I BLOODY LOVE WEDDINGS, BUT I’D LIKE TO THINK THAT’S PRETTY OBVIOUS. WHY? WELL...IT’S A BIT OF A RUBBISH ANSWER BUT HONESTLY, I JUST DO. I’VE ALWAYS BEEN A STORYTELLER AND IN MY OPINION, THERE IS NO BETTER STORY TO TELL THAN THAT OF YOUR WEDDING DAY BECAUSE THE CLICHES ARE TRUE: IT IS THE BEST DAY OF YOUR LIFE, and i would consider it the biggest privilege to be able to tell the story of yours.

// once upon a time...
i’m not one of those people who always had a camera in my hand as a kid. in fact, there was nothing poignant about my childhood that indicated i would be involved in film making or weddings whatsoever. i guess the seed was planted when my parents showed me four weddings & a funeral when it first came out - one of the weddings was filmed in greenwich, london which is where i grew up, YOU SEE. aside from the fact that i was about six years old and therefore, possibly a little too young to be watching a film where the opening scene involveS a significant aMOUNT of f bombs, instead of learning how to swear, i learnt that weddings were pretty special and i soon started planning mine to leonardo di caprio because...titanic.

anyway, fast forward to 2007 and i went to university to study a journalism degree because i wanted to be a telly presenter (my dad said i should’ve been ON BLUE PETER, but i swore too much - not sure where i learnt that sort-of language from…). I SPENT THREE YEARS DOING A LOT OF FILMING, EDITING, DIRECTING, WRITING, A STINT AT THE BBC - AND I DECIDED TO BE AN ENGLISH TEACHER INSTEAD. OF COURSE! AT THIS POINT, I HAD A FAIRLY LONG-SUFFERING BOYFRIEND, ADAM, SO I COULD GET MY WEDDING FIX BY JUST PESTERING HIM TO PROPOSE TO ME INSTEAD. MUCH TO MY DELIGHT, HE SUCCUMBED TO MY CONSTANT BADGERING IN JULY 2015 AFTER HE BOUGHT A HOT TUB - IF HE COULD AFFORD A HOT TUB, HE COULD AFFORD TO BUY ME AN ENGAGEMENT RING, RIGHT?!

// THE BEST THING WE BOOKED FOR OUR WEDDING DAY
WHEN PLANNING OUR WEDDING, A WEDDING VIDEOGRAPHER WAS A NON-NEGOTIABLE FOR ME. OUR FRIENDS HAD A VIDEOGRAPHER FOR THEIR WEDDING A FEW YEARS PRIOR AND IT WAS THE MOST MAGICAL THING I’D EVER SEEN. LIKE FOUR WEDDINGS & A FUNERAL BUT REAL-LIFE (AND NO FUNERAL I SHOULD ADD...)! DESPITE SEVERAL PROTESTS ABOUT THE COST IN THE LEAD UP TO OUR WEDDING DAY, IF YOU COME ROUND TO OUR HOUSE FOR THE FIRST TIME NOW, I GUARANTEE ADAM WILL PUT ON THE WEDDING VIDEO FOR YOU. HE LOVES IT - ‘THE BEST THING WE BOOKED’ - HE SAYS. I LOVE IT TOO, BUT I KNEW I WOULD, OBVIOUSLY! RELIVING OUR DAY AS SOON AS WE HIT PLAY WITH ALL OF OUR MEMORIES COMING BACK TO LIFE RIGHT IN FRONT OF OUR EYES IS JUST UTTERLY PRICELESS.

I SHARED MY WEDDING PLANNING EXPERIENCE IN A BLOG (BECAUSE THIS WAS BEFORE INSTAGRAM HIT THE BIG TIME - i know, how old school!) AND AFTERWARDS, I WAS AMAZED BY HOW MANY BRIDES SAID THEY WISHED THEY’D BOOKED A VIDEOGRAPHER. THE THING IS, WHEN WE GOT MARRIED, WEDDING VIDEOGRAPHY WAS SEEN AS A PROPER LUXURY, AND so PEOPLE DIDN’T REALISE JUST HOW VALUABLE IT WAS TO HAVE THE MEMORIES CAPTURED ON FILM UNTIL THE MOMENT HAD GONE. I GENUINELY FELT SAD THAT THIS CROPPED Up AS A COMMON REGRET IN MY BRIDAL CIRCLE SO THAT GOT MY COGS TURNING & i soon realised there was a gap in the market that might have a perfectly ‘lou’ sized hole i could fill.

