The ferry crossing from Holyhead to Dublin sent our wedding photographer Julie crashing to her knees, skidding across the spray-sloshed deck like a rag doll, but in the end she made it safely down below: I had to stay on deck though, as didn’t want to waste the recent picnic by regurgitating it for the seagulls!

   Our first impressions of Ireland are happy ones, despite the driving rain, as we passed roadside stalls selling strawberries  and potatoes, 

discovered a home from home B&B - Hillside House in Gorey, County Wexford - and found everyone so friendly along the way.

 This dog seemed quite at home in his owner’s cab,

Love the colourful shops and houses - so full of personality! 

Its the Strawberry Festival this weekend in Enniscorthy so the wedding in the afternoon will be sharing the celebrations with all the strawberry lovers!

 We rounded off our first full day in Southern Ireland listening  and recording live music of a girl band singing and playing as a quartet at the delightful bar and reastaurant  the BANK in Gorey.

To all our brides and grooms looking for a wedding photographer or combined wedding and High Definition video team: hope you enjoy browsing this blog! We’ve got a wedding next week in Southern Ireland, so may be a bit slow to reply to any info requests. If urgent - try our mobile 07990 867058. xx Elaine, Jorge & Julie

Sydney has many facets and moods. Even without ever having set foot in the city, everyone has an image of Sydney Opera House in their heads; so much so that we have a perceived sense of scale in our minds too. I made a flying visit to Sydney a couple of months ago - on my nephew’s birthday, as it happens - (while in Australia to photograph a wedding in Jacob’;s Creek) so was given a whistle-stop tour of the area - at night, when the streets come alive and the multicoloured glow of lights coats it with a surreal magic that most big cities seem to conjure up out of the blackness, changing its shape and forms.

  The quality of the experience sometimes outweighs the need be profitable every week, so last year Reel Life Photos started accepting International wedding bookings, the first of which was a wedding in the Ice Hotel in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden http://weddingphotos-video.co.uk/blog/?p=182  where indoor temperature are a static minus 5 degrees Centigrade.

    At the opposite end of the scale, this was followed by a wedding in Tenerife http://weddingphotos-video.co.uk/blog/?p=24  http://www.reellifephotos.silkstream.org/online/view.php?flag=view§ion_id=800 where the sun shone brightly, adding romance to the sunset wedding pictures. 

   In March this year we had a fabulous location 10,000 miles away – in Jacob’s Creek Retreat in the Barossa valley, Australia - http://weddingphotos-video.co.uk/blog/?p=248 .  We did of course tag on a holiday! 

  This month (May) our overseas wedding was in the Loire valley France http://weddingphotos-video.co.uk/blog/?p=286 and http://www.reellifephotos.silkstream.org/online/view.php?flag=view§ion_id=1045 

Our next overseas wedding is on 28 June – in Southern Ireland.  That one is going to be particularly exciting as it’s the first of 3 wedding days - for the same couple -  as they are having the Catholic church wedding in St. Aidans Cathedral in Enniscorthy followed by the reception at Amber Springs Hotel In Gorey, Wexford, then the following week its back to the UK for a civil wedding at Luton Hoo, in Bedfordshire, followed by the final wedding ceremony the week after - a traditional Hindu wedding – in a marquee in St. Albans!  Phew!

Angela & Simon’s wedding was on 07/07/07 a magical date last year that makes it extra special. This is the cover - all stretched out. The following pages should be in order but I may have added one or two in the wrong place here, but they are correct in the book itself.

It takes about 6 weeks to print a design like this with Graphi Studio (several weeks usually for me to design it unfortunately), or just 2 weeks for a simpler, hard-backed book on high gloss paper. The designs could be laid out however it suits you, and your personality (See our online complete Graphi Studio sample I designed from a wedding at Auchen Castle in Dumfries, Scotland). Angela is a very organised person so when designing this book I tried to match the style to her personality. The choice of images included here is always the Bride and Groom’s personal preferences, as its not based on art alone but on feelings and emotions, so you can include mainly pics of yourselves, or if you have a preference for favourite family photos then those are the images that we use in the design.

Julie, my right-hand photographer, took these lovely photos…

The day was one of the nicest days all week.  While the bride and bridesmaids were out getting their hair done, I busied about taking behind-the-scenes shots and  making the most the the beautiful morning light.

First impressions count and my first French encounters have all been delightful. The helpful lady where I picked up the hire car at Charles De Gaulle Airport, the chirpy young man in the service station where I ate a large plate of Ratatouille, creamed spinach and cauliflower for the price of a small one - and the lovely couple who invited me in to stay at their place when I stopped to ask for info on nearby chambres d’hotes, all made my arrival in France very special.

The whole event is very special as the bride-to-be-tomorrow found me on the Internet, while I was in Australia doing a wedding there, and she herself happens to be an Australian getting married in France to a Scottish husband, so I have travelled from Yorkshire to share their day at this Chateau.

Sikhs are very exuberant and friendly people, with a zest for life and dancing all night at their 3 day wedding celebrations. Add to that a French Bridegroom and a multicultural marriage with a Sikh bride who has absorbed much of the European culture of her UK upbringing, with guests arriving from all around the world - from USA, Canada and France, in particular - and its bound to be a wedding with a difference! From the wedding photographer it demands a non-stop smile, and whirlwind eye, who easily gets caught up in the excitement and drama of the days - and nights.

Nina & Alexis met in Sri Lanka when doing voluntary work after the fateful Tsunami of 30 Dec 2004. They share the same generous view of humanity, as does Alexis French mother & sister, who were living out there too.

The wedding started with a Civil marriage ceremony at Hothorpe Hotel in Leicester. Two days earlier I had been in Australia, so the sudden plunge into late British Winter was expected to make us all suffer, but as it happened the cold was overcome by the brilliant sunshine and unreal blue skies!

The Sikh wedding celebrations started the following evening at Stage Hotel in Leicester, where traditional Jug lanterns were carried in turn by many of the bride’s key family members - even the French bridegroom’s Mother Agnes, enjoyed a turn - to announce the forthcoming Sikh wedding celebrations to the “Village” (in this case it was just the invited guests…)

Well, my stay in Australia is nearly over. Lisa and Andy have their wedding pictures, and I have feasted my eyes on the most amazing trees and plants as well as been fortunate enough to have met with loads of wonderful people on my first ever visit to Australia. I will add more blogs later showing snippets of my eye-feasts but though it more important to share some of their wedding photos here.