Charity Donations

I'm just back from a networking breakfast (how many of these posts revolve around me eating & drinking somewhere???) and an interesting thought came up... The breakfast is £9 and the hosts asks that rather than give change that the £1 goes in the pot for charity. Today we raised £50 which seemed a lovely bonus from an event that is not 'fund raising' in the traditional sense. It posed the question whether I should try something similar - if each transaction - each reprint, wedding booking, portrait booking, etc that went through the business carried an optional £1 donation, which my business then 'price matched', we would get to a reasonable size donation without a great deal effort or pain!

But of course, people like the choice of where their money goes and it can put people on the spot if a donation is asked for... so what do you think? A great fund raising idea or best not to mix business and charity / fund raising? Do let me know...

Trash The Dress

Trash the dress... daft name, great concept. For the name, we must blame the Americans (or at least an American - I doubt the whole country got together to brainstorm the name) (to be fair, it might be have been someone who just lived in America at the time, so maybe 'blame' is the wrong approach - maybe a group hug would be a better response). So daft name, great concept... In yesterdays blog I highlighted how precious time is at a wedding. Do you know that despite all the time shared with your photographer, you'll only get 20-30 minutes to take some stunning couple shots. And yes, stunning couple shots is what you will end up with but...

From experience most brides have spent more on their wedding dress than any other item of clothing they have ever bought and whatever their size and shape, they will probably have been in the gym or on a diet in the lead up to the wedding to make sure they and their dress look as fab as possible. So, you are feeling and looking better than ever and you get twenty minutes in front of the camera - not long is it? But of course, on the day, you don't want to risk the dress getting marked and you'd really prefer to be talking to your guests anyway, which is where 'trash the dress' comes in. Firstly, the dress doesn't get trashed (that would just be silly) - think of it as an extra special portrait shoot: what happens is that we meet up a few weeks after the wedding and go for an extended portrait shoot somewhere amazing - a striking urban setting like Bristol Docks or on to the beach or a remote landscape setting - somewhere that is a total contrast to your wedding day. And with the extra time, and all the stresses removed, we create some amazing set piece pictures. I saw a picture a few weeks back where the groom was in smart casual clothes and the bride in her dress with an urban setting and it looked AMAZING. Just as though the couple had stepped out of the pages of a fashion magazine.

It's not expensive. The session fee is £95 (or £45 if I photographed your wedding), with a range of frames starting from £295. Do please ask for details.