Sandy Gaggini shares her tips for choosing the perfect photographer.

Along with the dress, the venue and of course the groom, one of the most important things to get right is the photographer.

Your wedding day is only going to happen once, there will only be one entrance at the ceremony, one first kiss as husband and wife, one first dance. There's no room for retakes so everything needs to be captured perfectly first time. With so many things going on on your big day you're going to miss things that happen that don't directly involve you, but hopefully your photographer will capture some of these moments. Your Wedding Album is going to be a massive reminder of your big day and something you can share with friends and family who were unable to attend and your children and grandchildren. That's how important these photos are!

I first started looking at photographers when I was looking at potential venues. I would google each potential venue and the phrase "wedding photography" to look at the different photo opportunities each venue could provide. We wanted a beautiful church and a gorgeous wedding reception venue that would look amazing in our photographs, and what better way to envisage the potential than looking at pictures from previous weddings. This also allowed me to scope out potential photographers, find styles that I liked, get an idea of how much they cost and just generally be nosey into complete strangers weddings!!!
I soon discovered that photgraphers are pretty pricey, and each photographer offers a different package so you should make sure you know exactly what is included for the price.

As somebody who doesn't really like posing for photographs the main pictures I was interested in were the natural ones where the people in the photos don't realise they're having their picture taken. I did stumble across one particular photographer who's posed photos I loved, Steven Gerrard, so creative and talented. Unfortunately his prices don't fit in with our budget.

As I am finding with a lot of this Wedding Planning malarkey it's as much who you know as what you know. An old school friend's sister has started her own Wedding Photography business. As soon as Adam and I announced our engagement my friend recommended we take a look at her sister's website and facebook page to consider her for our photographer.

When I looked at Katie Ingram's photos I thought she was was the perfect choice. Her pictures are stunning and really capture the moment. I love the unforced, natural photos that she takes, and for the posed ones, who better than someone I have known for several years to make me feel comfortable and relaxed. In Katie's own words "I like to show the joy and happiness in people from the day. It's a celebration and I embrace the happiness and capture it as well as I can."

Check out her work and I'm sure you'll be as impressed as I was. www.katieingram.co.uk

Other than the professional photos, I have quite a few friends who enjoy photography and am planning on getting copies of the photos they take on the day, and if our budget can stretch to it I would really like a photobooth to add a really fun element to the photography and allow guests to take a memento of the day home with them.

Angela Harkin reveals all about her wedding day theme!

Superheroes, Zombies, Star Wars and even Shrek! These are just some of the bizarre themes people come up with for their wedding day. Ok, so those ones aren’t for everyone and you would need to be a very brave (and skinny!) woman to dress up in figure-hugging Wonder Woman hot pants on your wedding day. But why do we need a theme anyway?

As a teacher, I’ve always been involved in organising the school prom and, as the years have gone by, more and more pupils want a theme. This year, it was Las Vegas - seat covers were red and black, table decorations were poker chips, cards and dice and we had chocolate favours in the shape of hearts, clubs, spades and diamonds. For a wedding, this could be enhanced by adding cocktails, an Elvis impersonator and a casino at the reception. So themes are becoming very popular at all events but especially weddings.

People now regard the theme as a way of bringing their wedding together and showing off their personality. It’s about making the wedding one of a kind and memorable for everyone there. The simplest method is using colours and making everything from the invitations to the favours and bridesmaid dresses all the same shade. Some people prefer to use the season in which they get married for example, shells, pebbles and sand for summer weddings or winter effects such as ice carvings and snowflakes. Vintage and Eco weddings are growing in popularity with more emphasis put on saving money and DIY decorations. As the grooms-to-be become more involved in wedding preparations, football is also a growing theme - tables named after footballers, team colours everywhere and even having the ceremony at their beloved stadium.

So what about our theme? Well, we decided early on that we had to have a gig theme. Our love of music and seeing bands meant that it was only right it should form the basis of our wedding. We have recently chosen the perfect invitations in the design of concert tickets – not your typical wedding invitations however they are unique to us. Once our guests start to receive them, they will be intrigued as it gives a clue to what the wedding will be like. They will also be asked to request a song on their RSVP for our DJ to play at the reception. This is a nice touch as it means every guest will get their song on the reception playlist plus it will mean everyone will want to dance to at least one song! We will be naming our tables after our favourite bands and making LP sleeves to match. Our table plan will be done in the form of a festival poster (with the help of a very creative art teacher colleague!). We are going to replace the traditional order of service for a set-list of the songs that will be played at the ceremony. Many a time, I have gone to weddings and wondered what choice of song was playing so this will be a nice keepsake for guests.

For me, the theme is a key part of our wedding but it may not be for everyone. The occasion is so special and meaningful by itself, you may not feel the need for a theme. I would say it’s more about the little personal touches you add rather than the grand statements. So if you are choosing a theme, it should be personal to you, fun and easy to manage. My only warning is to think carefully about your decision as choosing a Wonder Woman outfit over a beautiful wedding dress may be something you look back on with regret.

