SmlSave MFW diary - where to start?

StuartGMC

SmlSave
Do give the photographer the 3rd degree on their planning; the way they'll operate, the equipment they will use, the contingency plans to address things like camera failure, heavy rain, additional lighting etc etc. Are they also using video; if so, where will they place microphones for the speeches (need on top table otherwise you can get a lot of background noise from caterers etc) what about back up batteries, etc?

If they are good, they should be happy to go through all this and more as these are legitimate questions. If, despite asking all the above in a calm business-like manner you feel they are brushing you off, go elsewhere.

Do get to see their work, perhaps even on the spot without warning, get them to take some photos there and then which you can then see in the raw?

I really pushed ours in advance of the contract, even though they were highly recommended, and we had great shots despite rain bouncing knee-high and thus all shot inside the church.

(Colleagues at work have had to take action against their photographer to recover all the costs as the photos were so bad, so do take a hard approach as this really is very important to get right for you both).

Good luck

gallygirl

StuartGMC wrote: »

SmlSave
Are they also using video; if so,

If so, do they know what they are doing? I had friend who had her wedding video'd - 1st time chap had used it & he kept turning camera on side to do wide angle shots - that was a fun wedding video to watch :eek:

StuartGMC

Gallygirl
You're right to note this; hence the need to really test them during the meeting to discuss requirements, but it made me laugh! Thanks.

MissusF_3

Ola! How goes it with the planning??!!!!

Completely agree with Essex and Stuart re photos, i didn't actually think to add that the 2 peeps who did ours are avid snappers and have sold stuff before - they are with you for life and it is so important to get belters, not heads missing, dodgy things in background etc etc!!! One of them ran out of film just after the ceremony :eek: .....the second guy stepped up and did all of them in the end, so yup, things can defo go wrong!!!!

have you set a date yet? I wanted Callas but they were out of season, would have cost a small fortune! Crikey, i'm about to start getting excited again, methinks i best go and find your thread in the wedding bit!!!!!

ttfn peeps x x x x

SmlSave

Brrr its cold today :snow_grin

Thanks for the advice re the photographer Stuart. I've copied your advice into my wedding folder that I'm building up with lots of hints and tips.

he kept turning camera on side to do wide angle shots

:rotfl: I shouldn't laugh, poor friends of gallygirl, but honestly :rotfl: no worries my end at least cause neither of us are fussed about being video'd, family can do if they wish and we'll steal the footage!

Sounds like you were very lucky with the photos MissusF.

Away from Wedding fever and into Christmas fever!:xmastree:

I've got a fair few presents and the main ones for parents and bro. OH hasn't given me any suggestions yet so I think he'll have to get what I can find!

Its mine and OH's first Christmas alone together, first of many hopefully, so its new territory for us. I guess we'll start some of our own traditions but am not sure what to expect. Probably be a very relaxing Christmas without the rushing to peoples houses.

My Asda card has been put upto £150 so that's a chunk of the shopping paid for already. And I'm hosting a pamperchef party next week so fingers crossed that people buy enough for a treat or two for me!

Me and my friend have decided to give salsa dancing a miss until the new year which frees up £5 a week - every little helps.

Oh has bumped up the wedding fund by £400 so already it looks healthy. I feel bad that I can't contribute much financially so I hope my organising things will be contibution enough.

Nothing more to say I think....gosh...turned out to be a long and rambling post:o

evab_2

I've been reading about the amount people spend on Xmas (not just on here) I can't believe how much they spend. We allocate £10-£15 per person and that's it! Am I a scrooge? We tend to spend more on their birthdays instead.

Have I missed a date for the wedding?

SmlSave

I don't think you're a scrooge evab. Personally I budget £10 for friends (12 people) £15 for Grandparents (3) and £50 for parents/bro (4) which keeps within my budget this year. I could easily make it less but I love giving presents. I would never consider going into debt just for Christmas though :eek:

Have I missed a date for the wedding?

No date as yet, I would ideally like the last two weeks of June but it all depends if we can get a venue. I'm thinking I might arrange to go try dresses on next weekend just to see what suits me - ready for the crazy boxing day sales

I really have to go through the freezer again to see what space I can make for a new load of batch cooking. Most of it seems apple sauce when I had a look this morning! So that's pork with apples, porridge with apples, apple pie, apple crumble ... ummm?

I had a thought yesterday that I could put my first OP in the mortgage in January - completely forgetting that my OP fund is a regular saver and fixed till July. Never mind, I'll get the interest from the account and when I OP next January it'll look like a bigger hit.

Going to be a quiet day all round today just with swimming tonight and watching Survivors after.

StuartGMC

Ev and SmlSave
We too budget of course, and our outlay for relatives is probably similar to SmlSave, but simply we only give presents to immediate family not friends (at work I don't send cards but we all contribute to a charity donation) and some other relatives we all give token presents only. DD gets more spent on her depending upon what she needs and this year we've allocated the spend to a Nintendo Wii as the family Christmas present; very little else will be bought and then only of small value. It is at the end of the day simply a balance of budget and being able to select something which is actually relevant to the recipient. At least here we can all be certain none of us will be overspending on this no matter what our individual situations are!

SmlSave
Apple Struddle
Apple Turnover
Apple & Blackberry Pie
Apples, blueberries, raspberries and a tart sauce
Apple & Cinnamon (and more Cinamon, oh, did I mention to add Cinamon ) in anything!
Fermented apple (you may know this as cider.... but you need one with a thick sediment and a good alcohol content to be worthy of the name not this filtered gas infused stuff that's presently the market push; oh take me back to being [STRIKE]16/17[/STRIKE] 18 again in the West Country with a good scumpy for Christmas celebrations.....)

Survivors is great, takes me back to when I was 10 through 12yrs old watching the original series on BBC1; it was one of the few dramas which really stuck in my memory from that time. Isn't it great the way they "reshot" the same title sequence as the original? I've never read the book however. Have to let it record now so we can watch with daughter another evening.

(Now, for the real addicts, I was more than taken aback to find there's a whole web site dedicated to the original series....)

SmlSave

Apple Strudel yummmmmmmm will have to make some this weekend
Apple and Cinnamon porridge - here I come!

I didn't realise that Survivors was such a cult hit, I've yesterdays recorded too as family came round.

Went to lunch with a friend today and ended up spending £11 :eek: Normally (where we went) has a £5 deal on but when we got there today they served us our drinks and then said "oh, the £5 deal has ended now" Still a nice meal but they should have told us before we sat down, we did wonder why the place was so quiet.

Just an omlette tonight then :cool:

I suppose I'd better make a list of what to buy for Xmas food wise, potatoes, pigs in bankets, brussels, cranberry sauce, stuffing, cheese and biscuits.

I really have to get myself in gear and order a murder myster pack off amazon so that we're ready for New Year Eve when the family are coming round. Maybe get some easy party food for the freezer too then.

When is everyone getting their Xmas trees? real or fake. I'd like a real one and preferably get on the 13th to put up on the 20th.

EssexHebridean

Our christmas tree lives outside in a pot all year and comes in about two weeks before christmas - it was left behind by the people who sold us the flat with the assurance that they would come back and get it - five years on it's still here! It's about 7' tall and we have over the years collected some really beautiful baubles to go on it - we have traditionally bought just a couple each year but made them really good ones - the tree's quite sparse in itself so we cover it with decorations and it looks pretty cool!

Survivors is excellent isn;t it - we've been enjoying it too!