I am over the moon to be showcasing the work of my dear friend and WWW sponsor, Alexa Loy Photography.

It’s hard not to to be bias today, seeing as Alexa has taken our images on a family shoot and shot our wedding. I just cannot rave more about her, she is the loveliest person ever and so very talented behind the lens.

I am not confident being shot by any means but Alexa helps to relax her clients with her infectious and fun personality. She creates an atmosphere to allow you to be yourself and feel intimate and alone in your wedding portraits. Throughout the planning process and post wedding she is speedy in replying to queries, has the patience of a saint and her customer service is second to none.

That’s all before you even receive the images. Wow were we blown away when we got the most gorgeous package complete with USB stick delivering our photos. Images to treasure and relive are at the core of Alexa’s ethos and boy does she deliver.

Alexa is running a special offer for WWW readers. Book a 2016 wedding with her and receive 10×10″ Folio album worth over £500 for free. Amazing!

Hi Alexa, could you firstly tell WWW readers a little bit about you?

I’m a happy soul, making thoughtful images that tell your story. I’m in love with the little things in life that make up the big picture. I specialise in creative, beautiful wedding photography and shoot in a very relaxed documentary style. I photographed Lou and G’s wedding so you might have seen the photographs from that recently – such an amazing day and I loved reading their write up on WWW! Those photos sum up exactly how I want to capture a wedding day – from the heart!

I live in a little terraced cottage in Hitchin, Hertfordshire with my husband and our little boy Sebastian. Travelling for weddings is awesome – I used to live in London and the city still makes my heart sing. I love a good cup of tea, drawing in my sketchbook, indie folk music and holidays in Cornwall.

What do you love about your job?

The best thing is creating lasting memories for my couples that they will look back on for years to come. I absolutely love delivering their final gallery with lots of happy memories inside! A wedding day is months in the planning and then goes by so quickly on the day, with so much anticipation, adrenaline, emotions and reunions with family and friends who have travelled to be there with them. It’s just the best feeling to be able to capture all these things to help people remember in years to come. I take huge inspiration from the world around us, and there are lots of places that make my heart sing. When a wedding and an awesome surrounding join together it’s like magic happens in my camera 🙂 A sense of place is so important – Cornwall is my little haven of inspiration, and the fact that my job has taken me there on several occasions to shoot some utterly awesome feel good weddings is just the icing on the cake.

How did you get into the wedding industry?

Long story short? When we got married almost 6 years ago we invested in really good photography and I was overwhelmed we received our album. There were surprising moments captured I hadn’t seen actually happening on the day, moments I couldn’t wait to see captured and our day just looked magical. I knew I would be looking at this album forever!  I realised I wanted to do this for other people! It’s not about the style of a wedding for me, it’s about the people, the moments and telling their story. I had already started a photography blog by then and was obsessed with improving myself and I think my husband was getting fed up with being photographed whenever I found some good light! So when I was asked to photograph a wedding I took deep breath and went for it – I sent it off to a wedding blog, it got accepted, and the bookings began to come in and since then I have worked so hard to learn my craft and build my business – I have had the honour of photographing almost 100 weddings and absolutely love my job!

Tell us about your typical working day.

A day in the office ? I have to start my day by walking to work, it really gets my day started right. Then coffee! Switch on BBC6 Music. Emails. Coffee. Edit. Lunch (maybe meet up with other self employed friends in Hitchin where I live for a quick catch up/inspiration). Edit some more in the afternoon. Then I might have jobs to do like uploading galleries, blogging, maybe order some albums or prints or a trip to the post office. Then I lock up the office and walk to pick up my little toddler from nursery and get home for family time – it’s so important to have balance!

A wedding day? They are all so different, but my adrenaline starts early in the day, always so exciting! I always leave mega early so I’m there in plenty of time, or I stay over the night before if the wedding is further afield. I triple check all of my kit and then I’m on my way – I always have a good playlist for the car and am stacked with plenty of water and snacks to keep me going throughout the day. Once I arrive, I take time to say hello and meet the family, and then it’s like then my senses go into overdrive, noticing the moments, the light, working out who’s who and all the little connections, telling the story of the day. I’m in the background for most of the day – it’s just this awesome thing that two people are making those promises and I will never underestimate the honour of getting to photograph that – marriage is something you work hard on together and the sanctity of that, however they are choosing to promise that is incredible.

