¶ UK Wedding Traditions and Mentoring
Hi everybody , welcome to episode 63 of the Flash masters podcast , with me , neil Reffern and me , Helen Williams . And in today's episode we're going to be talking about weird and wacky UK wedding traditions .
Oh , I've quite excited for this one .
Yeah , I've got them off , off the tintinette , as we would say , and we'll talk a bit later in the episode why we're doing that , because there is actually a bit of a reason behind it . But anyway , helen , have you been up to enlighten us ?
I've been continuing . I've been very busy with all of my mentoring in the past week , which has been really , really good .
Yeah , I'm right in thinking that you've got four mentoring clients at the moment and you've now done the first meeting with all of them .
Yeah , it's been really really amazing .
Who's been the best ? Who's been the worst ? Don't joke , I'm joking , don't actually say who you're doing , what you've enjoyed it .
Yeah , it's really challenging . It's fantastic to see different photographers in different stages of business , some who've been going two years , some who've been going 10 . Yeah , it's been absolutely brilliant . And the more I'm doing it , the more I'm realising that I too need a mentor . Apart from who isn't you ? Because you would be a fantastic mentor and you are .
Except , like , when you tell me to do something is like yeah , it doesn't go .
No , it's not that you just get really angry .
Don't tell me what to do .
Yeah , yeah , I would not even volunteer for that role . Whoever does . I need to have a chat with them first , just to warn them .
I mean I podcast .
Helen is not always the same as frustrated Helen when something doesn't work well .
Well , I don't think I need mentoring on how to use my Mac . That's what I , when I lose my , you know , really lose my rag . But yeah , I will say , in general , I'm not really a big fan of being told what to do .
No but I know that I , like some of you know one of my mentors in particular is like I just really want the accountability and someone checking in with me and making sure I'm following what I'm setting out to do , and I was like oh , I need that myself .
I think that's a really , really good point . It's a bit like when you go to the gym and you if like with you you've got a PT , or when you were going to your thing recently , when you , you know you weigh yourself every week , even if you don't go in , even if you're not going .
The fact that you're having to prove that you're doing well and by having these regular checkups , I think he's really , really powerful .
Yeah , it's definitely something that I want to do . And it's something I need to do Because I also know that , you know , since the before the start of the year , I've had so many messages about an off camera flash workshop , and that's another thing . That's like coming soon , coming soon , and I've still not got around to it .
And I thought , before I started today's mentoring session , I was like oh man . I , really I this isn't good , doesn't that , helen ? Like you've got , I've got people once again going take my money please , and they're all signing up to the you know my website to get the information . It's like , why haven't you done it ?
And I think I need someone to give me that extra kick as well . So , yes , I'm looking for a mentor on a podcast .
Why haven't you done it ? No good , actually , live on the podcast .
Well , I've just been busy doing other things . I haven't sort of prioritized it and I will say , going off on a totally different tangent , in Amber Henry's , she's got an amazing Facebook group just for for females who flash , and there was just a post in there .
It was just not like a meme , you know , and you just basically put text over a background to make it like a graphic , but it was all about sort of being scared to fulfill your potential and being scared to show who you can be , and I that kind of resonated with me and at the moment it's just fear holding me back .
But it makes no sense because I've ran these workshops before . I've run workshops since 2018 . I don't know why I'm holding myself back right now when I need to just carry on pushing through . Sorry , that got deep .
It did . This was not in the show notes , no it wasn't .
I like it , though , sorry . Should I be careful ? Keep your light ? No , no , it's good . It's very honest of you .
I would love you to do these off your , off your own back , because I know that you'd enjoy it . I know you're very good at it and I know that other people would love to be part of it . I can only keep on saying the same thing . Just do it , just get it done .
I think it's just another strand of my imposter syndrome . You know , once again yeah , it was a drone holding me back for posted online that I have people signing up to my mailing list emailing me going have you got any dates yet ? Let's go , let's go . And it's only myself holding myself back again .
