WOODLAND PRESHOOT | DEVON

THEIR STORY

Sam first heard of Emily through a mutual friend. Seeing the pictures of her, Sam couldn’t believe how beautiful she was, so he asked his friend for her number. They started texting and met for the very first time on a night out in Milton Keynes. Sam says, for him, it will go down in history as the best night ever.

With Sam living in Milton Keynes and Emily living in Farnham, a long distance relationship became the norm, with them meeting up on weekends. After four years Sam and Emily moved into their first rental accommodation in Woburn Sands and two years after that bought their first house. They’ve never looked back.

THE WEDDING PROPOSAL

In October 2017 Sam booked a short stay at a holiday cottage at the beautiful Hele Bay, for the half term break. The lodge was perfect, overlooking the beach of Hill Bay Beach with great views of the sea and ooastline and a private hot tub to boot. Knowing he was going to propose he was a bag of nerves and decided to strike while the iron was hot, as soon as they’d arrived. So he asked Emily to drop the bags and come for a relaxing stroll along the beach.

After making their way to a secluded section of the beach, where the waves were gently coming in, the sun broke through the clouds and trying not to drop the ring in the sea, Sam got down on one knee and asked Emily to marry him. The answer was a resounding yes, and when they got back to the lodge a bottle of bubbly and a celebratory dip in the hot tub awaited!

A BEACH WEDDING THEME

Having had a beach proposal, getting married at the Sidmouth Harbour Hotel seemed a fitting Devon wedding venue, but Emily and Sam wanted a slightly different look for their pre-wedding shoot. After all, it’s not every day you invest in beautiful images of yourself as a couple, so why not ‘go the whole hog, and choose a look you love. I always offer couples the chance to choose the location of their pre-wedding shoot to let their imaginations run wild.

BRISTOL BASED WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER

The bonus of being a Bristol wedding photographer means that not only can I cater for those beautiful city weddings in Bristol itself, but I am within each reach of couples from London or the North who getting married in Devon. Meaning that if they want to meet with me in person, to get to know me better, to view their wedding images in person at my beautiful cosy business lounge or indeed have their preshoot, they can cut a couple of hours of their journey and simply come to Bristol. With Emily and Sam living in Milton Keynes, Bristol was a far better option for their preshoot than travelling back to their wedding venue in Devon and so we opted for Leigh Wood for their relaxed woodland engagement shoot.

WHY HAVE A PRESHOOT?

A pre-wedding shoot is a great opportunity to have some beautiful pictures of the two of you not in your wedding attire, a indulgence that we don’t often invest in. It’s also a wonderful opportunity to get to know your wedding photographer better and understand what it’s like to be photographed.

CAMERA SHY

Emily and Sam admitted when we sat down for a coffee to run through their wedding plans prior to their preshoot, that they were very nervous about their wedding photography and my heart sang. This is exactly why I advise couples to invest in a pre-wedding shoot. Can you imagine feeling nervous about anything on your wedding day? There’s enough to worry about as there is, without worrying about having your photograph taken.

After excitedly running through their wedding plans and pulling together a list of their must have wedding photographs, we donned our wellies and warm jumpers and headed into the woods. Whether it is summer or winter I love getting outdoors for engagement shoots, as whatever the weather you can still get some incredible images.

WHAT TO EXPECT AT YOUR PRESHOOT

As all my clients will tell you there is nothing forced or staged about my wedding photography, and preshoot sessions are there to show you exactly that. They’re basically a lovely catch-up, a time to get to know each other whilst having a stroll, with a few stops in between! I’ll give you tips and tricks on how to relax, how to make things look more natural and how to get the best from your wedding photography. It’s not about learning poses, forced ways of being, it’s very much about getting to know each other, building trust and most of all, having fun. It starts to make it all feel more real, to focus on something positive and beneficial and gives you the chance to immerse yourself in your wedding photography journey.

Emily and Sam were very nervous to start with, however, with a few tricks up my sleeve to help them relax and a lots of love between them, they soon get into the flow of their preshoot; strolling through the words, finding a bench to sit on, and just generally being them.

Venetia xx