My Wedding | Polly Alexandre Photography

My Own Wedding Album

April 23, 2013

One of the things I really recommend is investing in a wedding album. It really is a reminder of wedding day, presented in a beautiful book that you will look at again and again over the years. Each time you sit down and open it, it will reawaken those feelings and reconnect you to how you felt that magical day. It’s a reminder of the vows you took, and the love you celebrated. It’s a document of all the people you love that were there celebrating with you (elopements excepted!). It’s a connection to love, joy and to memories, that without photographs, simply fade over time.

It’s a book that tells the story of your wedding, and a beautiful object to enjoy time and time again. I love looking through our family photo albums, and now my mum is longer with us, they keep the memories alive and remind me of all the good times we had shared. It’s the wedding album, if you like, that holds everything from your day – from the way you felt during the ceremony, the special flowers you spent ages choosing, how beautiful you felt in your dress with your hair & make up all done to perfection….to the laughter you shared with people close to you, the overwhelming love you felt, the excitement and the joy. Through looking through your wedding album and seeing your photographs presented as a story of your day, you can reconnect to these feelings once more.

I exclusively offer matted albums by Queensberry of New Zealand, a family run company that make the most beautiful albums. These classic timeless matted albums are the perfect showcase for my style of photography and my clients love them. So when it came to my own wedding, well, I simply had to have one of my own!

I chose a 12×12″ Matted Album with a Eggshell Micro Leather Cover embossed with our first names. The album design is clean and simple to show off the images, and it is printed on Tintoretto paper, which is a beautiful textured watercolour type paper. I designed my own album, and alongside Jose Villa’s images of my wedding, added in a few of my own images from the day. Here are some close up images to show the details…..

I absolutely love my wedding album and it will take pride of place on the coffee table in my new living space in Ibiza once the building work is finished but for now though the album lives in the London studio and I’d be happy to share it with anyone that comes for an appointment 😉

If you are a past client of mine and haven’t yet got an album of your own, I would love to design one for you. Queensberry albums start from £595 and 12″ Feature albums like the one you see here from £1295. Just drop me an email for more details….

10 Great Things about Eloping

February 14, 2013

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

Valentines Day is also the anniversary of my & my husband’s first ‘proper’ date so I thought I’d share a picture of us on our wedding day. I don’t think I’ll ever feel as love as I did that day…awww. I was SO happy!

Here’s what I loved about eloping to celebrate our love…..

1. Freedom

The great thing about an elopement is that you can make it as big a deal or as small as deal as you wish…you have the freedom to define your day. Make it as low key and spontaneous as you wish, or dream big and make it as decadent and lavish as you want.

2. It’s all about the Love

It’s all about the love and the two of you….no seating plans to worry about, no family politics, and no worry about everyone watching when you walk down the aisle.

3. Less Stress

It is less stressful that a big wedding (this doesn’t mean you avoid the stress entirely though!)

4. Creativity

The freedom to include whatever your heart desires in your ceremony, celebration and vows.

5. Intimacy

Our wedding felt very much about the two of us and the promise we were making to each other. About honoring our relationship and how far we had come together (all 7 years of it so far!) and where we planned to go in the future. A touch point in our lives together.

6. Budget

Now in theory it’s possible to spend less if there are no guests/just a few guests….but honestly I can’t say we actually managed this…. but absolutely it is possible. The harder part is that you have to leave things like flowers, decoration etc behind with you if it’s a destination elopement. Leaving my beautiful arrangements behind at the house was so hard!

We don’t regret a penny (dollar) we spent on the wedding, and although it was far from a budget affair we felt good about spending the money. It doesn’t matter what you spend as long as you feel good about spending it 🙂

7. It’s a Big Adventure!

We chose to roll our wedding and honeymoon into one big trip and make 3 weeks of it all….. it was an amazing experience and we did everything from going up in a 1940’s biplane together to doing a soul journey with a shaman, from shopping and drinking champagne like it was going out of fashion, to lazing by the pool and looking at spectacular scenery. We even saw elephant seals and dolphins. I’m a sucker for a dolphin; I just love them! I’m going to share some pictures from our honeymoon soon.

8. You can have an Intimate Ceremony and a Big Party afterwards

The best of both worlds. This is what we started out planning to do until time and finances meant planning two events in one year became unrealistic. Instead we plan to have a big party in the future, where we renew our vows and celebrate with friends and family. This way we didn’t compromise either event.

9. It’s Relaxed!

10. It’s Magical!

Image by Jose Villa

Palm Springs

July 16, 2012

Palm Springs, I adore you! The amazing modernist architecture, the endless blue skies and sunny days, and the great shops and food. I stayed at the lovely Orbit In. There aren’t any pictures of the place itself as I was laid up in bed with a cold, but afterwards I returned and captured a little of it’s magic. So much more there though: a return trip is definitely on the cards….. I’d love to build a modernist inspired villa in Ibiza one day (my own Grand Design…), so perhaps another trip in the name of research?!