It's a bit crazy , but I'm go , I will do it , and I have said to myself that by the end of this week the dates will be in place and I'm going to start .
you know by the end of that means by the time that the next podcast is live . Yes , then I will have a day for my camera . Well , let's hold you to that .
It's not like this has become my mentoring session .
No , I'm just saying you've just made a pledge live we're not . Live he's recorded , but live on the podcast that this time next week we'll be talking about your new flush workshops .
Yes , and let yes it will happen . Right , there we go .
That's that's legally binding by the podcast code .
But I'm having flashbacks at this time last year when I was like I will finish my website .
I know I've heard it all before .
And then three , four , five months later I did it , but no , I'll say Marty did it .
Well , marty did it , marty did do it .
I got someone to do it .
You sat there and watched it being done .
I did and gave some very enthusiastic , you know , cheerleading . No , I just yeah , I will get it done , that's it .
Well , well done on your mentor in any way that has happened .
Yes , my mentoring has happened . Next phase of education is will be done in the next week . Right , that was a whole load of stuff that wasn't on the show notes . So , neil , what have you been doing for the last week ?
Apart from editing my new year's Eve wedding , which he's almost done now and I'm actually very , very pleased with it , I have put another date in the diary . I have launched shine three , the third install of my shine workshop . No , that's wrong .
That was a really weird key . Don't be , you're looking to delete this bit .
I was going to stop the recording .
Honestly , he's scrolling back .
It's like you don't like to say shine , I'd say let it shine .
There you go , perfect .
Either way . Yes , I've launched the third of my shine workshop , so I did two last . I want to say October it might be November last year , anyway , late last year and I love
¶ Wedding Photography Workshop and Updates
them both . This is my three day wedding photography workshop , so not just flash . I tried to cover as much as I can , all things wedding photography , including mindset , including editing . Obviously , we're open books for three whole days and I loved it . I absolutely loved it .
I spoke about this on the podcast before we actually did an episode where we spoke about how those workshops went , so I was very , very keen to get another date in the diary and I've now done so . It's going to be this April .
Places went on sale the time that we were recording this podcast , three days ago , and there are 12 places available and there's only one left , which is amazing . I can never thank people enough for putting their trust and their investment in me . It's always such a huge honor , because this isn't . You know that .
I'll be honest , this isn't a cheap thing and I want it to be . I want it to be a price point where it allows me to put in so much content and get you know the models . All that stuff make it all as good as it can be . The venue is incredible .
So , yeah , we're trying to put on everything to make these as good as they can be and I'm just very , very excited .
So , yeah , one place left and the group is really good and fortunate that a number of well , everybody's actually joined on so far is a member of my Patreon , because that's the only place I put the places you can really book on if you are a member of my Patreon .
And yeah , it's gone really , really well and I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone and you'll be there taking a leading role again .
Well , what can I say here ? To bring some pizzazz .
Exactly . So yeah , there's been a few tweaks that I'm going to do to the workshop . I won't get into all now , but yeah , that's what . That's been taking up a lot of my time over the past few days , but yeah , I'm really excited and thank you everyone if you are listening to this who has booked on .
I absolutely promise you that I will do all I can , and Helen will be , to deliver the best learning experience I can . I never take these things lightly . I'm always overwhelmed when people choose to book onto one of my workshops .
So I see it as a huge , huge responsibility really , and from now until April , I'm going to be putting things in place to make sure that it can be the best that it can be . So , yeah , very , very excited for that . That's going to be in April , oh what's in here , let it shine .
Thank you , beautiful .
I also wanted to , in the show notes , got a bit of an update here about the photography show , because people have been very , very keen . We've had people knocking down the door , sending an email , sending DMs . No one has done about . Have we got access to the photography show ?
Because in the last episode we were both refused but and they told us that we were not members of the photography trade .
So could not attend .
We're not 10 for free anyway .
No , it turns out dirty flash . It is not a trade show title .
Yeah , so I say it's I . I'm sorry to not answering all these hundreds of messages we've had about whether we'll be there . But , helen , to the , actually no one's asked . But anyway , to those that may be curious , are we able to go ? Have we managed to swing it round ?
