Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan: Blog

The Wedding of Alan and Irene, Bedwelty House, Abergavenny

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Wed, 19 Jul 2023 10:49:32 GMT

Weddings

Bedwelty House

With Irene and Alan

Tell us how you first met. Who what when where why? Give us all the dirty details.:

We met online, the first date was at Wells Cathedral in 2017. A Stunning Cathedral, I had a stunning smile from the lady!!!

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Tell us about your first date.:

I drove from home all the way to Somerset to meet her.

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When did you know he/she was the one? Was there something he/she did?

Fabulous winning smile. Just kept on dating each other. She was still there after I had been in Australia for a month, and after I did a round-the-world jaunt a year later. That says it all!

How did your partner propose?

Had a silly moment one morning and proposed over breakfast.

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Tell us the one thing you love most about each other

Irene is a fabulous cook...wow!! She seems to like my stubbornness.

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If you feel comfortable, share with us something silly or quirky the other person does

Irene looks fabulous in her traditional Nigerian outfits

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What’s your favourite trend for weddings right now?

A personal small group of family and friends. Nothing complicated!

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Tell us about your wedding

Irene's smile; the chaos getting ready, thankfully it was the only fine day in March!

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What inspired your décor or theme?

Multi-national! Welsh, English, Nigerian, Philippines, Thailand, and Germany were all represented at the ceremony. Fabulous!

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Suppliers:

Venue: Church on the Rise, Beaufort
Reception: Bedwellty House Tredegar.
Photos: Morgan James Media

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What’s one thing you wish you would have known earlier in regard to planning?

Got the make-up help to have got here earlier.

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Besides getting married - what’s the one thing you are looking forward to on your wedding day?:

Getting the speeches over with.

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Finally:

We met Peter at a friend's wedding, he did a super job. I had no hesitation in chasing him down.

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The Wedding of Nia and Andrew at Ocean View, Swansea

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Wed, 31 Aug 2022 10:00:00 GMT

Weddings

Ocean View

with Nia and Andrew

11th June 2022

Tell us how you first met. Who what when where why? Give us all the dirty details.

We first met when I (Nia) was working as a waitress in the Greyhound, Andrew would come in nearly every night with one of his friends Josh, usually at 8:55 pm when the last orders were at 9 pm! I always knew if there was an order for Greyhound chicken and a lasagne to table 13 it was them two! I think Andrew messaged me on Facebook in October/November time of 2013, I had a boyfriend at the time and told him I wasn't interested. He kept trying a few times and would try and talk to me when I was working but I didn't want to know. Between Christmas and New Year's Eve, my then boyfriend and I split up and for some unknown reason, I messaged Andrew to let him know... I remember I worked one Saturday night and Andrew was there, as I was leaving and walked outside, Andrew was chatting to another girl and I remember feeling so jealous and angry and I was questioning myself as to why I felt like this because we weren't together or anything going on! One of Andrew's other friends then started messaging me when I became single, again telling him I wasn't interested in anything, but we all became friends. This friend could drive so we used to go out most Friday and Saturday nights and we'd always end up in the King Arthur. This is when I really got to know Andrew and started to like him. One specific night, we went to the King Arthur Pub and one of Andrew's best men, Llew was there I remember speaking to him and asking who I was better suited to. Andrew or this friend and he said, Andrew! I think it was that night we shared our first kiss, round the side of the pub where no one could see us and it was the type of kiss where there'd been so much tension, we literally grabbed each other... just like the movies!! We didn't want people to see us as we didn't want to upset the other friend. However, he then cottoned on that Andrew and I were getting on very well and the nights out stopped! From then on I didn't see much of Andrew because neither of us could drive however he could drive a tractor so it was then tractor dates!!

Tell us about your first date.

Our first date was not romantic at all... one Saturday morning he picked me up at 8:30 am (I was told he'd pick me up at 8 am but was late!) and we delivered bales to Richie in Pennard. It was lunchtime by the time we were on the way back so he bought us lunch which was a pasty, diet coke and we shared a kit kat chunky! From then, he realised I was a cheap date and I realised he was rubbish at being on time... and 8 years later, things haven't changed haha!! I don't think either of us called it a date initially, it was just a spin in the tractor for me and company for him. However, we do now call that our first date and we wouldn't change it.

When did you know they were the one? Was there something he/she did?

We were very young getting together, 16 & 18. We had a few break ups over the years, we did a lot of growing both as a couple and individually. So for me, it definitely wasn't a case of Andrew being the one from day 1. Our last break up we split for 4 months and had no contact, it was a very mutual break up, we just weren't on the same paths in our lives and were on different chapters. We ended up talking again because we both went to the same party at the sports club, but we were both under the impression the other wasn't going to be there and we both said, if we knew one another would be there we wouldn't have gone! He was there most of the night, I walked in later on in the night and just died inside. I did not want to see him... however, I went outside and he followed me, we spoke about things and started texting again. He definitely grew up in those months apart and I think it was from then, we realised this was forever.

How did your partner propose?

This is a bit of a sunny story. So we went away with our dog for a little summer break and this one particular night we'd booked a table at our favourite restaurant in Narbeth. It wasa boiling hot day so I said to Andrew we'd go for food and then go for a walk later on in the evening and take the dog out then. Andrew said he wanted to take the dog out first and then go for food but I said no, it's too hot. So we went for food, got back, changed and took the dog to the beach. Andrew had his hands in his pockets the whole time which isn't like him because he always holds my hand. I thought he was in a foul mood and asked him with a bit of an attitude 'what's wrong because you've been silent since we got here?' and he replied with 'nothing, I'm fine'. We'd walked so far and it started to get dark o I said we'll turn round, as we turned round I didn't realise Andrew wasn't next to me and then he said 'Nia, turn round' so as I did he was one one knee with the ring in his hand and said 'Nia, will you marry me?' and I think my first words were 'are you serious?' but it was then of course a yes! So we hugged, I had tears and Andrew was white! His initial plan was to take the dog for a walk, propose and then food out would be our celebratory meal but that didn't go to plan and he nearly proposed to me in the car park, again to celebrate with a meal but he probably knew if he did that I'd have said no... in a carpark!! After getting engaged, I rang my mum and he said 'she already knows' because Andrew had asked my mum if it was the right time and if she was happy for him to ask me to marry him.

Tell us the one thing you love most about each other.

There isn't one thing in particular I love about Andrew, but the two things that stick out for me are how caring he is and how much he works to provide for us. Whenever I'm upset or we've had a small argument he will always se if I'm okay and always apologise if he shouted. With his work, Andrew says he never had much as a child so wants to give his children everything they can and never feel like they miss out as well as providing for me. I don't think there are many men out there these days that want to work like that and I'm forever grateful. He always makes a joke when the money comes in 'that's paid for your clothes' or 'that's paid for all the things you have planned this year'.
Andrew said he doesn't love one thing about me, he loves everything about me!

If you feel comfortable, share with us something silly or quirky the other person does.

Andrew, since the day we started to texting has always given me about 7 kisses on a text. I give 1, or 2 but without fail, he'll give that many. Another thing he does, when he gets in late from work and I'm still awake, he'll have a shower and he always listens to music in the shower. After his shower he does what I call the naked dance. He'll get out the shower, still with the music on and do a little dance for about a minute. Every single time.

Andrew says I do a pig laugh... when I laugh I sound like a pig. Not sure that's accurate but we'll go with it! I'm sure I don't snort anyway...

What’s your favorite trend for weddings right now?

I don't specifically have a favourite trend, I do like all different trends and I think the trend that someone chooses is unique to them. I think it also depends on the venue people choose.

Tell us about your wedding?

Our day was just perfect! I loved every second of it, but my favourite was the church. The service was beautiful. Leading up the wedding neither of us were nervous, even on the morning we weren't nervous. My mum rang Andrew on the morning and asked him how he was feeling and he said 'fine, I'm down the farm feeding the cows'. He said he was more nervous in the church and then when he knew I was outside he was very nervous! I became nervous on the way to the church and eve more so outside the doors waiting to go in. I said to my mum and dad 'I can't do this' and my dad said 'too late, were going in' and mum said 'yes you can'. The minute I got to the alter I was fine. We had some giggles with the vicar, Andrew's ring didn't fit him and wouldn't go on and we both felt really at ease. Andrew doesn't have a favourite part but I think it was leaving the church in the tractors and then going for our photos as he got to drive the tractor. The speeches were brilliant too, my grampie pulled on everyone's heart strings and Andrew did really well. He hates speaking in front of people and only wrote his speech on the Monday before the wedding with my mum and didn't practice. The whole day was perfect and I'd love to do it all again!

What inspired your décor or theme?

For us, it was always going to be the country / farmer vibe with Andrew being a farmer. Neither of us are glitzy glam people so never wanted anything in your face. I'd say our décor was quite elegant, simple, not too much but just the right amount of everything. The only thing I googled for ideas was flowers as I had no idea what I wanted, I just knew I didn't want roses as I feel everyone has them. In the end we had yellow fresias and I didn't know that when I chose them, my grandparents also had yellow fresias in their wedding. I never wanted fancy wedding cars either, so Andrew had the tractors, bridesmaids went in a Range Rover and I went in my dads friends car which was a Jaguar.

Suppliers
Suits - Dyfed Menswear

Bride's dress and Veil - Samantha K's

Andrew's ring and Nia's jewellery - H.Samuel

Nia's ring - Clogau Gold

Bridesmaids dresses - Asos

Wedding favours - logs supplied by Nia's grandfather Peter, and then made into tea light holders by Nia's father, Andrew and then decorated by Nia and her mother, Carol-Ann

Cakes - made by Andrew's mother Roslyn

Welsh cakes on arrival - made by Nia's grandfather Ron

Florist - Nia's aunty Gwyneth

Videographer - Skillzkid films

Photography - Morgan James Photography

Venue - Ocean View

Church - Llanrhidian Church

Hair - Sarah Brain

Makeup - Chanel Joseph & Chloe Thomas from the Empire

Tractors - Paviland Farm

Cars - Andrews uncle & Nia's dad's friend

What’s one thing you wish you would have known earlier in regard to planning?

Probably the catering in the evening. Although I catered for less than the actual numbers, I wish I'd gone lower again as we had so much left over food!

Besides getting married - what’s the one thing you are looking forward to on your wedding day?

The party!! We both love a good party. I just love to dance and that's definitely what I did all night. I was also so excited to wear my dress and people see it, especially as my dress was everything I said I didn't want but everything I did want just looked awful on me! I also couldn't wait to see Andrew in his suit and meet him at the altar.
For Andrew, he said he was looking forward to me walking down the aisle and seeing me.

Finally

We had an engagement shoot with Peter, and Andrew hates having his photo taken so really wasn't looking forward to it. After the shoot, we got back in the truck and Andrew said 'book him, he's class'. Peter made us feel really chilled and made us laugh the whole time during the engagement shoot and we knew that's the type of person we needed on our wedding day, especially with all of our friends and families having photos too! So we booked. Our engagement photos were beautiful and our wedding photos were amazing, we absolutely love them.

The Wedding of Daniel and Sarah at St. Tewdricks House, chepstow

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Wed, 10 Aug 2022 10:00:00 GMT

Weddings

St. Tewdricks, Chepstow

with Daniel and Sarah

5th August 2022

Tell us how you first met. Who what when where why? Give us all the dirty details.
We both studied Journalism, Film and Media at Cardiff University and knew each other throughout the whole time, however, didn't actually get to know each other until the end of our third and final year. Over the last few weeks of term, we bonded over our mutual love of Radiohead and films, most particularly Matilda. It was there in a beer garden we were endlessly quoting the film to one another; something that has remained in our relationship to this day. On a night out in Cardiff's Live Lounge, it was where we first found out that we both liked each other and that was where our relationship first blossomed.

Tell us about your first date.
Our first date conveniently happened to be on the day after we found out that we liked each other. We were originally planning to go and see The Subways in The Globe in Cardiff as friends, but coincidently it happened to be our first date. It was quite possibly the hottest gig that we have both ever been to but it was great. As a result, we had their song "Rock and Roll Queen" be the first song we walk back out to as husband and wife.

When did you know they were the one? Was there something he/she did?
It was pretty early on particularly when most of our conversations were made up of film and TV quotes. Sarah was told early on that Dan was a male version of her, so it was pretty obvious the two of us were meant to be together.

How did your partner propose?
On our 10th anniversary, Dan covered our staircase in photographs of us from over the last decade. On the back of each photograph was a handwritten message. They were funny, sweet and the very last message said "there's only one thing left to ask." I opened the bedroom door and the room was filled with candles. Dan was on one knee with the ring and asked me to marry him. I burst into tears and couldn't have been happier!

Tell us the one thing you love most about each other.
Sarah: "I love how caring Dan is. He is always there for me and makes me happy every day."
Dan: "She never takes herself too seriously and is somebody who will always make me laugh no matter what."

If you feel comfortable, share with us something silly or quirky the other person does.
Dan has an amazing general knowledge and memory. While this is a great skill, it also means he is incredibly competitive and hard to beat in any game! Sarah likes to leave multiple glasses of water in various states of emptiness around the house, resulting in it looking like the house from the movie "Signs".

What’s your favorite trend for weddings right now?
Sarah loved the off the shoulder sleeves on her wedding dress which she had seen many brides wear recently. We also loved the fact that we were able to have an outdoor ceremony which we feel has become much more of a trend since 2020.

Tell us about your wedding?
Our wedding really was the day of our dreams. It was expertly captured by our fantastic photographers Peter and Vicky. Peter's enthusiasm and sense of humour meant that there were also lots of laughs throughout the day. Sarah and her bridesmaids had their hair and make up done in the morning at her parents' house by the amazing Shevaun and Rachelle. It was a lovely relaxed atmosphere and Sarah loved spending time with her girls. Once we got to St Tewdrics House, Carrie and the team were incredible. They were so organised, helpful and friendly. Our outdoor ceremony was beautiful, even though it was hotter than we anticipated! The rest of the day absolutely flew by but each moment was incredible from the confetti entrance as husband and wife to the delicious food from Epic Caterers. We cannot wait to see the rest of our photographs!

