2016 Wedding Industry Awards // Best Wedding Photographer
Late last year I was notified that I had been shortlisted for Wedding Photographer of the Year in the highly competitive London and South East region of the 2016 Wedding Industry Awards. The TWIA, as it’s known in the industry, happens every year and the winners are decided not just by a judging panel of industry experts, but by the previous years clients who vote and leave in depth reviews. These comments are then viewed alongside the portfolio of images for the winners to be decided. The awards are for all suppliers of the wedding industry; hairdressers, make up artists, entertainment, florists, venues, cakes, transport, videographers, the list goes on.
The awards night was a glitzy affair, held at Morden Hall in south London. Or so I’m told. I was at home on the sofa in my pyjamas watching some Scandi noir on Netflix. Very rock and roll. My phone pinged with a twitter notification and the news that I had been Highly Commended for the Best Wedding Photographer in London and the South East, the silver award if you like (gold went to my pal Martin Beddall, and high deserving he was of it too). It was surprising news, given the calibre of the other finalists, and I had a couple of Ferrero Rocher to celebrate.
Once the awards are finished for the year, the voter’s comments are released to each supplier, and I have listed them below. For me, this is the reason to enter; not the badge I get to display on my website (although that is great), but the chance to see what my utterly brilliant couples who voted had said. Once again, I’m blown away by how generous they have been with their time and their praise.
Thank you to every single one of you who took the time to vote and say such lovely things. You’re amazing.
General Comments
“Lyndsey was brilliant throughout the process so it felt as though we had a friend photographing us on the day. Her work is beautiful and we feel she captured the best of everyone on the day, resulting in photos that we couldn’t be happier with. I love showing them off and sharing them online and I recommend her to everyone.”
Mrs Rosalyn Oxer
“Lyndsey was by far our number one choice of photographer, you don’t even know she is there, it’s so natural and from start to finish through the booking process and on the day itself she absolutely worked her socks off. Her pictures really tell the story of the day and have moved people to tears, even people that I have shown them to that weren’t there and don’t know everyone! Just fantastic. It’s really the quality of her work and just that eye for ‘life’ that she picks out in every shot. 10/10”
Mrs Rachelle McQueen
“We loved having Lyndsey as our wedding photographer and would recommend her to any of our friends getting married. On the day she was calm, flexible (unlike some of our other suppliers!) and most of the time we didn’t even notice she was there. We are so thankful to have chosen to work with her for our special day.”
Ms Olivia Hepworth
“Lyndsey was so effortlessly easy to have around on our big day. She was a real pleasure to work with.”
Lady Georgina Ainslie
“Lyndsey was fantastic! From blending in with the guests to no annoying flashes popping in our face. She is also a very lovely and personable person – so much so that even our guests made nice comments about her! It’s not often wedding guests say anything about the photographer!!!”
Mrs Kim Mercado-Rees
“Lyndsey really captured our day wonderfully. She managed to get really natural photographs of our guests and us which showed so much happiness. She was great to deal with before, during and after the wedding.”
Mrs Patricia Withers
“Of all of the suppliers that we worked with to have the wedding that we always wanted, Lyndsey understood us the best – because she took the time to do so so thoroughly. Great communication – but never pointless endless emails, always present throughout the day when we wanted her – but never obtrusive, able to take control to ensure we got the shots we wanted – without being bossy. Most of all, our guests LOVED her for her easy going nature – she has a knack 4 putting herself right in your shoes”
Mr Andy Robson
“It was a pleasure to have Lyndsey at our wedding. She was unobtrusive and very discreet yet she captured some really special moments and a whole aray of emotions from our day. Each moment of our wedding was documented and we look at our pictures time and time again and still notice different aspects of the photos each time. Lyndsey was very professional but our experience also felt very personal.”
Mrs Hannah McCarthy (Tyler)
“Lyndsey was wonderful to work with from start to finish. She even made the trip to London to do a site visit before the day and immediately put me at ease. Neither of us liked the posed formal photos particularly and we think she has done a stunning job of capturing the emotions of the day. she has a real eye for detail. Lyndsey went above and beyond and stayed well over the time we had agreed in order to get the shots we wanted. I really couldn’t recommend her enough.”
Mrs Katie Anderton
“Lyndsey is an amazing photographer. We were delighted with our wedding photographs. They could not have been any better. She did a superb job. She captured all the feelings and emotions of us and all our guests throughout our day. She captured lots of moments, that we otherwise would not have been able to see, and are going to enjoy looking through our photographs for years to come. She is truly skilled at what she does and I haven’t seen any better wedding photographs around!”
Mrs Elizabeth Barnes
“Lyndsey was a fantastic photographer and it was great to have her as part of our big day. She blended in to the day and some people didn’t even notice her she was so subtle and caught some truly magical moments throughout the day. We loved her style of documentary telling a story of our special day. We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Lyndsey to friends.”
Mrs Nicola Blackburn
“Lyndsey was by far the best supplier we booked for our wedding! Super professional and just so lovely! It was such a pleasure to have her at our wedding, capturing our day – beautifully – the images are stunning. We are so pleased with them! She worked tirelessly all day with a smile on her face – even our guests commented on how you were non-stop all day – thank you again Lyndsey – it is truly appreciated!”
Mrs Charlotte Hamilton
“I was delighted in every way with Lyndsey. She was prompt to answer my initial enquiries and understood our wishes perfectly. She kept in touch during the run up to the wedding and was punctual on the day, relaxed, unobtrusive and sensitive. Her photographs are wonderful and exactly what we wished for. Well worth the cost in every way.”
