MONEY BACK!

Hi All

I wrote a while ago about poor Leeanne whose pj's red dye came off onto her skin the morning of her wedding and then onto the dress and shrug. She ended up writing a little letter not giving out too much as she is too nice for that! The shop ended up refunding her the price of her dress so she was well pleased.

We had just thought on the day that she had got one of those nervous rashes the day of her wedding but all ended well, so as I say be careful and dont wear anything new the day of your wedding, try it out first even if only for an hour!

RDS Bride of the Year Show 2011

For Couple Photography - our new year starts with our RDS Bride of the Year Show on 29th & 30th January 2011.
Its our chance to meet all you wedding wannabes and show you our wonderful albums that we have on offer for 2011. There are so many choices, I dont know how you choose.

So I hope to see you all at our stand

Scarlet!

You can never guess what can go wrong on your wedding day! Leeanne bought some very festive red silk pyjamas for me to photograph her getting ready on the morning of her Christmas themed wedding.

As she got into the dress, we all thought she was a bit stressed, as you would be! She had a red neck and we all told her it would go down as soon as she relaxed. We later found out, it was the red from her new pyjamas that had rubbed off on her skin.

So word of warning, its nice to wear new things but maybe just put them on for a little while another day before the wedding just to check you arent left with the evidence!!!!

I want a Big TROPHY

Hi All

Every year WeddingsOnline.ie host a competition for the top 100 wedding suppliers. I love to enter - havent won it outright yet but never say never....god loves a trier!

Can I ask any of my past couples out there to cast their vote - its a bit like xfactor or strictly come dancing - I NEED YOUR VOTE - but at the end of it dont ask me to sing or dance, think I am still better at taking pictures......

The link to vote - it costs nothing and only takes a second is

www.weddingsonlineawards.com

Thanks you are all great to me!

Perfume Alert!

Just a little tip for the day - dont spray your perfume direct from the bottle just in case the nozzle isnt working too well. This poor bridesmaid had the hairdryer out trying to dry the stain.....It may not have looked too good but it did smell nice!!!

High Key Photos

In the studio we love to photograph family shots in lighting called high key. Where the tonal range is very white and every now and then we like to try it at a wedding and sometimes it can really work......

Never Play with Guns!

Maybe he should have just told the happy couple to say, "Cheese?"

A wedding photographer in Sicily was accidentally killed when he asked the prospective bride and groom to pose for a picture using hunting rifles as props - and one of them went off.

The blast hit 45-year-old Calogero Scimea in the head, and he died while the wedding party looked on in horror.

High school sweethearts Valentina Anitra, 22, and Ignazio Licodia, 25, immediately put their wedding on hold while police investigated.

In another sad twist, Scimea was filling in for another wedding photographer.

"He was only there as a favor for the wedding photographer who had originally been booked but had to pull out as he was ill," Col. Teo Luzi, a spokesman for the Palermo Police, said in published reports Tuesday.

Rifles are legal on the scenic Italian island that's known for - among other things - spawning the Mafia. It's also a tradition for guns to be fired off at family events and not unheard of for partygoers to get hurt.

But investigators are having a hard time getting the whole story out of Licodia's parents. They face possible criminal charges because the shooting happened at their house in Altofonte, just before the kids were to set off for a local church.

"What we are trying to establish is if the gun went off as it was being handled by the photographer, or if it went off as it was handed to him," said Luzi. "But no one is being very talkative."

Follow the Leader!

Who says the bride isnt the most important person on the day.............

Neatly near the N2... and Navan

Emma and Micheal had a lovely day in Ballymagarvey House at the weekend. This is a fairly new venue - only a year old and the team have 55 weddings under its belt. There is a real feel of a "proper" house - it even has a kitchen!

All the rooms in the house are well decorated in a modern but sympathetic way to retain the old charm (there is even a croquet set at the main door!). Around the restored main house the country setting is beautiful and is complemented by a wonderful large enclosed landscaped courtyard - across from which is the banqueting suite. Worth planning a look if you're in the area and planning a wedding north of Dublin.

Sealing it with a Kiss!

Donna and Lars retired to the room where the constitution was signed in the Shelbourne Hotel for a quiet moment during their reception.

Half the guests travelled from abroad so there were five BMW's 7 series and one Bentley for the couple. It made a wonderful sight as they all pulled up together in a row on Stephens Green that Saturday afternoon!

Shady Bridal Party!!!

Una and John and the gang having a laugh inside the hotel! Such a chilled out group - we just had a super day photographing around Trim Castle and Knightsbook Trim. The pair of them are going to have a super album.

I love it when a couple are in the photography zone!!!!

Take your breath away!

Even though we shoot weddings every week we still get blown away by a beautiful room. I walked into Emer and John's banquet room at Darver Castle and just went "wow". The top table looked so lovely, wish I got picked as the bridesmaid!!!

SNAPPY BIRTHDAY FOR COUPLE PHOTOGRAPHY

Catherine & Declan, a fabulous couple who are getting married in Cavan in June suprised me with a lovely gift and wished me a Snappy Birthday. I was so chuffed - their only wish is that I dont decide to copy my new pressie and wear my baseball hat backwards when photographing their wedding!!!

