I am so happy and excited (like screaming from the rooftops excited!) to announce that we have become members of  Style Me Pretty‘s exclusive ‘Little Black Book‘. Style Me Pretty is like the Vogue of the wedding world and being invited onto their prestigious list of vendors is recognised within the Wedding Industry as the most elite seal of approval! This list contains photographers whose work I have long admired including Jen Huang, Jose Villa and Erich McVey and we see it as a true honour  to be part of such an amazing community of truly talented suppliers!  It really does mean so much to us as they don’t choose their vendors very lightly!  The text below comes straight from Style Me Pretty on how they choose their vendors and shows just why we are so proud! :

From Style Me Pretty: ‘We dive head first into the vendor’s business. Their portfolio, their experience, their time in the industry. We look at press that they’ve received, we chat with their industry neighbors, we get to know who they are and why they are good at what they do. We spend hours on the phone with each vendor, screening their personalities while getting to know them, figuring out if they are honest, have a high level of integrity and are truly devoted to their craft.. We expect red carpet treatment for our readers. Once an application reaches our desk, we check everything. Twice. We like to check references. We like to read glowing reviews. We like to peruse impressive press. We like to see professional credentials. Just as our sophisticated readership is treated with the ultimate wedding eye candy at SMP, we also like to be wowed. Hands-clapping and cheering…that kind of wowed. When we are convinced a company is the crème de la crème, we schedule our screening interview and spend time getting to know each potential company prior to admittance to our exclusive community.Our members become part of our SMP family, as devoted as we are to exceed the highest wedding aspirations of our readership. Whilst we are not trying to be snooty, we are most certainly being intentionally selective.

When we say “by invitation only,” we really mean it. Our Little Black Book is our love list of companies we trust, respect, and admire. It’s a special group, and we record each name and phone number with a flourish. A couple only invites the most important people in their lives to share their big day, and we only extend our coveted invitation to those who deserve the honour of contributing their services and products to transform a couple’s wedding experience into a dream-come-true event.

We have specialized vetting teams. Our carefully chosen panels of photography, cinema, and other industry experts thoughtfully assess each potential member’s work for craftsmanship, technical ability, and professional artistic prowess. Only the elite can pass this level of intense scrutiny.

We take great pride in our efforts to produce a resource that showcases topnotch vendors who will help make the most important day of a reader’s life better than she ever dreamed it could be.”

A masssive thank you Style Me Pretty for choosing us to be part of such an amazing community, it is a huge honour! x

]]> http://belleandbeaublog.com/style-me-prettys-little-black-book/feed/ 1 http://belleandbeaublog.com/a-beautiful-romantic-surprise-proposal/ http://belleandbeaublog.com/a-beautiful-romantic-surprise-proposal/#comments Wed, 05 Jun 2013 12:13:39 +0000 admin http://belleandbeaublog.com/?p=1838 When Charlotte from Eden and Eve contacted me about 2 weeks ago about a shoot she was organising, I think she pretty much knew I’d be sold after she told me it involved lots of flowers, a moss covered lamp, a horse dressed in flowers and a surprise proposal :)

It was a real joy to work with such a talented team of vendors from Yorkshire including Tony from EatMe DrinkMe (nicest wedding food ever!) and the seriously talented Sarah form Leafy Couture. Charlotte and Sarah came up with a gorgeous Moroccan theme to compliment Lee’s Luxury camping business Glampit and it was held at a beautiful setting in Ilkley, Yorkshire where Christina keeps her horse.

Lee planned such a sweet and romantic proposal to Christina by bringing her up to see the shoot and then surprising her with a beautiful ring. She giggled and said Yes! Below are a few favourite images from the day. This is how to do it guys!

Photography – Belle and Beau Photography

Styling – Eden and Eve

Flowers – Leafy Couture

Food – Eat Me Drink Me

Luxury Tents – Glampit 

I think ultimately it means different things to different people but, for us, it means creating beautiful photographs that are worthy of being framed and enjoyed for a lifetime. Carefully composing images to create actual pieces of Art.

It means seeing something ‘ordinary’ like a touch of  hands by the bride and groom and turning it into the extraordinary. It means seeing special moments before they happen and being in the right place to capture it. It means me taking my time to make the photography as beautiful as it can be by creatively using the background, the light and the magic of the moment.

The Fine Art approach means looking at the world with a creative eye, with a flair of imagination, where a set of images can not only tell a story but can go on to evoke emotion. Where it can stir feelings inside of you, can bring tears to your eyes or a smile to your heart. Every painter and artist choose their medium, whether it be pastels, oil paints or watercolours. It is the same with Fine Art Wedding photography. We choose to use a certain colour palette of bright, beautiful warm pastel tones to create a fresh and luminous feel to our work.  We avoid using flash like the plague (unless absolutlely necessary!) for a reason. Our images are intentionally  light, soft and creamy. It’s a look we love, which reflects us and our style and which helps to provide a timeless and cohesive look to the images we create.

It is a style which is aimed at couples who want their wedding photography to be beautiful and meaningful, not just ‘snapshots’. It is for couples who want to be able to trust their photographer to use their artistic talents and skills to know how to stylise things to make them look their best and how to get the best results possible for their day. It is for couples who have beautiful wedding photography high on their list of priorities and are prepared to give their photographer the necessary time and trust to achieve amazing results.

We were at a children’s party at the weekend and as we pushed out little daughter on the swings, it hit me just how fast she is growing! It literally feels like a few days ago we were bringing her home for the first time from the hospital and I was telling Phil off for driving slightly faster than 5pmh ;)

She is blooming in such a beautiful little soul and her gorgeous smile and infectious giggle really has brought  so much happiness into our lives.

We could not be prouder that she is ours :)

Me and Phil also travelled to London to shoot some gorgeous DIY’s for Brides with the lovely Erin from Berinmade and styled by the seriously talented Jillian from Mimi Nicole Events. These two are such a pleasure to work with and it was so much fun creating some serious pretty together. I can’t wait to share the rest of them! A delicious recipe created by Jillian was featured on 100 Layer Cake-let recently…

And a really pretty Save the Date card made by Erin was featured on Love My Dress. It contains the full instructions too, go check it here!

I’m also really proud to be a sponsor this year of the truly gorgeous B.loved blog! Louise, who runs the blog, is also a stylist. She has such a creative eye and fills her blog with so much gorgeous work to inspire brides.

Really looking forward to all the fun yet to come in 2013 and I hope you are all having a great start to the year! :)

{Disbury House Hotel Wedding photographer, Manchester}

I love this gorgeous little face :)