a Priya Parker appriciation post

Otherwise known as :

Here’s that lady I was talking about who has great advice for shaping your wedding to feel how you want it to feel for you and your guests.

I love that Priya Parker’s ideas are fun and thoughtful ways to make events work better. It’s about being intentional and the results are really delightful.

And so, because I rabbit on about her a lot, I thought I’d put a few of her main points and some links together so I can share them with you more easily. I really love thinking these things through and I think you might too… and if you do we’ll surely all be set for a great wedding. So that’s win-win!

She has a whole wedding section on her website, including some of my favourites: 10 wedding planning questions (which will help you think about the purpose of your wedding day and head towards it with your plans) and 5 ways to reinvent traditions (which will help you to choose which traditions to ditch and which you can shape to fit you as a couple).

Jon & Steph’s cake receiving line

Her website has lots of good sections, freebies and things to read. I particularly love the comments sections of her Instagram posts where her followers share their suggestions and tips for good plans. This post about reimagining traditional wedding rituals has so many real-life ideas in the comments.

“We greeted our guests by pouring a glass of champagne as each of them arrived and had a small cocktail hour before the ceremony.” - @studioqevents

(Which reminds me of when Jon & Steph served everyone cake at the end of their wedding ceremony instead of having a traditional receiving line)

Priya’s book The Art of Gathering is great if you want to deep dive into the stages before, during and after a gathering and how to make the most of each stage for you and your guests at any type of event. We devoured her audio book in the car driving to so many events.

Witton Lodge Community Association: 30 years of impact

Celebrating 30 years of this incredible bunch making a change for good in the community.

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Charlotte and Luke's Civil Partnership Ceremony at Aston Wood Golf Club

Charlotte and Luke’s civil partnership at Aston Wood Golf Club in Sutton Coldfield was an evening-only event, so we got to have fun with sparklers straight after the ceremony and take some cool couple shots under the festoon lights in the dark. We love how Charlotte and Luke kept everything low-key, just chilling (and a bit of dancing) with family and friends. They also had live magic and their snack game was incredible. Pork scratchings and scampi fries? Yes please!

If you’re planning a wedding and you’re looking for relaxed photography like this we’d love to hear from you. Get in touch here.

lighthouse hall launch

Lighthouse Church had a celebration for the opening of their refurbished hall. We got to join in and eat cake. Can’t wait to see what happens in this upgraded space!

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