I LOVE confetti so always have a great time shooting that, and after the ceremony there is always a wonderful atmosphere as the adrenaline fades and makes room for celebration. Just after the ceremony is where I always find the best hugging photos as people reconnect with each other. Love it! I make time for family photos but we keep them organised and concise so that there is maximum time for candid shots and people aren’t standing around bored for hours!

The day goes by so quickly, I just love the couples portrait session – we make some time away from the guests just for them to have some quiet time together – this might be the first time the get to reconnect after the ceremony. The energy is lowered and I am often told that they love this time in the day, even though they usually don’t enjoy being photographed! Speeches are awesome, as it’s a brilliant time to capture candid photographs of people speaking but everyone’s reaction – laughing or crying! I usually stay until the dancing has started and capture some epic moves! I leave feeling utterly exhausted physically and emotionally from all of the hard work, but if they’re having an indie disco my feet start tapping 🙂

If you could choose another role in the wedding industry what would it be?

For me, weddings are about the couple as a team. It’s not about it being the bride’s day. I love it when my couples do things like walk down the aisle together, or everyone in the bridal party does a speech! However, I am secretly obsessed with wedding dresses, there’s something very symbolic and ritualistic and special about them. There are so many styles to choose from these days and I love that! Even 6 years ago I don’t think there was as much choice as I see now, I don’t believe in there being the perfect dress, just choose one you love to wear and suits your personality! I get really excited seeing what brides have chosen to wear on their wedding day, putting their personality into it – ooo yes, I would love to own a wedding dress shop specialising in lots of individual dresses!

What do you aim to achieve for your clients?

At a wedding (small or large!) creating a lasting memory to keep forever is what I aim to do. I want to make it an enjoyable experience to be photographed, and create some beautiful portraits of the two of them together. My job is to tell a story through the images I make, which I do by shooting in a light, unobtrusive, creative and friendly way. Looking for the little details that make up the narrative – that look in their eye or the squeeze of a hand, the atmosphere of the day and the special objects and colours that fill the space you are in – those are the things I will capture with my camera and my heart.

How would you describe your style?

Ah this question is so hard! Led by the light, led by the moment, emotive, nostalgic? I love to find the uniqueness in all the clients I work with and it’s this that drives my creativity.

The way I love to photograph is about connecting with the people I am working with. I am super friendly and easy going – I want to get to know you and make you feel at ease, to capture memories and tell you story. My editing is about texture and colour, creating sparkly blurry backgrounds , emotive black and whites, and above all finding interesting ways of looking. It sounds mega cheesy but I know that I feel my photos as well as see them. My love for drawing and painting combined with my camera leads to photographic images with a painterly dreamy feel.

Could you tell us some information about your packages/pricing?

I would love to say hello and hear all about your wedding plans – Whimsical Wonderland Weddings readers always seem to be so friendly and have such wonderful plans to celebrate their marriage 🙂 I quote for each wedding individually depending on location and what it involves – how many hours, if you would like a second shooter etc, so get in touch and we can go from there!

Do you have any tips for couples in selecting their photographer?

Have a good look on blogs and websites, spend some time enjoying their images on their website or maybe on their instagram or facebook page too. As much as it is about their style, photography is also about personality, as you will be spending time with them on your wedding day and you want to make sure they are the right fit for you. That’s why I have a video on my ‘about me’ page so people can get to know me a little bit! Get in touch and chat to them on the phone or meet them in person or on Skype! 🙂 Ask any questions and ask to see a full wedding gallery if you would like to see one to give you an idea of how they work.

Can you give us a teaser about what you are working on now?

At the moment over the winter I am really enjoying photographing more and more family sessions for previous wedding couples. I love it even more when those people invite me back to photograph their family as it grows, the images add to their story and means so much to be able to do this!

F O L L O W

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*Alexa Loy Photography is a Whimsical Wonderland Weddings sponsor*