We are going yeah , we put in another application , basically , and put the word photographer as our job title .
Oh , I feel so sad . All I know is , if you listen to the last podcast , I originally applied and my job title put the dirty flasher , which they approved , but then immediately revoked that because I have the original approved email , I will be able to print out a badge that does still say the dirty flasher .
So I'm going to go to the photography shop for talk . So I'm going to go to the photography show with my photographer boring badge and then I'm going to switch it on up as soon as I get inside .
Cool , good plan . So I will say if you are listening in the UK and you are interested in attending the photography show , when you put in your application , don't use a hilarious job title , as we did .
No , it's good for years , yeah , years , before we got away with it , but no more . They seem to have lost their sense of humor .
Yeah , anyway , helen , do we have any flash masses news ?
Flash masses news . We have huge news although , to be honest , if you are a flash masses member you will know by now because we haven't once again stuck to our once a week podcast . No .
So this big , huge news has been out for two weeks now , and we put it everywhere . So , unfortunately , if you've not seen it already , then actually , why you listen to this ? Probably not , so , yeah , anyway , what is the huge news that we've been putting out there for two weeks ?
We have a fantastic , incredible , superstar New ambassador , who is called Mr Jason Vinson .
Thank you so much , jason , for joining the flash masses team . We are truly honored to have someone of your skill , your magical abilities , joining the team . And yeah , it's a real honor . And it was amazing to have Jason on a live stream last week . I think I hosted that one and wow , I mean I already was aware of how talented Jason is .
I've been following for a long time and we also had that the fortunate opportunity where Jason took us both out and we were models for him last year . So we're very aware of Jason's work .
But when I was putting together first of all , like the social media announcements for us and just putting together a real and using his images , it was like , oh my , like this was I was in awe and I don't know what it is .
But when he came onto the live stream and again , thank you , jason for this , I know that you know the members loved it , but there's something about seeing behind the scenes and finding out how images were taken , which I actually think elevates them to a whole new level . Yeah , very much so , and that is exactly what it was like on Jason's stream .
Some of his shots when he explained it maybe think oh , that seems so easy , but yet it looks so stunning , which is testament , I think , to Jason's skill . But also some of his shots were so complex .
It's like his creative brain has come up with such trickery and even when he was breaking it down and showed behind the scenes images , I was still struggling to understand what he'd done .
So it was like wow , I just wish I had his brain out when I'm shooting , because the way he's problem solving and critiquing himself as he goes and sometimes he might see something in a shot which he wasn't expecting to see He'll go with it . He'll try and push that then . It was fascinating to have on the stream . So , yeah , I loved it .
And what I also was about that stream is that was our most viewed stream ever or to date .
Yeah , it was fantastic .
Yeah , so everybody loved it .
Yeah , I'm really pleased that we had lots of members on board for that one because it was absolutely incredible and like , yeah , genuine draw hitting the floor . What on earth ? Moments from there , like I said , just from the behind the scenes to the situations , to how his brain works and explaining the progress of an image , was just incredible to watch .
So , yeah , if any of our members didn't know who Jason was now , I'm sure he now has a huge new legion of fans . And don't forget anyone who is a Flash masters member who didn't see that . It is now live in the members area of the website under the video section .
Excellent . Do we have any other Flash masters news ? Helen , I'm thinking in particular livestream news .
Yes , we do . We have another livestream coming up . Of course , we've always got live streams . We've got a lot coming up .
We're not going to talk about them all . Just go to flashmastersco , look on the homepage . You'll see the list , but we just wanted to give the next one a shout out , because it will be out in just a few days .
Yes , we are joined by Moira la Plant , who's going to be taking us through finding your ideal clients and branding . And obviously we know Moira as an incredibly talented photographer . But she's not just that . She calls herself a Jane of all trades . But , yes , it sort of like oh , what do you say in America ? Like Super power , super power .
No , when you go to university and you study Specialism , here's a major . Her major is in marketing and things like that . That's where her whole background is , before becoming a photographer as well . So we're going to be delving into that genius marketing brain and she's going to be sharing as much as she knows on a live stream . So , yeah , very excited .