What inspired your décor or theme?
From our degree and mutual love of film, we wanted a few special movie touches like the clapper boards in our centrepieces and tables named after some of our favourite films. Sarah's favourite flowers are roses and so they were incorporated throughout. The Mother of the Bride Liz is incredibly talented at crafting and we couldn't have had such wonderful décor without her expertise. She created so many special pieces for us from our beautiful invitations to our table plan. Fortunately our venue was so beautiful, it didn't need much to make it look amazing!

Suppliers
Venue - St Tewdrics House
Band - The Sisterhood
Suits - Slaters
Wedding Dress - Do You Believe (Newport)
Flowers - Catherine Grey
Cake - Sharon Talbot
Centrepieces and Decorations - Liz Murphy (Mother of the Bride)

Photography - Morgan James Photography

What’s one thing you wish you would have known earlier in regards to planning?
You're never going to be able to take everything in on the day. Everyone always says how quickly the day goes but it really does. It was great not having my phone to be able to keep track of the time and just be able to enjoy everything

Besides getting married - what’s the one thing you are looking forward to on your wedding day?
It's having all of our loved ones together that will mean a lot to us. Everyone from all aspects and times in our lives being there will be particularly special.

Finally
Morgan James Photography was recommended to us by Dan's friend Greg. The free engagement shoot that we had with Peter last summer at Penarth Pier was a fantastic opportunity to get to know Peter who we instantly 'clicked' with (excuse the camera pun!) It was good practice as we had never had a professional photo shoot before and knew what to expect in terms of poses for the day. I would really recommend couples have an engagement shoot to help them feel more at ease on their wedding day. The photos we received from the engagement shoot were fantastic and we received so many compliments on them.

The Wedding of Tom and Rebecca at Oldwalls, Gower

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Sat, 18 Jun 2022 10:00:00 GMT

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Weddings

Oldwalls, Gower

with Tom and Rebecca

29th April 2022

Tell us how you first met? Who what when where why? Give us all the dirty details.
Our first meeting was at Becky's step mum's 50th birthday party, Tom was working behind the bar and Becky tried to steal a bottle of wine. and then we met properly a few years later through friends in a local pub, got talking and the rest is history!

Tell us about your first date?
We went clay pigeon shooting, Tom assured me it was a 20minute drive away..40minutes later we were still driving with no venue in sight! After we eventually found the place, Tom was mortified when Becky was a better shot than him, and still puts it down to nerves!

When did you know he/she was the one? Was there something he/she did?
Our first Christmas together we went on a trip to Latvia, had the most amazing time together and then knew we couldn't live without each other

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How did your partner propose?
Tom took me on a surprise trip to Santorini, which is somewhere I have always wanted to go. he arranged everything including booking my time off work and proposed to me on our second night there whilst we were in our private plunge pool overlooking the view of the island.

Tell us the one thing you love most about each other.
Tom loves everthing about Becky. Becky loves how Tom is always so kind and considerate to everyone he meets.

If you feel comfortable, share with us something silly or quirky the other person does.
Becky is obsessed with dogs and tells Tom she loves their pet dog more than him. Tom has OCD about everything in the house being in straight lines!

What’s your favorite trend for weddings right now?
the dried flower and pampas trend is lovely

Tell us about your wedding?
The best day of our lives, everything we could have hoped for and more. A fun filled day of sunshine, good company, good food and drinks and donkeys!

What inspired your décor or theme?
we wanted to keep things minimal and spend the extra money on food and drinks rather than decorations

Suppliers

Dress and Veil: Laura May Bridal / Enzoani

Suits: Dyfed Menswear

Cake: Get Caked!

Flowers: Eve Francesca Designs

Bridesmaid Dresses: Asos

Hair: Rachel Reynolds Hair

Makeup: Jessica Evans

Band: Coverland

Videographer: Page One Weddings

Church: St Peters Church, Newton

Venue: Oldwalls

Donkeys: Donkeys of Wales

What’s one thing you wish you would have known earlier in regards to planning?

you will panic buy things in the last 2 weeks!

Besides getting married - what’s the one thing you are looking forward to on your wedding day?
seeing all of our family and friends together enjoying themselves

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The Wedding of Charlotte and Dylan at Court Coleman

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Thu, 16 Jun 2022 15:00:00 GMT

Weddings

Court Coleman, Cardiff

with Charlotte and Dylan

1st October 2021

Tell us how you first met? Who what when where why? Give us all the dirty details.
We met in a club in Cardiff on a night out and instantly hit it off!

Tell us about your first date?
We went on our first date about a week later, Dylan came to meet me in town while I was with my entire family! Bless his heart I have never seen someone look so nervous, talk about throwing him in the deep end!

He took me to The Cosy Club for a meal and drinks and tried not to laugh when I ordered steak and eggs without the eggs LOL, we then went down to the bay for more drinks and then he paid for my taxi home like the true gent that he is!

When did you know he/she was the one? Was there something he/she did?
Dylan worked offshore when we met so any time together was valued greatly, he was away for weeks at a time but phoned me and messaged me every day! I knew he was the one! About 3 months in I was 3 months away from turning 21 and Dylan surprised me when he got home from being offshore with plane tickets to Malta and a week's stay in a 5* hotel for my 21st birthday. Nobody has ever treated me like such a princess!

How did your partner propose?
Dylan Introduced me to Ed Sheehan music early on in our relationship and we also bonded over a love of the TV show first dates. He will never admit to this but he loved it! Around my birthday 4 years into our relationship he surprised me again with tickets to an Ed Sheehan concert at Wembley with a meal booked beforehand in the first dates restaurant in London! It was here that as we were finishing our meal and moved over to the bar for a drink, he asked the manager to take a picture of us together. Little did I know that he had asked him to film as he got down on one knee with the most beautiful diamond I have ever seen in a box with a voucher to design the ring myself for the diamond to be placed in. It was the most beautiful moment and in such a public setting we got a round of applause and cheering from well-wishers, it was just beautiful! We then went to the Ed Sheehan concert and danced the night away!

Tell us the one thing you love most about each other.
Easy! Dylan is the most protective, handsome and loving man I have ever met! He looks after me and has definitely worked on the lovey-dovey side of things which he knows I love, there are just so many things I love about him to narrow it down to just one!

Dylan has always said that there is not just one thing, he has always loved who I am.

If you feel comfortable, share with us something silly or quirky the other person does.
We often laugh about the differences we have in our personalities, Dylan is very black and white whereas I see the grey areas in situations, it drives us both bonkers in certain conversations and disagreements however this often ends in us laughing at each other for being so awkward!

What’s your favourite trend for weddings right now?
We both love the trend of a rustic yet minimal feel.

Tell us about your wedding?
Our wedding was the most special day! After being postponed 4 times due to covid we finally got our magical fairytale. The day was beautiful from start to finish. From the madness of getting ready to finally see each other at the end of the aisle, words cannot describe that feeling of finally getting to the end of the aisle and committing ourselves to each other in front of family and friends. After a beautiful ceremony, we had a delicious meal and then had drinks and danced until the early hours of the morning. I would love to live that day all over again!

What inspired your décor or theme?
The minimal yet classy and elegant decor is what we went for.

Suppliers

Court Colman manor - venue

Timeless elegance - wedding dress

Moss Bros - grooms suit and best man suit

Christian Louboutin - bride shoes

Brogue Trader - groom and best man shoes

Diamonds of Wales - wedding rings

Minxies - hair and makeup

Morgan James Photography - photographers

Cakes by Kimberly - wedding cake

What’s one thing you wish you would have known earlier in regards to planning?
Not everything needs to be perfect!

Do not stress the little things as they really aren’t important, the day will be so special even if the little things are not right! Just enjoy!

Besides getting married - what’s the one thing you are looking forward to on your wedding day?
The one thing we both were looking forward to was the idea that this was almost like the first official day of the rest of our lives! The wedding was beautiful but it’s just a day whereas after the wedding you get to do life together and that really is the most beautiful feeling, knowing that your soulmates and can just do anything you want together!

The Wedding of Maya and Jesse at Cardiff Castle

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Sun, 12 Jun 2022 10:00:00 GMT

Weddings

Cardiff Castle

21st May 2022

Maya & Jesse Haddad

Tell us how you first met? Who what when where why? Give us all the dirty details.
We went to the same high school and had a class together. During class, I was always really bubbly and talkative which caught Jesse's attention. He messaged me online wanting to chat but I barely knew who he was at the time. He had a reputation in high school for being kind of an asshole but I decided I'd still give him a chance. After a bit of back and forth texting online, he asked if I'd hang out with him and "tutor" him in the subject we took together and I agreed. He was oddly very nice to me and after a few hangouts I ended up falling for him.

Tell us about your first date?

We went to a video game cafe in Chicago near the high school we attended. I actually didn't know it was a date, I thought we were hanging out as friends. We played a game I'd never played before (Starcraft II for the nerds who want to know) and I still almost beat him. And no he wasn't going easy on me (he insists to this day). While playing at one point I remember I was giggling and he turned to me and said "you are so cute" and it was at this moment that I realised it was a date. He took me for ice cream afterwards and paid, which confirmed my suspicions. He then took the bus with me to make sure I got home ok. I was biting my nails (in contemplation of this new development) and he told me to stop and held my hand in place. He kept his hand there for the rest of the bus ride.

When did you know he/she was the one? Was there something he/she did?

Hmm, neither Jesse nor I can think of a defining moment, to be honest. We kind of always knew, and there is proof of this! In my high school yearbook (which I still have) Jesse wrote in mine "Hi remember me? I'm the guy you live with". He wrote this like 6 months into our relationship, he was so sure that in the future when I'd look at it, we would still be together.

How did your partner propose?

After being together for 6 years, we had a vacation planned to go to Paris - our first trip together outside of the United States. Jesse had told me that he was going to book a photographer to take photos of us around Paris to commemorate the trip. Anyone who knows Jesse would know that this is suspicious behaviour. So I bought a really nice dress and brought it with me on the trip. During the photo shoot, while in front of the Eiffel Tower, Jesse got down on one knee and proposed. I kinda knew it was going to happen but was still taken aback when he did it (there are photos of this - obviously!). Afterwards, he took me to a Michelin star restaurant for a really romantic dinner.

Tell us the one thing you love most about each other.

I love the way Jesse makes me feel. He genuinely makes me a better person. He is the smartest person I know, he's kind and generous without wanting recognition. He would help anyone who needs it without a second thought. He always makes me feel good about myself and will do anything to make me happy.

Maya is incredibly intelligent and has an incredible planning and work ethic which is why we have such an amazing life together. I also love Maya's endless empathy; she can't help but be concerned for everyone whose path she crosses.

What’s your favourite trend for weddings right now?

I love the trend of blending vintage and modern styles. I think blending the two styles makes the wedding seem timeless and romantic.

Tell us about your wedding?

We got married at Cardiff Castle. Cardiff Castle was the very first castle I had ever visited when I moved to Wales in 2017, and I thought it was so gorgeous, so unlike any place, I had ever been. When I realised we could get married there I knew that was the venue I wanted.

Anyway, the day of the wedding was absolutely perfect. After having not 1, not 2, but 3 previous wedding dates cancelled before this one (due not only to COVID but also personal circumstances), I was convinced something would go wrong and the wedding wouldn't take place. The morning of the wedding I was so excited because I was honestly just so happy the wedding was actually happening. It was a small, intimate wedding with only our close family and friends, many of which had flown from the United States. After a week of nonstop rain, we had perfect weather on our wedding day. Everyone had an amazing time. And Jesse actually cried at the ceremony! That was a big deal, in 11 years of being together I had never once seen him cry, but he cried as I walked down the aisle. He told me after it was because he was so happy it was finally happening for us, that I looked beautiful, that the day was just perfect.

What inspired your décor or theme?

I wanted a princess-y Castle wedding with a mix of vintage and modern decor.

Suppliers

Dress supplier: Laura May Bridal

Dress designer: Stella York

Venue: Cardiff Castle

Florist: Dear Valentina

Photos: Morgan James Photography

Video: Tell Your Story

Cake: Centre Stage Cakes

Music: The Flash Pans (from Talking Bird Collective)

Grooms Suit: Ted Baker

Centrepieces: The Luxe Touch

Hair and makeup: Minxies

What’s one thing you wish you would have known earlier in regards to planning?

Nothing

Besides getting married - what’s the one thing you are looking forward to on your wedding day?

Already happened :)

Thank you so much for asking us to be part of your special day. We had a wonderful time photographing your wedding and captured the most amazing memories.

The wedding of Rhys and Emma at Gileston Manor, Vale of Glamorgan

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Sun, 05 Jun 2022 09:34:57 GMT

Emma and Rhys - Gileston Manor, The Vale of Glamorgan

Tell us how you first met? Who what when where why? Give us all the dirty details.

We met whilst at university (UWIC) in February 2009. Both out after watching Wales V England in the Six Nations and met through a mutual friend in Walkabout on the dance floor.

Tell us about your first date?

Being students didn’t do a first date (no money haha). We went to Emma’s Hall to watch a film.

When did you know he/she was the one? Was there something he/she did?

Emma said “love” first, maybe a year after becoming official and Rhys shortly after. We were quite young so didn’t start thinking about being ‘the one’ or getting married for a couple of years.

How did your partner propose?

With Emma being English and Rhys being Welsh, Rhys decided he wanted to incorporate both into the proposal. We went for a walk and climbed the Eagles Nest (near Chepstow) and when at the top, standing in Wales looking out over England Rhys proposed - just shy of our 10 year anniversary.

Tell us the one thing you love most about each other.

Rhys loves Emma’s little giggle. Emma loves Rhys’ cuddles.

If you feel comfortable, share with us something silly or quirky the other person does.

Rhys’ dancing

What’s your favourite trend for weddings right now?

Rustic weddings and pastel colours.

Tell us about your wedding?

