Supplier Spotlight – Big Bouquet Photography

Here at Great Betley Farmhouse we have the pleasure of working with some of the wedding industry’s best suppliers. We have an extensive list of preferred suppliers, all of whom have either worked here or who we know personally and trust. Emma and Ian, the husband and wife team who are Big Bouquet Photography, are amongst our favourites. So today we’re shining the supplier spotlight on them! I asked Emma a few pertinent questions to give you all a bit more information about them:

Names: Emma and Ian

Business Name: Big Bouquet Photography

Area you cover: Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Wiltshire, Sussex and London

Any awards you’ve won? Never entered any!

Describe your style:

Relaxed storytelling

How did you get into your business? What inspired you?

After studying photography at university I worked in publishing for several years as an Editor for Photography and Photoshop magazines. On a press trip for a camera company the CEO got very tipsy and said we could keep all the kit we’d been testing. All my Christmasses came at once and I suddenly had loads of really good kit…without spending a penny! An old uni housemate got wind of this and asked if we’d photograph her wedding. It was so nice getting such a lovely reaction from her and see what she made out of the shots. I decided to leave my job and go freelance in 2007. Ian is a web developer and designer so was able to put together a website that quickly attracted enquiries and was trained up to be my second shooter. We find it very handy being a husband and wife team as we can split up and spend time with both sides of the wedding party. We’ve shot over 300 weddings together since.

What do you like about working at GBFH?

We have shot a lot of weddings in various types of venues but are always most at home in places that don’t feel like a conveyor belt and allow space for people to be themselves. Those are the kind of places we would choose to hang out in ourselves. It’s always rather sad seeing fun, creative people get their day quashed by regimented wedding planners with lots of unnecessary rules and restrictions. GBFH is not like that at all and that was immediately obvious from our first visit. We have a very strong gut instinct. Kim makes everyone feel so comfortable and is very keen to do anything to make the day run smoothly. It’s also very rare we have time for breakfast before a shoot.. a good Full English makes us work better I think!

At GBFH we encourage sustainability and bring environmentally friendly, how does your business support that ethos?

I would say our carbon footprint is pretty small for a business. Other than our trusty old car that has been to almost every wedding we’ve shot (it’s practically a vintage model now!) we don’t really have much in the way of waste. We did a few overseas weddings in the past but have stopped offering this and now prefer to stay as local as possible and no more than a 2-3 hour radius from home. Our albums are sourced from the UK and the printers are a member of Carbon Neutral Britain.

What advice would you give to couples to help them plan and enjoy their celebration in respect of your business?

Trust your photographer and use their expertise as part of your planning. Photographers get to see so many different types of weddings, venues and throughout all seasons. They’re also very privileged in that they get to spend a lot of time being with the wedding party, talking to guests and overhearing drunk guests in the loo, but also have an insight into what goes on backstage too. A good photographer will know what will work and won’t work at a quick glance of a schedule – they’ll also be able to factor in the light that’s available on any given day to get the most flattering results and that only comes with experience. Sadly, many couples often have their day schedules dictated to by caterers and they only ever see the wedding from one point of view.

Here are some photos from just a few of the weddings that Emma and Ian have shot. You can see many more on their blog, including Anna & Ash’s wedding here in September.