All OK for The Orchid

April 21, 2009 | Posted Under: , , | 1 Comment 

We’re big fans of boutique hotels and I’m spending a rather worrying amount of time lately perusing the amazing hotels on offer on my new favourite website www.mrandmrssmith.com (even if we can’t justify spending £400 a night on a room in an exotic location, we can but dream, hey?). So, when we heard from one of our couples that the Orchid Hotel in Bournemouth was in financial trouble and their booked wedding was in danger we were, well… a little concerned, to say the least. Not only would it have been an unwanted element of stress for our couple, a massive disappointment for them to lose their preferred wedding venue,  it would have also been a great loss to Bournemouth’s hotel industry.

We take pleasure in letting you all know that the hotel is official under new ownership! Bookings for existing weddings are now safe and there’s a call out on their website for new couples to consider using the Orchid Hotel as their wedding venue.

It’s not long now until we get the chance to whip out those SLRs and capture our first wedding at The Orchid in June and we can’t wait!

If you want to have a quick nose at the hotel’s wedding packages, here’s a shortcut to its Wedding Pack and its Wedding Tariffs.

Emma - BB

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Morag: In the Spotlight

April 9, 2009 | | Leave a Comment 

Earlier this week I whizzed my way over the Durley Chine to capture some ‘by the seaside’ shots of professional actress and singer, Morag Brownlie. She got in touch looking for some new promo ‘Spotlight’ head and shoulder shots. Nothing too crazy, but relaxed and comfortable enough to look natural.

Just an hour before the sun set we managed to make use of that ‘magic hour’ with some lovely soft light just peaking behind the cliffs behind and showing off those lovely turquoise colours of Bournemouth beach. Spotlight shots have to be in black and white, but the colours were so pretty I couldn’t help but upload a couple of colour ones too. Here’s a quick peak at just some of the final shots Morag and I decided on in the warm pub afterwards (the joys of digital)!

We love taking portrait session shots and are always happy to receive requests through our contact form.You don’t tend to have to book so far ahead for portrait sessions, especially if we can fit you in within a week day or evening. Anything goes too! Whether you want some kooky engagement shots taken in the city, something a little more romantic on the beach or want a group session shoot with your family or friends give us a shout, throw over some ideas about where you’d like your pictures taken and we’ll see if we can help.

You can find out more about our portrait session shoots and prices, here.

Oh, and one final thing. We thought it was about time we spruced ourselves up a little, got in front of the camera ourselves and show you what we look like! After all, I’m always trying to convince people that being in front of the camera isn’t that that scary. You can be nosey on our ‘About Us’ page.

Emma - BB

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Poole’s Hotel Du Vin features on Conde Nast Hot List

April 5, 2009 | Posted Under: , , , | Leave a Comment 

Who would have thought it? If you were asked to list the locations for the top hotels in the world would you even consider there could be one right on your doorstep?

Alas, it’s true! Travel magazine Conde Nast Traveller has just released its Hot List 2009 featuring the best head-turning hotels in the world. Flying the flag for Dorset, if not England, is Poole’s own Hotel Du Vin. You might recognise the hotel as ‘The Mansion House’, situated in Old Town Poole a few minutes walk from the quay. A luxurious boutique hotel, as well as being a real treat of a place to kip over for a night or two, Hotel Du Vin Poole also opens its doors to wedding parties. Here, you’ve got access to private rooms and suites, a courtyard and succulent dining.

Have a look at their image gallery and just imagine how sublime your wedding photographs could look in there! We’re pleased to say we will be heading over to Hotel Du Vin in Summer 2010 to capture some very special wedding prep shots before heading over to the Custom House on the quay. We’re looking forward very much to being able to experiment a little with photographs in those award-winning rooms!

You can browse through the entire Conde Nast list, here.

Alternatively, if you’re just interested in finding out whether there’s anywhere worth looking up for your own wedding, the UK hotels featured were as follows:

(12/70) Crazy Bear - Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire
(22/70) Hotel Du Vin - Poole, Dorset
(39/70) MyHotel - Brighton, East Sussex
(52/70) St Moritz - Cornwall
(69/70) York & Albany - London

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Kate & Chris: Langtry Manor

April 2, 2009 | Posted Under: , , | 1 Comment 

A couple of weeks ago now we got to spend a day at Langtry Manor for the wedding of Kate and Chris. Only really down the road from us in Bournemouth, we’d heard a lot about Langtry Manor being avid watchers of The Hotel Inspector, but hadn’t ventured inside before our final consultation, either to the main ceremony room or the absolutely stunning events’ room acroos the road - Langtry Lodge. There’s no denying there’s nowhere else like this place in Dorset, let alone Bournemouth!

The day kicked off with me heading over to Westbourne to meet Kate and the bridal party for hair and make-up time at a cute little salon out the back of a Brazilian store called Corcovado just on Queen’s Road. It was great fun watching the enthusiast stylist Vinnie Ribeiro doll up the girls ready for the day and in between slating Keira Knightley and wondering why on earth we were listening to Christmas songs in March some nice little prep shots were snapped up.

Hair all set in place and make-up expertly applied it was time to quickly head back to Kate’s house to get that dress on, make sure everyone had their flowers and await the snazzy blue limo.

Of course, I’m always keen to snap up shoes and flowers. Kate’s were pretty spectacular and it’s always a shame that underneath those wedding dresses you only rarely get a peek! Also, the flowers from Flowers at 166 were special too!

Tucked away in Bournemouth, there are three different ceremony options at Langtry Manor - either outside in the garden gazebo, in the regal-looking Gladstone Room or across the road at Langtry Lodge. Kate and Chris opted for the Gladstone Room. With it’s large sun-blessed window and cosy atmosphere this gave us a chance to snap up some naturally- lit shots during the ceremony for once!

Although it wasn’t long before the guests sat down for the wedding breakfast, we had a little time to explore the rooms of Langtry Manor for some indoors couple shots. The ladies on the reception desk kindly let us quickly sneak into the King’s Room to get a bit of quiet time and snap up some more intimate portraits. There’s a lot of history in that room. Langtry Manor was built in 1877 by King Edward VII for his mistress Lillie Langtry.

As we were doing that the hotel did a good job of turning the ceremony round ready for the meals. We were so impressed with Kate and Chris’ great little cupcakes and the guest’s tables looked really stylish with thoughtful place settings.

Champagne passed around and everyone tucking into their bread the speeches took place before the meal so everyone could enjoy the dishes without worrying about remembering their lines. The Gladstone Room has a really neat little balcony that overlooks the guests so it was possible to snap up some shots from both levels.

With everyone tucking into their meals, Ian and I headed off for our break. We felt so priviledged only living literally three minutes drive away we were able to pop back home, back up the shots we’d captured so far and do a little quick change for the evening. All refreshed we headed back to Langtry Lodge where the evening entertainment was to take place. Having spent a heck of a lot of money doing that venue up Langtry Lodge is a really stylish set of suites complete with a dedicated bar. Of course, that meant it wasn’t long before everyone got into the swing of things - (sorry guys, but if you do insist on me snapping up your poses of course I’m going to put them on my blog… I have some far sillier than this ;)

After the first dance, and a bit of entertaining the kids…

It was time for a bit of tradition. As well as a bit of bouquet throwing, the boys also got a chance to practice their scrums as Kate offered up her garter!

We’re heading back to Langtry Lodge in October, although hopefully I won’t be taking many photos! We were so taken by Kate and Chris’ choice of venue that we’ve chosen to have our own wedding reception there. We can’t wait to go back!

Emma - BB

Posted with thanks and congratulations to Mr & Mrs Southern

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