Model Releases Come To iPhone | Ian McGraw Photography.

Festival season is with festival season in full swing there is so much on offer this it is hard to know which events to prioritise.

Well, here’s a little food for thought from Wayne Hemingway…Vintage at Goodwood is doing things a bit differently – combining music, fashion, art and design and celebrating British cool from the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s.

The festival is quite unique in that each stage is carefully curated, not programmed, by each of the music specialists with performances from the likes of Sandie Shaw, The Noisettes and Lisa Stansfield.

There will also be a Vintage High Street area with pop up stores ranging from Oxfam and John Lewis to Waitrose and The Body Shop. Three major runway shows will take place per day, with Workshops and Fashion Talks also on the bill.

Lily Allen will even be on hand to unleash new styles to the fashion world with her Lucy in Disguise collection.

For that extra glam factor there will be time capsule areas to get your make-up done in any chosen era, from the 40’s through to the 80’s.

Who said festivals were all about mud and grunge?

www.vintageatgoodwood.com

13-15 August at Goodwood Estate in West Sussex

Also visit Bouf for and use their 10% off festival ticket prices.

Vintage at Goodwood – A new summer event over 3 days (13th -15th) in August. Vintage at Goodwood is a truly unique annual event which celebrates 5 decades of British cool; bringing together the music, fashion, film, food, art, dance and design from the 1940s, 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s, and looking at how it has influenced today’s creative and culturally rich Britain.

[Source: Evening Standard]

I know I have said it before but I think I will just go right ahead and say it again, we love the people who are making their businesses work through the strong belief and passion in what they are doing. The blog has featured many of these in the past, the lovely Shikhita at Fair Cake, Nichola at Nichola Binstead, Stewart at Orkney’s Best (check out his new website!), Katherine at The Arabian Tent Company,  Andrew at Staggered, Nicky at Nicky Doodson to name but a few!

Now it’s time to add another name to the roll call, meet Sophie Ellis-Waring at Cards by Sophie.

Just some of Sophie's gorgeous designs

Sophie decided to set up her business after stuggling to find affordable stationery while planning her own wedding.

Sophie has since developed her own range of wedding stationery, including fourteen stylish, contemporary designs. All the Cards in Sophie’s stationery range are made by hand for that extra special touch. Each design can be customised to the couple’s needs, for example, the colour of ribbons, handmade paper, or Swarovski crystals can be ordered to match the exact wedding theme and colour scheme. There are no set rules, all stationery is available in a range of sizes, and you can create your own wording on the inside and outside of each card.

Sophie is justifiably proud that her wedding stationery a production, unique to each client, and therefore totally exclusive – you won’t find it anywhere else!

Stationery available includes:

• Save the Date cards
• Invitations
• Menus
• Order of Service
• Place Cards
• Table Plans
• Favour boxes

Cards by Sophie offers a nationwide service, one sample free of charge, no minimum order – and not forgetting a fantastic 10% discount on orders over £250 when you mention Veil & Train!

For more information and a free sample, please visit the Cards by Sophie website at www.cardsbysophie.com or contact Sophie directly on 07795 212115. Alternatively show your love by following Sophie on Twitter.

From the shop at Love Eco:

These lovely red heart shaped balloons are biodegradable and perfect for those romantic occasions. Whether birthdays or Valentine’s Day – they’re sure to put a warm smile on a loved ones face. Just perfect for Weddings!

Supplied in a packs of 10 or 25 red heart balloons.

Click below to visit the Love Eco shop:

Love Eco – Biodegradable Red Heart Balloons | Ethical & eco-friendly gifts, interiors, toys, skincare and more..

Gorgeous 1950's Layered White Lace Wedding Dress. £275 at Mela Mela.

If you are planning the perfect vintage wedding or just adore your vintage clothing then Veil & Train have an important invitation to pass on this weekend.

