heard of before. You read all brilliant reviews, hear testimonials, people share experience but for you this is still an abstraction. You decide to test them all having different experience – headache, hangover, nice tingle … Here is the moment where the wine comparison ends.

We’re trusted experts in the wedding industry

Choosing your wedding photographer is a very serious decision and you have to dedicate time and take your homework seriously. You can’t test your photographers and you don’t buy a tangible product. You trust this person and book him based on his work to other people.

We’re happy to educate you and introduce you to an unknown to you field and moment of your life. You don’t get married every day, right? So, we’re the experts and will show you the real truth behind the lens. Our team is excited to meet you and hear your story. We’ll go through the wedding day and give you precious tips how to improve your overall wedding experience. If you don’t feel the click we’ll be happy to recommend another wedding photographer.

Curious Wedding facts – you won’t believe it!

Wedding facts – you won’t believe it!

Italian Wedding videographer London

1. 52% of couples don’t have wedding-night sex
2. 52 songs – the ideal playlist for a three-hour party
3. 2.5 inches – the optimum heel height for blister-free, dance-all-night happy feet
4. 65% of grooms hire a suit
5. 45 seconds – how long it takes to glide down the aisle, on average
6. Out of all the different destination weddings you have to chose from, Las Vegas is the most popular with more than 100,000 weddings there every year and Hawaii is second, home to 25,000 each year.
7. The tradition that brides wear a white dress in the Western world was started by Queen Victoria in 1840. Until she set the trend, brides wore their finest gown to wed their groom. Japan happened to be way ahead of Queen Victoria as white was always the preferred colour for brides.
8. The tradition of a wedding cake comes from ancient Rome, they used to break a loaf of bread over a bride’s head for good luck. In the 17th century, a French baker decided to frost a stack of buns -creating the world’s first tiered wedding cake!\
9. The largest wedding attendance was a Jewish wedding in Jerusalem in 1993 where 30, 000 people attended.
10. February 10th is World Marriage Day.
11. About 70% of all brides wear their ring on the fourth finger of their left hand.
12. Queen Victoria started the Western world’s white wedding dress trend in 1840 – before then, brides simply wore their best dress.
13. In Japan, white was always the colour of choice for wedding dresses – long before Queen Victoria popularized it in the Western world.
14. A Malaysian man holds the record for being the best man at over 1000 weddings.
15. Princess Victoria established the tradition of playing Wagner’s “Bridal Chorus” during her wedding processional in 1858.
16. Stag parties were first held by ancient Spartan soldiers, who kissed their bachelor days goodbye with a raucous party.
17. The longest wedding dress was found in Germany with a length of 515 feet.
18. In Chine 26, 000 couples get married every day.
19. Seventeen tons of gold are made into wedding rings each year in the United States!
20. The most expensive wedding cost over £22 million and was held in a purpose built stadium in Dubai for a Sheikh’s son.
21. Peas are thrown at Czech newlyweds instead of rice.
22. Temulji Nairman and Lady Nairman hold the record for the longest ever recorded marriage of 86 years. They were married at 5 years old.
23. In many cultures around the world the hands of a bride and groom are literally tied together to demonstrate the couple’s commitment to each other and their new bond as a married couple. This is the origin of the phrase “Tying the know”
24. In 1976 Los Angeles secretary Jannene Swift officially married a 50lb rock. The ceremony was witnessed by more than 20 people.
25. 67% of women continue to wear the same fragrance they wore on their wedding day
26. The tradition of the bride wearing something old (for continuity), new (optimism for the future), borrowed (borrowed happiness), and blue (fidelity, good fortune, and love) on her wedding day stems from an Old English rhyme.
27. An engagement between a Mexican couple lasted for 67 years before they finally tied the knot in 1969.
28. Elton John’s once charged £2 million to secure him singing at a wedding.
29. Harry Bidwell of Brighton was 101when he was divorced from his 65-year-old wife in 1980.
30. 39 per cent of women were involved in picking out their own engagement ring.
31. Queen Victoria’s wedding cake was three yards wide and weighed 300 pounds.
32. Queen Elizabeth II had 12 wedding cakes. The one she cut at her wedding was nine feet tall and weighed 500 pounds.

