Life is Wonderful!

"Life is full of beauty. Notice it..."
I could leave it there, because you cant argue with that. I've spent the last few days longing for a chance to get outside with my camera (and new gem of a lens!) Finally did this morning and it was perfect. We have a beautiful blossom tree that has sprung into life in the past fews days. It lives just outside our bedroom window and its the first thing I see in the morning. I love it! Its a tree that tells different stories in the different seasons. Sometimes its a home for birds, sometimes a home for bees, sometimes a home for blossom and on occasion, a home for snow and wind.





With the awfully sad scenes we have seen on our TV in the past few weeks, with Libya at war and the devastation of the Japanese earthquake/tsunami, you cant help but think about how blessed we are with our lives here. When war and devastation are projected into our lives, there is nothing quite like the beauty and frailty of life that can be found in the beauty of nature. Something so simple and delicate bringing such delight and joy and bringing freshness and renewal.

As the lyrics of the Jason Mraz track "Life is Wonderful"...

" La, la, la ... life is wonderful,
La, la, la ... life goes full circle,
La, la, la ... is meaningful"









I dont ever want to take life for granted. I want to open my eyes more to the things around me, to the joys of detail and the beauty everyday living.
Im grateful for the life I have, but am going to challenge myself to "Notice it".
What makes your heart sing? What are you grateful for? What little things do you so often take for granted?
x x o&c

Flora and Fauna

Tulips, sunflowers, roses, hydrangeas, cornflowers (and many other options that I just cant spell, but they are so darn beautiful!) You have a truly endless choice of options when you choose your wedding flowers. Flowers, like choice of dress and shoes can say so much about you as a person. Dont let that be daunting though. Make it fun! We have loved some of the flower choices from the weddings we have been to in 2010. Big, bright sunflowers for the lovely, cheery Katy. Simple, yet uber classy roses for Sarah. Hydrangeas, cornflowers and other vintage delicacies for Rachel. You can make your flowers say as much about you as you want.
One thing you have to consider is season. Will the flowers you love be in bloom when you get married? If yes...great! If not... what else is out there that goes with your ideas, colour scheme, budget?



There are many ways of cutting corners with flowers. One lovely welsh wedding we shot in March, all of the flowers we grown by the mother-of-the-bride! Daffodils, tulips and grape hyacinths. You can also buy directly from wholesalers. This is one thing we did for our wedding day and we saved so much money. We chose our flowers, they were ordered from Holland and then when they arrived we arranged them ourselves. This memory is still one of my favourites of preparing for our wedding. Huge buckets full of flowers and my wonderful bridesmaids and Mum cutting, arranging and giggling! Im still very proud to say... they looked stunning!
Maybe you fancy doing something like this with your special ladies... memories are made of these!



I really dont think there is a right or wrong with flowers. Anything this beautiful does a lot of the work by itself.
Flower arranging is not just for those lovely women in the W.I either. Its so very now and there are some great places that do courses and also offer some alternative ideas.
Remember flowers dont just have to be for the lovely ladies. You guys can carry off a thistle, rose, daffodil too! x

WEDDING Flowers - Real Wedding Feature

We were very excited this week to see our work printed in WEDDING Flowers Oct/Nov 2010 Edition. The stunning vintage wedding of Mathew and Rachel has been featured on so many blogs and it is so great to see it in print too!



Huge thanks to the very lovely bride and groom for letting their stunning wedding day be shared with the world and also to Annabel from the lovely "Love My Dress Blog" for being the first to feature this wedding. Also thanks to Whimsical Wonderland Weddings, Sweet Days and Roses, April Foster Events and of course WEDDING Flowers for featuring this stunning day and being such lovely and encouraging blogging friends!



If you like what you see and would like to see more please check out more of the blog and our website www.oacphotography.com
Hope you have a super day! x o&c

Vintage caravaning!

What a treat! Last weekend we had the privilege of doing a photo shoot in "our" wedding attire. Our photographer was Emily Quinton, a great friend (school friend from when I lived in Birmingham x c) but also our original wedding photographer from when we got married (nearly 4 years ago). Our wedding was the first she had done and since then she has gone on to win awards and has now moved to London. Emily asked us if we would be up for being involved in a Vintage Caravan shoot. Of course, we jumped at the chance! We brought along our cameras too, as Emily had asked for some photos. Here is a selection of photos from our cameras. The gorgeous caravan is available on a hire out basis and is from "My Vintage Party", just ask for Lola (the caravan)! The completely stunning flowers are from the very talented Miss Pickering and made such gorgeous props, of course we had to capture images of them. We truly loved this experience and wanted to share our work with you. To see the photos Emily took of us, check them out on her blog! x

The day they tied the "Knott"...

You can never guarantee good weather in Spring and West Wales, but the weather for this wedding was nothing but perfect. Sam and Katie (Knott) married at Broad Haven Baptist Church in Pembrokeshire, with their reception at Cuffern Manor. Being a Welsh wedding there were plenty of stunning daffodils and spring flowers (thanks to Katies mum, who grew most of them in her garden) adorning the church, reception and displayed in the stunning bouquets. Katie wore amazing green shoes, which matched the stunning bridesmaids. Sam with his dreads oozed coolness with his posse of grooms men (some of the most helpful we have ever worked with...thanks so much guys!)You cant really do a coastal wedding without visiting the beach. We drove down to Nolton Haven for the beach shots and were lucky enough to have some stunning early evening light and an empty beach. Both Sam and Katie are both beach lovers, spending many a day surfing and having fun in the sea, so this location was perfect to capture this side of their relationship.Mr and Mrs Knott we wish you so much happiness in your new life. Thanks for a truly awesome day x

Please check out www.oacphotography.com for more of our work.

A 1st Class wedding!

We couldn't resist showing you some of these photos from a truly "1st Class" wedding we did a few weeks ago. We were honoured and privileged to capturing images for the wedding of James and Rachael Stamp. The wedding was held at a stunning church in the small town of Adderbury, with the reception at the very lovely Great Barn in Aynho, Oxon. There was so much fun, laughter, joy and blessing at this wedding and it shone from James and Rachael's faces all day. We happen to be good friends with this couple too, so it had added special meaning for us, even behind the cameras. I have to admit, I shed many a tear while taking these photos and while processing too. Mr & Mrs Stamp, we salute you! We love you guys and are so incredibly happy for you both, knowing you have one awesome future ahead of you. For all you friends and family of the happy couple you will have to hold on to your hats before you see any more photos as they are on their own private gallery. Hope you have enjoyed a sneak pre-view nevertheless! x

Please check out more of our work here at www.oacphotography.com