// natural, unobtrusive and discreet FILM MAKING
LIKE ALL GREAT IDEAS, I CAME UP WITH RATHER LOVELY FILMS A YEAR AFTER OUR WEDDING IN THE QUEUE FOR THE AVATAR RIDE AT ANIMAL KINGDOM IN DISNEY WORLD (IT WAS THREE HOURS LONG - WHAT ELSE WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO?!). A FEW DAYS LATER, I BOUGHT MY FIRST DSLR (A SONY A7II FYI) AND ASKED A PAL IF I COULD FILM THEIR WEDDING HAPPENING THE FOLLOWING MONTH - NO EXPECTATIONS, LET’S SEE HOW it GOES. I JUST USED MY ONE CAMERA, ONE LENS, A MONOPOD AND SHOT THE ENTIRE THING WITHOUT HAVING TO GIVE THE COUPLE A SINGLE DIRECTION. BUT THAT WAS EXACTLY HOW I PLANNED IT BECAUSE I ALREADY HAD ACCESS TO THE BEST MARKET RESEARCH A NEW BUSINESS OWNER COULD ASK FOR - ACTUAL BRIDES WHO WERE STILL FOLLOWING MY BLOG! I KNEW COUPLES DIDN’T WANT A HOLLYWOOD FILM STYLE SET UP, I KNEW THEY DIDN’T WANT TO BE PUT INTO CRINGY POSES OR TAKEN OFF ON A SHOOT THAT TOOK HOURS. RATHER, I KNEW THEY JUST WANTED TO BE ABLE TO SEE THE DAY THROUGH A GUEST’S EYES...AND THAT’S WHAT I WAS ABLE TO DELIVER.

I POPPED THE VIDEO ONLINE TO SEE IF ANYONE PICKED IT UP AND BY SOME MIRACLE, A FEW ACTUAL PROPER REAL-LIFE COUPLES ASKED IF I COULD FILM THEIR ACTUAL PROPER REAL-LIFE WEDDING DAYS. AND THANKS TO THESE ACTUAL PROPER REAL-LIFE COUPLES TAKING A CHANCE ON ME FILMING THEIR ACTUAL PROPER REAL-LIFE WEDDINGS, I WAS ABLE TO LEARN AND DEVELOP MY FILMING STYLE INTO WHAT YOU SEE TODAY...AND THERE’S NOTHING I’D RATHER SPEND MY LIFE DOING! I’M 100% MARRIED TO WEDDING VIDEOGRAPHY FOR SURE - ‘TIL DEATH DO US PART.

// AM I THE RIGHT VIDEOGRAPHER FOR YOU?
I’M SO PLEASED THAT WEDDING VIDEOGRAPHY IS NOW BECOMING AS IMPORTANT AS PHOTOGRAPHY TO MANY COUPLES. AFTER ALL, YOUR PHOTOS AND VIDEO ARE THE ONLY PARTS OF THE DAY THAT WILL STAY WITH YOU FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIVES. AND WITH THAT INCREASE IN POPULARITY IS ALSO THE NUMBER OF AMAZING CREATORS WHO YOU CAN CHOOSE FROM TO CAPTURE YOUR CELEBRATIONS.

I’D LIKE TO THINK IF YOU’VE MADE IT THIS FAR THAT YOU’VE SEEN MY VIDEOS, MAYBE READ A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ME AND LIKE THE IDEA OF HAVING ME ALONG FOR THE DAY. THAT’S OBVIOUSLY GREAT BECAUSE I’M MAINLY GLAD I HAVEN’T SCARED YOU OFF! BASICALLY, I VERY MUCH SEE YOUR WEDDING VIDEO AS A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT - I ALWAYS TELL MY COUPLES THAT IT’S YOUR WEDDING VIDEO, I’M JUST THERE TO FILM IT ON YOUR BEHALF! BUT TO GET THE AMAZING RESULTS YOU’RE AFTER, IT’S REALLY IMPORTANT THAT WE’RE ON THE SAME WAVELENGTh. i’m open to anything and everything. all i ask in return is that you’re easy going, have a good sense of humour and are happy to trust in the process and my experience to make sure i capture you and your love story in just the right way!