Gileston Manor 17th July 2021 on what seemed like the hottest day of the year. No nerves just looking forward to doing it due to cancellations. Rhys got ready with his groomsmen and Emma and the bridal party got ready - all on-site at Gileston Manor. Limited guests but everyone we wanted there. Subtle tennis theme throughout the day as it’s such a big part of our lives. Mini Golf and Tennis to keep guests busy. Rhys dad and one of the guests sang outside (as requested but didn’t think was going to happen due to Covid) and all guests joined in which was a lovely memory.

What inspired your décor or theme?

Rustic theme with subtle tennis elements. Baby blue and peach colours.

Suppliers:

Venue - Gileston Manor
Church - St. Giles
Caterers - Strawberry Shortcake Dining
Hair and Make-up - Minxies
Flowers - Dancing Daffodil
Cake - Devoli’s
DJ - SGDJ
Dress - Castle Bridal
Suits - Dyfed Menswear
Mini Golf & Rustic Cart etc - South Wales Party Booths
Favours - Craft Bunneys

What’s one thing you wish you would have known earlier in regards to planning?

Don’t go extravagant as your guests will just love being there and memories are made with the people there, not the expensive extras. Enjoy every minute and take it all in.

Besides getting married - what’s the one thing you are looking forward to on your wedding day?

Celebrating with family and friends.

Brides: your essential checklist for planning your wedding

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Wed, 02 Mar 2022 13:00:00 GMT

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Brides: your essential checklist for planning your

wedding - and keeping stress at bay!

We’ve all seen the toll the stress of planning a wedding can take on brides and grooms.

The last thing you want is to be frazzled on the best day of your life!

So, make things easy on yourself and get organised.

Here’s our six-step process to getting through the planning without tearing your hair out.

STEP 1

Between 15 and 9 months before the wedding:

Start your wedding folder. Look through magazines to get some inspiration and decide what you’d like. Decide on the theme and colours.
Start the guest list. This will give you a good idea of who you need to invite, who’s going to the ceremony and reception, and who’s going only to the evening celebrations.
Work out your budget. Now you have an idea of numbers, you’ll also be able to work out how much you have in the pot to spend per head.
Reserve your venue on your wedding date. Venues book up quickly, so get moving on this one!
Start looking for a dress. Make time for around three fittings minimum. A lot of dresses have to be altered and sent away for adjustments etc.
Decide if you need to hire a wedding planner to help you. If you’re having a large wedding, they will be invaluable to you.
Research photographers, florists, and caterers. Start the process of interviewing them. The best ones book up way in advance so keep that in mind. you may need to pay the deposit straight away and lots give a discount if you pay upfront.
Who will be marrying you? It’s time to book the vicar, priest, or celebrant.

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STEP 2

Seven to five months before

Book the videographer to ensure they have the date open.
Book the band or DJ – go to some gigs to check them out and get recommendations from friends and relatives.
Meet the caterers. Taste their food and decide on the best fit for your wedding.
If you're having relatives come to stay? Now’s the time to block book accommodation for your guests or warn them to book their own. Give them different price options in different hotels.
Register your wedding list at the shop of your choice.
Buy your invitations and send out notices to save the date.
Plan your honeymoon and ensure your passports are valid and injections up to date.
Shop for bridesmaid’s dresses and outfits for the groom, best man and ushers.
Meet the celebrant and talk through the ceremony.
Book the florist and wedding cars – they can be booked up well in advance.
Draw up a timeline of your big day.

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STEP 3

Four months before

Send out the wedding invitations.
Order the cake.
Start the fittings for your dress.
Organise hair and make-up for the big day.
Choose your music.
Finalise the menu with the caterer and the flowers with the florist.
Finalise the order of the ceremony and reception.
Buy the wedding rings.

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STEP 4

Between one and two months before

Meet the photographer and videographer and go through the shots and locations you’d like.
Talk to the band or DJ about their playlist and make any requests now.
Ensure everyone has RSVP’d their invitations and adjust the guest list if necessary. Phone those who haven’t responded.
Ensure you have organised the marriage licence.
Have your last dress fitting.
Make sure you’ve confirmed the hairdresser and make-up artist, caterer, florist, photographer, and wedding cars. Make this a final check to give you some peace of mind.
Draw up the seating plan. This can take some time!
Write your vows.

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STEP 5

Wedding week

Dole out wedding day tasks such as looking after young flower girls and page boys and caring for wedding gifts.
Pick up your dress.
Have one last chat with your photographer.
Send the final guest list to the caterer and venues.
Pack for your honeymoon.

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STEP 6

The big day

The most important part of this checklist: Enjoy it! You’ve worked hard to get here.

Are you looking for a wedding photographer in South Wales?

I’ll help you take the stress out of your big day!

Call me on 07999 996473 or in the office on 02921 175 977.

Cardiff, Bristol, Newport, Vale of Glamorgan based Wedding Photography

Discover the secrets of looking fabulous in your wedding photographs

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Fri, 11 Feb 2022 12:00:00 GMT

Discover the secrets to looking

fabulous

in your wedding photographs

Want to look wonderful in your wedding pictures?

Read our top tips for helping you to look and feel fabulous

Get to know your photographer

It’s all about trust! Having an engagement session and meetings with your photographer before your wedding day will help you build that trust.

We offer a free engagement shoot to ALL potential clients whether they are ultimately book us or not. It's because we want to give you the best experience from start to finish.

You need to find a photographer who is on your wavelength, understands what you want from your pictures, and makes you feel comfortable.

This will enable you to look natural and be yourself in front of the camera.

A good wedding photographer will make you forget the camera is there and put you at ease.

They will talk to you and get the best out of you.

Don’t forget, this is all about you!

Wedding photographers want to give you images you’ll love, so they will go the extra mile to help you feel at ease.

We provide a slideshow on the day for your evening guests to see the preparations and ceremony.

If there are any images you don’t like, tell your photographer and he or she will leave them out of your wedding album.

There are also post-shoot methods of giving you the best look. If there’s a small mark on your dress, for example, your photographer can also use Photoshop to remove it.

Find the best pose for you

Practice in front of the mirror. If you want to look a little slimmer in pictures, you can keep your shoulder to the camera and avoid facing it head on. Turn your body at the hips so that the waist faces sideways and turn your upper body to the camera, but remember to keep your spine straight. You can also hide a little behind your partner!

You can also put your hand on your hip and drop your hip at an angle to the camera. You may well have seen celebrities doing this on a red carpet.

Have your photographer take images from eye level or above to get the best shots of your face.

Think about the lighting in the venue

Your wedding photographer will look at the lighting conditions in your venues before your wedding day to see if there are any challenges or problems which need to be overcome and compensate for the weather on the day.

Use natural lighting where possible as it’s often the most flattering to your skin.

This is a great tip for informal pictures of a bride getting ready. Make sure the room is light and bright.

Don’t forget about the wedding reception. Make sure each table is well lit. Some of the best images are taken where there is lighting over the dance floor, the cake, and over the table decoration on each table.

Have spotlights for your first dance – ensuring you get the best images possible.

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Practice your hair, make-up, and how you’ll move in your dress

Having a very different look on your wedding day can be wonderful, but you do need to feel confident in it.

Put on your dress and walk around in it so you know how it moves and how you feel in it.

Get comfortable!

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Get your supplies ready!

If you’re marrying in the summer, the weather can be hot. So, get tissues ready to dab faces for the pictures.

Have a piece of white chalk to quickly chalk over any marks on your dress.

If your hair starts to fly away, a toothbrush covered in hairspray will help recreate your style.

Relax!

Easy for photographers to say, right?

Honestly, though, we’re all our own worst critics.

I’ve been to dozens and dozens of weddings and every single bride looks beautiful, no matter what they think of themselves.

The process transforms them somehow.

Just trust that you will look wonderful on the day and allow yourself to feel happy.

Smiling transforms most people’s faces and that inner happiness will show in your pictures.

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Are you looking for a wedding photographer in South Wales who will make you feel and look wonderful in front of the camera?

Call me on 07999 996473 or
book in for our complimentary consultation by clicking here

Kind regards

Peter

The Wedding of Christina and James at the Exchange Hotel Cardiff

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Mon, 07 Dec 2020 08:48:10 GMT

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Weddings

The Coal Exchange Hotel, Cardiff

with Christina and James

14th November 2020

Name: Christina and James Wood
Reception & Ceremony Venue: The Coal Exchange Hotel, Cardiff
Dress: Perfection bridal boutique
Suits: Dyfed Menswear
Florist: About Flowers
Cake: Rebecca Hocking cake design
Hair: Hair and Make up by Vicky from VV Boutique
Photography: Morgan James Photography

Tell us how you first met? Who what when where why? Give us all the dirty details.
We are an internet dating success story. After almost 4 weeks of chatting online, he finally got the hint to ask me to go our first date.

Tell us about your first date?
He asked to go for dinner and drinks in one of our local Wetherspoons. He jokes that he took me out and got me drunk and he's been doing it ever since! He even chanced a goodnight kiss but I missed the hint and it ended with a kiss on the cheek.

When did you know he/she was the one? Was there something he/she did?
There's never been one particular thing or moment in time. Sometimes you just know I guess.

How did your partner propose?
As one for romantic gestures he decided to propose whilst we were on holiday in Venice. He waited until we were nestled on a gondola taking a tour of the city to pop the question. It was only when we were back on dry land and found a pub for a stiff drink that it finally started to sink in!

Tell us the one thing you love most about each other.
That we are best friends and can talk about anything.

If you feel comfortable, share with us something silly or quirky the other person does.
He is constantly having to look after me. I am so accident prone, banging into stuff and falling over. I remember the first time I ran after him, I tripped and fell over, it was hilarious (you know once I'd managed to get back up!)

What’s your favourite trend for weddings right now?
I love that people are looking at how to make weddings more sustainable.

Tell us about your wedding?
It's safe to say that we got married in very stressful strange times so it didn't turn out exactly how we planned. That said we had a fantastic day. We booked to have our wedding at The Coal Exchange Hotel, in Cardiff Bay. We were restricted to 30 guests, but that made the day a lot more intimate. We streamed the ceremony for those who couldn't attend. As we could no longer have a disco we invested in some indoor games, including badminton, limbo, ring toss and giant Jenga. The food was fantastic and the cocktails didn't go down too badly either! Everything had to close down by 10, which I was grated for the next morning!

What inspired your décor or theme?
We decided our wedding was going to be based on our love of live music! It was one of the reasons we chose the venue, as it used to be a music venue in the 90s, but has since been converted into a hotel. As it was an autumn wedding we went with a navy and orange colour scheme.

What’s one thing you wish you would have known earlier in regards to planning?
Nothing could have prepared us for what this year through at us but I guess it would have been to have considered having a smaller wedding before being forced into one.

Besides getting married - what’s the one thing you are looking forward to on your wedding day?
Getting ready with the girls! Eating all the food and playing all the games we organised.

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The Wedding of Andrew and Grace at The New House Hotel, Thornhill

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 10:26:35 GMT

Weddings

The New House Hotel, Cardiff

with Andrew and Grace

2nd August 2019

Name: Andrew and Grace Badcock-Jones
Reception & Ceremony Venue: The New House Hotel, Cardiff
Dress: Allison Jayne Bridalwear
Suits: Dyfed Menswear
Groom's Shoes: Slaters
Florist: More Than Perfect Wedding Flowers For You
Cake: Cakey Wakey
Lights: Written in Lights
Hair: Hair and Make up by Kirsty
Make up: Lucy Watts
Décor: Emma Hall designs
Photography: Morgan James Photography

Tell us how you first met? Who what when where why? Give us all the dirty details: We first met online where we started talking for a few weeks. We went on a couple of dates and the rest is history!

Tell us about your first date?: I asked grace where she wanted to go on our first date. Because she lived in Spain since the age of 10 she asked to go to Barry Island. We went there where I bought her a slush and then we went to Cardiff bay where we sat and talked for hours. I got sunburn then fell over right in front of her. You could say it was eventful!

When did you know he/she was the one? Was there something he/she did?: After a couple more dates I decided I wanted to become “official” and get into a relationship with grace. The rest is history! We became official on the 30th July 2016!

How did your partner propose?: I took her back to Barry island where we went on our first date! I proposed to her as the sun set on the 17th August 2017.

Tell is the one thing you love most about each other.: Andrew loves the fact that grace supports him in all his decisions and she brings the best out in him!

Graces loves the fact that Andrew is affectionate and makes her laugh!

If you feel comfortable, share with us something silly or quirky the other person does.: Andrew likes to wind grace up even past the point that she is shouting stop it! He doesn’t have a limit!

Grace likes to announce she’s going to the toilet just to make sure everyone has done what they needed to first! It commonly happens when she gets in from work!

What’s your favorite trend for weddings right now?: Our favourite trend would be to grab different ideas from wedding fares and combine them to come up with something different! We like to create things that are unique.

Tell us about your wedding?: We got married on the 2nd August 2019 at NewHouse country hotel! We had 100 days guests and 190+ evening guests. The day was sunny and hot and everything was perfect! We loved that we could celebrate with all our family and friends! We had people come from as close as England and as far as Spain and even Australia!

What inspired your décor or theme?: We went to many wedding fares to gather thoughts and ideas for our day. We combined Graces favourite colours with the ideas we found to create something unique for our day.

What’s one thing you wish you would have known earlier in regards to planning?: If there was one thing it would be not to stress as much as we did.

Besides getting married - what’s the one thing you are looking forward to on your wedding day?: Grace was looking forward to being pampered and having her hair and makeup done. She couldn’t wait to put on her dress and see everyone’s reaction when she arrived at the venue. Especially Andrews.

Andrew was looking forward to the big reveal of the dress and seeing all his friends, family and soon to be extend family all together to celebrate our special moment. He also looked forward to having the moment where it was all about the two of us focusing on each other and being in that moment together. The photos of his emotions will show this! Haha!

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The Wedding of Rebecca and Michael at Margam Orangery, Margam

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 22:59:44 GMT

Weddings

Margam Orangery

1st September 2018

Rebecca & Michael Provis

Tell us how you first met? Who what when where why? Give us all the dirty details.:
We first met on Plenty of Fish - I asked him to tell me a joke, and somehow "Whats brown and sticky?... A Stick" worked!?

