Our New Home - The Hahnemann, 42 Hope Street, Liverpool

Well, I said watch this space and now we're ready to announce it to the world!  We move into The Hahnemann (opposite Host), 42 Hope Street, Liverpool on 1st November this year.  Next door to us on the 2nd floor of The Hahnemann is the beautiful Belles Bridal Boutique, and in the building next door is the Hope Street Hotel.  Hope Street is such a vibrant area (the grown-up Lark Lane!) in The Georgian Quarter of Liverpool, dangerously close to The Quarter where I think many a coffee will be supped!  Dianne and I can't wait to move in and are really excited to be joined by Sian-Louise Auld who is a fabulous make-up artist that works with us on many shoots, as well as offering wedding make-up in her own right.

Sadly the move isn't permanent as the building has planning permission to be turned into a boutique hotel, but we hope to be there for at least a year if not longer.

So the contact details from 1st November:

The Hahnemann

Suite 21

42 Hope Street

Liverpool

L1 9BZ

07792 650 742

zoe@zoephotography.co.uk

www.zoephotography.co.uk

We look forward to hearing from you.

Confetti Wedding Show, Chester Racecourse

This weekend is the Confetti Wedding Show at the Chester Racecourse and we are offering an incredible prize as part of the Win Your Wedding Competition - the winner will get their wedding photographed for free, that's right, for free!  Any albums can be purchased after the wedding, but all photographs will be presented on a preview disk and on a disk of hi-resolution images.  This is usually valued at £1,300, but the winner of the competition will get this for free (subject to date availability).

So if you would love to have your wedding photographed by Zoe or Dianne from Zoe Photography then be sure to get yourself along to Confetti on 16th or 17th October at the Chester Racecourse and enter the Win Your Wedding competition!  This is an incredible prize, so make sure you enter.

Moving Out and Moving On

Zoe Photography is moving out of Stanley Grange on Knowsley Hall park - the change is tinged with sadness as we've loved being part of the Knowsley Hall park community, but it's no reflection on the state of the business.  2010 has been a good year in the house of Zoe Photography, and 2011 is promising to be a bumper year with bookings up considerably on all previous years!  But the truth is our unit is just too big for us (gorgeous as it is) and costs too much for this kind of business, and we don't want to have to increase our prices to cover something that isn't a 'must have' for us to operate as a wedding photography business.

We move out on 30th/31st October (anyone want to help who owns a van - we'll pay petrol, provide beer and give you a free photo shoot!)

Watch this space for further announcements of what's going to happen next!

Knowsley Hall Wedding Showcase

Yesterday was the wedding showcase at Knowsley Hall.  There was an amazing range of suppliers for the perfect wedding, from Myriad Travel for the honeymoon, to Chill Out Spa for the best in relaxation and treatments for beautiful skin leading up to the wedding, and Impressions Video of Formby for a video of your wedding day.  More photographs are to be uploaded in the next day, but for now, here are some iPhone pictures from the showcase, with Dragonfly Couture Stationery in the Oak Room, The Bridal Gallery Group in the Walnut Drawing Room and ourselves in the State Dining Room.

Watch out for the catwalk show photographs later.

Wedding Ideas Magazine Real Wedding

We are all very excited in the Zoe Photography house today - the postman has been and he delivered the November issue of Wedding Ideas magazine.  Why is that exciting?  Because Helen and John's wedding is featured, and Zoe, supported by Nikki McLeod from Fife in Scotland, photographed the wedding last year!  But the excitement doesn't stop there because there are quite a few weddings featured in this fabulous magazine - we have 6 pages of coverage!  Zoe Photography has never been in any of the magazines before with a real wedding, so this is a very exciting development.

The magazine hits the shelves on Wednesday 6th October - be sure to get your copy!  It's full of fabulous ideas for your wedding.

Autumn is Here

I love autumnal mornings, crisp and bright with the most beautiful light.  I took this image using my iPhone and the Hipstamatic App this morning just outside Stanley Grange at Knowsley Hall Park.  If only every morning was like this.