The super cool vintage retailer Mela Mela in Teddington (Middlesex UK) are celebrating not only their 2nd anniversary but also their brand new website launch by hosting an in store party on Saturday 12th June from 4-9pm.

The only party requirement is to dress your vintage best and stand a chance of winning a super great prize on the night for the best outfit. But do not be sad if your outfit comes a tear jerkingly close second, guests can also take advantage of an exclusive 10% discount off their first purchase as well as a real olden days type raffle (after the vicar has had his tea and victoria sponge of course!).

Knowing the guys at Mela Mela (ever so slightly embarassed because we’ve not been in the shop for a while now) the whole event could not possibly pass off without mention of their favorite charity Fara – in support of which an original Christain Dior coat will be auctioned off to the highest bidder. Nice one Mel.

For the uninitiated: the clothes rails are a feast for the eyes stocked with an bewildering array of 50’s cocktail dresses, wedding dresses, prom dresses, skirts and tops. There are beautiful silk organzas, romantic roses, purple prints, huge polka dots and wonderful big bows a-plenty here.

Above eye level the shelves contain a prized collection of very chic and elegant hats that complement the array of outfits and accessories displayed below.The antique manequins used to show off the hats are equally as interesting as the hats themselfs.

Mela Mela is definitely one step closer to utter fabulousness. If your wedding has a vintage theme and you are looking for high quality then you are going to enjoy this piece of retro heaven. A real touch of class.

74 High Street
Teddington
Middlesex TW11 8JD

www.melamela.co.uk

A great way to get unusual photos and add a bit of extra entertainment to the wedding or reception is to hire a Photo Booth. The informal nature of the photo booth delights everyone and really brings out the fun in your event.

Top portrait photographer and Scheweppes Portrait Award regular Seamus Ryan is a well known, if not one of the original providers of classic high quality Photo Booths. One of his most popular choices at Booth Nation is an antique 1950’s American design (pictured above – Copyright Seamus Ryan) from the glory days of formica and aluminium edging. He also offers the choice of a blinged up sparkly booth which really draws guests in.

If you are having a videographer at your wedding our friend and colleague Mark at the Short Film Company specialises in Big Brother Video Booths for your guests to leave video messages. As a regular member of the crew Mark knows more about Big Brother than most of us!

Contact Seamus Ryan at Booth Nation on 020 7613 1560 and mention Veil & Train.

Video booths can be booked by calling Mark De Vaux-Balbirnie at the Short Film Company on 01843 592 023 / 07932 654 243.

Guests enjoying The Short Film Company's 'Message Booth'.

Fabulous linked image by Ross Oscar Knight at www.rossoscarknightphotography.net

As a wedding business in the Teddington area we thought we would let you all know about this excellent park run in support of local charities called the Bushy Park ‘Wedding Day Race’.

The 30th Wedding Day 7km Bushy Park run takes place on Friday 30th July 2010 at 7:30pm.

The race will start near the Hampton Hill park gates adjacent to Hampton Hill Cricket Club at 7.30 prompt. There will be limited changing available at the cricket club on the day.

If you have kids there is also a junior race over 1.5 miles running simultaneously. Various prizes will be awarded after the race most notably first junior across the line, first couple and first work or pub team.

Want to join in and sign up? Pre registration and fee payment facilities are available on the Stragglers running club website. The race entry fee takes account of the full cost of T shirts and the cost of chip timing.

Why the “Wedding Day” race? The race was first run on Thursday 29 July 1981, which was a bank holiday marking the wedding day of Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales. Since 1982, the race has been run every year on the last Friday in July, so this year’s race is the 31st.

Charities that benefited from last years charity race included:

• St John Ambulance
• Relate
• Gingerbread
• The Princess Alice Hospice
• The Shooting Star Trust
• The Good Rock Foundation
• The Royal Gardeners Benevolent Fund
• United Reformed Church, Hampton Hill

Enter the Wedding Day Race now.
Teddington Wedding Photographer

Image by Caroline Taylor 2010

This week we tackle what exactly it is that terrifies men about weddings?