Tell us about your first date?:
Originally, we had just planned to get a quick drink in Cardiff, but we clicked right away. Despite my nervous hyena laughing over Mikes car window which was stuck, and Mike panicked losing "cool points", it was like we had known each other for years. We ended up getting the drink and then heading to the cinema down the Bay - with lots of highly competitive games in the arcade.

When did you know he/she was the one? Was there something he/she did?:
After our first date, we never really spent time apart. We balance each other out really well. We just naturally started to plan for things together..

How did your partner propose?:
Mike planned an incredible Caribbean cruise, and wanted to propose on a beautiful beach with just the two of us. Unfortunately, unknowingly to myself, after a close call at airport security and the building pressure he settled for the small windowless cabin... mid argument (I knew something was up!)
He suddenly stopped, and said "you know, we have reached all of the goals we set together, and.....you know, if you like it, you should put a ring on it"
It was perfectly imperfect, and summed us up so well. (It also gave me a great quote to put on our save the dates, much to Mikes dismay!)

Tell is the one thing you love most about each other.:
Trust, selflessness and overall personality.

If you feel comfortable, share with us something silly or quirky the other person does.:
I like to thing we are a relatively smart couple, but we have highly dumb moments which we can laugh at later on. The most drastic: this year I flooded the kitchen, and Mike almost burnt it down…

What’s your favorite trend for weddings right now?:
I still love minimal white weddings with lots of green foliage. It’s a simplistic, clean theme that just feels timeless to me (the venue needs to provide the character for me).

Tell us about your wedding?:
We headed back home to Wales, and got married at The Orangery in Margam Park. It was the perfect day, surrounded by all of our friends and family.
The morning was a lot more manic than I thought it would be, I just about had time to get mine and my bridesmaid makeup done before we were shuttled out of the door! (Poor Peter was amazing amidst the chaos.)

I think my mum and Maid of Honour were more nervous than me – they left the flowers at home, so the Flower girl ended up with some confetti and a plastic cup (haha), it was all still perfect though, and she still looked amazing.

I didn't feel nervous on the wedding day, but excited to marry Mike and see everyone! I had read so much about slowing down to enjoy the day. I worried about a lot of things before the wedding, but on the day I naturally switched off and just enjoyed every minute – which I would always recommend as it goes so fast.

The memories are everything, I wouldn’t change anything – even my husbands’ awful playlist (which felt like 5 Elvis songs on repeats for 3 hours) – we still laugh about it.

What inspired your décor or theme?: Pinterest! They had so many good ideas.

Suppliers: Photography – Morgan James Media Limited
Dress – Cardiff Bridal Centre
Hair - Cats Whiskers
Car – Bijou Wedding Cars
Venue - The Orangery, Margam Park
Décor and flowers – First Class Events
Band - ACAB
Photobooth – Picture Blast Events
Cake - M&S
Suits - Slaters

What’s one thing you wish you would have known earlier in regards to planning?:
If you can delegate some things – do. I was too scared to ask anyone to do anything in fear of being branded a “bridezilla” but when it came to putting it all together the day before, it was challenging and people said they would have been happy to help if I asked.

Besides getting married - what’s the one thing you are looking forward to on your wedding day?:
Seeing all our friends and family.

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Thank you both for your time. It was an absolute pleasure to be able to capture your big day.

Love Pete and the team.

Why do i do it?

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 14:00:00 GMT

Why is Wedding Photography the best job in the world?

Well firstly I'm pretty sure not every photographer would agree with me. I'm a member of the Guild of National Photographers and speak to hundreds of other members every year. Lots of them absolutely detest the idea of even taking a camera to a wedding. I do get it. It's hard work. It's long hours, Its not for everyone. Unless you're earning minimum 5 figures and doing 30 or more a year, it's not going to make you rich.

SO WHY DO IT?

When my parents got married (Many, many years ago - my dad is coming up to 80 soon and still going strong.) they were considered posh for having a wedding photographer at their wedding. Though they only managed to get a few pictures on the day, those to me are the most precious memories I will treasure of them. This is because these were taken at a time when they were hopelessly in love and in an uncertain future they were certain of one thing that they wanted to be together and more than 40 years on I can say that they still are.

We have a responsibility to our clients as photographers be it portrait, commercial or any other type of photography to produce work of high quality that has emotion and substance. Great photographers are much better at doing this, seeing the emotion in a scene and getting the clients view right.

Being part of one of the most special days in anyones life is such a privilege that I and many other colleagues of mine, people in the same line of work do not take for granted. People pay a lot of money to us as professional wedding photographers and with that comes the skill, the training, the discipline and the art of capturing timeless images for years to come.

Being surrounded with so much joy on one single day is such a great feeling - it literally envelops you and makes you feel amazing to be around and that adds to the creation of great images. Someone once said "if you want to make more interesting photographs - point your camera at more interesting things" Well, i'm here to tell you that theres nothing more interesting than seeing two people in love and the connection they have both with each other and with family. If you're a photographer you can learn so much from watching people at weddings (whilst capturing the day of course). If you're a bride choose someone who is completely passionate about their work and what they do and you will not go far wrong.

Thats it for today. Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed.

See what our clients say about un and why they love us so much Here

Up until the end of August we are giving you up to £250 off your wedding photography package. Plus an additional 5% off if you pay in full up front. Give us a call or drop us an email for details. Remember a 30% deposit secures your wedding photography date.

Check out our latest weddings HERE and download our latest brochure here

7 Cool ways to include your children on your wedding day

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Tue, 23 Jan 2018 09:48:57 GMT

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7 cool ways to include your children on your

wedding day

Having your children at your wedding is a special part of your marriage celebration.

For many couples, having them attend just as guests isn’t enough.

They want them to be an integral part of the ceremony and reception.

While some couples have young children, others have teenagers or grown-up children, sometimes from previous relationships or marriages.

Blending the families together in your wedding ceremony can set your life together off on the right footing.

So, here are seven cool ways to help your children feel a big part of your special day:

Get them involved in the planning

Get their input on the theme, the colours, the venue, the food, and the entertainment.

If they feel invested in it beforehand, they’ll feel a big part of it on the day.

Write them into your wedding vows

A marriage where you already have children is about cementing the family together.

So, why not say that in your vows? Your children are already the most important part of your lives. Making them a part of your vows seems only natural.

Ask them to walk you down the aisle or be best men or bridesmaids

Having an important role such as this really involves your child. Most will feel honoured to be asked to do it.

Give them a slot to perform

Do you have talented youngsters who can sing, dance, or act? Create a slot for them to showcase their talents at some point in the day. Be wary of asking shy youngsters to do this – you’ll be the best judge of whether your child could cope with the attention or thrive on it.

Go traditional – have them as your flower girls or page boys

The traditional roles for children at a wedding are ideal for making young children feel involved. Carrying the flowers or the rings is still an important part of most wedding ceremonies.

If they’re old enough, give them a specific job to do on the day – and a grown-up to help them do it

Asking your children to be table hosts at your wedding reception, for example, looking after your guests helps them to feel grown up and a big part of your day.

It may be tempting to seat all the children together on one table. That, however, inevitably means one or two grown-ups spend most of their time taking care of the young ‘uns! Instead, having a child with a grown-up buddy on several tables can ensure as many people as possible get to enjoy your day, and the care for your youngsters is shared more fairly.

Got teenage or grown-up children? Ask them to make a speech

Worried about what they’ll say about their mum and dad? You may well be surprised!

Ask them to write a speech beforehand so you can see it.

Each relationship with a child is different, so make your own judgements about whether they’ll be happy to do it and understand the boundaries.

What they have to say may well be witty, funny, and give the room that warm wedding feeling.

Are you looking for a wedding photographer in South Wales who will help make your children feel a special part of your big day? Call me on 07999 996473.

The Wedding of Kirstie and Ewan at the Grange, Old Down's Estate, Nr Bristol

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Mon, 22 Jan 2018 18:27:00 GMT

Weddings

The Grange, Old Down's Estate, Bristol

with Kirstie and Ewan

28th October 2017

Name: Kirstie and Ewan Jones
Reception & Ceremony Venue: The Grange, Old Down's Estate, Bristol
Dress: Do You Believe "Sofia Tolli"
Suits: Dyfed Menswear
Florist: More Than Perfect Wedding Flowers For You
Cake: Cupcake Delight
Hair and Make up: Severn View Hair & Beauty Lounge
Band: The Shuffles
Photography: Morgan James Photography

Tell us how you first met? Who what when where why? Give us all the dirty details: We met in Cardiff when I was working as security on a bar. Kirstie asked to hold my coffee as it was cold and I obliged. When Kirstie left, she asked my name, I asked for her number and the rest is history.

Tell us about your first date?: I travelled to Chepstow to meet Kirstie for a Sunday lunch. We spent all afternoon there before I headed home, travelling back for date 2 and 3 that same week.

When did you know he/she was the one? Was there something he/she did?: Kirstie told me she'd booked a holiday for us after a couple of months of dating, I knew then she was spontaneous enough to keep me on my toes.

How did your partner propose?: I took Kirstie for a picnic on the cliffs overlooking Rhossili Bay in the Gower and waited til after eating to drop to one knee.

Tell is the one thing you love most about each other.: Kirstie's loyalty and sense of adventure, and Kirstie says my chivalry and sense of humour.

If you feel comfortable, share with us something silly or quirky the other person does.: Kirstie snorts when she laughs...which makes her laugh more...the cycle continues.

What’s your favorite trend for weddings right now?: We both like the rustic themed weddings that are more popular now; more casual menswear, more outdoorsy.

Tell us about your wedding?: Our wedding was perfect, we had exclusive use of the amazing Manor at Old Down Estate in Thornbury for the whole weekend. The Friday night we had a relaxed evening with close family and friends and then the day itself the wedding was great, considering it was the end of October. Everything went great and everybody says the had a fantastic time. The staff, food and band were spot on and most importantly, Kirstie and I were married.

What inspired your décor or theme?: We both like the less formal, more intimate, rural weddings.

What’s one thing you wish you would have known earlier in regards to planning?: Not to stress, it all works out.

Besides getting married - what’s the one thing you are looking forward to on your wedding day?: Seeing all our friends and family together.

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Thank you both for your time. It was an absolute pleasure to be able to capture your big day.

Love Pete and the team.

The wedding of Lesley and Sarah at the Coal Exchange Cardiff

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Wed, 03 Jan 2018 11:00:00 GMT

Weddings

The Exchange Hotel, Cardiff

with Sarah and Lesley

12th November 2017

Name: Lesley Barr and Sarah Thomas
Reception & Ceremony Venue: The Exchange Hotel, Cardiff
Dress: Carols bridal wear Bargoed
Bridesmaids dresses: eBay
Florist: The Flower Shop, Ebbw Vale
Cake: Crafty Cakes, Ebbw Vale
Hair: JHD's, Brynmawr
Make up: Bev's Beauty, Brynmawr
Centrepieces and Room Decoration: The Exchange
DJ/Music: John Lenny, Cardiff

Tell us how you first met? Who what when where why? Give us all the dirty details.

We first met online and had mutual friends. We became friends first then the rest was history. I used to drive down all 376 miles every weekend to spend time in Wales with Sarah.

Tell us about your first date?

Our first proper date was 29th July 2005 when Sarah flew up to Scotland for the weekend.

When did you know he/she was the one? Was there something he/she did?

I knew Sarah was the one the minute I saw her smile, something just clicked as it was her smile that drew me to her and I just knew we were meant to be.

How did you or your partner propose?

It’s a long story lol. I took Sarah to New York in October 2005 when I gave her an engagement ring. We’re engaged for many years then Sarah asked me to marry her but I didn’t feel the time was right so we just plodded along as we were. It wasn’t until we had a short break (3 weeks) that I then asked Sarah to marry me and she said yes. I seen the venue online, showed Sarah it and that’s what inspired me to ask her.

Tell us about your wedding?

As I am Scottish we had a traditional Scottish wedding even though we’re married in Cardiff. All males including kids were in highland regalia. It was a very emotional day as my brother who gave me away has a terminal illness. From listening to our live singer singing bridesmaids down to the piper playing “flower of Scotland” for me walking down the aisle. I wasn’t nervous at all I was so looking forward to marrying my true love. It was a mad rush getting ready as both of us were running late because the bridesmaids had no idea how to tie our dresses up lol. In the end I had to get the hairdresser and Peter helping me and Michelle from the Exchange had to help Sarah.

If you feel comfortable, share with us something silly or quirky the other person does?

Sarah can be rather childlike but it’s lovely and gets so excited easily. Gets all excited when she says “my wife”

Tell us the one thing you love most about each other?

I love Sarah mostly for her caring aspect and the unconditional loves she gives. Sarah loves most about me just because I’m me (so she says) lol.

What’s your favourite trend for weddings right now?

Has to be traditional and Cadbury purple.

What inspired your décor or theme?

My patriotic side of me inspired it. Scottish theme throughout.

What’s one thing you wish you would have known earlier in regards to planning?

A professional videographer!

Besides getting married - what’s the one thing you are looking forward to on your wedding day?

Was so proud to have my brother walk me down the aisle and have my family from Scotland there.

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Thank you both for your time. It was an absolute pleasure to be able to capture your big day.

Love Pete and the team.

The Wedding of Holly & Romain at Peterstone Court, Brecon

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Sat, 18 Nov 2017 16:23:43 GMT

Weddings

Peterstone Court, Brecon

with Holly and Romain Pernet

19th August 2017

Name: Holly and Romain Pernet
Reception Venue: Peterstone Court, Brecon
Ceremony Venue: Llanhamlach church
Dress: Coco Mio
Bride's shoes: Dune
Bridesmaids dresses: One1 Bridal, Cardiff
Florist: Hilary West Florist, Barry
Cake: Tiers and Tiaras
Florist and room decorator: Mairwen Mackintosh
Suits: Dyfed Menswear
Hair and make up: Sheer Glam Mua, Charmaine Gorville
Centrepieces and Room Decoration: Hand created by bride
DJ/Music: Brecon Discos

Tell us how you first met? Who what when where why? Give us all the dirty details.

