The Wedding Box - Uncovered

The lid was well and truly lifted on “The Wedding Box” at their Wedding Fayre held at Centrex Conference Centre on Sunday 6th September when an estimated 260 people turned out to peruse the marvellous array of products and services being offered by some 20 independent providers in the main market area.

Visitors to this exclusive, ‘invitation only’ event were also treated to a unique, first viewing of an eye-catching collection of Haute Couture bridal gowns now being provided by Ritz n’ Glitz’ – the MidCalder based outlet of top wedding accessory designer, Allyson Murray. These exquisite creations were beautifully ‘cat-walked’ in the Centrex arena by some of West Lothian’s most dazzling models, many of whom are poised to participate in this years Miss West Lothian Competition.

Reigning Miss West Lothian and ‘Britains Next Top Model’ finalist, Ashley Brown, also made a glamorous return to the catwalk to showcase some of Allyson’s elegant bridal gowns, along with a collection of luxurious, limited edition lingerie provided by top Scottish fashion boutique, Boudiche.

The highlight of the day took place at 4pm when Ashley drew the winner of the days top prize: a medley of requisite, wedding day services being provided by members of the ‘Wedding Box’ collection of companies with a combined value of £3,000.

That prize was presented by Ashley to Bathgate based ‘Bride-to-be’ Emma Robertson who is preparing to walk down the Isle of St. Michaels Church, Linlithgow in June , 2011. The ever-present stresses of organising her ‘special day’ might now be made a little easier – and a good deal less financially burdening – following the collection of her prize.

Allyson Murray who, with the help of all the other wedding day service providers, including myself, pulled the day together said: “While I felt that, overall, the day was a great success, we are aware that we have a few areas where we need to improve. But we are convinced that the associate companies who comprise the ‘Wedding Box’ are now ready to establish themselves as one of the top Wedding Fayre hosts in West Lothian, providing not only a comprehensive and diverse choice of quality products and services but, as a group of experienced wedding service providers, we can also offer a wealth of help and advice which every soon-to-be-bride will be glad to take advantage of.

“The fact that we had attracted the participation of major retailers such as Debenhams and Boudiche helped make the September Fayre an overall success, and we’re now looking forward to pressing ahead with a regular programme of events based on this winning formula.”

Photographs from the event featuring curent Miss West Lothian & Britains Next Top Model finalist, Ashley Brown; up and coming West Lothian Model, Amanda Tinning and other girls who starred on the day:

Quick as a flash, eh?

My last few days have seen me with the nose to the grindstone as I printed a series of 31 x A4 prints.

You have to kinda steel yourself for a task as repetitive as that; you have to make sure your mindset is right and you have to be prepared to stay at it.

It took me around five hours to complete the series and, although I wept silently as I replaced empty ink cartridges one – one after another after another, or so it seemed – I did enjoy seeing the images transposed from electronic imagery to hard-copy prints. It’s a cathartic process that reminds me of developing my prints back in the good old back ‘n white days of yore; the cyclopic blinking of my Dad’s ‘Gnome’ enlarger with its excellent ‘Star’ lens, the rattle of the negative tray, the smell of the chemicals and, of course, watching the images materialise from out of the white paper. It’s not so different now … well, OK, I guess it is.

Things are a lot quicker now though, are they not? Or are they? The fact is, those images I spent all of yesterday printing were first consigned to digital ones n’ zero’s in the camera’s CF card way back in October of last year; a wedding I had originally been commissioned to cover at around this time last year!

As well as being a lovely couple, the bride and groom are also a busy pair and they only finally produced their list of wants just last week. In fact, yesterday marked four months to the day since I did the shoot. I have also to say that the full sum of the invoice was paid just a few weeks after the shoot, and that I have had further orders for reprints.

Isn’t it ironic though, how for all the ease of workload and speed of turnover in the digital age, we humans can still draw things out :)

Busy busy busy!

I’ve got lots to do at the moment, and the accumulation of tasks (and the prevailing weather) is keeping me indoors and denying me the opportunity to get out there and harvest some ‘Christmas Card’ images :(

My most time consuming task at the moment is printing off the prints order I received from Iain & Laura after I shot their wedding on 30th January; Laura says she’s delighted with the pictures, and has backed that up that sentiment with a very healthy order. I’ve also received further orders from Laura’s family; hence the fact that I don’t get to leave the house (or the printer, to be more precise) these days. It may sound as though I’m complaining but, in fact, I’m really enjoying revisiting the shoot and turning the electronic files into hard-copy existence; it was a lovely wedding (despite the weather) and Iain & Laura were favoured by the attendance of a very supportive family. And, besides, I just love weddings :)

I also had another shoot with young up-and-coming model, Rachael, last week, and I’m really pleased with the initial Raw-file images. But, rightly, Laura’s wedding portfolio takes precedence at the moment, so I’ll have to resist the urge to process the images from Rachael’s shoot for the moment.

Along with the photography side of things, I also have a comprehensive order of Wedding Stationary to prepare for Robert & Julie’s wedding in August, as well as an order of table place cards and other pictures to produce for an anniversary party taking place this weekend.

My new range of wedding stationary seems to be gathering some interest, but I’ve neglected the marketing side a bit over the last few (busy) weeks, so that task is another on my growing agenda.

Still to come, I have a family portrait shoot to undertake this weekend, and a wedding in March to prepare for. So, now that I think of it, I really shouldn’t be typing this entry – I’m far to busy! :)