Having a career of 15+ years as a wedding photographer I would add lots of spicy stuff but I think you already had enough to read for today. Looking for top quality wedding photographer or wedding videographer ? Peter Lane Photography team will be happy to cooperate.

The Professional wedding photographer

The Professional Wedding photographer

Looking for a professional wedding photographer? Hit enter. This is how the Google hunt for wedding suppliers starts.

professional wedding photographer London

Being a professional full time wedding photographer for 15 years already I’ve been always looking at this subject from the other side. Now I’ll step in your shoes and we together will discover something new about your wedding, that I’m sure you haven’t been aware of.

So, again: Looking for a professional wedding photographer? you hit the search button and start digging deep in the top results. Before to continue let me share with you some facts:

– a 10 years old statistic – the full time professional wedding photographers out there is only 4%
– the wedding photographers disappointment rate is 90% (true! Just open that bridal blogs and forums and you’ll see)
– so, if you’re lucky you have the 10% chance to book a real professional photographer. Are you going to test your luck for once-in-lifetime event?
– in the last 2 years many established professional wedding photographers closed down, which automatically makes the percentage less than 4%

The truth is, the digital technology evolved quickly and many enthusiasts having no knowledge in photography became wedding photographers. Seriously, close your eyes and throw a stone. The chance to hit a wedding photographer is very big. As big as your wish to stone him after your wedding. Jokes aside.

Let me share my story. I got a nasty flu just a week before a client’s wedding. All my trusty colleagues were booked for the day and I had to search for a wedding photographer. I typed:

Recommended wedding photographer London

One of the results caught my eyes. Not so many but nice photos. Same gear as mine, all expensive lenses and tools. Nice looking website. I found my photographer and booked him for the day. Gave him the schedule and all instructions. The gut feeling though didn’t grant me any peace and I decided to pop in as a second photographer, to capture the documentary stuff. Thanks Goodness I did it. Only 120 out of 800 of his photos were so so acceptable. All the rest were my photos.

What if I didn’t go? If I fell in the trap as a professional wedding photographer with experience, what would be the chance for you to book him and many like him? My advise is, there is no good and cheap. If the price is too good, run away. Like many others, after the wedding you’ll email me: Peter you were right! So what? Are you going to make another wedding? If I was given £1 every time I hear this I would be rich now.

Our wedding photographer was very good, highly recommend

This is what you’ll see if you post on Facebook goops: recommend a wedding photographer. Once of a sudden you understand that all your friends have a wedding photographer friend. Now is the time for you to throw the stone. My advice:

– Don’t rely on your friends taste. You may have different vision as everyone is different and every wedding is different.
– Meet the photographer in person if you can and take a look some whole weddings and albums. Everyone can make a highlights selection. You need consistent good quality photos during the whole day. Some “photographers” can’t work with flash, another with available light. Ask for different photos from different parts of the day. Take a look at the albums. Do your eye go fluent from page to page or zig zagging all over the page? You’ll either enjoy your album for life or zigzag it for life.
– The photographer’s personality is important
– Ask questions. I like fussy clients and I’m happy when they ask questions as this is a very important day, isn’t it?
– Take a look at the photographer’s other stuff. Why? Because the profession wedding photographer as such is totally wrong. If someone has entered photography as a wedding photographer and haven’t evolved further, believe me you can expect much. You can’t expect creativity and passion, and it doesn’t matter that this guy is 50 years on the market. Photographer is a friend with light. Creativity should be a trend in all the portfolio not just in the wedding photos. The right term should be – a professional photographer who shoots weddings. Makes more sense.

Now you’re more educated and ready to take right decisions.