Yeah , and thank you in advance , borough , for that , and I think it's really important just to note there that not all our live streams certainly coming up are photography related . We're now putting on live streams that are all targeted to help you with your business in lots of different ways .
If you look at the live stream schedule we have in 2024 , you'll see that there are a lot of live streams already in the diary that are not non-photography , but they're not just how I shot it streamed . They are aimed to help you in all aspects of running a successful photography business .
And what better way to kick off those than with my talk about marketing and branding ? Because it is essential potentially , I would say , even more important than knowing how to use a camera knowing how to market yourself . Well , is huge .
Yeah , definitely , and I think you know , as on someone who has been taking on the mentoring clients , that is something we talk about quite in depth . And I think it's something we all need help with or could do with some more help and thought and not just something as well . This is something I want to go back to .
I did something very similar in terms of having a business coach at the start who was special you know , specialises in marketing and finding your ideal client and I did that right at the start of finding my business and I now know that sort of 10 years on , I need to completely redo that now .
So I think it's something , regardless of where you are in terms of your photography career whether you're new and starting out or someone who's very established it's always a really good thing to go back to and look through , because as we progress through our photography careers , we sometimes want different clients or we want to have more high end clients , or things
around us have changed in the way we want to market to people .
Well , just trying to find the right client for you now , like trying to find your people . Do you think I need a coach ?
Yeah , the card's fine for me . Most of the time I think , oh , I did still actually chuckle yeah .
No , that's . That's going to be a really , really interesting stream . I can't wait for that one that you're hosting , that one , so you are more of a stream . Buckle up everyone . Could be a long one .
No , not at all . I think we might just still both do it with some fizz .
So one of the things that we just mentioned is on our last live stream with Jason and again , thank you , Jason , Love that stream . We had more viewers than we ever have on one of our member live streams and one of the reasons for that not only because it was Jason , Vinson , but we also had a huge number of new members in January . So thank you everyone .
From Helen and I , a big welcome to the Flash Masters community . We are so proud to have you as a member and we're going to do all that and we'll do all we can to make sure that you get lots of value for in your membership . But most of those members , Helen , I'm saying like you don't know .
You already do know In terms of their niche they are based in the US and they are wedding photographers . So I thought , as a way of welcoming our transatlantic new friends from the Americas , all the way from the Americas , the people are listening for the first time . That's going to mean anything , but yeah , it's a podcast in joke .
I'm sure that will come up on the moral live stream .
Yes , we'll cover it again .
But I thought , as a way of welcoming our new members , we could maybe talk about some of the stranger traditions that we have at UK weddings , because they may not be aware and , to be honest , it was also just an idea of trying to put a subject in the title of the podcast , so I haven't been able to come up with these myself because I was too lazy .
But I did go on to the Huffington Post and found an article entitled 10 weird and wonderful ways UK weddings are different from US weddings .
So we literally just ripping off a Huffington Post article .
Yes , but you've not seen this article , so I'm going to read them out and just see what you think .
Yeah , because before we started saying howdy to our American cousins before we started , I was like are you going to share them ?
Neil was like no , I was well , that'd be rubbish if you already have read them . Ok so it's just see if you agree with them or not . We've got 10 here , OK let's see . Ok , so again , not my words , the words of Huffington Post . No , but I don't think it's in any particular order and I also don't think it's very specific to the UK . But never
¶ Unique Traditions in UK Weddings
mind . Number one , stormy Weather is a feature . Well he just say , rain in the UK is a given , and talented wedding photographers don't just deal with it , they celebrate it with artificial lighting , stormy skies and water reflections Poor word in here Make for spectacular fine art wedding photos .
Interesting . Well , it does rain a lot , but I wouldn't say the rain is a given . I think that's a little like A bit harsh . Yeah , a bit stereotypical Architect no .