The perfect Invite!

Being in the wedding photography business, my friends love to send me funny things they see on the net.

I had to laugh at this one!

Wedding Bells or Red Pepper Bells!

I arrived to Eleanor's house morning of the wedding and boy can you find the strangest of things the day of a wedding. These peppers and mozarella greeted me in their sitting room.

Never got to ask what the story was.......but someone likes to eat peppers in that house!

The three Musketeers

We are delighted that Anna has agreed again this year over the summer months to work with Couple Photography! Being a no 1 student at college like her boss - I might add! She is just brillant at designing albums and gets so many compliments from our wedding couples. So roll on June and Anna will be here again drinking her incredibly strong tea which she leaves steeping before she drinks it.

You can see her in the photo, it took me a good while to get her to give me a photo of herself that she thought looked ok!! So I have it here on the blog for ever!!!

Round the bend...

This is one of those "self drive" options as Fiona and John heading off towards Slane from their Church in Drogheda. The sun co-operated all that day too!

Getting down with guests...

The monumental staircase in Middleton House makes a spectacular backdrop to Danielle and Simon's arrival to their reception after the Ceremony. While everyone else is allowed to use the front door - the couple made their dramatic entrance from Upstairs!

We were there in time to capture it!

Kids never hang about!

I am designing up Ingrid and Stephen's wedding album at the moment and just had to laugh at the photo of the two page boys at the wedding. The only way Stephen could detain them for a photo was using the "hang them upside down" trick. Glad they hadnt eaten yet!

The Two Musketeers!

Jenny and Paul decided they wanted to have some fun on their day with some of the photography. They asked me to bring some props in keeping with their Castle venue for their wedding at Slane.

On the grounds that I did'nt want either of them to hurt each other on the day, I brought along foam swords. Just as well, as they really did get into the spirit of attempting to wound each other!!!!

Garda Patrol!

I am in the process of updating the website and just saw this pic I shot. The lads are walking up to the church for the wedding from Mount Wolsely and just as I have composed the pic the Garda cycles past on the bike.

You just couldnt plan it could you?

Winter Blues!

Marie and Mark had to be cajoled out of the wedding car into the cold for this photo. It must have been worth it though, as they sent the photo into the Irish Times who printed it this week.

As they say no pain.....no gain!

The Magic Carpet

Personalisation seems to be the key these days!

Eimear & Russell decided to have their own carpet for the church on their Big Day!

I guess, it will make a great runner in their hall in the future house!

Mini Me's...............

Hugh and Amanda's stunt doubles did an action scene at the wedding. They stood on top of the cake!

Marking the Red Carpet!

Edel brought Holly along to the church the night before her wedding to Roland.

While Edel was putting some final touches to decorating the church - Holly her puppy joined in. Having been dropped from the invitation list for the wedding the next day, her gorgeous dalmation puppy showed how much she felt left out...

She made a wee decision on Edel's red carpet and left her own mark on the next days celebration!

We hope the carpet suppliers didn't notice!!!!!

The Big Show at the RDS

Its been a busy month for us at Couple Photography, designing new order sheets for all my couples, choosing new albums to stock and generally trying to get ready for a busy year of shooting weddings. I thought you might like to have a sneak preview at some of my new covers for the wedding story books, these will all be on show at the RDS this weekend.

Hope to see you there!

RDS BRIDE OF THE YEAR SHOW 2010

What better way to cheer up the January blues, then visit the RDS Bridal Show on 30-31 January 2010. Couple.ie will be there to show you all our great offers.

We have a few complimentary tickets for Saturday 30 Jan, so drop me an email through our website www.couple.ie and I will post them out to you.

Organistation is the Key, I am told!

These days planning weddings seems to be so complicated. So I am showing you a chart that proves it!!!! And should help you on planning the Big Day!

NEW YEAR RESOLUTION

As pretty as this snowy weather is, it has us stuck indoors and thinking about New Year Resolutions! The usual one of eating less crunchies and drinking less wine to achieve the perfect figure has been made but more importantly for all my brides and grooms, the promise to keep our blog up to date again.

We realise we havent kept you entertained as much as we should have in the last 2 years and 2010 is a good time to get back to it again.

We at Couple photography have had a busy two years of weddings and are still booking alot more for 2010 and 2011. We must be doing something right.

We are still trying to create stunning unique images for each couple. Here's a picture from our last wedding which kept the couple fit climbing up the narrow sprial staircase while we were below annoying the waiter who kept passing from the kitchen to the guests with the finger food. But I explained to him, it was art!!! and had to be done.

Wedding Plates...

I've just seen that www.Reg-plates-ireland.com offer special wedding plates with your names, the date and the hotel - they come complete with the IRL symbol. These plates are ideal for putting the finishing touches for your photos with the car.

Looks a bit familiar....

This is Chidi Ogbuta of Allen, Texas. She always wanted a doll made of herself. So she had her wedding cake created in her image.

According to the I-Report one pastry chef made the body while someone from another city created the head. More photos here...

