The past week has been madness, as we all rushed around preparing our studios and the house for the big launch do on 7th Feb.  It's preoccupied us all for the last month and the changes here have been incredible.  Superhuman efforts from all involved meant that everything was presented to utter perfection when at last, we were able to open our doors to all you eager folks keen to have a look-see and explore Princes House Cornwall.

Preparations were taking place right up until the last minute including the delivery of a fabulously luxurious sofa, curtain and dressing screen for our lobby area, styled and kindly provided by Debbie of Interior Dynamics.  It adds real panache to the hallway and is dead comfy as many guests discovered at the party later...

The day began for us with the Town Crier (Mr John Sweetman) travelling valiantly in the cold around Truro and calling all who heard him to come to the party that evening.  Holly followed and tweeted and videoed the whole affair.

Back in the day when a wedding was to be held, and they were much bigger community affairs than they are now, guests were invited in exactly this same way - with everyone within earshot being taken as invited to the ceremony.

We felt it was only fitting therefore to spread the word in this way and it certainly went down well when our Town Crier generously returned to hold the door for our many guests.

Speaking of which we had some 500 guests, yes that's right FIVE HUNDRED people came to see us.  Wow.  We are all totally blown away by the support you all showed us and the positive things that were said by many in reference to the Collective, the building, and the talented business who reside here.

Those who came were treated to a glass of bubbles supplied by the Truro based winery - Old Chapel Cellars or for the more robust among them, a pint of Cornwall's finest courtesy of Skinners Brewery just round the corner in Newham.  Massive thanks to them both for supporting us on our opening day.

Keith Kneebone, a professional Master of Ceremonies welcomed guests and made introductions before the lovely Daphne Skinnard, Deputy Editor of BBC Radio Cornwall (and newly made Deputy Lieutenant of Cornwall to-boot) kindly joined us to say a few words and introduce all the businesses to the guests on the night. You can see how crowded it was with people unable to move on the stairs or landings and backed up into all studios off the ground and first floors...   

Then the Mayor of Truro, Councillor Ms Lindsay Southcombe, officially cut the ribbon and everyone was free to explore the building and the hidden gems inside each inspiring studio.

Local boy Tom Cary an acclaimed singer / sonwriter played throughout the night adding some real atmosphere to proceedings which was appreciated by all, we are thankful and lucky to have had him to join us!

All in all it was a truly fabulous evening, one we will never forget and the best possible start to this exciting enterprise of which we are all so proud to be a part.  

On behalf of the Collective we'd like to publicly thank everyone who contributed to our evening including our guests for turning out, being interested and helping to really make the party happen!  We look forward to welcoming you into Princes House again soon.

On Thursday this week we'll announce the winner of our prize draw - entries close at midnight on Wednesday 13th so if you weren't able to make the launch do pop by and pick up a form - they're in the lobby and the building is now open every day from 9:30 - 5:30 for you to wander around and meet the suppliers!

Did you make the launch evening?  What did you think?

Just look at these beautiful big prints that Simon Burt took in our photo shoot adorning the walls of this incredible building... don't they look like they were simply meant to be there?

This is one tiny peek at the many faceted transformation of Princes House as the collective all work together to re-invigorate the building ready for the big launch party on Thursday night.

You currently can't move in the marble floored main hallway for boxes ... Capella's salon furniture was all delivered today, and boy is it luxurious and totally perfect for Sarah's transformation to the downstairs salon.  Such a dreamy environment in which to pamper and prettify for your special occasion, or just well - because!

Are YOU coming to the launch event?  What's this I hear, why not?  You're invited!

Just rsvp by emailing [email protected] or filling out the form here - and while you're doing that, we'll put the bubbles on chill :-)

See you on Thursday 7th Feb 6-8pm

Excuse us while we squeal with excitement but did you know two weeks from today Princes House will throw open its doors to everyone for an exclusive launch event?

There's a fabulous draw with some incredible prizes on offer from members of the collective -  behind the scenes peeks into all these gloriously creative studio spaces and a chance to meet the faces behind the business.  And all that with a glass of bubbles to send you on your way!