Well , I mean , obviously our experience is very much in UK weddings . I can't read . I mean , I did photograph a wedding in Florida once , although I never did that immigration or listening , but I've not really got any experience of shooting in the US , so I don't know whether Stormy Feature is a weather is a .
So I don't know whether Stormy Weather is a feature of UK weddings more so than the US , I imagine .
You know we don't have hurricanes , typhoons , that's what I'm thinking they get I'm sure to get this one for all I know of what I know from speaking to our friends over in the US , I think they get much worse storms than we do . It might be , you know , drizzly and gray over here on the whole , but I don't think we have like great storms .
I've been to America twice and on the second time I had to survive Hurricane Irma . So while I don't know what that says maybe I was just unlucky but I'm pretty sure the Americas have worse storms than we do .
Yeah , I mean , I don't think this has been fact checked . But number two I have to go to bleep out the last word of this and I'm going to give you three guesses and I guarantee you will not get it . Oh OK , let's do it . So this is number two . They throw flower petals instead of . I think flower petals means basically confetti .
Yeah instead of they throw flower petals . Now I'm assuming Rice . No , oh , I'm assuming . In the US , people are probably shouting at their radios computers .
I pod , I pod . Have we come back 20 , 20 years ?
People are shouting out what this word is in the US , because I'm assuming it must be popular there . But no , you're not going to get it . Throwing shoes no , In the UK they throw flower petals instead of bird seed . Birdseed there you go . Birdseed is great , say the Huffins and Posts , but not nearly as pretty as flower petals .
Birdseed the birds might not help you clean up , but a shower of colour adds something truly special to your wedding photos .
Oh , I had no clue that throwing birdseed was even a thing .
I never heard of that . So there you go . If you're listening in the US and you're a fan of birdseed , we don't use that . No , never hear of it . That's how crazy we are . We throw flower petals , although usually it's just little bits of paper confetti .
Yeah , yeah , it's not often rose petals there you go .
I think we're all learning something here .
Birdseed Interesting .
Maybe to think of that Peter K joke and I want to know this about when he hears Duffy Mercy . Birdseed yeah what is it ? What is the actual song ?
You got me begging you for mercy .
Begging you for birdseed . Oh , there you go , I'm not really sure , gallip bread Right Number three , I don't know if anyone would have ever , because he had a feet of K ? No , no , they definitely haven't . Oh , dear Number three kilts are common . I think that's fair .
In the UK ?
Yes , UK weddings . That's what it's all about .
Well , consider , and I've done , probably you don't , it doesn't ?
have to just be a Scottish wedding , though , does it ?
Well , no , but I still . I think it's common . I think I've probably done about 600 weddings and I've probably had less than 10 wearing kilts .
It doesn't actually say common , it's just 10 weird and wonderful ways UK weddings are different .
Oh , OK then . So yeah , I think kilts are fairly common .
I would say one in four weddings will have a kilts just from a Scottish guest .
OK , a kilts ?
OK , yeah , so yeah , and I don't think the room is always true . I've seen examples where it is true . Oh , trust me .
I've seen some . I have some actual examples of the no underwear being very true .
The more exciting thing I find about kilts is not that , oh , they aren't they . It's that a company in them often is a knife on a sock .
A knife on the sock ?
Yes , you don't see a lot of kilts here in the US , but traditional Scottish tartans are a much more common sight in the UK . Let me just check this Scottish kilts .
They're for sparring the knife , oh , the knife in the sock , oh , of course . I thought , you said yeah , yeah , sorry , I was thinking rude things about . These are socks .
It's called a skiing dub . Open house ski and do . A skiing do is a ceremonial stabbing knife with a fixed blade . There you go A stabbing knife , that's one with a kilts . Yeah , oh , don't think I've ever said that in the podcast before .
Yeah , I wonder whether we're going to . If AI listens to this and be like no , they're inciting violence , we'll get rid of this podcast .
Yeah , if you are listening , mr Bort , I'm just talking about UK wedding traditions . Ok , number four this one is true , although I don't know if they've thrown the word London in here , not really sure why , but they hire London buses .
