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+ Advice and Information, Bride, Family

5 Reasons to choose a premium folio box?

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Our premium folio box is just stunning.  Don’t believe us?  Read on to find out why we think they are so special.

Now, we know, it’s a tough decision when you’re choosing your photographer to determine whether you would like just digital images, a wedding or family album produced or if you would prefer to go for an alternative album product that is a little different but equally beautiful.

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Less waiting time

Here at Radiance Photography we passionately believe in providing you with a product you will use.  Around the UK thousands of wedding albums are purchased each year.  Many albums are received long after your wedding excitement has died down.  An album can take as long as six weeks to arrive from the printer after it has been designed and approved.  So that’s up to 8 weeks for your photos to be delivered in peak wedding season and then up to a further 6 weeks for your album after you have approved it.  Folio boxes are available for you to collect on the day of your image viewing.

You choose how to display your images

When you finally receive your album you look through it, possibly take it to your grans, then put it on a book shelf or somewhere safe and only occasionally look at it again.  With a folio box, your images are individually mounted so all you need to do is choose how to display them.  Would you love a picture shelf where you can take several images from your box and display them?  Or, would you frame your images and hang them in a prominent place which will make you smile on a daily basis?  Don’t forget, you can change the images you’ve chosen to display as often as you like to suit your mood or décor.  You could also choose to keep them safely stashed away in their luxury box.

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Image selection is your choice

Often in album design your photographer will choose for you, giving little choice in which images you’d like to include.  With a folio box the choice of images is yours.  We will guide you by choosing and printing a selection of the very best images from the day for you.  Don’t worry if your favourite image has not been selected.  This is easily resolved within a few days and you can still take the rest of your images home.

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Personalise additional boxes with different images

When you purchase additional albums for parents they tend to be exact replicas of your own album, albeit smaller.  Ordering additional folio boxes with us allows you to select the images you want to include.  This means you can personalise each box with specific family members in mind.  The ultimate win when it comes to keeping your family happy.

Save room for next time

You do not need to fill you folio box initially.  Instead you could choose to include images from your engagement shoot to fill your box.  Alternatively, you could leave space for future images.  This might be particularly good if you’re planning a christening or other family event. We’re happy to assist you with this, just book and pay for your next shoot and then select the images you’d like.

Add your premium folio box to you Gift List

Would you love a premium folio box but just can’t afford it?  How about adding your box to your wedding gift list?  You choose between adding it as a single item or breaking it down into smaller amounts.  All you would need to do would be to pay the balance if the full cost of your box wasn’t covered.

The best way to help you decide if a premium folio box is for you is to ask to see one at your consultation.  Too feel the weight and solid build of your luxury folio box.  For information on how your box can be customised to your requirements see our post; Introducing our Luxury Folio Box

 

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+ Advice and Information, Bride, Family

Introducing our Luxury Folio Box

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We’re so excited to introduce you to our beautiful, luxury folio box.

So, what’s a luxury folio box?

I hear you ask.  Well put simply it’s a box to keep all of your prints in but it’s not just any old box.  Our luxury folio boxes have been hand selected by us as the best available and will contain carefully selected images you will treasure for years to come.  The premium metallic pewter faux leather of your soft touch luxury folio box comes complete with silver foiled branding and is simply stunning.

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Family Heirloom

Designed as a family heirloom you can treasure forever, each box comes complete with up to twenty or thirty images which are  mounted individually.  Each mount is a 14 x 11 inch heavyweight, bevel cut mat which is made from professional archival board.  This conforms to the Fine Art Trade Guild requirements for Conservation (level 2).  Each board is specially prepared to have the right chemical balance to ensure that your prints last a lifetime.

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Your images (10 x 8 inches) are UK printed on fine art paper from the finest quality printing available.

Online Gallery

We know digital images are important to you so each of our premium folio boxes also comes complete with your individually hand-processed, high resolution digital files in an online gallery where you can like, comment and share the images to your hearts content.

Pre-Order

When you pre-order a folio box as part of your booking you will get the opportunity to customise it.  For an additional fee, you can choose a black, soft grey, metallic champagne or even a wooden box.  You can choose to personalise the front of your box with your name and date of your wedding.   Inside, the colour of the mounts can be customised with black, white or cream mounts or a mixture.

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Click here to find out why we believe a premium folio box is better than an album.

