THE BEST WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER IN THE WEST MIDLANDS...
I don't think it's actually sunk in yet!
Back in September I had an email from The Wedding Industry Awards informing me that I had been nominated in the Wedding Photographer of The Year category for the West Midlands region by one of our brides from earlier this year - the lovely Laura, who got married at Pimhill Barn in Shrewsbury, Shropshire. YAY!!!! As a result we decided to enter. Prior to Laura & Greg's wedding, we had worked with Laura on a number of occasions as she is a very talented makeup artist and owns Studio Beau based in Bridgnorth, Shropshire. It was an absolute honour and pleasure to capture Laura & Greg's wedding.
The voting stage then commenced whereby couples who got married during the qualifying period had the opportunity to vote and score us on various aspects of the service they received.
On the 30th October I received the amazing news that we had been shortlisted as a Regional Finalist!!!! This was followed by a happy dance! :) This is the first time we have entered the awards, and we were over the moon to have been shortlisted as a finalist in the category of Best Wedding Photographer in the West Midlands region.
FAST FORWARD TO THIS WEEK...
Well, what a week it's been!
I'm now back in the office after THE MOST amazing 7 days, which started on Friday with Melissa + Max's awesome wedding at The Hundred House Hotel. We then exhibited at THE BEST wedding fair for alternative weddings aka The Eclectic Wedding Extravaganza at The Bond Company in Birmingham on Saturday and Sunday...and then on Sunday night I travelled down to London for the NineDots Gathering...a 3 day gathering of the most amazingly talented wedding photographers from around the world (there was even a photographer there from Australia!!!!)
The Wedding Industry Awards Ceremony for the West Midlands region was held on Monday evening at the amazing Fazeley Events venue in Birmingham, and I was disappointed that I could not attend as I was at NineDots. Well...on Monday evening I received two Facebook messages around the same time. One from Gemma, from The Hundred House Hotel, and the other from Amanda, from Shropshire Farm & Festival Weddings, informing me that we had won! Well, I was in shock...in fact I still am! By the way...huge congratulations to Gemma and Amanda and their colleagues for winning their categories too!
We would like to say a massive THANK YOU again to all of the couples, not just the ones over the last 12 months who were eligible to vote for us, but to EVERYONE who has trusted us to capture their weddings over the years. It's all down to YOU! Without awesome people like you we would not be able to do what we LOVE...and believe me, we LOVE our job!
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!
I would like to say a MASSIVE thank you to Leanne, my wife. Although the business name is Andy Li Photography, without Leanne the business would not be the success that it is. She not only helps me out during the wedding day itself, but works tirelessly behind the scenes in between the school runs. Oh, and she's also pretty good with a camera now and creates the Highlights Films for our couples. Also a MASSIVE thank you to Pat & Gary (Leanne's mum & dad) who have been so so supportive over the years. Not only do they look after our two beautiful girls when Leanne and I are weddinging, they transformed our studio when we first took over the lease, and can often be found doing jobs around our house, eg. mowing the lawn, when we're at a wedding! Every wedding photographer needs a Pat & Gary in their lives!
Well...The Wedding Industry Awards National Final event is in London in January (wish us luck!). We are so happy to have got this far and to even be in the same room as so many amazingly talented people in the industry will be a massive honour!
Thanks again to Laura for nominating us, and also a HUGE congratulations to her and Grace at Studio Beau who won the award for Highly Commended in the Makeup Artistry category in the West Midlands region! x
Here are some of our favourite moments of our lovely couples who voted for us...
