Advice
Please use this page as a source of inspiration and advice through the knowledge I have gained from my experience as a photographer.
Please feel free to contact me to add further information to help others plan for their perfect wedding.
John Doran
Please feel free to contact me to add further information to help others plan for their perfect wedding.
John Doran
Wedding Venues
Here is a short list of venues I feel are beautiful and perfect for your wedding day. I would be honoured to be a part of your wedding day and to shoot at stunning locations such as these would be a privilege.
Slebech Park - Pembrokeshire Heythrop Park Resort - Oxfordshire Sandon Hall - Staffordshire Chillington Hall - Shropshire Hylands House - Chelmsford, Essex Lamphey Court Hotel & Spa - Pembrokeshire Wolfscastle Country Hotel - Pembrokeshire Gellifawr Hotel - Pembrokeshire New House Hotel - Cardiff The Crown Hotel - Bawtry Babington House - Somerset Stapleford Park - Leicestershire Stradley Park - Carmarthenshire Carreg Cennen Castle The National Botanical Gardens - Carmarthenshire Picton Castle - Pembrokeshire The vale Resort - Cardiff
Wedding Albums
We are happy to announce we are now offering the following wedding albums for our clients.
Belissimo - Wedding books
Graphistudio - Wedding Books
Seldex - Artistic Albums
Jorgensen - Wedding Albums
Queensberry - Deluxe Wedding Albums
PictoBooks - Elite Artistic Wedding Albums
Naturally, we can not hold every sample album available but if you have a specific idea or would like further information on any of these albums, please contact us for details.
We do have samples of the Graphistudio, Queensberry and our Jorgensen albums will be available to view later this year.
Some of our albums are available to view HERE
Please come along to one of our wedding fayres listed HERE to speak with us directly or contact us to arrange a meeting.
Wedding Fayres 2012
For a list of wedding fayres in South Wales please check some of the upcoming events HERE
Wedding dress suppliers
Bridal Collection - Pembroke Dock White Bride - Narbeth Georgina's Bridal Studio - Tenby
Wedding Cars
Wedding Car Hire Top Class Cars EMS Cars
Higher end wedding photography 'vs' the budget option
Having been asked numerous times why I and many other higher end wedding photographers charge as much as we do, I feel it is best to explain in a video form.
I will ask you one question though... "How important is 'cheap' to you?".
I ask this as the reasons below will "I HOPE" demonstrate the reasons why you should consider a strong budget for your photography coverage on your wedding day.
Let's say you have 100 guests for the day and an additional 50 for the evening...
For the venue, some venues charge for the use and for the food/wine etc... So.. 100 guests @ a modest £35.00 per head for food and 2 glasses of table wine would cost £3,500 before the venue usage. We'll call that an additional £2,000.
So just for the venue and food for you and your day guests you could be facing £5,500+
Then the evening buffet, DJ, drinks (if you have an open bar - Dangerous!)....
Now, let us go back to the preparation....
The dress can cost in excess of £2,000 but most are around £1,000.
Cars, the cake, the DJ, the videographer (optional), the Table cards, the plan, the time you spend preparing, the heart ache of planning, the arguments, the hassle. Everything you do is time planning your perfect wedding. Some may just have a co-ordinator to arrange it all and hope for the best.. some turn in to the ultimate bridezilla and want to do everything! lol
You are looking at for the 'Average' wedding in the UK costing in the region of £18,000 - £25,000. Some are more, some are less.
The fact remains though is this... After the day, after the dress is placed back in its box or sold on an auction site, after the food has been eaten, the wine has been drunk and the cake has been cut/eaten. The one thing you look forward to seeing after the wedding and the years to come are the photographs.
Why would you risk placing this task to a "friend" with a "good" camera who has taken a few nice "pics" or even the newbie who has no experience in wedding photography, no insurance, no back up equipment, no idea what to do if the weather closes in???
