AN OPEN LETTER TO OUR COUPLES

We know that you’re hiring us to take photographs on your wedding day.. and we know that because you’re drawn to our work that you’re after relaxed, unfussy, honest and emotional images that show all the fun and all the love..

But.. we’re gonna give you more than that.  We promise that we’ll arrive on your wedding day and it’ll feel like we’ve known you for ages.  We’ll tell you if you have lipstick on your teeth.. we’ll help you with your button hole.. we’ll give you our shoes if you need to get in that field.. Pete will give you his jacket if you need to sit down on that bench (or his shoelaces if you forget yours - true story).

We’ll drive you to the ceremony.. run and get you a jack daniels and coke before your speech.. set up all the hay bales for your guests.. we’ll make having your photo taken easy peasy and normal and kinda fun.. we’ll fall in love with your Nan.. we’ll pull some shapes on the dance floor..

We’ll take your bridal party and make you all stand how you normally stand and look like you normally look.. but, kinda better.. and not awkward and if you’re lucky Pete might even fart in front of you (depending on how comfortable he feels – true story).

We’ll get to know your friends and family.. we’ll watch their mannerisms and their little quirks.  We’ll understand what’s important to you.. and we’ll listen and watch and capture all those moments that will make your heart burst.  Not just because they are moments at your wedding.. but because we understand the moments that are important to you guys.

Basically we’ve got your back… and we want to kinda do what seems impossible and make your wedding day even better.  We know that having a camera in your face on your wedding day is kinda weird.. and we know that you just want to feel normal..

..normal.. but super special..

..so we promise to make you feel both.

RUNNING ON EMPTY

Yesterday I posted this on my Facebook page..

"Wedding season is in full swing right now and although I feel like we're on top of the workload (and have implemented so many helpful tools to keep us on track and efficient).. sometimes running your own business.. it can feel quite overwhelming.  The work.. the emails.. the travelling.. the packing.. the unpacking.. the 'not dropping the ball'.. the organisation.. the way a week just disintegrates and before you know it you're heading off across the country to the next wedding (usually before we've even unpacked our suitcase from the last one).. and it can feel a bit relentless and can just give you a little wobble now and again.

Like today.  A non-stop 7 weeks means that I woke up today feeling like I'd been hit by a train.. not able to engage my brain all and needing a good cry.

So I'm going to listen to my body and got to the beach.. and tomorrow morning I'll get back in that driving seat and put my foot on the gas again."

Well it turns out quite a few of you feel the same way and from the comments, what stood out the most was that a lot of people seemed relieved that it wasn't just them that felt this way.  Thank god someone else felt the same.

Well.. sharing my thoughts and feelings on this blog over the past six years has definitely taught me one thing..

We all feel happy, sad, lost, overwhelmed, out of our depth, scared shitless, exhausted, proud of ourselves, think we haven't got a clue, jealous, fed up, grumpy, not good enough, like a fraud…

..we are all the same..

..and there's definitely some comfort in that.

Ps. The beach was ace.

WELCOME HOME 2014 (NEW DATES!)

I can't believe it's that time again.. this year is going SO fast.. but we now have some new Welcome Home dates as a few of you have been asking when and where the next ones will be happening.. soooo.. we have two new dates for you!

We had quite a few suggestions about where to hold the workshops so we've tried to go for the easiest and most central for everyone.. (fingers crossed!)..

TUESDAY 16TH SEPTEMBER 2014 - BIRMINGHAM

10am - 7pm

Venue - TBC

Price £400

Includes lunch

THURSDAY 18TH SEPTEMBER 2014 - LONDON

10am - 7pm

Venue - TBC

Price £400

Includes lunch

The Welcome Home workshop will focus on developing your artistic voice, finding your niche market, understanding and developing your brand, valuing the client experience, managing expectations and staying inspired.

Within these topics we will also be covering...

- Artistic Style

- Attracting your ideal client

- Understanding your 'why'

- Marketing

- Shooting

- Post Processing

- Pricing

- Workflow

- Client relationships and experience

There will also be a shoot in the afternoon so feel free to bring your cameras.. :)

To have a sneak at what Welcome Home is like then you can have a little watch of the stop motion video below.. and we also have a new Facebook page with updates and images from each workshop.

But it's not just about what you experience on the day.  Welcome Home has become a strong community of supportive photographers who share advice and experiences... they second shoot for each other and are even shooting each other's weddings.  We're proud to be a part of such a wonderfully supportive and positive bunch of mo fos.. 

So if you decide to come along.. (apart from the awesome day we have in store for you).. Welcome Home also gives you..

• Immediate access to the Facebook group

We now have a total of 140 homies in the group.  They chat every day asking questions and offering each other advice and have been on hand for each other whether that's a pricing issue or needing to borrow kit for a wedding... oh and they also like a good laugh and a good dance.. :)

• An invitation to the amazing Welcome Break next April

This 2 day retreat was born out of the homies wanting to get together.. especially as many of them attended different workshops but felt like they knew each other from the FB group.  So in April it was Welcome Break time!  We headed to a wonderful farm in Warwick and slept in Yurts and teepees.. ate good food, played rounders, danced and did the conga.. and then hated it when we had to leave.  It was better than we ever could have imagined and we can't wait for the next one!