To RSVP simply fill in the form on the page here, or email us at [email protected]

How could you resist...?!

It has been a whirlwind start to 2013! If I thought that I was going to be nicely eased back in to work after my two week break over Christmas I was very wrong!

My regular clients have been keeping me busy and a couple of new customers have ‘come on board’.

Superfast Cornwall are busy bringing faster internet to the county and the other day I went to Zelah near Truro to photograph BT Openreach Engineers cheerfully disappearing in to holes in the ground  to replace the aging cables.

If you would like to find out when you can expect to have Superfast Broadband check this site http://www.superfastcornwall.org/line-checker.html

Fifteen Cornwall are having a major refit at the moment, re-opening on the 11th February. As part of their marketing campaign we have been working on a series of adverts. One has already featured on this blog and we have shot a couple since then including this one. They say never work with children and animals but this bunch of mini chefs behaved impeccably . I can’t wait to see what http://wearesuperfantastic.com/ do with the pictures!

While I was at the restaurant I took the opportunity to update their sommelier Gordie’s publicity pictures. Hope you like this one! www.fifteencornwall.co.uk/

Lillicrap Chilcott were the first to use my new studio. Their three new recruits came in to Princes House for their Corporate Portraits. It was good to see my clients making use of the new facility which is very handy for Truro businesses and if you’re coming in from out of town there are plenty of conveniently situated car parks to choose from. www.waterfrontandcountryhomes.com/

I’ve been working with two hotels this month. The Alverton in Truro which is under new ownership is having a massive makeover courtesy of the brilliant team at www.designbyfriends.co.uk

The work is well underway and their new website is just about finished thealverton.co.uk

I’ve also been spending lots of time at The Tregenna Castle Hotel, St Ives where I’ve been shooting refurbished bedrooms and some of the 70 luxury cottages and apartments. The main bulk of the work is nearly finished with just the occasional seasonal update to do. The website is under construction by the wonderful www.creativenetwork.co.uk

It’s not hard to see why the hotel won Best Kept Secret 2012 for ‘Best View’.

I had a blast from the past the other day when The Times Picture Desk called me to shoot a feature on tea at Tregothnan near Truro. I’m more used to working in the Commercial Photography world these days! It was a pleasure to with Abby their Marketing Exec who modelled beautifully and Commercial Director Jonathan Jones who also modelled for me!

The feature was about fighting back against the proliferation of coffee houses which seem to be taking over the world!

Although Tregothnan only produces 10 tonnes of tea, its quality has attracted so much attention that almost half of it is exported to areas including India and China – the centre of production of the world’s tea. That’s quite a boast! tregothnan.co.uk

There have been other jobs this month, too many to mention them all here and a couple which haven’t been published yet so check back in the next few weeks.

Finally the project that has been taking most of my evenings and weekends since last September…..Princes House, Truro where I have my studio and office. I’m proud to share this fabulous building with an incredible group of Cornwalls finest. Check out the website and if you can make it to our launch on the evening of 7th Feb we will be very pleased to see you. www.princeshousecornwall.com

Wowsers - after nearly 6 months of talking,  planning,  painting,  moving, shooting, planning a bit more, tweeting and rennovating we are delighted to announce that Princes House formally opens its doors to the public on Feb 7th at 6pm. 

Its all still in development but we can tell you it's going to be a very swish event, in the luscious surroundings of this beautiful Georgian mansion house, and we are SOOOO excited to share it with all you festive newly-engageds (not to mention soon-to-be engageds as valentines day is just round the corner!) If you're already married you're also welcome to come and join the celebrations - as we offer a host of services designed to show you off at your very best year round and not just for the Bridal market.

Keep checking back here for up to date news on the launch, details of the special prizes on offer, and don't forget you can register for an invite by clicking here or emailing [email protected]

Don't forget you can also follow our progress and get behind the scenes peeks inside the beautiful studios by following us on Facebook or Twitter.