I understand that photography can be expensive, I truly do. Our own wedding was done on a budget of £3,000 MAX! We couldn't afford anything. We made our own table plan, we made our own invites and I was even going to do our own photography! (Try talking the wife round to that was entertaining!) Needless to say that didn't happen and we managed to get a FREE photographer from a wedding planning web forum who offered us a fantastic deal, at the time we thought she was amazing so we booked her (turned out to be the "too good to be true" syndrome.
They turned up two hours late...! Yep.. TWO Hours! Just in time for the ceremony! Then they had the gall to blame my wife on her wedding day, accusing her of not telling them the correct time!
We had to pose ourselves and as a photographer offer ideas (I was feeling uneasy about this as surely they should know how to pose us??). After the day the emails were checked to ensure we hadn't made any errors in letting them know the timings and yep.... We were right. No apology came our way from the photographer, the photographs were delivered on a disc in a basic plastic sleeve (this we didn't mind as we got their services for free) and the photographs we got were far from good. (I have seen worse - but thats another story).
My point is this. In 20 years time, when your kids ask what it was like "back then" or if a family member passes away you will turn to the photographs to invoke the memories from that day. They will make you cry happy tears (I hope), they will most certainly give that spark of emotion in the memories that come back to you.
A professional photographer will capture the moments that count, the feelings you feel on the day, under any conditions. Rain or shine.
If you choose a budget photographer over a professional, what if the photographer causes an accident on the day? They don't turn up? Are they insured? Are they registered with HMRC/the IRS to pay the TAX they earn from your payment? What if the 'photographers' camera gets damaged, have they got a spare, with spare memory cards, lenses, flash guns, batteries?? The list goes on and on.
Having been on the receiving end of a rookie claiming to be professional, I feel a responsibility to educate and guide potential clients in the right direction to booking their wedding photographer.
It is now time to show some videos taken from YouTube.com that will show you what I mean. Please, if you have had experience of this type of "photographer", contact us and tell us so we can then tell your story. The more people understand the risks of booking an 'Uncle Bob' or the bloke from the pub, the better it will be for you as a client and the wedding industry itself. It will also deter amateurs from potentially ruining one of the most important days of your life.
Below are a few videos from www.YouTube.com that will explain in a better form than that of a thousand words.
Number 1: The risk of budget photography.
Number 2: The reality of what a photograph really is.
If you have had a budget photographer who ruined your wedding photographs, we offer a reshoot coverage for the Bride & Groom in the form of either a Trash the Dress type shoot or a fashion shoot style. This is so you as a married couple who are without any photographs from your wedding can have a reshoot wearing your bridal outfits again to capture some amazingly beautiful images.
Please contact us via the Contact Us section for further details.
Here is a short list of venues I feel are beautiful and perfect for your wedding day. I would be honoured to be a part of your wedding day and to shoot at stunning locations such as these would be a privilege.
Wedding Albums
We are happy to announce we are now offering the following wedding albums for our clients.
Belissimo - Wedding books
Graphistudio - Wedding Books
Seldex - Artistic Albums
Jorgensen - Wedding Albums
Queensberry - Deluxe Wedding Albums
PictoBooks - Elite Artistic Wedding Albums
Naturally, we can not hold every sample album available but if you have a specific idea or would like further information on any of these albums, please contact us for details.
We do have samples of the Graphistudio, Queensberry and our Jorgensen albums will be available to view later this year.
Some of our albums are available to view HERE
Please come along to one of our wedding fayres listed HERE to speak with us directly or contact us to arrange a meeting.
Wedding Fayres 2012
For a list of wedding fayres in South Wales please check some of the upcoming events HERE
Wedding dress suppliers
Wedding Cars
Higher end wedding photography 'vs' the budget option
Having been asked numerous times why I and many other higher end wedding photographers charge as much as we do, I feel it is best to explain in a video form.
I will ask you one question though... "How important is 'cheap' to you?".
I ask this as the reasons below will "I HOPE" demonstrate the reasons why you should consider a strong budget for your photography coverage on your wedding day.
Let's say you have 100 guests for the day and an additional 50 for the evening...