• Exclusive opportunities for one to one mentoring sessions

Soon we will be offering homies one to one mentoring sessions as part of Welcome Home.  After the workshop it's always incredible to watch attendees build, develop and make changes to their businesses and I think a natural progression is to spend some time looking at the effect of these changes.. what's working.. what maybe isn't working so well.. and why.  These sessions will be tailored to you and will be offered exclusively to attendees of Welcome Home.

Both Birmingham and London workshops are limited to 15 places and you can book your spot HERE.

Instalments

A few of you have emailed to ask if you can pay in instalments so we wanted to let peeps know that if you'd like to come and join us then you can secure your place now with a £200 deposit with the remaining amount due by the 1st September 2014.. :)

If you would like to pay in instalments then please email at info@emmacasephotography.com.  Also if you're worried about where you're at with your business and if the workshop is right for you, then... don't.. :)  Just drop us an email (I promise we don't bite) and we can go from there.. :)

We look forward to seeing you there!!!

JE T'AIME

I have a love affair with both France and my Polaroid camera…

These literally make me squeal with delight..

LIFE LATELY

The past month or so has seen us travelling up and down the country pretty much weekly.. from celebrating one of our besties getting married in Anglesey.. to a wedding on the West coast of Scotland to a quick trip to Scarborough.. it's been super fun and although it's meant many, many hours sat in a car.. they've been many hours sat with Pete listening to our favourite tunes, looking out at the wonderful English (and Scottish) countryside and having lots more wonderful adventures with lots of ace people..

So although I never seem to completely unpack my suitcase lately.. here's to many, many more road trips..







Back in May we headed up to Anglesey as I was Bridesmaid for my good friend Anna Hardy and her gorgeous fella Adam.  Anna is one of my besties, is a wonderful wedding photographer and is part of From our hearts.. four girls who, a couple of times a year will go camp somewhere in our pjs and talk photography whilst drinking wine.  These girls… Joanna Brown, Debs Ivelja and Anna are my wing women and over the past 4 or 5 years we as a group have supported each other through a lot.  We might not get to see each other as much as we would like.. but we are always there for each other.  These girls mean the world to me and it was a bloody honour to watch Anna marry her boy.  Anna had the enormously talented Nick Tucker (another dear friend) as her wedding photographer and I shot a couple of polaroids for them too.. :)  It was such an amazing day filled with so much love and laughter and it was an absolute joy to be a part of it.

We arrived the day before so that we could help with any preparations and I was given the job of florist!  It was a pretty daunting job but in a good way as I've never done anything like it before but I LOVED it.  I had to fill all the jars for the tables and make 5 bouquets and about 12 button holes (which the lovely Debs helped me with too).  It was such a lovely task and I felt so proud on the day seeing all the girls holding their bouquets and the buttonholes on the boys looking ace..

 

Here's some iPhone photos from the most blissful couple of days we spent celebrating..

We then got to visit our favourite little buddy Rufus who lives with his Mama and Papa.. the lovely Shutterbox Films.. we had a little cat visitor in our Scottish B&B and had the most wonderful few days shooting the most beautiful wedding beside a loch..

We also had a very quick trip to Scarborough, somewhere where neither me or Pete had been before and we had such a lovely evening walking along the front.  These very British seaside resorts are just magical and hold so much nostalgia and history..

It's turning out to be a very busy wedding season once again but this time we're determined to enjoy the spaces in-between.. we're so lucky to get to travel across the whole country with this job so we're going to make sure that we get there a little earlier.. or stay a little longer and have an explore.. :)

WELCOME HOME // BELFAST

The more times we get to do Welcome Home and the more people we meet doing this job the more I realise how important it is to embrace the fun, treasure the connections and be grateful for everything and everyone that walks in to your life.

Always make sure you enjoy the anticipation of what's to come.. enjoy the moments while you're there.. and take time to look back and appreciate what you've achieved.. together..

There will always be a special place in our hearts for Ireland and in particular,  Belfast.. and we are most definitely coming back..

A huge thank you to our wonderful friend Fraser who put this incredible stop motion film together from the day.. this makes me smile SOOOOO much...





And another massive thank you to the incredible Mel and Dave.. our gorgeous couple who came to model for us on the day.  It's funny how.. the very second they walked in.. we felt like we had asked our mates to come help us out for the day.. all that normal 'we're actually strangers and have never met' is just nowhere to be seen.. and what's there instead is just a feeling that we've actually known each other for ages.. we just haven't got round to meeting up yet.. :)

Mel actually wrote the most beautiful blog post about the workshop and how they felt being 'the couple'.. and for me this is just the icing on (an already pretty awesome) cake..

http://melwiggins.wordpress.com/2014/06/06/welcome-home/

We'll be looking at some new Welcome Home dates over the next coming months so if you fancy becoming a homie and want us to come to you then let us know!

THESE GUYS..

..tied the knot yesterday..

..literally..