Monday, 9 April 2012

So.... what is this new venture of yours?

15:49 | Posted by Blogging Wedding Reports | | Edit Post
 ask the friends, family, various business contacts and social networking connections that I've collected.


My response usually begins "Well, I'm still trying to think of a succinct and straight forward way of explaining it to people but..."

Do note that I am still trying to think of a succinct and straight forward way of explaining the concept of "Your Wedding Correspondent", but as a small business in a huge industry, it has generated a lot of interest before it has even got it's feet off of the ground. It therefore deserves a mention, an explanation, and most importantly - an introduction!


Things to know before you read on:
  • written wedding reportage is not an idea unique to me and my brain, on the contrary the practice of presenting the memory of a couples wedding day in the written form, as well as the pictorial, has been immensely popular (and oh.so.common) in Europe and the USA for a long time, however, it is a service which is not largely offered in the UK, and the select number of writers who offer a dedicated service of this kind to brides and grooms in the United Kingdom all boast very different writing styles (and often products), much like wedding photographers.
  • I have studied creative writing, English language and literature, and journalism (too much), however, that doesn't mean that everyone will LOVE what I do and that I'm better than someone who's just picked up a pen for the first time in their life. Creative writing, be it fictional or otherwise, is a form of art as much as watercolour painting, what is one persons masterpiece is another persons junk (and at the same time there are people that marvel at the creative genius behind art that they recognise to be junk!) When a couple choose to book me as their wedding correspondent they're not just choosing to have their wedding documented, there are plenty of people who can do that for them, they are choosing me and the way that I will document their wedding. A wedding photographer doesn't just offer "photography" as though that's a brand new concept that the bride and groom will never have heard of, they offer themselves and their own unique style, this is what I do, with a pen and a notebook.

WHO

It's quite possible that you are reading this under duress, because I have forced you via Facebook, Twitter, or in a rather rude and unwelcome late-night text message, to come and read what I've had to say this evening. However, it's equally likely that you've not a clue who I am, and have stumbled upon this blog quite by accident (or perhaps I've forced you, despite the fact that you don't really know who I am - in which case welcome on board!)

As previously mentioned I've studied Creative Writing and dabbled academically in journalism, I'm not sure why because I always wanted to be a vet, and I'm not sure how as I vehemently refused to study English at A Level purely because everyone "expected me to" and I didn't want to be obvious (ahh, Classical Civilisations, you have served me well!)

The fact that I have various bits of paper to prove that I turned up to countless seminars, lectures and workshops, has nothing to do with my desire to write about weddings though. I am the very worst kind of romantic, one who is just as interested and seduced by other peoples romance as by my own (read: nosey Parker). Tell me you are newly engaged and I shall make you tea before flopping down in front of you and enthusing "tell me everything", and I don't just want to know whether he/she got down on one knee, what the ring is like and whether you were expecting it, I mean I want to know everything:

Have you chosen your bridesmaids?

Have you decided what they'll wear?

Will there be avalanche roses?

Designing your own stationery?

Church wedding? If yes pur-lease splash out and have the choir.

This is a small sample of the wedding questionnaire that springs forth whenever someone gets me started. You can imagine what happened when I was newly engaged!

The day that John, my fiance, proposed, he gave me a grand excuse to immerse myself in all of the stuff that makes the wedding industry, and the world surrounding the British wedding, unique, special and a hell of a lot of fun. My future husband estimates that I have spent hundreds of £'s on wedding magazines, and he's probably right, he's also right when he points out that when it comes to content, they're largely the same, from one publication to the next, one issue to another. I can assure him (and the rest of you) that this does not detract from the enjoyment that I find in settling down with a fresh copy of absolutely any wedding magazine. However, they're available monthly at best, and this is where wedding blogs come in to their own, like my daily wedding magazine fix, blogs such as Rock my Wedding and OMG I'm Getting Married are my lifeline. To put it simply, it makes sense for me to work in weddings, it will work, because I need it as much as the couples I work with!

Believe it or not though (some people lean towards the "not") I have other interests and a non-wedding-related life that I enjoy outside of the creation of Your Wedding Correspondent.

As mentioned, I have a man-friend, John. There is also our son, Sebastian (almost 2 years old at time of writing), a yellow Labrador with weight and self esteem issues, a pair of gerbils, a garden-dwelling ferret and a number of fish including Queen Elizabeth II - a fancy goldfish who lives in our kitchen (in a tank, not the cutlery drawer or similar).

I run the already popular and usually lots of fun online heritage toy shop "The Canterbury Toy Shop", which specialises in the sale of traditional wooden toys. This was born from my desire to gather in one place, and offer for sale, the types of toy that I struggled to find for Sebastian. Now he has way too many, thus is life.

The Canterbury Toy Shop continues to trade and to grow and to build upon its early success, and it shall continue to encroach upon my office from the overflowing stock room as I carry on looking after our lovely toy shop customers whilst delving into the magical world of matrimony.  

WHAT

So less about me as a real-life human being, and more about me as "Your Wedding Correspondent", which is not only the service I offer, but the name of my shiny new business venture. There is a website in the making, I currently have a lovely lady named Jenny slaving away to produce something which matches my rather fussy requirements, whilst battling to understand my requests, as my technological know-how can not match hers! The minute that I am able to "launch" the website I shall be shouting it from the rooftops, however, to save you listening out for me, you could just follow me on Twitter @wedding_reports or like the page on Facebook  and you'll hear about it first there!

In the meantime though, let me tell you all about The Plan.