Katherine Charles fills us in on finding her dream dress!

So, the date has been chosen and the venue is booked....now it is time for the real fun to begin – dress shopping!

When I first started looking for my dress, I was pretty open to suggestions. I had taken some inspiration from other weddings that I had been to as well as being a regular at the local wedding fair circuit. I hadn’t intended to get my dress so far in advance, I was just keen to start the shopping; after all, a girl only gets to try these on once, right?!

The only ideas I had in my mind, was that I wanted an A-line shape (to cover what I consider to be a larger than average backside) and something in more of an ivory tone, rather than a plain white since I had a feeling this colour would wash me out. I was also quite clear that I wanted something simple and not too ‘bling’.

Sure enough, my first shopping trip entailed trying on several in this style, all equally beautiful dresses. I was starting to realise how hard it must be to find ‘the one’! It seemed that every dress I tried on, I fell in love with – and it is definitely true what they say, you do feel like a princess! And, let’s just say (without revealing too many details), you surprise yourself once you start trying on different dresses!

What surprised me most was how comfortable the majority of them seemed to be – sure, there was that awkward ‘breathe-in’ moment when you first get into the dress, but after a few minutes, it’s amazing how you can adapt to them! I was also shocked by the sheer variety of dresses and was easily coaxed into trying on lots of different styles of varying meringue sizes. On my first shopping trip, I fell in love with a beautiful Alfred Angelo dress and was 99% convinced that this would be the one, but could it be that easy to find it on my first trip? We had been to see 14 venues, how on earth could dress shopping be so easy? And, more importantly, I WANTED to do more dress shopping!

Unconvinced that shopping for your wedding dress could be that easy, I booked a few more appointments with some other local suppliers; each a different experience. I am glad that I did....!

I had seen my dress on display at a wedding fair and had instantly loved it and was fixated on trying it on – sure enough, my Mum, my mother-in-law to be and I ventured to Rena Zhang Couture in Farnham on a cold December morning last year to seek out said dress. The whole experience was amazing – as soon as we arrived, the staff made us feel so welcome. We sat on a beautiful chaise-longue and talked through the style of the wedding whilst sipping champagne in a warm and relaxed shop. I had a very good feeling at this point...and luckily I wasn’t disappointed! As soon as I tried it on, I knew it was the one – it sounds clichéd but I did get goose-bumps and, as if I needed any more proof, the tears of my maternal support group soon proved that this was indeed the one for me.

I won’t reveal too many details about the style, just in case my eagle-eyed fiancé is reading this, but sufficed to say that it puts a big smile on my face when I wear it and I hope it has the same effect on him too. Now I just can’t wait to wear it for the big day

Read all about our final bride to be Sandy Gaggini's wedding plans!

Hi! I'm Sandy and will be regularly posting my blog on here!

I'd say I'm quite a relaxed and calm bride-to-be, definitely haven't turned into Bridezilla... Yet!!! I've been watching Don't Tell the Bride and if these guys can plan a wedding in a matter of weeks then I'm confident we'll do fine!

I never really thought of myself getting married so the wedding planning process is very new and I'm starting completely from scratch with no pre-existing thoughts or ideas.

My fiance, Adam and I got engaged Boxing Day. We live in Birmingham but Adam is originally from Manchester and so had spent Christmas day with his Family up north and I'd spent Christmas with my Mum in the Midlands. We'd exchanged presents but had decided to keep one present back to open together! I unwrapped what I thought was just a Christmas present in front of a glowing Halogen heater as the boiler had packed in with the cold weather. It was a total surprise, an engagement ring that Adam had chosen all by himself and he popped the question! All I'd bought him was the Toy Story trilogy box set! I love the ring! Its modern and untraditional looking. I couldn't have chosen better!

The wedding is booked for March 17th 2012, St Patrick's day, but not a St Patrick day theme and neither of us is Irish!!! We're getting married at a beautiful Roman Catholic Church and the Reception is at a Golf Club.

Invitations, Wedding Car and Photographer are sorted, and I am currently in the process of Wedding Dress shopping! Fun fun fun!

I hope you enjoy reading my blog!

Introducing Angela Harkin our second bride to be!

Bridezilla? Me? No way! I think I’m in the unique position where my H2B is probably more demanding about our wedding than me!

My Groomzilla is my lovely John, who I met 3½ years ago. After whisking me off to Rome last October and getting down on one knee in front of the Trevi Fountain (and an audience of over a thousand tourists!), we returned to our hotel to be welcomed by a bottle of champagne on ice in the rooftop terrace. Little did we know that this trip would help us set the scene for our wedding plans and within a fortnight of returning home, we had our wedding booked at the Gailes Hotel, simply because it had a rooftop terrace! We’re a bit impulsive and believe fate has a hand in everything so our wedding is no different.