By Andrew Shanahan at Staggered.

On first inspection you’d probably think a wedding would rank somewhere between, “Small Girl With Ice-Cream” and “Parcel Delivery” on your average bloke’s internal list of terrifying situations to be confronted with. But when you start to break it down the Big Day contains a number of situations that rank wayyyyy higher on the Terrifying-O-Meter; perhaps even somewhere between “Rooney Broken Bone” and “Getting Things Caught In Zips.” So what is it that’s giving your groom, best man or father of the bride a nasty case of wedding nerves.

Walking Down The Aisle

Sounds stupid doesn’t it? The bride’s the one who has to do the aisle-walking dressed in the big frock and pokey shoes and yet the father of the bride is the one who’s sweating over it. Why? Well mostly because it’s his big moment. All those eyes turn towards him, he has to stick to that weird slow-walk rhythm and he knows that at the end of the aisle he has to hand his daughter over to some spotty oik he’s only met twelve times.

How to combat: Practice makes perfect on the walk and try and have the big, “You know I’ll always love you Dad” talk a month or so before, not in the car on the way to the church.

Saying His Vows Right

I do, just two little words that give men more problems than nearly any other. In this case though it’s not the weight of the ceremony or the pressures of commitment that petrify him, it’s the sheer bloody simplicity. Someone says the words and you just have to repeat them, that’s easy! Exactly, so you’d be really stupid if you messed them up wouldn’t you?

How to combat: Get hold of the text of the wedding ceremony you’ll be using and go through it a few weeks before. You can even practice if you like. Then it’s up to the registrar or vicar to put you at your ease. Fortunately, they’re nearly all very good at their job and if you schedule in a meeting a few weeks before then they’ll help put you at your ease.

Wedding Speeches

This one is perhaps the most understandable. After all, writing a wedding speech is difficult enough when you consider the formalities and the etiquette you need to observe and that’s before you factor in that it’s supposed to be eloquently emotional (the groom/father of the bride) or effortlessly entertaining (best man). Twin that with most people’s natural hatred of public speaking and you’ve got the perfect storm of fear.

How to combat: If they’re struggling to write it send them to a professional speechwriter like Burn The Toast for help with their speeches for weddings. Alternatively, move the speeches to before the dinner, restrict everyone to toasts only or cancel them altogether.

Commitment

Ahhh, where would the romantic comedy genre be without this old trope, that secretly men fear the idea of living with a woman more than they fear sharks, or fire, or sharks on fire? It’s almost unheard of for men to actually act anything like the male characters from Friends. The closest most men will ever get to the commitment question is when one of their more laddish mates says, “You know that means you can only sleep with one woman for the rest of your life?” A question that’s easy to contend with because the friend in question last had sex in 2001.

How To Combat: Ignore it. He’s bought the ring and gone down on one knee, he’s not about to flit now.

Confetti

It’s evil stuff.

How to combat: Fire.

Staggered is the UK’s leading men’s wedding website and the perfect place to find proposal ideas, stag do pranks and  stag do ideas, mens wedding suits and wedding speeches. We can even tell you about lolcat proposals.

NEWS: Some of Ian’s work and advice were featured in a recent issue of Wedding Ideas Magazine (2010) – thanks too to Matt & Louise for being the perfect Bride and Groom

Wedding Ideas Magazine, May 2010 - image and tip by Ian McGraw LBIPP

They say that three is the magic number and so it proves, as we’ve teamed up with Staggered, the UK’s leading men’s wedding website to bring you not one, not two, but three incredible wedding competitions.

Not only could you win all of the champagne at your wedding, but an incredible Hemingway tailored suit worth £500 AND as if that wasn’t enough you can also get bespoke wedding rings worth £600.

All you have to do to enter this incredible 3-in-1 competition is head over to the entry page on Staggered and keep your fingers crossed! Good luck!

Terms and conditions apply – see Staggered site for more details.