Whether you're married, getting married, or whether you've ever been to a wedding or not, you're probably somewhat familiar with the concept of wedding photography. A wedding photographer is usually chosen based on their style, their ability, and the finished product that they're able to offer (as well as more practical factors such as their base location and pricing). Their work will include attending the weddings of the couples who book them, sometimes from the moment the bride gets up in the morning to the moment that she stumbles from the dance floor with sore feet and a huge smile at the end of the evening, and sometimes just for key elements of the day, such as the ceremony. Their job is to record as much of what is before them as possible, in photographs, and to try to capture the mood, the atmosphere, the love and everything else that goes into making each wedding special and individual. They go away after the wedding, with a reinforced belief that love will conquer all, and with the task of editing the images that they have taken on the day, to produce a story board of the couples day, as experienced by their guests and those around them. The couple are then involved in the final edit, picking out what they love about the photographs and what they'd prefer to drop, before waltzing away with something that they can wave smugly at their friends and family and show off for years and years to come, and of course, that their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren etc. can look back on and marvel over. Videographers work in much the same way but with film. And I, little old me, work in much the same way again, but with a pen as my weapon of choice.

My first step, after being approached by a couple with an interest in wedding correspondence, is to conduct an initial consultation. This gives me the opportunity to find out more about them, but a million times more importantly, for the couple to find out more about me, and to decide whether I am a lady they'd like to see on their wedding day! It gives me an opportunity to talk about styles of writing, levels of coverage and exactly what the couple need. And it gives me a chance to work out what it will cost them (that bit isn't quite so much fun for me either you know!)

If a couple decide to go ahead and book me as their wedding correspondent then that wedding fanatic overdrive that I mentioned earlier really kicks in. In order for me to produce a wedding report which accurately depicts the couple whose wedding day I'm documenting, and to ensure that it's something they'll love, it helps if I can get inside the inner workings of the wedding. I don't want to be involved and they certainly don't need to run any decisions past me, but I always offer couples a further 2 consultations so that I feel I really understand who they are, what their wedding means to them and what makes a ritualistic practice shared by almost every single culture on our planet throughout history, special and unique to these two people (and believe me, it always, always is).

On the day, I'm in stealth mode, I can position myself quietly out of the way, and get scribbling. I never report on electronic devises, as they're often noisy,and can be unreliable. All I need is my notebook and pen (plus backups) and somewhere to watch the day unfold. All notes are taken by hand. Luckily I've been writing for all of my life and have always preferred good old fashioned ink and paper, and as such I don't notice the cramp any more!

Just like the options open to them with photography, a couple can decide how much of their day they would like me to record. There has been interest already from couples only wanting a written report of their ceremony, speeches, and first dance, and others from brides and grooms wanting the entire 3 day weekend noted. It's also up to them, the paying customers, to decide how much discretion they would like me to exercise. I can be invisible (I can't actually be invisible but I can blend in pretty well and go largely unnoticed) or I can incorporate a genuine guests-eye-view of the wedding by including interviews with friends, family and even suppliers, either way - the bride and groom are my boss and I shall always take my direction from them.

After the wedding, I take all of those hand written notes and I transform them, right here at my desk, in to a professional (and often incredibly lengthy) wedding report. It's worth remembering that the report is not just an account of the days events as they unfolded before me, it will also give great insight into the very atmosphere of the wedding, including smells, conversations and other sounds, textures and emotional charge, which can not always be captured on film. You may have a photograph of a bride entering the church and turning to face her expectant groom for the first time; but a wedding report allows you to forever record exactly what Aunt Maureen whispered to Uncle Brian as the bride walked in (as long as it was complimentary of course) or the united gasp of the excited friends and family at the first glimpse of her bridal gown.


Once my first draft has been written and I'm satisfied that I've done the couples day justice (this will often include full written copies of the speeches, wedding breakfast menu and Order of Service plus any readings from the wedding ceremony) they'll be able to read it on a password protected website and suggest any alterations and edits they'd like to make. I offer unlimited re-drafts, so we can continue to edit a report until the couple are 100% delighted with the finished product, at which point they can decide what they actually want to do with it.

Your Wedding Correspondent offers a range of products, not only to suit every couple, their friends, and their families, but also in recognition of the modern world in which our weddings take place. Often loved ones are unable to attend your wedding as they're scattered across the globe, and even those who can, may not be able to see you in person again after the big day for quite some time. Your Wedding Correspondent can therefore offer wedding reports as "e-books" which can be downloaded to any hand held device, including Smart Phones, tablets, PCs, electronic readers etc. so that your wedding story can be shared with those people that matter, where ever they are in the world.

For the couple themselves, and often their parents, a professionally printed, hardback book is the preferred method of preserving and presenting their wedding report. These are printed in book-shop quality and can be customised with bespoke artwork on the front covers.

Where a couple retain the copyright to their wedding photography it is also possible to purchase photo-book, or "story book" style albums which display the photography and written report side by side. It is often difficult to fit the full report and a good selection of photographs in to an album, and so the couple would usually be involved in an editing process which would select exerts from the full report to tell the story of the day alongside the photography, almost as "captions". As such, a couple may also choose to have the full report printed in a separate hardback book, with a cover to match the photo book album.

Where photographers retain copyright of a couples photography I shall gladly provide the photographer with the report, of the exerts of the report that the couple have chosen, to include in their own products and albums.

Often couples have their own ideas as to how they'd like their wedding report presented once it's complete, and that's why I enjoy being their to discuss ideas and options with a bit of "out-of-the-box-thinking".

And that is that...


So now those who were curious, those who were directed to this page, and those who just didn't "get it" might fully understand just what a wedding correspondent is, why the service and product is special and most importantly, why I'm so ruddy excited to say
I'm going to do this and it's going to be so much fun!


0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)