...From 9th-12th February Level 11 Photography will be at the Bluewater Wedding Week which will take place at the brand new events venue Glow at Bluewater.

The Wedding Fair at Bluewater promises to be a fabulous day out and the ultimate destination for inspiration for all of you who are planning your wedding.
With over 150 fantastic wedding professional exhibiting at the show you are guaranteed to find something that you are looking for!

We will be launching some new albums at the show and we will also be offering some amazing special offers which will only be available during the Wedding Week.

Level 11 will be located in the lower hall, stand B46 so come along and see us!!

www.weddingfairatbluewater.com,

...A few weeks ago I had the priviledge of photographing Kerri-Anne and Robin's wedding at the beautfiul Cooling Castle Barn, one of the most popular wedding venue's in Kent!

The wedding day was a bit like 'Don't Tell the Bride' except the bride and the groom didn't have a clue about their day, except for what they were wearing and their first dance choice.
The day was full of surprises, from the flowers arriving in the morning to the menu which was revealed in the morning, which made it all very exciting.

The biggest surprise of all was the bride's father's speech. In the 13 years that I have been a photographer, I have witnessed lots of lovely speeches full of emotion but I have never witnessed a more brilliant and emotional speech than this one. I was chatting to Paul in the morning and he told me what he had planned and why. It was because he knew that the emotion may get the better of him so he decided to don a 'Sinatra'-esque trilby and sing his own lyrics to a Sinatra song! It was brilliant and lovely capturing the surprise on the bride and groom's faces.

After a day full of surprises for the bride and groom, arranged by Kerri-Anne's mum and sister, the bride and groom had their own little surprise for the first dance which included a dance routine - practised shortly before during the sunset photographs that we took.

All too quickly, as always, it was time for my day to come to an end and I left leaving the excellent band - thetzars.com - entertaining the guests.

One of my favourite moments from every wedding that I do is the first time that the brides father see's his daughter for the first time on her wedding day!

The boys...

Boys again...

Bride's arrival...

Blue sky overhead...

Romantic....

Beautiful bride....

A big hug after the first dance...

Come and meet Claire at the Cooling Castle Barn wedding open day on Sunday 4th September 2011 from 11am-5pm.

If you don't know the venue come along to see how beautiful it is and if you already know the venue...come along and enjoy!!!

...A couple of weeks ago I met up with Carly and James who's wedding I am shooting in November.

We stayed local for their pre-wedding shoot, which was great as we used an old, derelict mansion house - we weren't supposed too but it was empty, we thought, until we were told we were trespassing! Ooops!
So, we walked around, stopping at a couple of spots and here are a few of the results.

Looking forward to their wedding!!

...here are a few quirky details from the recent wedding of Louise and Chris at Cooling Castle Barn, Rochester.

'Splendid' was the word of the day! A fab day was had however the bride and groom wish to remain private so I will only show you the following few details which made me laugh...except for the cheese-cake, which didn't make me laugh because it was just a very nice three tiered cake of cheese but I thought it made a nice change from the traditional wedding cakes.

A quick update about what's been going on.

Spring has finally sprung after a grim winter and it's been lovely seeing the daffodills and tulips in full bloom.
The extra daylight is lovely too for portrait sessions.
I love photographing children in the daffodills so I couldn't resist taking my little girl out to the park...she loved running through the daffodills and investigating them...

Things have been so busy lately and I am working hard to catch up with everything, surviving on less sleep than I usually like whilst running around after a 16mth old during the day.

Anyway, the wedding season has started with the first wedding at Tower Bridge, London. It was such a fantastic day, an intimate ceremony in the Bridgemasters Suite followed by some photographs in the roof of Tower Bridge. Unfortunately the bride and groom wish to keep their wedding photographs private so I can't share them so although you can't see their photographs, you'll just have to take my word for it that they're fantastic!!
Here are a couple of shots taken of the wedding venue, which I think is one of London's best landmarks!

The shot below is taken on the roof of Tower Bridge and what you see is graffitti....yes, graffitti - at the very top pointy bit of Tower Bridge. Apparently, it has been done by various ex-staff members.

I'm really looking forward to the rest of this years weddings starting in a few weeks and working with all of my couples. I've had lots of enquiries from our recommended venues, and taken a few recent bookings, and it sounds as though there are some fantastic weddings being planned. Before the weddings I always do a pre-wedding shoot which is a nice way of getting to know each other before the big day.