We do love a bus and it made me think I wonder in US weddings , how do guests get around , because they don't have the big red buses that we have ?
They've got yellow school buses . I'm not sure if they use for transportation , though .
But yes . So when you had to get an entire wedding party from point A to point B , what better mode of transportation than the iconic London bus ?
Yeah , I've definitely had those outside of London .
Yeah , it is a very common thing and it is always to do with just moving guests around , and oftentimes what makes it very tricky for us is couples would like a photograph as I would . I get it of people on the bus and it makes it mean what do we do with our cars ? It's a bit faffy , but yeah , that is true , we do often have buses .
I'm going to say one in three weddings will have some sort of bus if it's in two different different , maybe not one in three , one in one in four .
Yeah , it is quite popular , especially if you go in between church and a venue so that people don't have to drive . I'm wondering what the we don't know that .
Yeah , we don't know .
Someone tell us how do you transport , you know , 60 , 70 guests in America , please .
Who knows it's ?
probably still a bus .
Number five and the silver sixth-pence in her shoe . Something old , something new , something borrowed , something blue is familiar , but did you know there's more ? The poem goes on and the silver sixth-pence for her shoe . It's tradition that dates back to the 16th century .
The coin placed in the bride's left shoe was part of the dowry and considered good luck for the new couple . There you go . That is a very , very common thing actually . Yeah , except when you've got the boutons . I know that they don't have them .
No , they don't . But there is a particular shoe designer , Charlotte Mills , and in some of her shoes they have them built into the soul , Because really walking around with a coin in your shoe isn't very comfortable .
Yeah , there's that little gas put out .
Yeah , they actually have some with the sixth-pence sort of built in , so it's all done and they .
Excellent Shout out to Charlotte Mills . Charlotte Mills , I think .
Maybe I should have fact-checked that too , but I don't . I've lost a lot of it .
I think I may be am wrong , but I'm thinking most of these will be traditions in the US as well . But there you go .
So this could be like welcome .
American Well again .
Let us tell you some really random things that you also have at weddings .
Yes , but this is not my words . This is the words of Hoffinson Post Right . Ok , so I am immune to the backlash that may happen .
And also their amazing journalism .
Exactly Number six . They as in
¶ UK Wedding Traditions and Preferences
. We take sweets very seriously and that I would agree with . Again , I would have thought it was a worldwide wedding tradition , but we have sweetie tables at most of our weddings . The Hoffinson Post goes on to say we may share a love for high , we may share a love for sky-high wedding cakes , but UK weddings often go .
But UK weddings often go above and beyond by featuring a table laden with desserts of all kinds , baked goods , jars of candy and even ice cream carts are common .
Baked goods . Baked goods , I don't know , I don't know Greg's would be good , Peter Kay and Greg's .
this is very northern centric .
It is .
Yeah , Well I , we do have sweetie carts . We do and they do often help photographers going . I think through those .
Those long hours ? What would you usually steal from a sweetie cart ? What do you go for ? The sugary cola bottle ?
Oh , it makes my . Even now my mouth is watering . Oh yeah , I should cola bottle with sugar on it .
Oh , right , yeah , what would you go to it ?
would not be that paper .
Flying saucers . Oh , it's horrible . Oh , I agree Like .
This paper .
Yeah , I don't understand how people eat flying saucers Absolutely disgusting .
I'm a big fan of the long worm and the sweets . No , the long worm thing I I'm a fan of .
The long worm .
Yeah , what's your favourite . You know which one ? I mean A snake .
Right , okay , I really like black jacks because I really like the taste of licorice .
Also got paper on it bit fiddly .
I also like . They're also very cheap and probably not great quality , but I really enjoy . Like the rainbow chocolates . It's white chocolate and it's got like different coloured , like sprinkles on top .
Oh yeah , it's like very light . It's not chocolate as such , I'm thinking .
It is , I'm thinking , a rainbow drop . Yeah , rainbow drops , no , but is that ?
made out of like little papery type .
Oh no , not those , no , no .
Yeah .
