It's not every day you meet a couple at a photo shoot and they tell you that one day they're going to get married and have a Doctor Who themed wedding, I remember meeting Lucy and Paul and knowing we were going to be friends because we had so much in common, not least of all our mutual appreciation of Doctor Who although I think Paul gets all of the bonus points, he's got to be the ultimate Doctor Who fan I think, the fact that he even looks like the Tenth Doctor obviously has something to do with it but I can honestly say that I don't think I've ever met anyone with a bigger knowledge of all things Whovian.

So skip to the end of October this year and the day finally arrived, I was so excited, not only was it Doctor Who themed but we'd also planned to do a first look and spend lots of time shooting portraits before the wedding, it's always amazing when you work with a couple who completely get you and don't bat an eyelid when you discuss shopping for jelly babies in your wedding dress, yeah it's not every day that happens and I have to say a big thanks to The Co-operative in Whitley Bay for letting us come in with our mad ideas for just a few moments, it's sad the same can't be said for Sainbury's who really went down in my estimations that day by refusing to let us in (boo to you Sainsbury's we thought you were the fun supermarket).  Lucy and Paul got married at St Pauls Church in Whitley Bay, they then walked through the Park View Shopping centre (as you do) and had an informal gin filled reception at the Jam Jar Cinema where they'd met for the very first time at a Doctor Who convention

I adore Lucy and Paul, Lucy is bright, determined, fierce and beautiful and I'm sure that Paul won't mind me describing him as a true gentleman and perhaps one of the last brilliant eccentric gentlemen we have in England.  They're such fun to spend time with and somehow we always manage to get sidetracked because well, we just have lots in common.  I am not ashamed to describe Paul and Lucy's wedding as my most favourite wedding I've ever shot, mostly it was completely bonkers but also it was filled with love and affection and a couple who truly adore each other.

Shall we get on with those all important photographic highlights?

Lucy and Paul, may you have beautiful moments every day in your heart, your lives and your love with much love from me.

If you are planning a wedding that's different to the norm and you'd like to talk to me about shooting it please do get in touch, I only shoot a maximum of 10 weddings a year because of travel photography commitments but I still have just a couple of dates left for next year.  I tend to photograph weddings that are a wee bit different, it suits my style and with over 10 years of experience you'll be in very safe hands, to contact me you can go to my website, my facebook page or you can email me directly

Christmas decorating with The Flower Studio

When I stepped off the plane on Sunday night and stepped through my kitchen door there was a large parcel waiting for me teasing with expectation, inside a beautiful red box containing a gorgeous table centre from The Flower Studio, it was exactly what I needed to make sure I didn't have post travel blue and by Monday morning I had thrown myself into Christmas decorating with aplomb.

I adore Christmas and I love to have my house looking as festive as possible but there never seems to be just the right decoration in the middle of the table, but the hot chilli festive candle table centre is just perfect, it's quirky (I never would have thought of chillies at Christmas) and different and I had the idea to add some sparkly beady Christmas lights underneath for a little extra sparkle, you know me by now, you can never have enough sparkle.  It's just perfect and looks lovely on my festive table, my kitchen tends to be the coolest place in my house due to no central heating in there so I have no doubt that this is going to last through the festive season.

When you buy it it comes without candles but that's perfect as you can add your own to compliment your festive colour scheme, I think it would look perfect with red candles as it would bring out the colour in the chillies.  I also love the smell of the fresh pine, I always feel a little wistful that I can't have a real tree because of too many animals but this is perfect and it definitely has that fragrance that signifies that the Christmas season is most definitely upon us.

All around my house Christmas has started to appear, we replaced our silver pop up tree in the kitchen with a beautiful illuminated twig tree complete with winter berries, I just need to find a few birds to sit on the branches and it will be complete.

