The idea behind a shootswap is that as photographers, we are often the ones always behind the lens – and therefore have loads of lovely family photos, but none with us actually in the photo! I thought it made sense to team up with some of my photographer friends and photograph each other’s families while having a lovely day out. This was the first time I’ve done it and I’m pretty sure everyone really enjoyed themselves! I am certainly really pleased with the results and will treasure them forever!

Maz has a holiday home down in Devon, so we scheduled an afternoon to photograph each other’s families when they were down in the South West. The weather had been very unpredictable, so we weren’t quite sure how things would work out in terms of locations, but fortunately the sun shone bright all afternoon and we had a ball!

We had a wander around the village and did some shots outside her lovely farm conversion, then Maz and her family supplied us with a fabulous Devonshire cream tea in the garden which was just the icing on the cake for such a wonderful day!

Not only do I love the photos Maz took of us (check out her blog) but we had such a lovely time hanging out with her and her family. Let’s hope she is up for doing it again sometime!!!

No coloured borders today I’m afraid coloured-border fans (and I know there are a few of you!!). I won’t be watermarking my images on my new blog and as everything will be changing soon, I’m going to make a start now!

I do love the current design, and I loved it for when I was mainly doing weddings in urban venues around Bristol, but now that I’m living in Devon I wanted my site to reflect that and we’ll be going for something a bit more fresh, vintage and with a bit of a coastal vibe but still keeping close to my current look logo.

To begin with, I’ll just be having an all in one blog and website, so in a couple of weeks if you go to www.rosieparsons.com or www.rosieparsons.com/blog you’ll be sent to the same place.

I hope you’ll all like it when it goes live, you’ll have to let me know what you think!

The whole day was really intimate, super relaxed and fun, and was filled with a literary theme of A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream as both Laura and Harry are keen readers and the wedding itself was held on Midsummer’s day!

Laura looked stunning in her vintage dress, which was bought from Fur Coat No Knickers in London. It’s so great to see brides choosing dresses and other details completely unique to them and I *heart* this shop!!

The ceremony was held outdoors and all the guests sat on benches – and the weather was really kind, which was a big bonus! As part of the ceremony, Laura and Harry also planted a tree in the garden and invited all their guests to fill it in with earth – a lovely lasting memory for the two of them every time they visit Laura’s Dad!

For the portraits, Laura, Harry and I headed off in my car to make use of a fabulous textured barn door just down the road and then the hedgerows and a field of corn provided gorgeous backdrops en route back to the party!

The reception was held in giant yurts and was catered by the wonderful Utterly Sexy Cafe, who I’ve worked with on a few weddings now. They did a stellar job and provided just the perfect atmosphere with the fresh and healthy food and vintage china table decor. Amanda from Utterly Sexy Cafe also created the gorgeous wedding cake, which was made custom for the couple based on their wedding theme. The stunning flower arrangements were by the fab Joanna Game.

Catering: Utterly Sexy Cafe www.utterlysexycafe.co.uk
Dress: Fur Coat No Knickers http://www.furcoatnoknickers.co.uk/
Flowers: Joanna Game Flowers http://www.joannagameflowers.com/
Yurts: Hooe’s Yurts http://www.hooesyurts.co.uk/
Beer: O’Hanlon’s http://www.ohanlonsbeer.com/
Band: Sheer Hopody http://www.sheerhopody.org.uk/
Celebrant: Alison from Devon Humanists http://www.humanistceremonies-southwest.co.uk/
Make-up: Kit Hall at Slap http://www.slap-artists.co.uk/

Enjoy the photos!

The feature went live today and I definitely suggest having a good old browse through the rest of the site as well to get filled to the brim with loads of wedding inspiration!

We had a great time walking along the beach and they both were fortunate enough to find some very rare dinosaur eggs…. or they could have been large pebbles, who knows?

After such an incredible find, we thought it only right to celebrate with some rather delicious ice cream sundaes from the fab Rinky Tinks which is a little cafe set right on the beach. Mouthwatering!!

Becky is one of my oldest school friends from Exeter and I can hardly believe the fact that she is so grown up now and has three children! It seems like yesterday we were sneaking out of maths class and setting fire to things in Home Economics!

She now lives in Beer, a gorgeous little seaside town near Seaton with a big fishing community and a fantastic pebble beach – the perfect location for a few family portraits!

Becky’s husband Rich is in the army, so I’m hoping these photos will serve as a lovely reminder of home for him when he’s away on service.

In the article she talks about how we first met up and the shoot we did, which has ended up being used everywhere from The Daily Express to the front cover of a book! She also mentions The Photography Parlour, the online community I set up for aspiring professional photographers.

You can read more about it by heading over to Rock n Roll Bride!

He did an awesome job for us back then, so I definitely wanted to get some great shots of his wedding to say thank you to him!

Nick and Hannah had an amazing three day wedding celebration at Christian retreat and conference centre Lee Abbey, which is set in such incredible surroundings that it has to be seen to be believed! It is right on the North Devon coast and the drive up to the venue was immense. I arrived (no thanks to the Sat Nav without common sense!) via the very narrow with steep drop into the ocean coastal path, which would have completely panicked me apart from the fact I have driven down some even more precarious cliff faces in Italy previously! It was incredibly beautiful though – the whole route I could see through the leafy trees the sharp drop down below into a shimmering summer blue sea. I’m just glad that other drivers had sense enough not to take that route so I didn’t have to reverse!

If the Sat Nav had taken me the more appropriate route, I would have also had another stunning view on my arrival to Lee Abbey which would have been past The Valley of The Rocks, another incredible Devon landmark. Fortunately I did get another chance to see The Valley of The Rocks later on during the day – and up close and personal as well!

Part of Nick and Hannah’s celebrations was a morning of woodland and outdoor activities such as archery, mountain boarding and zip wiring through the forest. Not only that, but all their guests were invited to join in wearing fancy dress! Nick and Hannah made an extra special effort, coming as Robin Hood and Maid Marion and they looked AMAZING! I loved capturing them coming down the zip wire – and Hannah had even worn her Granny’s own wedding dress in memory of her. She looked gorgeous, but I bet her Granny would never have imagined her wedding dress would be traveling at light speed strapped to little more than a rope, zipping through the trees!

After the activities there was a lovely roast lunch put on for everyone at The Beacon Centre, a few speeches, a few thank yous and a lot of tears! Then it was time for me, Nick and Hannah to head off to do some creative portraits – my favourite bit!

We first went to the aforementioned Valley of the Rocks. Doing photographs here was really important. It is a very special place, close to Hannah’s heart and very meaningful – no pressure then! Rather fabulously, although it had been sunny earlier in the day I had been hoping for some really moody sky shots for this location and as we drove up it was like God painted the sky for us!

We spent a good hour or longer here and had good fun using the wind to create gorgeous photos of the veil whipping about!

After the moody sky shots at The Valley of the Rocks we headed down a very steep road into Lynmouth, a gorgeous little fishing village right on the sea. We grabbed a much needed drink at the local pub and then did a few more shots on the pier and the beach before I dropped them both back to Lee Abbey and all the excitement of their honeymoon!

It was such a privilege to shoot all these images and I hope Nick and Hannah love them as much as I do!

Robyn and Marc really wanted to involve Jasper, their gorgeous new Beagle puppy in their engagement shoot – so while I’ll be posting some photos of the two of them later on, right now I want to share some pics of this gorgeous little man! What a cutie – and so co-operative for the camera too!