For the venue, some venues charge for the use and for the food/wine etc... So.. 100 guests @ a modest £35.00 per head for food and 2 glasses of table wine would cost £3,500 before the venue usage. We'll call that an additional £2,000.
So just for the venue and food for you and your day guests you could be facing £5,500+
Then the evening buffet, DJ, drinks (if you have an open bar - Dangerous!)....
Now, let us go back to the preparation....
The dress can cost in excess of £2,000 but most are around £1,000.
Cars, the cake, the DJ, the videographer (optional), the Table cards, the plan, the time you spend preparing, the heart ache of planning, the arguments, the hassle. Everything you do is time planning your perfect wedding. Some may just have a co-ordinator to arrange it all and hope for the best.. some turn in to the ultimate bridezilla and want to do everything! lol
You are looking at for the 'Average' wedding in the UK costing in the region of £18,000 - £25,000. Some are more, some are less.
The fact remains though is this... After the day, after the dress is placed back in its box or sold on an auction site, after the food has been eaten, the wine has been drunk and the cake has been cut/eaten. The one thing you look forward to seeing after the wedding and the years to come are the photographs.
Why would you risk placing this task to a "friend" with a "good" camera who has taken a few nice "pics" or even the newbie who has no experience in wedding photography, no insurance, no back up equipment, no idea what to do if the weather closes in???
I understand that photography can be expensive, I truly do. Our own wedding was done on a budget of £3,000 MAX! We couldn't afford anything. We made our own table plan, we made our own invites and I was even going to do our own photography! (Try talking the wife round to that was entertaining!) Needless to say that didn't happen and we managed to get a FREE photographer from a wedding planning web forum who offered us a fantastic deal, at the time we thought she was amazing so we booked her (turned out to be the "too good to be true" syndrome.
They turned up two hours late...! Yep.. TWO Hours! Just in time for the ceremony! Then they had the gall to blame my wife on her wedding day, accusing her of not telling them the correct time!
We had to pose ourselves and as a photographer offer ideas (I was feeling uneasy about this as surely they should know how to pose us??). After the day the emails were checked to ensure we hadn't made any errors in letting them know the timings and yep.... We were right. No apology came our way from the photographer, the photographs were delivered on a disc in a basic plastic sleeve (this we didn't mind as we got their services for free) and the photographs we got were far from good. (I have seen worse - but thats another story).
My point is this. In 20 years time, when your kids ask what it was like "back then" or if a family member passes away you will turn to the photographs to invoke the memories from that day. They will make you cry happy tears (I hope), they will most certainly give that spark of emotion in the memories that come back to you.
A professional photographer will capture the moments that count, the feelings you feel on the day, under any conditions. Rain or shine.
If you choose a budget photographer over a professional, what if the photographer causes an accident on the day? They don't turn up? Are they insured? Are they registered with HMRC/the IRS to pay the TAX they earn from your payment? What if the 'photographers' camera gets damaged, have they got a spare, with spare memory cards, lenses, flash guns, batteries?? The list goes on and on.
Having been on the receiving end of a rookie claiming to be professional, I feel a responsibility to educate and guide potential clients in the right direction to booking their wedding photographer.
It is now time to show some videos taken from YouTube.com that will show you what I mean. Please, if you have had experience of this type of "photographer", contact us and tell us so we can then tell your story. The more people understand the risks of booking an 'Uncle Bob' or the bloke from the pub, the better it will be for you as a client and the wedding industry itself. It will also deter amateurs from potentially ruining one of the most important days of your life.
Below are a few videos from www.YouTube.com that will explain in a better form than that of a thousand words.
Number 1: The risk of budget photography.
Number 2: The reality of what a photograph really is.
If you have had a budget photographer who ruined your wedding photographs, we offer a reshoot coverage for the Bride & Groom in the form of either a Trash the Dress type shoot or a fashion shoot style. This is so you as a married couple who are without any photographs from your wedding can have a reshoot wearing your bridal outfits again to capture some amazingly beautiful images.
Please contact us via the Contact Us section for further details.