No . Oh yeah . Rainbow drops yeah , that's totally different . Rainbow drops no , they're the same as flying saucers . They should never have been invented . Whoever likes them , you're just weird Like it's eating paper .
Exactly , exactly . But yeah , I agree , I think this chart is actually , I think this chart is actually cola bottles , proving the fact that we do take sweets very seriously .
Yeah , and I'm not really a massive sweet person , but I will agree that a fizzy cola bottle is a very good choice . Oh , cherries , fizzy cherries , oh , anything that's like .
Tangfastic like Harry Bowls Tangfastics . Yeah , that is true , Harry Bowls is a great shout .
Yeah , yeah , definitely the Tangfastic version .
Like Willie , I prefer chocolate , like Willy .
You like Willy ?
Yeah , I'm like Willy Wonka , I like chocolate . Number seven hats are really a thing . It's not just royal weddings . Guests in glorious hats are found at many UK weddings . When you're getting married at a castle , it's probably best to go all out . There you go .
I'm just going to ask if you've ever wore a hat but I don't think it counts for you I wear my flat cap , although not a wedding .
No , I have shot the odd top hat wedding , but they're very rarely worn . Men just seem to hold them underneath their arms and I've only shot . I'm going to say five or less in 15 years .
Yeah , I think they're an absolute waste of time , though , obviously , women wearing hats is very common , but I'm sure that's transatlantic . I don't know I get from that statement . Shouldn't have done more research , didn't we ?
Yeah , but this bumper episode of welcoming our American cousins . She's a bit slapdash .
Yeah , I think we're just looking a little bit ignorant and unknowledgeable , to be honest .
We're there , everyone . Don't worry to pay more for us , as it is for you .
Quite a few ladies wear hats , usually mothers of the bride and groom . But I wouldn't really say beyond that there's that many hats .
Would you say , helen , hats are really a thing .
No , I would say the fascinators , possibly other types of smaller heads Fascinating .
Yeah , yeah , who knows ? But ?
a full on hat , not that many , and when you get them it's like , especially for family formals , it's a nightmare because then their face is darker . Anyway , I'm not a fan .
If you do want to wear a hat , I would recommend a flashmasses beanie . There you go , Okay . Number eight grooms are not afraid of color Silence . Whilst most US grooms don't predictively black , gray or white tuxes and limit color choices to complimentary cumberbunds and ties , UK grooms often opt for blues , greens , browns and the occasional tartan .
I think I would agree with that . A lot of tweed recently as well , particularly in winter time .
Yes , I like a light tweed .
Yeah , I enjoy a tweed . Enjoy a tweed . Yeah , I think I would agree with that . The original statement was like pardon , but I'm not sure in terms of comparisons , like the ratio of black tie weddings with the tuxedos , because I would say that probably a quarter or less of my weddings would be a tuxedo wedding .
I do love a black tie but , yeah , I do think .
I think a blue suit is very common .
A couple of years ago . I'm not sure if it's as common right now in 2024 . But yeah , I'd say two or three years ago then a navy blue had been very common . I haven't looked into the trends for 2024 in the UK , but yeah , I certainly think that we I've had like burgundy suits , like a deep maroon red previously and , yeah , lots of different tweeds .
That brings in greens and browns .
So Right , let's move on . This is boring me now , Okay two more to go .
Two more , come on . We can get three of us together .
We're holding our hand across the Atlantic .
¶ UK Weddings
Number nine they as in we take our heritage on the road .
A .
When this British couple decided on an island destination wedding in the Dominican Republic , they took their heritage with them . Did I mention that UK men don't shy away from colour they mentioned the photographer . Gaston Garcia sent me this wonderful shot of Union Jack shoes from a British wedding ceremony .
Oh .
So in other words , if UK people get married abroad , they will take their traditions with them . I don't know . That's very like . I think they're struggling for 10 . And they've just literally decided on anything .
Isn't this number nine ?
Oh , that was yeah , that's what I mean , but they struggled for nine .
Oh , they struggled for 10 . So Union Jack shoes . They should be thrown in the pool , my advice .