 

 

 

 

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+ Advice and Information

Getting married in the Lake District

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So, you’re getting married in the Lake District. That’s fantastic!  I mean, who wouldn’t want to get married in some of the most breath taking scenery England has to offer? We’ve compiled some useful information to help you with planning your dream day.  But, before we get down to it, there are a couple of things you need to do first.  At this moment I have an image of the Croods and the monkey playing ‘da da dah’ in my head.  That said you really have nothing to worry about!

First things first

It’s very important before you even go about setting a date to decide on rough numbers you would like to invite and set that all important budget.  I’d love to tell you that money is no object and in my dreams it wouldn’t be.  However, this is ultimately what impacts on your dreams and decisions.  We definitely found a spreadsheet to be the best way to go about this.  We are happy to share ours – let us know in the comments if this is something you’d like.  It might be a good idea to work out how much you are prepared to spend per head on catering and drinks.  Many of the Lake District wedding venues offer a ‘price per guest’ package which includes room hire if you invite over a certain number of guests.

Religious Ceremonies

Now you’ve set your numbers and decided how much money you will spend it’s time to go venue shopping.  So it comes down to that all important decision – a religious ceremony or a civil ceremony.

For a Church ceremony, you need to live locally to the church, have lived in the parish at any time for at least 6 months or have been baptised or confirmed within the parish.  Many churches will also consider you if you have regularly attended normal church services for at least 6 months.  You may be entitled to marry in the church if  one of your parents have lived in the parish for 6 months at any time after you were born or have regularly attended normal church services for at least 6 months.  Any finally, if one of your parents or grandparents were married in the parish that will enable you to marry there.

Now that seems like a lot right?  Any maybe you don’t fit into any of those criteria.  Don’t lose hope.  Make sure you contact the church you are interested in marrying in as each church will have their own criteria. For further information please check out Your Church Wedding.

 

If you are followers of a different faith, or would like a Humanist ceremony you will also need to have a civil ceremony so that your marriage is legally recognised in the UK.

A church ceremony means you do not need to hold your reception in a venue with a wedding licence.  You will have much more choice in where you hold your reception better suiting your style and budget.

Civil Ceremonies

Civil ceremonies can be carried out either at the Registry Office or in licenced premises.  In Cumbria, registry offices can be found in Carlisle, Penrith, Wigton, Whitehaven, Barrow-in-Furness and Kendal.  All of these towns are situated just outside of the Lake District National Park  More information can be found here.

If you would like to get married at licenced premises within the Lake District and Cumbria there is a careful juggling act to be done in the booking stage.  You need both the registrar and the venue to be available at the required date and time.  It could be easy to lose your deposit on the venue if the registrar is unavailable for your chosen dates and the venue cannot accommodate alternative dates.  Venues will be able to tell you which registry office you need to contact.

Wedding Venues

When you’re getting married in the Lake District there are lots of venues to choose from including castles, country houses and barns.  You can find an up to date list of all licenced venues in the Lake District and Cumbria here.  Unlike in Scotland where you can choose your location for an outdoor wedding, English law means that you must be married under a licenced permanent structure such as a gazebo.  Fortunately, more and more venues are offering this as an outdoor ceremony option. 

When choosing your Lake District wedding venue make sure there is plenty of accommodation nearby for your guests.  Advise your guests to book rooms early as it does get very busy in between May and September with walkers, adventurers, thrill seekers and those here to admire the view.  Many venues have weddings booked two to three years in advance.  You have been warned!

Phew, there was a lot of information there.  You’ve booked your registrar or church and confirmed your venue so you’ve got the basics out the way.  You can now get on with the more exciting decisions, such as dress, colour scheme and how many flower girls.  Join us in our next post where we discuss the pros and cons of booking local suppliers versus suppliers close to home.

 

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+ Advice and Information, Featured, Inspiration, Slider

Autumn Wedding Inspiration Details

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The final part of our three part Autumn Inspiration series looks at details you could use to complete either our 1920’s or country bohemian looks.

Beautiful details

From stunning candlesticks in shades of bronze to the warm glow of candle light. These colours are the epitome of Autumn and signify the changing of the season. Decanters and cut glass add elegance along with the beautiful calligraphy done by hand. Burgandy hand made papers give a rustic homemade feel whilst continuing with the autumnal colour scheme and everything is tied together beautifully with the orange pop of colour in the grooms button hole and in the bridal bouquet with wheat and sprays of yellow combined with oranges and reds.