Feel welcome to browse our portfolio. We’ll be happy to meet you and assist with your requirements. Also, we’re happy to recommend other professional photographers in London, across UK and internationally.

Getting married in Cyprus – Tips

Wedding in Cyprus – Tips

wedding photographer in Cyprus

Cyprus is a paradise island and a wonderful place to get married in, but just like any place it requires great planning for a stunning wedding.

The first important thing is to define your wedding style and book the perfect wedding venue in Cyprus for your Big Day.

Picking the perfect location for your wedding plays a huge role in the ambiance for your Cyprus wedding. Think about is what’s important to you and your guests, for example if there will be a number of children coming you may require additional facilities.

Choose the Right Season. This is probably one of the most crucial point that needs to be addressed when choosing your wedding destination.

Cyprus gives you a greater choice and flexibility on the dates as the wedding season runs from April to October.
April and May mark the beginning of summer with average temperatures around 18°C during the day.
June is hot and very sunny month with average temperatures around 28 °C during the day and 18 °C at night.
July and August are the hottest months of the year. Those two months have their advantages. You can combine wedding and honey moon, enjoying beach and pool days endlessly as well as all the summer activities.
September and October are two of the best months to getting married in Cyprus. While summer has officially ended in Europe and cool weather has arrived, in Cyprus the best season starts.

Sunshine and cloudless blue skies – it’s a backdrop brides dream of. But while you’re fantasising about the weather, spare a thought for how it will affect your outfit. If you are swapping vows on the beach, leave the heavy gowns alone and pick a light, flowy fabric for your wedding dress.
And those satin heels may look amazing, but practical beach footwear they’re not – a beautiful white pair of flip flops will keep you comfortable.

The guest list must be prepared and wedding cards to be distributed well in advance. The wedding cards must be appealing to the guests and reflect the style of the wedding venue and location.

Hire a professional destination wedding photographer

Planning a wedding may take a few months or a year’s time. But the event is just a matter of a few days. So each and every moment spent should be captured. For this, it is necessary to hire a professional destination wedding photographer.
Be sure to book your best wedding photographer in Cyprus on time, as the greatest wedding photographers are booked years in advance. Your wedding is a unique day. You only get one opportunity to capture those special
moments.

london wedding photographer - bride getting ready in front of mirror

Top Tips on Planning Your Destination Wedding in Greece

destination wedding photographer in Greece

Romantic sunsets, gorgeous beaches and beautiful weather – your dream wedding in Greece! It’s perfect for larger wedding parties and great for those wanting a more intimate affair.  The fabulous climate and endless blue skies provide a stunning backdrop for beautiful wedding photos.  Having a destination wedding is both memorable and adventurous.

If you are planning your wedding in Greece it is a good idea to plan things out well in advance. You should allow some more time for researching your perfect venue. One of the best decisions you can make early on is hiring a wedding planner, destination wedding photographer and wedding videographer.  Also you should be thinking about giving enough time to your guests to secure their travel plans.

A destination wedding requires you to send Save the Date cards with as much notice as possible, 6 – 9 months being ideal. It gives guests a chance to consider their financial situation, book time off work and make travel arrangements.The more notice you give will increase their chances of attending.

Hire a wedding planner  At times, you’re going to find planning your destination wedding a little stressful.

We believe everyone can plan a wedding, but some people do it better than others. For these people, it’s their profession and they do it every day of the week. Hiring a wedding planner will mean that you will have more time to relax, chill out and explore your new surroundings with family and friends.  A good planner will take things to the next level by handling all the details and can make things a lot easier for you.

Hire a destination wedding photographer

When planning a destination wedding you need to consider bringing a professional wedding photographer you love with you to ensure your pictures are perfect.
Hiring a destination wedding photographer it allows you to find the best wedding photographer that matches your style. It allows you to find a photographer you connect with and trust, so that you don’t need to worry and feel comfortable with them.
Capturing your wedding day will give you memories and amazing photos to treasure for life. Make sure you hire your perfect wedding photographer in Greece to capture it all.