I've been supposed just to do a top five . It's just a click baiting and you don't have to include things like they take their heritage on the road . And we've got one more to go . Do you want to guess what it could be ?
Um Toastmasters .
No , well , that will be better . It should include Toastmasters . That's a great shout . Thank you they should include what Drew Dodd told us about , which was a chimney sweep , yes , which is a bizarre tradition . I mean really bizarre . So we've got there you go . Huffington Post .
You can update this article with those two , but number 10 , according to the Huffington Post , is they as in we book Epic in italics venues .
Oh well , I will agree there . You know we do talk quite frequently to uh , my real plan to do in our next live stream and my real likes to tell us about her local castle , which I think has been built like in the last 30 years or so .
We do love a castle .
Yeah , we do have castles and we do have a lot of historic buildings to choose from , so I would agree with that there .
Ah , but historic does not equal Epic . Oh , how many venues would you say have ? Every 10 weddings you shoot ? How many would you re-describe as Epic , whatever that means ? Oh , Depends , doesn't it ?
Because we could be looking at what some people describe as an Epic venue and because we're so used to it , we don't see it as that , Whereas it may be someone else who's never shot , maybe in this country before we do . Like you say , we have a lot of old buildings , often very cold , but we do have these big buildings that other people would propose .
They'd say , oh wow , that's amazing , we just see them more . So we're not maybe quite as taken by them .
No .
I would say one in every , one in every three or four . No , actually , that's no .
I don't even know how you'd even come up with a figure for that .
I just know that if I was going to maybe shoot a wedding in warmer climbs , you know , or in the US , the whole thing would be epic .
Yeah .
Wherever it is , because it's just so different . So oftentimes I think we just get attracted to difference .
Yeah , 100% yeah .
So there we go . That is the rundown of the 10 weird and wonderful ways that UK weddings are different from US weddings . And that again is to welcome all of our new members who are waiting for photographers in the US . You look a little bit barra-telling .
And they're now like what on earth have I joined ? I've paid these two money . So yeah , guys , that was . Yeah , apologies , we have scraped the barrel there , but let's just blame Huffington Post .
But don't worry , to our all our new members , you have lots and lots of things to go at now because , if you've not done so already , if you have a look in our FlashMasters member zone , in particular the video section , there are now I don't know the number , we should really work this out maybe 30 live streams in there that you can watch back .
All the ones we've done so far . They will total well , well over 50 hours . Now we have a full schedule coming up .
Remember , if you are a member , please make sure you join the private members Facebook group , because that is where all the live streams take place when they are actually live , and that means if you join them live , you can obviously get involved , you can ask your questions and what I'm loving about the live streams it's always been the case , but it's more and
more so now . It's just not only how many viewers we're now getting . As mentioned , we've now hit and I should say the stream before Jason , which was Ralph Cigarlic . He had also hit a previous high . So each stream is getting more and more people . But I just like seeing how well everybody gets on , like with the Ben Connery live stream .
We've spoken about that as well . He's editing master class stream . That was brilliant as well . I shouldn't laugh . It was brilliant . It was brilliant . But , yeah , we had a few technical issues , which makes it actually very memorable and funny , but that was amazing . And again , the banter , the laugh everyone was having on the live streams .
It's just really nice to see . So , yeah , if you have joined and you're not a member of the Facebook group , please , please , make sure you join , because that is where a lot of the good stuff happens .
That's where all the fun is .
Exactly , yeah , yeah , not on this podcast . No , Anyway , on that bombshell , I think we'll finish the podcast there , but thank you very much for listening . As always , if you would like to join us in the Flashmasters members , as always , if you would like to join us in the Flashmasters community , you can do so at flashmastersco .
So , as always , thank you very , very much for listening . Alan , you look a bit embarrassed again , honestly .
You've only got to say one more sentence , are you ?
done . So yeah , if you would like to join us , you can do talk flashmastersco . Thank you very much again for listening and we will speak to you in the next one .
And don't forget to keep flashing and listening to this podcast . I swear it gets better .
See you soon . Everyone Bye .