Mrs Alice Ravenhill
“Working with Lyndsey is absolutely incredible. Her skill is not only in great photography, but also in working with great passion and dedication. One of the comment that I had from one of my friends that saw the wedding pictures is that “she works with her heart and you can tell”. And indeed, the level of intimacy and emotion she is capturing is mind blowing.”
Miss Patricia Bloj
“Lyndsey was very approachable and extremely professional from when we first contacted her to delivery of our beautiful photos. She was a pleasure to have at our wedding and totally blended in – we didn’t notice she was there! She captured the essence of our wedding day in some fabulous shots.”
Mrs Clare Martynski
“We attended a wedding that Lyndsey was photographing as guests and were blown away by her incredible images. We’d also had the chance to chat to Lyndsey then and knew how lovely she is as a person so it was a no brainer when we got engaged who would be the first person we asked to be our photographer. It was the first thing we organised!”
Mrs Cat Wood-Evans
“Lyndsey is an amazing photographer. I loved the way that our wedding was documented and told a story. Lyndsey captured every moment of the day from getting ready in the morning right through to the end of the party. We received so many amazing photos we couldn’t stop looking at them. All our guests commented on how discreet and friendly Lyndsey was and that she blended in seamlessly capturing all those crazy dance moves and happy faces. I wouldn’t have wanted anybody else for my special day.”
Mrs Joanne Hosking
“When planning my wedding I was undecided as to whether to have a photographer at all. I sourced Lyndsey through the documentary photographers website, called her and was persuaded! “The only thing to increase in “value” following your big day are the photographs”. This couldn’t be more true. Each time I glance back over the wonderful collection of images they become increasingly important, special and emotive. They act as a key, unlocking all the feelings and moments of the day.”
Ms Rebecca Smeaton
Why They Booked
“We really liked Lyndsey’s style of photography and appreciated her responsiveness – she was a pleasure to work with!”
Mrs Clare Martynski
“Based on the reccomendations of close friends we looked at the website, then met her in person. She excelled at all 3 stages. I’m a 43 year old man who looks at his wedding pictures with his groom daily and still gets teary – they’re so wonderful! Better than we could ever have believed possible!!!”
Mr Andy Robson
“She takes exceptional images that capture the very essence of an event. She is discreet, almost invisible, providing a exemplary service to her clients. In addition, she is a throughly lovely individual.”
Ms Rebecca Smeaton
“Her Fine Art reportage style was exactly what we wanted – plus the small number of group shots meant we and our guests could just enjoy the day!”
Mrs Charlotte Hamilton
“Lyndsey came recommended and was quick to respond to our enquiries and provided great advice and suggestions for our big day. Her website was one of the most impressive we looked at with some beautiful photography examples.”
Mrs Nicola Blackburn
“Lyndsey was recommended to us and she certainly didn’t disappoint. It was lovely to look through her recent work on her website and her Facebook page too to help confirm our decision. Here, we could see her photography style and knew that was the style that we wanted. She was extremely professional and easy to communicate with prior and post wedding.”
Mrs Elizabeth Barnes
“We liked Lyndsey’s photographic style.”
Mrs Kim Mercado-Rees
“I love her style of photos and found myself welling up looking at other weddings on her blog. That’s pretty special when you don’t even know the people involved.”
Mrs Rosalyn Oxer
“Her on-line advertisement told us all we needed to know and made us feel she would interpret our needs perfectly.”
Mrs Alice Ravenhill
“I wanted someone who understood what I wanted from my wedding pictures which was a much more relaxed and less formal take and she got that.”
Lady Georgina Ainslie
“Recommended on the wedding industry awards website and another photographer also recommended her when he confirmed he was unavailable.”
Mrs Katie Anderton
“We love the creativity in Lyndsey’s images, and her relaxed style which perfectly suited how we wanted our whole wedding. My husband is an artist and knows when he sees a great image!”
Mrs Cat Wood-Evans
“Lyndsey style is amazing. I love the way all the photos are natural and that she documents the events of the day. Lyndsey is also very discreet with her work which made me feel very comfortable. I would 100% recommend her.”
Mrs Joanne Hosking
“Excellent documentary style, easy to work with, approachable, offered great advice and was very responsive.”
Ms Olivia Hepworth
“After receiving a recommendation we looked at her website and loved the photos she had on there. We really thought they reflected the type of photos we wanted for our wedding.”
Mrs Patricia Withers
“To me, after everything is over and the confetti has been hoovered off the stairs, you’re only left with 2 things – your rings and your memories… Lyndsey made sure that those memories are not just of how everyone looked on the day – but how we felt. And that is absolutely priceless.”
Mrs Rachelle McQueen
“My brother is also a professional photographer so choosing a photographer was actually quite difficult. Obviously it would have been amazing to have my brother do our photos but it wasn’t a possibility as of course he also wanted to also be part of the day! My brother and Lyndsey are good friends, but he put us in touch with a few people but Lyndsey was our favourite and we definitely made the right choice!”
Mrs Hannah McCarthy (Tyler)
“We loved the portfolio of pictures she had and we had a face to face meeting with her which was great as she was so engaged and willing to know us as a couple.”
Miss Patricia Bloj
This post was about the 2016 Wedding Industry Awards. I went on to win the regional and national awards at a later date, and you can read all about that here