We met in an Irish bar in Chambéry in Romain’s home town.. 6 years ago. On a Tuesday night.

Tell us about your first date?

Our first date Romain took me to a steak house where i witnessed French cuisine in all its glory.

When did you know he/she was the one? Was there something he/she did?

When I had to go back to Cardiff for Christmas... 6 months after we’d met and we Skyped all day everyday and missed each other so much.

How did your partner propose?

At Peterstone court. We stayed there on Boxing Day 2015 and Romain had booked it as a Xmas present and he got down on one knee in front of the fire place in the library. That’s why we chose to get married there as it’s so special to us.

Tell us about your wedding?

Our day was the so perfect in every way possible. We felt so nervous but everything worked out how we planned.

Tell is the one thing you love most about each other?

I love what a caring and kind person he is. He said exactly the same about me.

What’s your favourite trend for weddings right now?

French chateau style, boho style.

What inspired your décor or theme?

We wanted a French theme with Romain and his family being French but something classy not cheesy. We also didn’t want a lot of colour so we went with whites, creams and sage green- nothing too over the top. It worked really well.

What’s one thing you wish you would have known earlier in regards to planning?

Not to stress as everything comes together in the end!

Besides getting married - what’s the one thing you are looking forward to on your wedding day?

Family and friends coming together- two cultures.

Thank you both for your time. It was an absolute pleasure to be able to capture your big day.

Love Pete and the team.

What not to do at your wedding

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Tue, 07 Nov 2017 21:52:17 GMT

What not to do at your wedding – don’t forget these important points of etiquette

As our ceremonies and receptions get less and less formal, it’s easy to forget important pieces of wedding etiquette.

There are some things which are simply not done when it comes to a wedding, though. Here’s our list of don’ts to ensure your day goes smoothly and there are no hurt feelings.

DON’T:

Upset the family before you start planning - You’re engaged! Brilliant. You want to tell the world and change your Facebook status. Don’t do that before you’ve called mum, dad, grandparents, brothers, and sisters. Finding out your news on social media isn’t fun for your family and close friends.

Tell people about your wedding lists on the invitations – This is a big no-no. Your invitations are there to tell people you’d like to share your day with them. There should be no expectation of a gift on the invitation. That can be dealt with later. You could share your lists with them on an email or on a wedding website.

Invite someone to a hen or stag do or bridal shower if they’re not invited to the wedding – That gives people a confusing mixed message. It’s also embarrassing for them, as people will assume they are going to the wedding. This can only lead to hurt feelings.

Make people hang about for a long time between the ceremony and reception – People will want to get to the reception venue, if it’s elsewhere, as quickly as possible. They will also want to find their seats and have a drink and a bite to eat before the wedding breakfast. Some may have come from a significant distance that day. You also run the danger that people will wander off or get lost if they don’t know where they are going.

Buy gifts of vastly different values for bridesmaids and ushers – Whoever gets the cheaper gift will feel hard done-by, and they have all contributed to making your wedding day special. Buy them different things, by all means, but make sure the value difference is not obvious.

Stick all your single friends on one table – It’s embarrassing for all involved when this happens. Even worse, don’t put them on the children’s table! Place people next to those with whom they might strike up interesting conversations, so think about their interests and jobs. Make sure everyone knows someone on their table. A familiar face goes a long way in these situations.

Make guests pay for their drinks – Avoid a cash bar as many guests will be expecting drinks to be included with the reception. You could create a signature punch, place wine and beer on tables, and tell people that wine and beer and some soft drinks are free. If they fancy something different, they can then pay for that themselves.

Forget to feed the people working with you on the day – Such as the DJ, harpist, band, celebrant, and...photographer! Well, I would say that, wouldn’t I? Including them helps the day run smoothly. They won’t have to leave the site to grab something to eat.

Forget to greet all your guests personally – It’s a busy day and this can be tricky to achieve. Make the effort, though, as people will appreciate it. They have come to be part of your day, so go and say hello, have a quick chat, and make sure everyone feels included. If you hand-deliver your wedding favours, you’ll be able to speak to most people then.

Looking for an award winning wedding photography team? Call us on 02921 175977 or 079 9999 6473

The Wedding of Jennifer and Jordan The Copthorne Hotel, Cardiff

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Sat, 14 Oct 2017 22:12:13 GMT

Weddings

The Copthorn Hotel, Cardiff

with Jennifer and Jordan Moore

27th July 2017

Name: Jennifer and Jordan Moore
Reception Venue: The Copthorn, Cardiff
Ceremony Venue: St. Helen's RC Church, Barry
Dress: Perfection Bridal, Cardiff
Bride's shoes: www.pinkparadox.com
Bridesmaids dresses: Cardiff Bridal Centre, Cardiff
Bridesmaids Shoes: Quiz Fashion, Cardiff / House of Fraser, Cardiff
Florist: Hilary West Florist, Barry
Cake: Francesca James, Barry
Suits: Dyfed Menswear
Hair: Jodie Amner, Camarthen
Make up: Jodie Amner, Camarthen
Centrepieces and Room Decoration: Hand created by bride
DJ: Kevin Garland, resident DJ at Copthorne Hotel, Cardiff

Tell us how you first met? Who what when where why? Give us all the dirty details.

We first met back in 2013 at a local Wetherspoons. I was out with one of my friends having a drink on a Friday night, when we bumped into a group of guys who knew the friend I was out with. Jordan was part of the group of guys and I noticed him straight away. We all sat down together and had a few drinks, which then ended up in us playing the ice cube game. This is where you pass an ice cube between you using only your mouths. When it came to mine and Jordan's turn, we ended up keeping the ice cube for longer than expected... Jordan thought he had pulled, but I had other ideas... I left the pub with someone else, even though I had already given Jordan my number. Jordan went home alone and thought he would never hear from me again. I messaged him a week later and we went out on our first date the week after.

Tell us about your first date?

Our first date was pretty much the standard, Jordan took me to the cinema and we watched the film Parker. Jordan thinks he looks a bit like Jason Statham, and is completely in love with him so this film was perfect for him. I think we watched the first 20 minutes, as our lips were locked together throughout the whole film. I couldn't stop smiling afterward and from that moment I knew we would be seeing a lot more of each other.

When did you know he/she was the one? Was there something he/she did?

I think it was when I first met Jordan's mum, Cath. It was a Saturday night, and I had spent a few hours at Jordan's while his parents were out at a neighbours party. It was late and I was getting ready to leave when Jordan's parents came home. I could tell Cath was little bit drunk. She came in to Jordan's bedroom and saw me and Jordan sat together watching a film. She sat down on the end of the bed, where she almost fell off, and we started chatting and we hit it off straight away. From this moment I knew I fitted right in to his family. I think what cemented our relationship, was the fact that my mum loved Jordan from the first time she met him. My mum has always been quite picky with the boys I brought home so when she liked him straight away I knew I had found the one.

How did your partner propose?

I think every girl dreams of the most romantic proposal, but when it came to Jordan, he has never been the romantic type so I never expected anything big or fancy. Saying this, I thought he would put a bit more effort into it, but he ended up proposing to me in our living room after he had been to the gym so he was still dressed in his gym clothes. Of course, I said yes, but it wasn't the big extravagant proposal I had wished for.

Tell us about your wedding?

The most memorable part of the day was the ceremony, and the overwhelming feeling of happiness when we put the rings on each others fingers. We were both really calm the morning of the wedding, and really wanted to enjoy the day instead of worrying about things that could go wrong. We had a brilliant day, even though the weather had other ideas, we got some great photos and spent as much time together as possible. We didn't want the day to end!

Tell is the one thing you love most about each other?

I love how Jordan is the most honest person and will truly do anything for me. We have had our ups and downs like anyone else, but he is the one that cheers me up when I'm down and knows exactly what to say when I'm being stubborn. He puts up with my mess and mood swings on a daily basis which truly takes a lot of patience! When I asked Jordan the same question, he replied with how he loves that I always think of him and I'm always there for him. I always bring home tasty treats for him from work and I cook his favourite dinners. I don't think he'd cope without me!

What’s your favourite trend for weddings right now?

We love the new trend of asking for cash instead of gifts for the wedding. We really wanted an amazing honeymoon, one to remember, and to have this we thought the only way would be to ask for money instead of gifts. Our guests liked this idea because it meant they didn't have to get us something that we probably wouldn't use. We also love the trend of having a photobooth at the wedding. We had some amazing and silly photos of all our guests that we didn't get from the professional photos.

What inspired your décor or theme?

I have an obsession with butterflies, our house décor is inspired by butterflies so I thought why not have a butterfly themed wedding as well! I had a butterfly hair piece, bracelet as well as butterfly themed invitations, centrepieces, favours, cake etc.

What’s one thing you wish you would have known earlier in regards to planning?

How stressful it is! I think people tell you how stressed you will be, but it doesn't come anywhere close to the actual stress you go through. The month before the wedding we had quite a few things going wrong, from scaffolding going up outside our venue, to guests dropping out of the day and night. Jordan and I have never argued more than we did that month before, but it was all worth it in the end and we couldn't be happier.

Besides getting married - what’s the one thing you are looking forward to on your wedding day?

Spending the whole day with my husband, close friends and family. It's not everyday you get to see everyone in the same place.

Thank you both for your time. It was an absolute pleasure to be able to capture your big day.

Love Pete and the team.

The wedding of James & Carys at Llanerch Vineyard, Vale of Glamorgan

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Wed, 06 Sep 2017 16:42:03 GMT

Weddings

Llanerch Vineyard

with James and Carys Edwards

25th July 2017

Name: James and Carys Edwards
Venue: Llanerch Vineyard
Dress: - Wed2B Bristol
Bride's shoes: Betsy Johnson
Bridesmaids dresses: Ebay
Florist: The Caerphilly Florist
Videographer: Jim Rich Film
Cake: Marks & Spencer
Band: Noughts and Crosses
Suits: Dyfed Menswear
Hair: HairCraze By Niaomi
Make up: Bride
Centrepieces Hand created by bride and groom
LOVE letters: Everglow Events
Car: Lovebug Weddings

Tell us how you first met? Who what when where why? Give us all the dirty details.

We actually lived on the same street as children! However, as Carys moved house, we didn't reconnect until our first week in Aberystwyth university. Following conversation about where we lived, we worked out that we had lived in the same place! We also went as each other's "date" to a bursary evening as we had both been awarded bursaries. We stayed for about 30 minutes before we decided to go into Aber town and meet some friends. Throughout our degrees, we remained friends, catching up on nights out but it wasn't until the end of our teacher training year that we actually got together. It all started with a bit of a drunken kiss in the nightclub Pier Pressure....but to this day, we don't know who kissed who!

Tell us about your first date?

James asked if I'd like to go to the cinema in Aberystwyth with him to see The Hangover 2. I agreed and he arranged to come and pick me up. However, what he hadn't checked was the cinema times. But we decided it didn't matter and that we'd decide what to see when we got there. It took us a while to find somewhere to park and we were walking towards the cinema. It actually turned out that the cinema was shut! So we ended going back to the cottage where I was staying and watching The Hangover (first one) instead.

How did your partner propose?

We went to Venice in April 2016. James was nearly caught out in security in the airport as we had only hand luggage with us. My bag was stopped for a security check and I was staring at the x-ray screen trying to work out what was wrong. What I didn't realise was in James' bag on the screen, you could clearly see the ring in its box! But I didn't even notice as it was my bag that was being checked! James said his plan was to propose on our first night but we got there so late that he decided to leave it until the next day. We spent the day wandering Venice and taking in the sights. He said initially that he wanted to propose on a gondola but I am known for being clumsy and he was worried that I might knock the ring out of his hand. So he decided against it. We went out for dinner in the evening and we headed for a square that was supposed to have music and lots of nightlife. But when we got there, it was empty. So we made our way back to the canal front right next to the Rialto Bridge and had a lovely dinner. James was a bit fidgety all evening and he would not let go of his jacket. He announced after dessert that he was going to go to the loo. So he headed into the restaurant and arranged with the waiters to bring some champagne. When he came back to me at the table, he said he was going to pay the bill but he was stood and getting something out of his jacket. Then out came the box! He proceeded to get down on one knee and he asked me to marry him. I promptly burst into tears and of course I said yes! What I didn't realise was that the waiter had actually videoed the whole thing for us! It was perfect!

Tell us about your wedding?

The wedding was hands down the best day of both of our lives. The venue, the people, the setting, the atmosphere....everything was just perfect. As I stayed at the venue, I got ready with my bridesmaids and flower girls in Llanerch Vineyard and James got ready at home and had a VW camper to bring him and his groomsmen to the venue. I was extremely emotional in the morning because I had some lovely gifts and messages from friends and family. It was really lovely that I could see where the boys were sat in the courtyard from the window. The ceremony was perfect. When I came around the corner, James was just grinning at me and seeing all those people in that room who were there for us both was quite overwhelming. I did manage to hold it together as I only had teary eyes...no tears made it out! Unlike in the rehearsal where I sobbed! We both said that our most memorable moment was seeing each other for the first time. James had no clue what my dress would be like and he just kept telling me how lovely I looked. Seeing him smiling the way he was is forever imprinted in my mind. Our best men brought the house down with their speeches and both dads said some lovely words about us both. The band kept everyone dancing all evening and the magician wowed many of the guests. All in all, it was an amazing day... and the sore heads the next day were definitely worth it.

Tell is the one thing you love most about each other?

We both found this question really hard!!! We could list loads of things that we love about each other. We both love that when we are together, we can be completely ourselves. We can be silly, goofy, mushy etc and we are completely comfortable. Family is so important to us both and we love spending time with our families. We have the same wants and hopes for the futures.

Thank you both for your time. It was an absolute pleasure to be able to capture your big day.