Our upstairs tree has also been replaced this year, I adore it, it's the closest to a real tree I think you can get and it's filled with decorations I've bought over the years, some have travelled from afar whilst some were picked up from local shops, I even picked up a bauble in Palma de Mallorca on Saturday

I love Christmas, in fact I think I'm probably the queen of Christmas though this year I've actually denied the coming of the festive season until I got home from my european trip so now I'm kind of on catch up and it's good I suppose as I don't feel that I've peaked too early, I am though now starting to have a bit of a panic because other than picking up presents whilst I was away I haven't really started my Christmas shopping and I've just looked at my work calendar for the next few weeks, lets just say I am super thankful for Amazon and their special deals every 10 minutes I picked up lots of bargains yesterday and now all I need to do is wait for them to arrive and then find a helpful elf to wrap them up.

Christmas this year of course is open house at my house, if you don't have anyone to be with this Christmas Day or Boxing Day, rather than being on your own or just alone at home with your kids if you are a single parent you can come to our house and feast on festive goodies, just send me an email and as long as you're not a serial killer then you are absolutely welcome to come and join what I hope will be a houseful of jolly old elves and animals, friends new and old, we'll celebrate together, bring a bottle or a festive dish if you can but if you can't don't worry, I will make sure there's something for everyone.  Christmas shouldn't be lonely but for some it sadly is and whilst I'm only one woman and can't save the world I do feel this time more than any other is the time for being with people so please don't let pride stand it the way, get in the car and I'll be waiting with open arms with a glass of non alcoholic mulled wine (or alcoholic if you're not driving) and together we'll all have the best Christmas ever.

Italy and Amsterdam from above

I'm sitting here on my sofa, it's 8am and it's the 1st of December, the rain is throwing itself at the ground in an angry tantrum and I'm looking at a smooth silky beagle sitting in front of a sparkly festive 7 foot Christmas tree!

How did this happen dear reader, how can it be, for example, that on Saturday I was wearing a summer dress and flip flops in Palma de Mallorca and now I'm back in freezing cold wintry Newcastle thinking I really must start the Christmas shopping.

I have to say that I had the best adventures in Europe whilst on assignment for Cruise International magazine but if you want to know the low down on my adventures in 4 countries in 4 days you'll have to queue up to buy the magazine on 20/2/16 as I can't talk about it until then, I promise though that it will be worth the wait.

What I can do though is share something I shot from the aeroplane on my way to meet the Norwegian Epic in Rome.  I had great seats on my KLM flights on the way there, not so much on the way back, I couldn't even see out of the windows but oh my, I managed to book 2 comfort seats on my journeys from Newcastle to Schipol and then Schipol to Rome and you know I love to view places from above, well you just can't get much higher up than an aeroplane, the world looks so beautiful and peaceful.  When we took off from Schipol the weather wasn't great but as we flew towards the verdant coloured canvases of  Italy below it was like the summer had returned,  if only for a brief respite.

I love that it's really obvious which photos are beautiful Italy in the sunshine and cold, stormy Holland in the rain, it sort of makes me want to up sticks and leave but to be honest I found that the people of Italy are so ambivalent towards tourists I'm not sure I'd want to reside there.  The tour guide at the leaning tower of Pisa told us he'd had enough, we should go now and then went and hid in a cupboard, I kid you not, you'd never get away with that kind of behaviour if you were a tour guide at a British attraction!

November was a crazy month on the whole, lots of bad weather got in the way of outdoor photo shoots and I feel that I've been forever trying to play catch up and of course it now means that January is already filling fast for portrait sessions.  I mostly get excited when I see I have an indoor session coming up and as we veer towards Christmas I think indoor photos in front of Christmas trees always have the most magical qualities.

Now here we are on the very first day of December and it promises to be a brilliant month both professionally and personally, I have a deadline for my cruise article of 20/12 but I need to get on to that in the next week really so I can clearly remember every detail and I can't wait to tell you all about it but for now it's back to the rainy cold reality of December, the promise of Christmas lies teasingly peeking around the corner inviting us in to the most wonderful time of the year.