With just over a year to go until the big day (2nd July 2012), there is so much to think about….I mean, with so many choices out there nowadays, I really don’t know how we’re going to make decisions. We’ve recently been looking at cakes and that in itself has taken far too much of my time (and destroyed my waistline!).

Everyone seems to have a theme these days and we can’t be any different so our shared love of music and going to gigs will feature heavily in the wedding along with my love of stars (my one and only Bridezilla moment – let’s hope it doesn’t rear its head again!). We need to find something for my ten year old son, Ethan, to do at the wedding (apart from singing Tinie Tempah songs at the ceremony – as he requested last week!)

This will be my second wedding (but the most important!) and we don’t want it to be a small affair. We want it to be unique to us and hopefully, with all our ideas, it’ll be unforgettable for us and our guests. We want to enjoy the big day and I want John to enjoy being a Groomzilla!

Bring on the fun!

Meet Katherine Charles, our first blogging bride!

I am definitely one of those girls who has dreamed about getting married since I was little. Interestingly, I never thought about the big white meringue dress or all the sparkly jewellery, I was just always excited about the thought of having all my friends and family celebrating together. So, you can imagine how thrilled I was to be surprised with a proposal from my (then) boyfriend David, back in September 2010.

We were on a road-trip down the west-coast of America and, up until that point, had had the most amazing holiday, seeing so many great things. Friends had joked to us before we went that we would come back engaged and, although I wasn’t expecting it, it had crossed my mind! I thought that if he was going to propose, he would do so while we were in Palm Springs at a very romantic hotel, however nothing happened. I wasn’t disappointed as we had only been together a short amount of time so I didn’t think any more of it. Little did I know, just 2 days later (on the 1 year anniversary of our first date), he would surprise me by getting down on one knee at the Grand Canyon. This was always set to be an amazing trip, as we had planned a sunset champagne picnic after flying over the Canyon in a helicopter – however, being proposed to made it absolutely unforgettable. I remember being so excited flying back to Las Vegas and couldn’t wait to phone home and tell my Mum! After that, we waited to tell everyone until we got back home a couple of days after...although I was allowed to buy a wedding magazine at the airport!

So, 9 months later, we are well underway with our wedding planning. We both love Christmas and decided to be a little different and opt for a winter wedding, so we are getting married on December 16^th at Rivervale Barn in Hampshire. We are planning to have about 90 people to the day for a civil-ceremony, drinks reception and sit-down meal, followed by an evening reception where we will have an additional 40-50 guests. I have found the most gorgeous dress which I absolutely love and we have also organised the men’s suits (we will be having 2 ushers and 2 best men) and the bridesmaids dresses (I am having 4 bridesmaids) simply because 3 of them have/are emigrating to Australia before December (luckily they are coming back for the big day!). There is still lots to do...sorting out the food and drink, hair and make-up, flowers/decor and the smaller details like fittings, favours and thank you gifts, amongst other things.

My parents are divorced so my biggest challenge has been keeping everyone happy! To save any arguments, I am doing a few things the ‘non-traditional’ way, so I am having my Mum give me away and both my Dad and my Step-Dad delivering speeches. As my husband-to-be couldn’t choose his best man, he is having 2 of his closest friends and his brother will be our MC. We really wanted to involve our close family as much as possible. I am so excited about creating a really rustic feel at our gorgeous venue with lots of candles, ivy and glitzy Christmas accessories! Only 192 days to go (but who’s counting?!)...

Over the moon – now the hard work starts!

Wow what a weekend! The National Wedding Show really lived up to its hype; there was just so much inspiration all in one place. I am really glad we pushed the boat out and booked the VIP tickets as we were spoilt rotten! My mum and sister came with me and we started the day with a glass of bubbly in the VIP lounge before hitting the show.

Thankfully I wore my flat shoes as we spent nearly six hours perusing what was on offer! We started at the Catwalk, which was so glamorous – where we had VIP reserved seats. The best thing about the catwalk show was that it wasn’t just for the brides, Mum got loads of inspiration for her outfit and also my sister and I loved one of the bridesmaids dress styles. I even spotted a gorgeous suit for Dave and his groom’s party!

Dave asked me to gather ideas for our honeymoon – which was great fun. There was such a mix of exhibitors from stunning boutique hotels in the UK such as Kanika Hotels and Resorts in Cyprus to far afield adventures from Kuoni at Travel Designers and Luxuryholidaysdirect.com. We have both agreed to splash out on the honeymoon, making it into a maxi-moon. We have both arranged to have a month off work and make it a once in a lifetime experience. Top locations on the list are Dubai, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

I also chose some great favours from Chocolatelilly – cake pops! They are bright colours and so much fun; I think our guests will love them.

Jenny xx

If, like Jenny you want a bit of A-list treatment and glamour - why not treat yourself to a VIP ticket to the National Wedding Show, Birmingham NEC on 4th – 6th March, available to buy on the website www.nationalweddingshow.co.uk

The National Wedding Show features a number of top quality venues and planners for abroad weddings. For a full list see our exhibitor list online at www.nationalweddingshow.co.uk