Love Pete and the team.

a word for the best men...... if you please

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Wed, 12 Jul 2017 14:27:34 GMT

a word for the best men...... if you please

Ok so I really felt i needed to write this because, as a wedding photographer we get to hear and see the speeches. A lot of them. Good ones, bad ones, truly awful ones and occasionally, just occasionally, incredible ones. Now don't get me wrong, anyone who knows me would say I'm a bit of a practical joker and I do love a good chat (My wife says I could talk the hind legs off a donkey!) but unless you get it right you could find yourself on the wrong end of an unhappy mother in law! At best, you're the hero of the day and people will be talking about how great your speech was for years! So here goes. Oh and this is for the grooms as well as the best men so we'll start with them!

Grooms

Ok so first things first. Heres a list of things to include.

Say how nice it is to see everyone here (even if you truly detest smelly aunt Margaret in the back). Your wedding day is not the time to start offending the awful members of the family you've inherited.
Mention your beautiful wife. How wonderful she is and how thankful you are that she let you marry her etc. Say how hard she has worked (Even if it was you that did all the work and all she did was choose the cake and book the band!)
Mention the bridesmaids. Thank them for their help and say how lovely they look (even if the grumpy one looks like a pig in a blanket!!!).
Tell a funny story about how you met. Keep it free from crudeness if at all possible or else make it extremely funny.
Talk about how happy you are to become part of the family and thanks both sets of parents for the financial (if applicable) and morale support during the planning and the execution of the wedding.
Talk about the best men, mention how nice they are and how they are apt to making up stories (for future reference)
Don't forget to give out the gifts to mothers of the bride and groom (If you have them) Flowers are traditional but we, like many other photographers stock some lovely picture gifts that will last for years and remind them of the fantastic day they have had)
Be sincere. Don't be afraid to show emotion. Try and memorise all that you can so you can look people in the eye. Connection with people is so important.
Speak loudly and clearly, if they can't hear you at the back or understand you then they aren't going to laugh at the joke you've made about the time when the bride drank too many vodka jelly shots and threw up over her best friends dress! Get a Microphone from the MC if there is one available
Kiss the bride dammit.

Best Men

Here you go this can be a minefield if done wrongly

Avoid the cliched quotes (even the cake was in tiers, you know the score - if you've heard it before chances are everyone else has too!) Don't go straight to the internet, if you're really bad at speeches consider getting one professionally written.
Firstly introduce how you and the best man met (any stories that may embarrass him are great, however avoid any that might call in to question a)his sexuality, b)his fidelity, c) his mental stability..... you get the gist)
Say how genuine he is (even if he's as genuine as an east end chinese tea set!)
Say how lovely the bride and bridesmaids look and how nice the groom has scrubbed up.
Try to avoid any stories that have in-jokes - theres no point in getting half the audience laughing if the other half are questioning what you mean by "having a rugby tackle off a korean hooker"
Introduce props such as photos of his 80's Mullet (it looked cool in them days i promise you girls!)
Recount stories of heroism to make the bride and groom's mother confident that he will look after their little girl (think cats in trees and children in burning buildings etc)
Look at your audience - if they aren't laughing - change it up quickly
Keep it Real - never less than 5 minutes long and wind it up before 10 minutes is done
Make it light hearted and fun and if there's 2 or more - work together and feed off each other.

So all in all theres a few tips should keep you going. Most of all Good Luck

Remember if you need a wedding photographer and are looking for a generally amazing, award winning team that is going to make your special day live for ever. Give us a call on 02921 175 977

7 simple ways to make your wedding day go like a breeze

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Thu, 29 Jun 2017 18:30:00 GMT

Discover 7 simple ways to make your wedding day go like a breeze!

If you’re worrying that your wedding day will be 24 hours of massive stress,

STOP!

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There are a few simple things you can do to take the weight off your shoulders and make the day enjoyable - just like it should be.

Here are our magnificent seven ideas to make it all go swimmingly:

Hire a wedding planner
They have excellent contacts and can often access the best deals for you. They deal regularly with venues, photographers, caterers, and florists, and can find you the best fit for your ideas. Give them your budget and ideas for a theme and see what they can come up with. Many wedding planners have excellent ideas on how to save money while giving you a day to remember. Having a planner who will problem-solve on the day also takes the weight off your shoulders. They have excellent contacts and can often access the best deals for you. They deal regularly with venues, photographers, caterers, and florists, and can find you the best fit for your ideas. Give them your budget and ideas for a theme and see what they can come up with. Many wedding planners have excellent ideas on how to save money while giving you a day to remember. Having a planner who will problem-solve on the day also takes the weight off your shoulders.
Hire an experienced photographer who understands what you need
When you hire a photographer, you need someone who will understand you, your family, and your friends, and the sort of experience you want at your wedding. Whether you’re looking for beautiful, magazine-like images or informal documentary shots, your photographer needs to be able to relate to you and your guests. It’s vital you spend the time giving him or her your vision before your wedding day. If they have a clear idea of what you’d like, that makes their role so much easier! It also means you can relax with your guests rather than spend your precious time worrying if the pictures you’d like have been taken.

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Plan for rain
The old adage says ‘expect the best but plan for the worst’, and that’s very true of your wedding day. Make a plan for bad weather. Get umbrellas ready for you and your guests and plan for ushers and bridesmaids to look after them, ensure you have ample room inside if people can’t go outside into gardens, and plan for indoor pictures if the weather outside isn’t what you’d like. Then, relax. The weather is out of your control. If you have a rainy day, you’re prepared. If the weather’s glorious, even better!
Keep the wedding speeches short and sweet.
Make this clear to everyone involved before your big day. Long, drawn-out speeches can kill the momentum of any wedding day and hit your timetable badly. If you’re worried about any of the speeches, or your best man or father of the bride are struggling with them, why not ask for help? There are people out there who can help them write their speeches.
Give someone the task of looking after your younger guests.
Children can so easily get bored when they’re expected to sit through a service and a reception. So, find someone who loves spending time with them and get them to come up with a plan to keep them entertained. That could be organising games in a different room while speeches are taking place, giving them their own roles during the ceremony to make them feel involved and important, or helping them eat their meals during the reception.
Get your ushers, best men and bridesmaids to act as guest hosts for the day
They will help ensure everyone is happy, seated where they should be, fed, watered, and having a great time. This means you’re free to relax and enjoy your wedding.
Draw up a timetable for the day and circulate it to all the key people
If everyone knows that the ceremony must be over by 1.30 pm for you to reach the reception venue by 2.30 pm, and that evening guests will be arriving from 6 pm, they can help you work to that timetable.

Are you looking for a wedding photographer in South Wales? Give me a call to chat about what you need for your big day!

Call me on 07999 996473 or 02921 175977.

The Wedding of Ceri Johnson and Peter Bracegirdle at Pencoed House, Cardiff

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Mon, 05 Jun 2017 09:00:00 GMT

Ceri Johnson and Peter Bracegirdle.

Pencoed House, Cardiff

When Ceri, Peter and I met for the pre wedding shoot earlier in the year on a cold but remarkably sunny January, i should have guessed that this would be to date one of my favourite weddings of the year. Peter was initially a little nervous and quite rightly so as it was only the second time we'd met. Ceri was a natural in front of the camera and her natural smile and personality shone through as well as the love shared by the couple. We chose Southerndown at dusk to get some of the shots and walked away with one of my favourite pre wedding shots of the year.

When it came to the wedding day, I knew this was going to be a fantastic day. The rain managed to keep off even though we'd had a week full of it and the sun was shining as Mark Fisher my colleague and I pulled up to the Copthorne at Culverhouse Cross. We met Ceri and her mum Jinny along with 3 fantastic bridesmaids Cassy, Jen and Becky at the and got to work capturing some amazing things going on.

The dress designed by Ronald Joyce was bought from all about eve in Newport and Chepstow and looked absolutely fantastic with a traditional long lace veil. Alison Moger and Charlotte Joy were responsible for the fantastic hair and makeup for the bridal party. When the girls were ready to leave, Pencoed House sent two lovely cars a Landrover Defender for the bridesmaids and a beautiful blue Bentley for the bride. Making my way over to St. Albans Church ready for the bride the sun came out in full force and shone brightly. This beautiful old church looked amazing and was perfect for the day. The Groom and Groomsmen looked amazing in suits supplied by OH Suit Hire.

A traditional ceremony and beautiful readings made for some incredible photographs.

Leaving the church for Pencoed house the happy couple took the Bentley, arriving in style.

Thankfully after a group shot of everyone I managed to steal Peter and Ceri away for some portrait time alone as man and wife.

After a lovely dinner it was time for amazing speeches from Ian, Ceri's father and Groom, Peter.

Best men Nathaniel Gifford and Adam Yousseff teamed up to give a brief history of how they met Peter along with some typically humorous stories. The cutting of the cake led into the first dance with the song Love will keep us alive by the eagles leading the guests onto the dance floor for a great night of music and dancing.

Thanks for reading. Please share this blog if you liked it. Many thanks go to all that those that made our job easy on the day and biggest thanks of all go to Peter and Ceri for choosing us to capture their wedding and help us on the day.

Lots of love

Peter.

Rachel and Richard Pring, Mansion House, Newport

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Wed, 08 Mar 2017 16:00:55 GMT

Rachel and Richard Pring

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Why happy ever after doesn't have to break the bank.

When Rachel and Richard wanted to get married the most important thing for them was to have family, friends and children around them to celebrate their special day. A lot of weddings I see have been so carefully organised and meticulously planned that we can occasionally forget the purpose of the celebration of marriage. To celebrate the love between 2 people and the union, the agreement to live together as man and wife to the exclusion of all others and to celebrate that love with loved ones.

The wedding ceremony was held at Mansion House at Newport Civic Offices and despite the rain (and the fact that Wales were playing England later that day) in the morning, by the time the ceremony was due to go ahead, the rain had abated and allowed for a quick group shot on the lawn. The bride looked beautiful in her classic dress with pearl earrings and necklace to match. Richard dressed in a check suit with a tie matching the bridesmaids beautiful pale pink dresses looked sharp and matched Rachel perfectly.

The reception, held at Newport RFC was the perfect location as Rachel, being a rugby fan was given the opportunity to don her Rugby shirt (over her dress i might add!) and support our national side. Unfortunately luck wasn't on our side with regards to the game and losing 16-21 to England meant that the main celebrations were not going to be from a National rugby win!

After a disappointing Wales game the might went to be a fantastic success with the happy couple celebrating through the night (Rachel did in fact remove her jersey for the first dance!)

Congratulations both and thank you for allowing me to be part of your special day.

Kind regards

Peter

Why change isn’t always a good thing

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Sun, 13 Nov 2016 14:14:51 GMT

Why change isn’t always a good thing

Change is constant. Let me just put that out there for the minute. Change is constant. The only thing we can be sure about is that things will change. That’s whether we are relating this to technology, environment or life in general. I know I’m stating the blooming obvious here but the question today is. Do we embrace change for the sake of just wanting something different from what we know or should we wait till there’s a fundamental change for the better. Reject the ideas that all change is good.

Why write this article? What prompted me to put pen to paper (or fingers to keys as it is these days).

My friend Jon Mullins sent me this link
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-XSC_UG5_kU

Have a watch. It’s very funny and not to be taken too seriously, but it does beg the question. When is change for the sake of having something different counter productive to technological advances and usability for our target clients?

I’m all for certain changes. Changing from Canon’s 5d Mark 2 to the 3 was ground breaking for me. As professional photographers we always strive for better ways of getting what we see through our eyes down to a physical medium. Showing people OUR vision of what we see daily. Getting a true representation of what’s in our heads. I’m currently waiting to try the 5D Mark 4. I’m assuming from what I’ve read and heard that it’s going to be as monumental a jump in technology as the jump from the 2 to the 3 was. However, When I showed my wife she said “but it looks exactly the same”. That’s the point I’m trying to make here I guess. The changes aren’t to the interface or to the mechanism we use on a daily basis. Fundamental changes to the control mechanism or the interface would have in my opinion alienated the well-established client base. Unless there was a damn good reason for it, why change?

Change forcing the hand of the user sometimes needs to happen. An example would be Apple’s removal of the floppy disk off the iMac (and subsequently the dvd drive off the newer models). Necessary? Yes, I think so in hindsight as that media was limited, dead and dying and apple made the jump before anyone else had the guts to. However, when I look at the newest macbook pro, I then see that sometimes change isn’t always good. Apple made a big decision to introduce its thunderbolt ports into all apple macs and whilst its worked for them then, as part of their ethos has also been adoption of existing technologies (USB, HDMI, Ethernet) alongside their own pushed technologies (thunderbolt/usb-c). Having these alongside existing technologies serves a purpose. Having them alone and ditching well known technologies – not such a good idea.

The new macbook pro has thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports. 4 of them!. NO HDMI, NO USB, NO MAGCHARGER, NO VGA, No DISPLAYPORT, No THUNDERBOLT. This (in my opinion) is a bad move, a very bad move and only time will tell, however as we look at how many thunderbolt flash drives are in existence and usb – c drives are in existence. As a photographer and technical trainer, when it comes to distributing my content we use USB, digital and very occasionally DVD. I very rarely get asked for DVD, Always get asked for USB and Digital. To change the fundamental connectivity connectors between these devices is crazy.

But you can buy a dongle ……..

My final note with regard to this piece isn’t to make any kind of statement but rather to get you to think about what you create, how you perceive and change the world with what you do. Be innovative, be creative, be the best version of yourself …….. but spare a thought for those you could potentially alienate by forcing the hand of the consumers who purchase your products.

10 tips for taking better family images

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 10:47:01 GMT

10 tips for taking better family images this Christmas

Oh God! Its literally Christmas in about 6 weeks - seriously only 6 weeks to Christmas!! If you are like me are getting ready to take family pictures for gifts and Christmas cards. So i thought about how it's always nice to give personalised gifts to family and friends and if you're going to look at taking some images then here are some tips to follow which should make the experience more fun and hopefully memorable.

1. Grandparents are key. Autumn going into winter is a lovely time in the park or on the beach if you live near the coast. Children and grandparents have one thing in common too. They both have a common enemy - us, parents! The relationship between them is always a special one and in photos kids love having images with grandma and grandad, plus the older generation will appreciate personal gifts more than the latest gadgets etc.