Fairy Godmother turns up.....

It's bound to be a great day when your Fairy Godmother turns up to prepare your way for your Red Carpet Moment!

Linda and Ivan had a great day - even though it was the middle of winter, they had sunshine (unlike several weddings in July, 2007) on a windless day - almost as nice as a New Zealand Summers day.... according to kiwi Ivan but he may have been talking about the day, his bride Linda or the wine - at the time I was quite busy trying to follow the accent to work out which...

Starting in Booterstown Church, they went down to the Marriot in the Druids Glen in Co. Wicklow for the reception; which was spectacular.

Merry Christmas

From us!

It's never too late!

Nice to see that it's never too late for love!

102-year-old Lithuanian man Stanislovas Grigas has become the Baltic country's oldest recorded bridegroom after tying the knot with his 76-year-old fiancée Brone Mikutiene. They were married on Saturday in a ceremony in Kaunas, Lithuania's second city.

I'm sure there wasn't anyone at the ceremony asking if the 26 years difference was too much of an age gap!

Our Wedding was at home after dinner....

This week sees new rules for celebration of civil marriages in Ireland, allowing you to get married in your place and your own way! Soon there'll be no need to traipse off anywhere, you can do it all at home.... maybe even after dinner.

Other venues, than registry offices or Churches and Temples will very shortly be allowed to be used for marriage ceremonies provided they have the prior approval of the Health Service Executive. The details of the requirements have not, as yet been finalised.

According to reports private home-owners who organise a wedding in their house or grounds will be forced to admit members of the public, whether they are on the guest list or not. As a spokesman for the HSE stated approved wedding venues have to be open to the public. Therefore home owners and hotels will not be allowed to turn away members of the public, even if they were not invited to the wedding. The 2004 Civil Registration Act is due to come into force next month but the necessary regulation details have not yet been approved by the minister.

The other principal changes include:

Residency requirements for civil marriages will be abolished. The three months’ notification of intention to marry will have to be given to a registrar in person, rather than by post.

All couples giving notification must sign a ‘‘declaration of no impediment’’ and obtain a marriage registration form.This is issued by the registrar after they have completed the notification procedures and satisfied the registrar that they are free to marry.

More details here.

Blooming Awfull!

I've never seen anything like this story in Ireland. I think nearly every single Irish Bride is delighted with the flowers at their wedding. It is rare to hear complaints. Any wedding I've ever attended have always had the best of blooms - I've also never heard of anyone spending nearly €20,000 on flowers either.

I think Irish brides can expect, and do get really nice arrangements both as bouquets and arrangements in the Church. Certainly the florists I see at weddings are always proud of their work and their efforts are a testament to their artistic flair.

As to table centrepieces - while some hotels off this as part of the package - some couples opt to get arrangements placed by their own florists in other places.

The top 10 avoidable first dance tunes....

According to Askmen the following songs are to be avoided as your first dance and, to be honest I'd agree with the choice they may be romantic classics but there are plenty more to choose from.... unless of course one of them is "your Song" and if it is - definitely use it! After all its your wedding!

Here is the suggested songs to avoid:

1. My Heart Will Go On - Celine Dion
2. I Will Always Love You - Whitney Houston
3. (Everything I Do) I Do It For You - Bryan Adams
4. You Are So Beautiful - - Joe Cocker
5. Back At One - - Brian McKnight
6. Wicked Game - Chris Isaac
7. This I Promise You - - ‘N Sync
8. Without You - Mariah Carey
9. Against All Odds - Phil Collins
10. Every Breath You Take - The Police

The RDS Wedding Show

This time, we'll be there on the corner stand near the main entrance and exit - Stand F2 . Admittedly it is the same stand we've been at for the last few years, but it is the first under the new logo and brand www.couple.ie.

If you're planning to go, it is one of the biggest of its kind in Dublin with over 100 exhibitors ranging from Candle and Cake suppliers to Florists and Cars. It is an ideal spot to get all your wedding organised in one go and it is on this weekend - if you're there, be sure to call over and say hello!

What do you think of this cake?

Ok, it is not so big on the chocolate - most of the Wedding cakes featured here I recently noticed tend to covered in chocolate - not sure why! Well this is a bit more traditional. Well traditional in a different way....

This was a Christmas cake bought in the local Lidl shop on the way to the wedding and it became the centrepiece to Miriam's wedding last weekend. She had vowed not to have a wedding cake; but her guests ignored her, as they felt there would be a a gap in the wedding photos and so they brought this along so she could get her photos!

The M&Ms were added for colour because it was Miriam and Marks big day - so the M&M theme seemed appropriate; a big thanks goes to Sitha and Tom for getting it organised in secret.

All new website!

I've been working on a new website for about a year, and it is finally out of testing and ready for everyone to see!

couple.ie is the new name to accompany the website. There are LOADS of pictures on the new website... well worth a visit!

The old www.roslynstudio.com site will not disappear it is just showing it's age a bit and, to be honest, I've a lot more photos that I'd like to share!

Rather than overhaul the site I decided since we work in a team format - it would be best to acknowledge it so we went with a new name and fresh new logo.