Love what you’ve read here. Why not check out the 1920’s styling of our first look in Part 1 or get some bohemian inspiration from our second look in Part 2 to match the beautiful details shown here.

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+ Advice and Information

One Dress, Two Looks: Autumn Wedding Inspiration Part 2

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As we discussed in part one of our Autumn Inspiration piece, one of the most exciting things about bridal inspiration shoots is that you can take the same dress and combine it with different accessories to make totally different looks. That’s exactly what we’ve done here using Autumn as our inspiration and one lace wedding dress. Read on to find out about our second look.

Autumnal Boho
The wide lace sleeves of our dress lend themselves to a bohemian look. A crown celebrating the colours of autumn leaves and a checked scarf to keep the autumn chill out. Match this with a tweed checked jacket and tan boots for the groom for a country inspired look.

Love what you’ve read here. Why not check out the 1920’s styling of our first look in Part 1 or get some detail inspiration to match either of these looks in Part 3.

+ Advice and Information

One Dress, Two Looks: Autumn Wedding Inspiration Part 1

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One of the most exciting things about bridal inspiration shoots in Cumbria is that you can take the same dress and combine it with different accessories to make totally different looks. That’s exactly what we’ve done here using Autumn as our inspiration and one lace wedding dress. Read on for part 1 of our 3 part series.

Simple and Elegant
Using long beads gives this look a 1920’s feel when combined with the simple, elegant silhouette of our dress. Add bright flowers and compliment with the grooms navy suit for the perfect finishing touch.

Want to see our bohemian inspired look read on to Part 2. No inspiration shoot would be complete without a look at some of the details which could be used to complete either of these two looks. Check the details out in Part 3.

+ Blea Tarn, Lake District, Cumbria

+ Advice and Information, Engagement

Engagement Photoshoot Competition

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It’s competition time here at Radiance Photography.  We’d like to help a newly engaged couple celebrate their engagement by offering the chance to win an engagement photoshoot.

To enter please visit our Facebook page here where you can find all the details for entering.  Terms and Conditions are below.

Continue reading “Engagement Photoshoot Competition” →

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+ Engagement, Featured, Slider

Lake District Engagement Shoot, Windermere

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Sometimes it’s the simple things in life that mean the most and todays Lake District engagement shoot, based in Ambleside and on the shores of beautiful Lake Windermere is simple, beautiful and captures the couples laidback personalities perfectly.

As part of our wedding planning meetings we like to get to know you both. What do you like, what do you both do for fun? Why have you chosen a Lake District Engagement photoshoot? We try to build these into your engagement session so for example if you love walking in the park, fab let’s base our shoot in your favourite park. Obviously, based in the Lake District we have to get those fells in the shot too! After all they’re the reason you choose the Lake District as your engagement shoot location.

Lucy and James

Alternatively, if he proposed over fish and chips by lake Windermere, lets recreate the romance!

And of course we’ve got to include the ring shots!

So there you have it beautiful photos set in the heart of the English Lake District. No inspiration blog would be complete without giving you details of the creatives involved:

Photography – Radiance Photography
HAMU – Hair and Make-up by Saskia
Jewellery – The London Victoria Ring Co
Direction – The Alternatives

If you love this photo-shoot inspiration be sure to check out our autumn engagement inspiration.

+ Derwent Water, Keswick, Lake District

Relaxed wedding inspiration

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Now you’ve already met Mary and Michael from their earlier engagement shoot post (which you can check out here) so it’s time to share a little of their relaxed wedding inspiration at the Skiddaw Hotel, Keswick, Cumbria.

As a couple who love the outdoors and especially visiting the Lake District, Keswick was the obvious choice for their destination wedding.  Their dream was to take their guests on a cruise of the beautiful lake Derwent right in the heart of the beautiful English Lake District.  The sun was shining, the saxophonist, Paul Palmer, played and the Princess Margaret Rose from the Keswick Launch Company carried everyone across the lake.

Mary and Michael

Saxophonist, Paul Palmer, who was a surprise for Mary, organised and kept secret by Michael, played during their ceremony and their Lake Cruise.

Mary chose a colour scheme of navy and blush pink and as they travelled to the Lake District for their wedding, silk flowers were chosen for the bouquet and table top arrangement.  Their stationery was mounted on ordinance survey maps and tables were named after Lakeland Fells further adding to the theme of the day.