2. If kids are sitting down, kneeling or just very vertically challenged! (toddlers! say no more) Then get down to their level and shoot. you should be the same level as their waist/chest ideally. I see way too many photos of kids, their necks stretched at an awkward angle looking up at parents etc. Do the work people - look at life from their perspective and it'll make for a much better image.

3. Feed your kids before taking them to the studio - Hungry kids make Hangry kids! - they are no fun when complaining about being hungry - bring a snack with you for them.

4. If your kids aren't having fun or are a bit unhappy try tickling or swinging them round or playing with them. Most often candid images are much, much cuter, sweeter, and are much more fun than the traditional “look and smile” posed photo.

5. Be silly with your kids. ask them silly things and make funny faces - they always look better when having fun. if mummy is behind the camera then get daddy to make faces behind mummy's head!

6. if you're going to turn your images into a canvas doooooo remember to leave space around the image as canvas's are stretched around the wood frame and you'll lose their legs or head if you don't.

7. if you're in the pictures with your children try not to point at the camera - children will always try and copy mum and you'll end up with a pointing image

8. Don't be afraid to try new angles - lie them on the floor and shoot from above

9. Don't use an iPhone if you're going to blow the image up as a big canvas ..... its not going to look great please trust me on this one!!

10. Have fun and enjoy - remember you're making memories as well as images.

Claire & Rhys at Canada Lodge 2016

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Sun, 16 Oct 2016 10:00:00 GMT

Claire & Rhys Beaven, Canada Lodge, Cardiff

Some weddings are just magical. Actually I take that back. All weddings are magical. This is why I do what I do. Also there's cake. Lots of cake. Okay so some weddings are just extra special. You get to know that its going to be this way from the moment you meet the couple. The way they look at each other, what they have planned, the intricate details of the day and just mostly how relaxed you feel around them, that they feel like friends the first time you meet them. This is how I felt around Claire and Rhys.

Canada Lodge is truly an amazing venue and we had a lovely day. The sun was mostly shining and the weather changing gave fantastic photo opportunities all day. The little touches like the cricket bats, the table decorations, the mirror photo booth and the vintage feel to the whole day made for an amazing experience.

Say hello to Mr and Mrs Gronow if you please

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Tue, 16 Aug 2016 20:57:28 GMT

Chris and Gemma

Sometimes you feel it in your gut. You know this day is going to be special and it's not because of any one particular thing its a combination of things. Like a BLT for instance. Perfect in every way! Anyway I'm rambling as usual and the thing is that i knew that Gemma and Chris's wedding was going to be one of those ones (the ones where as a photographer you're possibly more excited than the couple themselves).

It was a lovely fresh spring April morning. The sun was shining and the weather looked set to last all day. The dress was a beautiful muted rose pink and possibly the most unique I've ever seen and despite a small mishap with hanging the dress on the curtain pole to catch the light (thanks to Gemma's dad for his awesome DIY skills) we managed to capture the incredible detail in the dress.

Girls set about getting things done and having their hair and makeup done by the beautiful Katie Porch from Doll Face as well as having the odd cheeky glass of some very special champagne (cleverly emblazoned with the images of the sisters all together). With dad supplying a constant stream of toast and coffee we got to work!

The bridesmaids looked radiant in their beautiful blue full length dresses with the perfect lighting conditions in the front room we captured all the details.

Cut to Chris, who's best men had trouble finding their shoes!!

All joking aside the guys had a great laugh texting and dressing at the same time (don't try this at home kids!)

The dress was completed by a beautiful lace shawl. Gemma looked awesome and as we gathered in the lounge, dad and mum looked incredibly proud.

The church looked amazing and the bride was delivered in perfect vintage style to the church.

Side by side in front of family and friends taking their vows, they became man and wife.... and then off to the new house.

I have to say that I've been extremely lucky everytime I shoot a wedding at this venue with the great weather.

The great surroundings and the fantastic building make it a perfect venue for a wedding.

Big thanks to both the bride and groom for allowing me to photograph their wonderful big day and congratulations on becoming husband and wife.

a word for the best men...... if you please

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Mon, 13 Jun 2016 17:50:37 GMT

a word for the best men...... if you please

Ok so I really felt i needed to write this because, as a wedding photographer we get to see the speeches. A lot of them. Good ones, bad ones, truly bloody awful ones and occasionally, just occasionally, incredible ones. Now don't get me wrong, anyone who knows me would say I'm a bit of a practical joker and I do love a good chat (My wife says I could talk the hind legs off a donkey!) but unless you get it right you could find yourself on the wrong end of an unhappy mother in law! At best, you're the hero of the day and people will be talking about how great your speech was for years! So here goes. Oh and this is for the grooms as well as the best men so we'll start with them!

Grooms

Ok so first things first. Heres a list of things to include.

Say how nice it is to see everyone here (even if you truly detest smelly aunt Margaret in the back). Now is not the time to start offending the awful members of the family you've inherited.
Mention your Lovely Bride. How beautiful she is and how thankful you are that she let you marry her etc. Say how hard she has worked (Even if it was you that did all the work and all she did was choose the cake and book the band!)
Mention the bridesmaids. Thank them for their help and say how lovely they look (even if the grumpy one looks like a pig in a blanket!!!).
Tell a funny story about how you met. Keep it free from crudeness if at all possible or else make it extremely funny.
Talk about how happy you are to become part of the family and thanks both sets of parents for the financial (if applicable) and morale support during the planning and the execution of the wedding.
Talk about the best men, mention how nice they are and how they are apt to making up stories.
Don't forget to give out the gifts to mothers of the bride and groom (If you have them) Flowers are traditional but we, like many other photographers stock some lovely picture gifts that will last for years and remind them of the fantastic day they have had)
Be sincere. Don't be afraid to show emotion. Try and memorise all that you can so you can look people in the eye. Connection with people is so important.
Speak loudly and clearly, if they can't hear you at the back or understand you then they aren't going to laugh at the joke you've made about the time when the bride drank too many vodka jelly shots and threw up over her best friends dress! Get a Microphone from the MC if there is one available
Kiss the bride dammit.

Best Man or worst Man

Best Men

Here you go this can be a minefield if done wrongly

Avoid the cliched quotes (even the cake was in tiers, you know the score - if you've heard it before chances are everyone else has too!) Don't go straight to the internet, if you're really bad at speeches consider getting one professionally written.
Firstly introduce how you and the best man met (any stories that may embarrass him are great, however avoid any that might call in to question a)his sexuality, b)his fidelity, c) his mental stability..... you get the gist)
Say how genuine he is (even if he's as genuine as an east end chinese tea set!)
Say how lovely the bride and bridesmaids look and how nice the groom has scrubbed up.
Try to avoid any stories that have in-jokes - theres no point in getting half the audience laughing if the other half are questioning what you mean by "having a rugby tackle off a korean hooker"
Introduce props such as photos of his 80's Mullet (it looked cool in them days i promise you girls!)
Recount stories of heroism to make the bride and groom's mother confident that he will look after their little girl (think cats in trees and children in burning buildings etc)
Look at your audience - if they aren't laughing - change it up quickly
Keep it Real - never less than 5 minutes long and wind it up before 10 minutes is done
Make it light hearted and fun and if there's 2 or more - work together and feed off each other.

So all in all theres a few tips should keep you going. Most of all Good Luck

Peter

Pre wedding shoots can be fun!

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 11:11:36 GMT

Pre Wedding shoots can be fun!

Claire and Rhys booked their wedding with me last year and with the date quickly approaching and part of their package being a pre wedding shoot, We headed off to Roath park in Cardiff on a warm but slightly windy bank holiday Monday in May to capture some images for their signing frame.

Initially a bit unsure about having his picture taken, Rhys was quite quiet, but soon relaxed after I cracked a few jokes (almost all unsuitable for publication) and started chatting about the wedding. Like most couples, planning was pretty well complete and with just a few items to finish off (Table names - go for Marvel/DC characters - it's a winner!).

As crazy and filled with people as it was it was nice to wander through the gardens and chat. With the excitement leading up to the day building, it made me remember why I love weddings so much (Everyone is happy and there's cake!).

We had a lovely day, the weather held off and got some great shots for the album.

Remember you can book your wedding by giving us a call on 02921 175977

Thank you both for a lovely afternoon.

Peter

A classic wedding in the fantastic St. Pierre Marriott

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Mon, 23 May 2016 17:32:34 GMT

Miriam & Chris Chugg - 8th April 2016

Some weddings are truly magical. From the initial meetings with the bride and groom, through the pre wedding shoot, to the big day. The Dress, the flowers, the cakes, the weather, the band and of course the venue all work together harmoniously to create something special. The wedding of Chris and Miriam was just that and so much more.

Chris and Miriam contacted me last year after a wedding photographer they booked had let them down. They were obviously concerned that this was their big day and wanted it to go well and initially they felt a bit let down when booking a previous photographer. I met with them at their home, drank their coffee and put their minds at ease. Secretly i left thinking wow, beautiful looking couple, great venue (14th Century Welsh Manor), we are going to have an awesome day.

This was confirmed after the pre wedding shoot. They were easy going, had a laugh and felt confident with each other (something that isn't always evident straight away). Our photo session went really well and we came away with some amazing images.

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The day started without a hitch. With rose cottage being available for the bridal party. Miriam, Bridesmaids Sarah, Kate and Katie and mum Jo started to get ready, had a pre wedding drink and with some amazing light, captured some awesome images and even the slight dapper of rain lasted for only a few minutes disappearing before the main event. The dress designed by Sincerity (www.sinceritybridal.com)looked amazing with beautiful detail and a wonderful traditional long veil.

The flowers arrived created by the wonderful Catherine Gray (www.catherinegrayflowers.co.uk)

The muted, pastel tones fitting perfectly with the bridesmaids dresses.

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In a traditional old historic church Miriam and Chris exchanged their vows, surrounded by friends and family with warm spring light cascading through the muted glass they looked truly amazing.

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The venue pulled out all the stops and allowed us access to the top office to be able to get the groups shots and (almost) everyone was looking!

Whisking the couple away from the guests is always met favourite bit and we had a blast getting some awesome images. Both Miriam and Chris were happy to listen to our ideas for them and helped us to create some truly incredible images.

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The speeches are one of my favourite parts. lets be honest if you've ever been to a wedding or two, you've heard the same things over and over again...
This time it was a little more refreshing with dad John speaking from the heart and delivering a wonderful speech. Chris gave a wonderful speech and wrote an incredible poem dedicated just to Miriam. Then followed the double team of Giles and Allan. Bit like Rogers and Hammerstein but without the talent...... benson and hedges maybe? They had everyone laughing round the tables.

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Let's be honest...... having a wonderful venue and great flowers, cake etc. Its nothing if the couple you're taking pictures of aren't fun to be with and happy to go along with your crazy ideas of wedding imagery. In this case they were awesome, and we had a wonderful time shooting the wedding. Big thanks go to Lisa Emmings and her team at Marriott St. Pierre (www.marriott.co.uk/hotels/travel/cwlgs-st-pierre-marriott-hotel-and-country-club/) as they worked tirelessly to make the day go smoothly and without a hitch. You truly were awesome. The night was completed with a fantastic evenings worth of entertainment by The Pluck and Squuze band (www.pluckandsqueeze.com)

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Thanks to all those that helped make this a truly amazing wedding to photograph. Suppliers please get in touch should you want to use any of the images. The full gallery can be seen at www.morganjamesphoto.co.uk/chrismiriam - all images are copyright and cannot be used without prior permission

Why a pro photographer for your wedding is a must

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Tue, 23 Feb 2016 21:09:39 GMT

Why a pro photographer for your wedding is a must

1. A Professional photographer will most certainly have liability insurance and backup cameras. If Uncle John's camera fails you aren't going to get the shot no matter how good his camera skills. If a guest trips over his camera bag and has an accident, they aren't going to be covered for any damage, injuries or liabilities. a professional will be covered for all of this.

2. Professional photographers will certainly know how to get the best images from the available light, know how to get the best response and emotion from your guests and put your mother in law at ease (should they need to). They may have even shot images in your venue before and know where the best spots to get images can be found.

3. If you can afford it or if its included you should seriously consider the option of 2 photographers as part of your package. The main photographer catching the important, key shots plus the 2nd photographer there to shoot reactions from all the guests, helping to capture the storyline images throughout the day.

4. Professionals will have a backup of all your images should you want extra prints blown up or additional wall art. This might not sound important, but you never know when disaster may strike with an amateur who hasn't backed up your images in several locations.

5. There will almost always be an album option package as well as gifts for the parents, most offer a pre wedding shoot allowing for extra special images of you and your partner to display on the day as well as helping you to feel more comfortable on the actual day of the wedding.

6. Your guests, friends and family should feel part of the day. Anyone that shoots your images won't be included as part of the day and may end up missing out.

7. Trends come and go. Professional photographers know to buck the latest trends and get stylish, classic images that are timeless and won't look horrific years from now.

5 things every groom should know

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Fri, 19 Feb 2016 10:33:48 GMT

5 things every groom should know

1. You may think this is as much your day as your wife's. It's kinda more 70/30 in her favour. Scratch that ........80/20.
In all seriousness, the day belongs to both of you and there's no better feeling than seeing your beautiful wife enjoying the day. There is an old saying. "Happy wife, happy life"......... I'm saying nothing more.

2. Choose your best man carefully. If they've known you a long time chances are they'll have at least a few stories that could raise an eyebrow with the new in-laws and at worst will have you having to answer some hairy questions from your new betrothed. If at all worried discuss this with your best man beforehand and agree some NO-GO areas.

3. Write a speech. No seriously I mean really write a speech - write it down. Include bride and bridesmaids look beautiful, thank all those that have contributed towards the wedding, include an amusing but not embarrassing anecdote about your new wife, mention how thankful you are to be part of a her family etc, think about all the things you've heard before at wedding speeches............ and immediately discard the cliched. Remember to say the best man is prone to making things up - people expect that. Above all take your time, take a deep breath, look up at people and make eye contact. Don't be afraid of the dramatic pause, silence isn't necessarily a bad thing and can draw people into your speech. Once it's over and done with relax. Never worry about what could have happened once it's over.