The next wedding for me is the Royal Wedding, Prince William to Kate Middleton. No, I'm not photographing it (unfortunately) however I can't stop thinking about who might have priviledge of shooting the best gig in town!! Will it be Mario Testino, he shot their official engagement photographs.
I wonder what Kate will wear, will she wear a traditional wedding dress from a dress designer such as Jenny Packham or Caroline Castigliano or perhaps she will wear a Vera Wang design. Personally, I think she will wear a slim fitting diamond/crystal encrusted dress with a fishtail skirt with a cathedral length veil (of course). How brilliant, I'm ridiculously excited about it and can't wait to have our tiara party with my little girl dressed up as a little princess.

After the Royal Wedding I have the priviledge of being a guest for the day at my friend, David's, wedding. David sometimes helps me on my weddings. I'm really looking forward to it, I will leave the 'work' camera at home and will use my little point and shoot camera. I can't wait. It'll be my little girl's first wedding, she's got her little outfit sorted and I've got my outfit sorted, can't wait to wear my hat!

At some point soon I will also be adding a new portrait gallery to the website showing all my recent maternity photography, baby and children's portraits plus new wedding photographs. I'm not very 'techy' so it might take a little longer than I'd ideally like but I will do it.

So, the next few weeks are busy, busy, busy for me....just the way I like it!!!

Enjoy the Royal Wedding!!

Claire

On Saturday I had the pleasure of photographing Dawn & Sam's wedding.
After a pretty (literally) mad week of heavy snowfall around the country, worse in Kent of course, I was a little worried whether the wedding would be going ahead. I had been watching the weather forecast all week and saw on the news that some couples had to cancel their weddings so I called Dawn a couple of days before to get an update. Fortunately everything was going to plan.

Brief rundown...
I arrived at the cottage where Dawn was getting ready and decided to take a walk outside to grab a few shots. I didn't realise how deep the snow was...it was halfway up my leg, around 15inches!!
Preparation shots done...started to make my way to the church to meet Sam but got stuck on the icey hill outside the cottage. My car was sliding all over the place and couldn't get up the hill!! Bride's brother arrives to take Dawn and her dad to the church, panic sets in that I won't be able to get there so decided that if the car wouldn't move then I'd leave it there and go with the bride!
Fortunately the lovely farmer who owned the cottage came to the rescue with his tractor and towed me to the main road!
Met up with the brides car en route to the church and we both made it to the church 40 minutes late!!! Being towed and being late for a wedding are both firsts for me in 12 years photographing weddings....and not to be repeated!!

The wedding was lovely. After the church service, Mr. & Mrs. F enjoyed mince pies and mulled wine with their guests before making their way to Cooling Castle Barn where they entered a real Winter Wonderland. The barn looked fantastic with the beautifully decorated Christmas trees and reindeer lights and the snow just set it off.

Last weekend I met up with Dawn & Sam for their pre-wedding shoot which we did in beautiful Greenwich Park.

I love this time of the year, especially when it's sunny. The colours of the trees and the leaves on the ground, the beautiful sunlight, crunching leaves as you walk, being cold but wrapped up in a chunky cardigan or a jumper!! Lovely!
Dawn & Sam are getting married in December so the trees will be bare by then as we enter the winter season. 

Here are a few of my faves...

On Wednesday I had the pleasure of photographing the lovely Laraine and James's wedding at Cooling Castle Barn in Rochester.

I love photographing weddings at Cooling Castle, and as their recommended photographers we never get bored. The venue is perfect in everyway and the food is fantastic too!
The weather was a little disappointing, considering it had been so nice and warm (for April) in the lead up to the wedding however it did brighten up later in the day which was nice.

Laraine looked fabulous in her Alfred Angelo halterneck gown....her eyelashes looked great too . James looked very smart in his suit and tie which matched the beautiful bridesmaids dresses perfectly! I heard him say that he couldn't wait to see Laraine as she walked down the aisle to meet him....and the big smile on his face as his bride appeared just said it all!

Overall it was a fantastic day and Laraine and James's make a fantastic couple....and to those who attended their intimate ceremony, it's true what the registrar said at the end of the ceremony...and no, she doesn't always say it!!

I'm still editing and catching up with myself however here is a little sneaky peak.

Congratulations guys and thanks for looking after me so well!

Last week I met up with the lovely Larraine and James who are getting married in a few weeks at Cooling Castle Barn.

We did their pre-wedding shoot or engagement shoot (if you prefer to call it that) at Cooling Castle. We had a wander around, had a chat about their plans and took a few photographs.

Here are a few of my favourites.
Can't wait for their wedding now, fingers crossed for a dry day because snow is forecast for this week hence my shot of the lovely daffodils....proof that spring has actually sprung but if the forecast is true the daffs sadly won't last long!