 

+ Groom preparation in the Bar of Merewood House Hotel, Lake District, Cumbria

+ Featured, Groom, Inspiration, Slider

Grooms Prep

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One often overlooked area of a wedding is that of the groom and his preparations on the day.  A few years ago very little thought was put into the grooms attire, as long as the colours co-ordinated with the bridal party everything was fine and images largely focused on the bride.  Fast forward a couple of years and grooms are putting much more importance on the wedding being their day too and using this to express their individuality and personality.  More time is now being taken documenting the grooms preparation from getting dressed, checking that his tie is straight, waistcoat fastened, and watch is on to those precious / hilarious moments when he is helped with his button hole.  Here are a just a selection of images grooms portraiture.  Enjoy.

Details:

Photography: Radiance Photography
Venue: Merewood Hotel
Wedding Hangers: Akito Avalanche
Clothes: Models own

+ Bridal preparation at Merewood House Hotel, Lake District, Cumbria

+ Bride, Featured, Inspiration, Slider

Getting Ready Inspiration at the Merewood Hotel

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Our inspiration today is getting ready inspiration at the Merewood Hotel, a fantastic venue in the heart of the Lake District.   This part of the day carries so much emotion, nerves, tears of happiness and joy, pride and anticipation.  It gives you an opportunity to record and celebrate all the details, time and effort you have put into preparing for this day.  Our inspiration today comes from the bridal preparation, although don’t forget to check out our Groom prep images too.

Details:

Photographer: Radiance Photography
Venue: Merewood Hotel
Hair and Make up: Saskia
Dress: ASOS
Jewellery: The London Victoria Ring Co
Flowers: All Bunched Up
Styling: The Alternatives Workshop

Click Grooms Prep for male portrait inspiration.

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+ Advice and Information, Featured, Slider

5 Ways to Choose Your Wedding Colours

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Recently, we had our logo for Radiance Photography redesigned by the fabulous Jili Allen (and very pleased we are too) however I came across a problem that made me think back to our own wedding and I’d like to share it with you.

Maybe you feel the same or have the same difficulties as me and that is… colour.

I know what you’re thinking. How hard can it be to choose a colour scheme for your wedding? Well, in my case, very. I’m like a kid in a sweetshop when it comes to colour. All those sumptuous shades, endless combinations and well, just too much choice!

Now bear with me, I’m making a big assumption here, I’m guessing that you’ve come to this post because, like me, you’ve lost countless hours of planning time and sleep worrying about your wedding colour scheme. I mean, it affects everything and without my colours I was unable to move forward. I couldn’t order my bridesmaid dresses, flowers, finalise stationery, the list goes on and the stress was huge. I wanted my wedding to be stylish and perfect. I’m sure you can attest to that too.

So, I thought I’d share five methods I used to cut through colour inspiration overload:

  1. Consider you venue – are there any colours that would look awful in your chosen venue? Now this might not seem very helpful, but think of it this way, by eliminating colours you are narrowing down the ones you can choose from whilst ensuring your scheme will look great in your venue.
  2. Your bridesmaids – no doubt they are all different (but beautiful) shapes and sizes and likewise they will all have different skin tones and hair colours. Questions to ask yourself might be:
    • Are there any colours that would make your besties look hideous? (Trust me, no girl wants to wear a colour that doesn’t suit them, even if she smiles sweetly and tells you it’s your special day. Secondly, are they getting married after you? Revenge is sweet or so they say!)
    • Are there any colours/tones that would look great on all your bridesmaids?
  3. Your florist – mine nearly fell off her chair when I showed her my final colour selection. It turned out that the deep berry shade I fell in love with was really difficult to source, with most of the best blooms being out of season for our autumn wedding. Your florist will be able to give you a good idea of what is available around the time of your wedding.
  4. Pinterest – now this might not seem an obvious choice when you’re suffering from inspiration overload but stick with me… Set up a board specifically for colour inspiration then pin lots of images with colours you absolutely love. Over time you should see your colour preferences becoming obvious and voila! Colour scheme selected.
  5. Adobe Colour CC – Now my final choice might seem a bit off the wall but the more scientific and technological amongst you might find this colour wheel tool fun to play with. For those of you whom colour wheels bring back nightmares of secondary school art, it might be useful to browse through other’s ideas to find inspiration of your own.

So, there you have it. My five recommendations. I’m sure you have plenty more. I’d be really interested to hear about your colour difficulties and how you overcame them. Just let me know in the comments below.

Radiance Photography is a member of the Wedding Suppliers Group

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