Sussex Weddings: Elegant Stationery

As a wedding photography shooting all around the country, i get to see first hand the work of all types of wedding suppliers.I also get to meet many folks close up and see how they really operate and how they are as real people.

Over the years this has enabled me to build up a great network of allied wedding traders who i am happy to recommend to my clients
without hesitation due to the quality of their work and customer service.

I am running a serious of features on my Blog about this wonderful group of people and the latest one i am want to feature is the very lovely and extremely talented Joanne of Elegant Stationary.

I caught up with her for a brief chat.

1: How did you get into being a high end wedding stationer?

I have always been creative, I studied Art and worked as a window dresser for a high end store for a few years too. My friend was getting married a few years ago and mentioned how expensive wedding stationery was; I just made a comment that I could do better; so she set me a task ! At that wedding alone I was offered two more bookings. One of them was for Roof Gardens in Kensington and then they called me and asked if I could supply their venue stationery on an on-going basis. So I made a decision to work full time making stationery...and I have never looked back...and Roof Gardens is still a client of mine.

2: What would you say makes your work stand out or is your unique selling point?

Firstly we are a small company, not a large corporate so attention to detail and overall service is very important. We work 7 days a week and long days, so our clients can contact us at anytime through email, phone or facebook and we will respond! Clients are treated as individuals and every wedding or function, no matter how small or large is treated with the same high service.
We work on a bespoke basis, so can create something each client wants, perhaps to flow a theme and a colour scheme throughout. We do not "pigeon hole" stationery into ranges....we make stationery to match each clients requirements and desires and listen to any ideas they already have. Also clients do not need to order a full stationery package, if they just want place cards and a seating plan..that is no problem whatsoever.We spend hours and hours searching the best quality materials (and have wasted loads of money in the process!!). We try to buy as much from the UK as we can, but also import from Italy, Canada and USA. We also have a full showroom near Haywards Heath, West Sussex which enables clients to book an appointment and come and see stationery and all the accessories (we do evening and weekend appointments).
There they can lots of ideas and hopefully inspire them too. They can feel the materials and also have my full attention so we can have a really good chat !

Being bespoke we can also work to budgets without compromising on quality.

3: Are you happy to take on board a client's ideas to produce something unique and individual to their wedding?

Of course we are...the joy of bespoke stationery !:

What areas do you cover?

We cover everywhere as stationery pieces can be made up, photographed and scanned through if necessary.
However, most of our clients are from West Sussex, Surrey, Kent, Hampshire and London.

To view Joanne's website please click here.

Sussex Weddings: Leo Ferenc of Perfect Day Studios REVISITED

Sussex Weddings: Images Updated on Website

I have spent the best part of the day working on uploading fresh images to my website.

A few oldies have been removed and in the region of 40 new ones added to Galleries 1 and 2. This is only the beginning as i am working a complete revamp of my wedding site but its just finding the time!

To view the new images please go to click here and select Weddings and then Galleries.

If you read this blog regularly you will recognise some of these images but with the possibilities now opened up with my new toy, i wanted to get these images in front of as many clients as possible.

Sussex Commercial Photography: Harley-Davidson Back Covers

It has just been drawn to my attention that the images we shot for Shaw Harley-Davidson have been featured as full page back cover adverts for their award winning custom work in HOG Magazine.

Together with my good friend Phil, we were commissioned to shoot over 20 custom Hogs for the multi award winning dealership as they launched the Shaw Speed and Custom arm of their official H-D dealership.

As part of the project i also photographed the interior of the new custom meeting area for their VIP clients. This featured 2 metre high images from our earlier shoots.

You can view the Custom lounge images here.

To view my dealership shots click here.

Finally, to view the full page ads in HOG Magazine please click on each link and select the "LAST" button at the bottom of the page.

Spring 2010 issue

Summer 2010 issue

Autumn 2010 issue.

Finally to view my Commissions website please click here.

Webinar: in case you missed it in the Christmas madness

A few weeks ago i was honoured to be asked to give a Webinar for fellow professional photographers about my approach to covering winter weddings by my good friend Oz who runs the SF Photo School. Please excuse my cold.

It was in two parts so i thought i would share it hear again for those who may have missed it in the pre-Christmas madness.

Part 1:




Part 2:



If you have any questions or want to know more about my workshops and 1-2-1 training, please email me on info@peterprior.com

Stephen Hall: Toastmaster

Booking a Toastmaster is often something a couple overlook. However, if you get a good one, it could be the best investment you will make.

Stephen Hall is an excellent Toastmaster and a past President of the Guild of London Toastmasters. I have been fortunate to work with him over many years and we have probably covered in excess of 40 weddings together withouot a hitch.



Stephen is always calm, professional and a delight to work with. His manner really takes the pressure off the couples, venue and of course the photographer!

I caught up with him at a recent wedding and with this article in mind i asked him how he got started.


I fell into toastmastering by mistake after a chance conversation with a bride to be’s mother in 1989. Then i went on a course with the London Guild of Toastmasters and then worked at Ashdown Park at the opening wedding in March 1994

I went on to ask what areas of the country he works in and has he been booked by anyone famous.

I have worked all over the country (Middlesborough to Exeter) and the usual saying for a toastmaster is ‘have gavel will travel’. I have also worked with many household names most recently HRH The Princess Royal, Brian Blessed, Andrew Marr, Rich Hall to name but a few.

Stephen in action at Ashdown Park Hotel, East Sussex



How do you find the profession after all these years?

I still enjoying weddings after probably 1500 since starting work. Everyone is different and everyone is enjoyable.

To discover more about Stephen, please click here to view his website.

Sussex Wedding Fairs: The Powdermills Hotel this Sunday

Just thought i would mention that we will be attending the Powdermills Hotel Wedding Fair this Sunday, 23rd January. The door open are open 10am-4pm and entrance is free.

This will be a great opportunity to come and meet me us in person and take a look through my wide range of beautiful hand made wedding albums and catch up with other suppliers who will be present on the day.

For us the day is all about meeting people and helping them to make the right decision about their wedding photography. so please come and say "Hi".