First Look Session at Your Winter Wedding

A couple of years ago I helped to photograph the wonderful wedding of Annika and Adam in Sweden and I was really taken with the First Look Photo Session that they had.  This wasn't about anything more than the need to make the most of the natural light for beautiful photographs.

It struck me over last winter that in the UK we have winter weddings, with the ceremony at 2pm or later, and the only way we can create couple portraits is using the flash or video light.

But what if you were to have a First Look Photo Session?  The positives of doing this, aside from having the chance to create beautiful photographs during the available light of the daytime, you also get to wear your dress for longer, and you get a private moment together before you get swamped by all the guests, a private moment to enjoy the beauty of each other all dressed up, and a private moment to prepare for the solemnity of the wedding ceremony together.

Why do people not do First Look Photo Sessions?  Mainly it seems to be that brides don't want to see the groom because it's tradition not to.  But do you know where the tradition started from?  In the past when marriages were arranged the groom wouldn't get to see his bride until after the vows, and many times he would discover he had been married off to the uglier sister, or worse still, the bride was who she was supposed to be but she was a very unattractive version of what the groom had seen in the painting he had been sent!

So if you think that tradition stops you from having a First Look Photo Session on your wedding day, think again!  It's actually a lovely way of making sure your winter wedding still gives you the chance to have beautiful photographs and you can enjoy that private moment of wonder at seeing each other before the ceremony.

One final thing - if you're worried that the groom will turn up, well, a First Look Photo Session makes it pretty clear he's going to be there!

Brides of 2011: Mood and Inspiration Boards for Weddings

I need help!  I want to work with a bride photographing the story of her developing the theme of her wedding - now obviously it would be best if I am already photographing your wedding, so please get in touch if you'd like to be involved in this exciting project!  But even if another photographer is photographing your wedding day, please get in touch if you would like to have a record of how you develop the them of your 2011 wedding.

I'm looking for what inspires you, what you buy, and how you pull it all together.

This is a personal project, nothing commercial related to it.  I would then like to feature the themes and how they are pulled together on our sister blog, The Bride's Survival Guide

You will receive a free montage of photographs that illustrate your theme and how it all links in together as a thank you for being involved.

Please contact me by email if you would love to be involved.  I look forward to hearing from you soon!  And if you're already married but have friends who are planning their own wedding please let them know.  If you're already married and have kept lots of things that illustrate your wedding day theme, please get in touch as well!

Jenny and Duane's Crosby Wedding and Racquet Club Reception in Liverpool

Some weddings are just so full of love it's quite overwhelming - and so I cried at Saturday's wedding, there, I'm not ashamed to say it!  The great feeling of love started at Jenny's parents house, where it was clear to see the close bond between them all, and it carried on throughout the day.  

This was a truly family affair - Jenny is one of those mum's that I wish I'd been able to be for my daughter, so calm and collected, and very assured as a mother.  She is surrounded by love and is passing that on to her 3 beautiful boys.

But this wasn't just a wedding about love - it was also about the shoes!

These two pairs of shoes really are to die for!

There was love, laughter and tears all through the day - tears of joy and love of course.

And being a family wedding, this one was definitely about the children too.

If you look closely you can see that this little girl is playing on her dad's iPhone - they start early these days!

And a beautiful couple - bringing together 2 families from separate parts of the world.

Finally, it didn't take much to persuade Duane, his brothers and his dad to have a quick game of snooker when everyone was taking their seats for the meal.

Knowsley Hall Designer Bridal Showcase

We are pleased to be exhibiting at the Knowsley Hall Designer Bridal Showcase at the weekend - 3rd October.  It would be great to see you there - we are in the State Dining Room (a gorgeous room for your wedding breakfast).  You can pre-book on the Knowsley Hall website for just £5, which is going to Lady Derby's charity, Alderhey Children's Hospital.  The showcase includes a range of wedding vendors, a catwalk show and guided tours around the Hall - what a treat!