4. Your day will be over in a flash so, take time to enjoy it. The day will fly past you if you let it. Spend time talking to friends and family but remember they are there to see you. Do keep coming back to your wife, see how she is etc. Take time to check out the little things that you both have planned as well as make sure you compliment anyone who's helped you make the day special. Spend time with the photographer getting great photos - in 20 years they are all you will have after the cake has gone and the flowers have died the memories fade so be patient and get the shots.

5. Get involved with the planning, even if it's just choosing the band. Do it. Commit to it. Too many times I hear "thanks to my wife who has planned the whole thing etc etc" The day should be a reflection of you both as a couple so put your spin on it.

Thanks for listening be sure to subscribe

Peter

12 things to remember when planning your wedding

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 15:00:00 GMT

12 things to remember when planning your wedding....

1. Remember to budget accordingly. Make a list of things that are important to you from must have's like ideal venue, flowers, wedding cake, wedding cars and photographer to things that you would like if you have the extra money like maybe a string quartet for background music a sweet stand for your guests (very popular) and maybe a traditional ice cream bike.

2. Don't be afraid to ask your guests for a contribution towards your honeymoon fund. Its the 21st century, most couples will have been living together for some time and have all the pots and pans and tea sets etc that they need. Guests will buy you anything unless you tell them what you'd like.

3. Go to lots of wedding fayres and don't always choose the first person you see. Lots of suppliers will have deals at wedding fares which might seem to good to be true. Ask if they will hold the deal till after the wedding fair so you can make an informed decision.

4. Ask friends and family for help with things like making invitations, table decorations. This can save you a lot of money in the long run and give you a more personalised feel to your wedding knowing you've had a lot of input not just in what you've booked, but what you've created for the big day

5. Look around for bargains on the web. Ebay is very good for small decorations and signs and things that you just aren't going to find the high street. Also check www.preloved.co.uk they do all kinds of wedding and bridesmaid dresses and usually, they've only been worn once. You can save a lot of money.

6. Have a little look at www.wedsite.com they make great bespoke wedding websites - its a great way to keep in touch with your guests, makes it easier for them to RSVP and a nice thing to look back on when the big day is over.

7. Consider booking a pre wedding shoot when choosing your photographer, not only will it make you more confident in front of the camera on your wedding day, but you can get some great images to put in a digital signing board and even some images to include on your thank you cards and invitations maybe

8. Have a look on sites like pinterest, twitter, etc. Create your own boards and start pinning what you like on to there as soon as you can - you may see something you like but forget where you saw it. This is also a good idea to help you with knowing what type of shots you'd like from your photographer.

9. Delegate. Girls don't do it all yourselves and fellas make sure you have some say in the big day. Remember it's a big day for both of you and should reflect you as a couple rather than just one of you, be willing to compromise and help each other plan.

10. Relax, wedding planning should be fun, exciting and ultimately rewarding. Seeing all the things you planned together come to fruition is incredibly fulfilling.

11. Make sure you have your gifts sorted. For example we do wedding gifts for the mother and father of the bride and groom to give away at the reception and they are always great reminders of the day - how about some images from the wedding day in a beautiful frame?

12. There will undoubtably be countless other things that will cross your mind before the big day - get lists going and write everything down. Use onenote (free app for windows phone iPhone, mac, pc and android). I couldn't live without it now

Alice and Andy Wilton

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Tue, 10 Nov 2015 21:09:33 GMT

Okay, Okay so it's taken me a while to write this and i have no excuses other than its been a busy year. As we come into wintertime and bad weather, traffic chaos and the looming thought of christmas and who to buy presents for etc etc is almost upon us. I like to look back at some of the truly memorable things that I have had the great opportunity to shoot. One of the best and most memorable weddings I've shot this year has to be Alice and Andy Wilton's. from the moment i went to meet them i knew this was going to be something special. Alice was fantastic and already had a good idea of what she wanted (which incidentally helps us as photographers A LOT!!) Planning was meticulous and in August of last year i got the chance to shoot their pre wedding shoot in cardiff. Which turned out awesome on one of the hottest (and most photographically challenging!) days of the year.

Still even though the lighting conditions were difficult and very bright! Alice and Andy helped me get some amazing images as you can see. We had a great time and even managed to get some images of a family of ducks!!

Wedding day came and we had an amazing start. Alice showed me her bouquet and i have to say it's the best one I've EVER! seen - made up of jewels and brooches and exquisite jewellery it was also incredibly heavy.

Andy did try to escape at one point but was held back by his able best man.

Alice, however was calm, composed and looked beautiful in her dress.

They had a wonderful morning and managed to get to the church on time thank goodness.

After an emotional and rather wonderful ceremony in one of cardiff's oldest churches it was off to The Norwegian church in the bay. A fantastic venue that offered perfect views over the bay. With a great band and amazing company it was a fantastic night and a fantastic end to a fantastic day x

Stacey & Patrick Murray

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Sun, 12 Jul 2015 11:59:48 GMT

Being selective this year about weddings means I get to choose which ones are the best and which ones I won't do. From the moment i met Stacey and Patrick there was an instant connection. Not only were they lovely people but also the kind of people that after chatting with them for five minutes, you feel like you've known them forever. Stacey was keen for photographs at the wedding and had a clear idea of what she liked. Patrick, at first unsure, came around to the idea and whilst he explained he didn't feel comfortable in front of a camera, i explained that there would be nothing to worry about, with a pre wedding shoot booked, we'd get to know one another and get the best shots from the session.

As it turned out, the pre wedding shots came out extremely well and Patrick listened as i talked to him whilst we were shooting which made the couple feel relaxed.

The wedding day came around very quickly with fantastic weather and with too many highlights to mention, including the best man's forgetting that Stacey and Patrick were now married! Lol he'll never live that one down ....... you had one job and ..... well, never mind. Big thanks go out to Ciaran, Luke and Joe who supported Patrick and Stacey through the day and were always quick to help should we need assistance.

Stacey looked stunning in the dress, complemented by her beautiful bridesmaids Sarah, Hannah, Lowri and not forgetting Erin, Catrin and Jessica.

The venue Brynmawr House was incredible and the grounds offered us so many opportunities for great pictures that we almost lost track of time.

A fantastic day, with a fantastic couple. Thank you for allowing me to document your special day. I hope that we get another opportunity soon to shoot some more pictures of Mr and Mrs Murray

All my love and best wishes

Peter

Alex, Zoe, Florence, Martha and Humphrey

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Sun, 01 Mar 2015 16:18:08 GMT

I love family photo shoots, theres something about getting the great shots that mean the world to them. Children grow up so quickly these days that looking back at old pictures for me always brings back fond memories. I consider my role as a photographer to be a real honour, being allowed into someone's home to produce stunning imagery. Recently i had the great opportunity to shoot a friend, his partner and their 2 beautiful girls.

Both Alex and his beautiful partner Zoe were blessed with 2 gorgeous girls last year and I was extremely excited at the prospect of being able to take some pictures for them.

Not only did the shoot go extremely well, but we also managed to get some pictures of Humphrey the family dog in as well. He was considerably well behaved as you can see. Alex and zoe had some lovely pictures of the girls which i'm sure they will treasure. You can book your shoot by emailing [email protected] or calling 0799 999 6473.

What to do with kids on a Sunday!

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Mon, 02 Feb 2015 19:06:50 GMT

Sundays, what to do with kids? How about Geocaching? Never heard of it - how about treasure hunting where an item, container or treasure box holding a number of items, is hidden at a particular location for GPS users to find by means of coordinates posted on the Internet. Sound complicated? What if i said all you need is a smartphone, sense of adventure and warm clothes (and occasionally wellies!!) So armed with all of that I headed out into the wilds of Barry with 3 other adults, 4 children and........ my iPhone what a great day we had taking pictures, finding treasure and trudging through the forest, fields and up hills. Definitely worth trying if you haven't already and have children of that special age!! The app can be found at https://www.geocaching.com/account/welcome theres a free version and a paid version and whilst the paid version does offer more, the free version is enough to whet your appetite.

The new Mr and Mrs Ashford

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Fri, 12 Sep 2014 21:12:49 GMT

On the 23rd of August 2014 i was extremely privileged to be able to make pictures for Mr Michael Ashford and Mrs Rhianwen Davies as they tied the know in the beautiful surroundings of Drybridge House in Monmouth, a beautiful 17th Century Grade 2 listed Country House http://drybridge-house.co.uk Rhianwen was calm and composed during bridal preparation and looked amazing in her dress. it was perfect and although we had a small drop of rain, this cleared up and the sun shone through as soon as Rhianwen left the house.

Mike looked a little nervous (must have been the impending speeches) but looked every part the perfect groom. The ceremony was beautiful with the sun shining through the bay windows lighting up the happy couple as they spoke their vows. Mike took the rings he had hand crafted and made Rhianwen his bride.

Having such lovely surroundings meant that The pictures would be a joy to make and with so many opportunities available we were spoilt for choice.

We had a fantastic time photographing the happy couple and we wish them all the best for their future together.

Taken me ages but here goes

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 10:39:23 GMT

So firstly if you're reading this I'd like to say a big thanks. It's not often I get an opportunity to write my blog post but todays blog is about pre wedding shooting. I recently shot a pre wedding shoot for some friends (who's wedding I'm shooting this weekend) and had an absolute blast. We met there around 7.15 - 7.30 and the light was already amazing. We walked up the hill and shot some pictures at the top (I think Rhianwen was regretting wearing flip flops though! We then took a stroll down to the beach and walked all along the rocks getting some great shots. Michael & Rhianwen

I really wanted to get my take on the hand heart shot that ive seen a few times and the result is below.

Michael and Rhianwen

I really enjoyed shooting this couple and am really looking forward to shooting their wedding this weekend. I could really tell how in love they were with them being so at ease with each other and so easy when I asked them to do things like climbing up the wall Rhianwen!! Just to get the shot that we're going to use! (I knew you'd love it!!). Michael was totally into it too (usually it's just the ladies trying to convince their future hubby to get involved! Thank you both for the fantastic evening!

Good Luck Saturday.

Peter

Copyright information for Photographers and Clients

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 09:51:28 GMT

Copyright can be a complicated subject and lets face it ….. quite boring. It's not like discussing the F1 or the latest win (or occasional loss) by Wales at rugby international. So it helps to have a handy guide to it to answer those annoying questions that you're bound to be asked from time to time (as photographers) or that you matt wish to know about as clients. Here is a link to a non nonsense guide put together by the government on this exact subject.

http://www.ipo.gov.uk/c-notice-201401.pdf

Ok so this is my first post of 2014! Here goes!!

(Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan) — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 22:08:52 GMT

Congratulations everyone - you found my blog. Ok so over the course of the next few months im going to try and add stuff to here as often as i can. I'm going to post images of things i like and hopefully some tutorials, tips and tricks that ive learned and hopefully this will help you. Heres a couple of images from last years weddings. My goal this year is to shoot what i love. That is weddings, family photos, children and hopefully fit some time in for my family photos too!

Cardiff wedding Photography | Morgan James Photography | Vale of Glamorgan: Blog

The Wedding of Alan and Irene, Bedwelty House, Abergavenny

The Wedding of Nia and Andrew at Ocean View, Swansea

Ocean View

with Nia and Andrew

The Wedding of Daniel and Sarah at St. Tewdricks House, chepstow

St. Tewdricks, Chepstow

with Daniel and Sarah

The Wedding of Tom and Rebecca at Oldwalls, Gower

Oldwalls, Gower

with Tom and Rebecca

The Wedding of Charlotte and Dylan at Court Coleman

Court Coleman, Cardiff

with Charlotte and Dylan

The Wedding of Maya and Jesse at Cardiff Castle

The wedding of Rhys and Emma at Gileston Manor, Vale of Glamorgan

Brides: your essential checklist for planning your wedding

Discover the secrets of looking fabulous in your wedding photographs

Discover the secrets to looking fabulous in your wedding photographs

The Wedding of Christina and James at the Exchange Hotel Cardiff

The Coal Exchange Hotel, Cardiff

with Christina and James

The Wedding of Andrew and Grace at The New House Hotel, Thornhill

The New House Hotel, Cardiff

with Andrew and Grace

The Wedding of Rebecca and Michael at Margam Orangery, Margam

Why do i do it?

© 2017 Morgan James Media Ltd. Wedding Photography in Cardiff, Wedding Photographers CardiffCardiff wedding Photographer Peter Morgan of Morgan James Photography. Shooting at Pencoed House, Cardiff. Wedding, Bridal and Groom Photography and videography specialists

Why is Wedding Photography the best job in the world?

SO WHY DO IT?

7 Cool ways to include your children on your wedding day

The Wedding of Kirstie and Ewan at the Grange, Old Down's Estate, Nr Bristol

The wedding of Lesley and Sarah at the Coal Exchange Cardiff

The Wedding of Holly & Romain at Peterstone Court, Brecon

What not to do at your wedding

The Wedding of Jennifer and Jordan The Copthorne Hotel, Cardiff

The wedding of James & Carys at Llanerch Vineyard, Vale of Glamorgan

a word for the best men...... if you please

7 simple ways to make your wedding day go like a breeze

Discover 7 simple ways to make your wedding day go like a breeze!

The Wedding of Ceri Johnson and Peter Bracegirdle at Pencoed House, Cardiff

Rachel and Richard Pring, Mansion House, Newport

Why change isn’t always a good thing

10 tips for taking better family images

Claire & Rhys at Canada Lodge 2016

Say hello to Mr and Mrs Gronow if you please

a word for the best men...... if you please

Pre wedding shoots can be fun!

A classic wedding in the fantastic St. Pierre Marriott

Why a pro photographer for your wedding is a must

5 things every groom should know

12 things to remember when planning your wedding

Alice and Andy Wilton

Stacey & Patrick Murray

Alex, Zoe, Florence, Martha and Humphrey

What to do with kids on a Sunday!

The new Mr and Mrs Ashford

Taken me ages but here goes

Copyright information for Photographers and Clients

Ok so this is my first post of 2014! Here goes!!

Discover the secrets to looking

fabulous

in your wedding photographs