I started and ended 2019 in one of my happiest of places – Wales. Spending New Year in Tom’s mum and dad’s caravan is quickly becoming a tradition for my own little family. A big reason is because it means our dog Maggie doesn’t have to survive through the multple fireworks displays that are held in our neighbourhood. But spending time in Wales is also so special to me because I’m a country-bumpkin at heart (to Tom’s displeasure). Nothing fixes my head and heart more than spending time in nature! If you’re feeling crap, don’t reach for that tub of ice cream/bottle of wine; put your walking boots on and get outside! Take my word for it!

 

After spending so much time in my own head in 2018, I was primed and prepared to change my entire attitude about life in 2019. I planned multitudes of events to go to and enjoy over the year, including mine and my partner Tom’s first beach holiday together. (We’ve been together 10 years – can you believe we’ve never been on a non-wedding related beach holiday!?)

Unfortunately, the worst also happened around the same time as our long-awaited (hopefully relaxing) holiday – our landlord bloody well sold the house we lived in, so we had to move right in the middle of wedding season!! Can you believe it!? The way it worked out it meant we had to do the big move just 2 days after getting home from the holiday. I was lying around the pool in Lanzarote thinking about how I was going to box up my office equipment. Eye roll.

 

I’m honestly not sure how I survived; having to pack and unpack a full house while shooting one of the busiest wedding seasons of my career. I think I was getting by on pure adrenalin towards the end!

2019 was FULL of weddings up and down this gorgeous country of ours. I spent a lot of my working year whizzing about the country in my little car, heading here and there to cover events and weddings, as well as getting the chance to stay over at some bloody gorgeous hotels and AirBnB’s.

 

One of my favourite parts of this job is getting the chance to visit so many gorgeous places and venues. Whether I’ve shot a venue once, twice, 100 times, NEVER – it doesn’t matter. If I have a connection with the couple then I KNOW my images are going to tell the exact story of that day regardless of location, lighting, weather, familiarity, etc.

 

This year I got to visit London THREE TIMES (all in Shoreditch though, weirdly), Isle of Skye, The Lakes, Cornwall, Pullborough, South Wales, Tunbridge Wells & Llangollen (North Wales).

One of my favourite things to fit in around a very busy wedding season is a STYLED WEDDING SHOOT (or 3).

 

2019 didn’t give me much time to plan my own styled wedding shoot, as it is genuinely like organising a mini wedding (and you’ll find out under the next image why I know that!!)

 

However I was lucky enough to get asked to photograph some styled shoots that were dreamed up by a few other lovely wedding industry people. Look out for those blog posts coming soon!! 

I also got to photograph my MUM getting married to her lovely man, Michael. Not only did I photograph her big day, but I also helped her plan the wedding. And BOY, did I get an eye opener. Even though I had never planned a wedding before, I had all the insider knowledge so I thought “how hard can it be??”

 

My mum wanted a small wedding, just family and a few close friends, so we whisked them down to St George’s Hall with just 2 witnesses (my sister Hannah and Michael’s daughter Louise) and me as their photographer. After this we headed home and put the finishing touches to mums garden party. Unfortunately there was chance of rain so we hired a marquee (always a good idea to have a plan B) but the rest of the day was completely DIY. My sister being a professional make up artist did my mums make up and my partner Tom being a professional wedding DJ handled the music. 

 

I will be posting a little blog about my mums wedding and all the problems we faced in the run up. It was certainly a great learning curve for me and I can’t wait to impart some of my new knowledge on my future couples. (God help them, haha!)

I may have experienced one of the most stressful months of my life in September 2019, but there’s no way it was going to put a dampner on such an epic year. 

 

THE GOOD SHIT

 

• I SHOT MY 200TH WEDDING! WOOHOO! Another incredible milestone!

• I hit 4000 followers on Instagram! You can follow me by clicking here.

• I shot 38 bloody gorgeous weddings for 76 equally as gorgeous people. 27% of those weddings were away from home, which meant I travelled away from home 10 times last year! While I had an amaaaaazing time, I think I will be keeping my yearly wedding total to 30-35 from now on. So enquire soon, before I book up!!

• I have been named in YOURPERFECTWEDDINGPHOTOGRAPHER’s TOP 100 PHOTOGRAPHERS for FOUR years running (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020). And this year I was also listed in the TOP 10 WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS IN THE UK.

• I WAS PUBLISHED IN ROCK N ROLL BRIDE MAGAZINE! The lovely Kat from RocknRollBride commented on a sneak peek from my first 2019 wedding that I shot at Wiltons Music Hall telling me she just had to see the wedding once it was finished. You can subscribe to the magazine by clicking here.

• Photography Farm featured one of my wedding images as its “Farmers Image of the Week” << click here to read all about how and why I created this image.
• I had an image from one of my 2016 weddings featured on a Huffington Post article about brides who rock a suit on their wedding day.

• One of my 2018 weddings was featured on the front cover of Your Cheshire & Merseyside Wedding magazine.

• I photographed George Ezra at M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, which was lovely because I shot one of his first gigs in Liverpool back in 2014.

• I photographed Adam Ant at the Philharmonic in Liverpool and he reposted my image of him onto his Instagram! 

• I COMPLETED A BOOK CHALLENGE by reading 30 books in a year, 5 more than I read in 2018. So I will be challenging myself to 35 in 2020.

• I also met the drag legends Chad Michaels, Farrah Moan and Miz Cracker – AND CRACKER SLAPPED ME! 😂

• I met Scottish legend, Neil Oliver… AGAIN! He follows me on Insta & Twitter too, we’re basically mates now.

I would also like to thank everyone I have worked with over the last year; all the second shooters, the models, the videographers, the wedding suppliers and industry specialists. Farrrr too many to name tag you all, but honestly, I hope to work with you all again in 2020 and beyond.

So here is what I’ve learned over the last 12 months that I’d like to pass on to the awesome people who read my blog.

 

Don’t wait for happiness to come to you, YOU go to IT! Stick on your wellies, grab your dog, head into the countryside and breathe the fresh air. Throw on your favourite music and let it filter in through your bones until you’re dancing all over your house. Also, if you’re feeling extra stagnant why not get a hobby that ISN’T part of your job! Maybe learn a new skill or start a new hobby – in 2019 I started writing to new penpals and in 2020 I will be starting to write my very first novel. (Btw, hobbies don’t have to be a side hustle to make you money, you can just do them for fun!)

 

JUST GET OUT THERE AND DO SOMETHING!

Please enjoy everything my 2019 had to offer (get ready for it, there are over 100 images here)! I can’t wait to see what 2020 holds for me and my amazing couples!

Unknown[/caption]

Unknown[/caption]