The Perfect Mother’s Day Present from Mandy Charlton

‘In our house, Mother’s Day is every day. Father’s Day, too. In our house, parents count. They do important work and that work matters. One day just doesn’t cut for us’ – Margaret Heffernan

I know a lot of people poo-poo the idea of ‘hallmark holidays’ like Valentines Day or Mother’s/Father’s Day, and they’re right, you should tell the people you love how much they mean to you every day, but we don’t do we? Because life gets in the way or we just assume they already know. So I think there’s no harm in having a day to remind you to be thankful for though special people in your life.

This time next week is Mother’s Day and the problem for me has always been what to get as a present. Quite simply, what do you get the woman who has everything?

I don’t know about you but we’re the type of family that loves taking a photo (the women of the family are particular camera hams), the problem is, most of the pictures we take together are either selfies, or someone is missing because they’re the ones taking the picture. So for my mum’s 60th Birthday in January we decided to ask my blogging friend and all round amazing human Mandy to take a few snaps of us altogether to commemorate such a special birthday and have some nice shots to go on the mantelpiece.

The original plan was to all go down to Saltwell Park and get photographed frolicking among the trees and the leaves but the good old North East weather had other ideas and the rain, sleet and snow meant that we had to relocate to the warmth and dryness of our conservatory.

The whole experience was, above everything else great fun. It can sometimes feel a bit awkward or forced having your picture taken by a professional, and the fact we’d had to relocate home did mean the pictures would end up being a tad formal but Mandy was great fun and made us all feel, well at home really. She worked with us to get the shots we wanted as well as suggesting things we wouldn’t have thought of, like getting pictures with prosecco and the Krispy Kreme donuts involved – which sums our family up perfectly really!

In the short space of just over an hour Mandy had gotten some brilliant shots, I suppose it helps when she has such a good looking family to work with, fnar fnar! I love that we got good pics with every combination of family relation. The only shame was that my nephew Robin wasn’t able to come as he was had to stay at uni that weekend – we’ll have to arrange something again in the summer when he’s home. As the present was for mum it was most important that she got in every picture, and Mandy made her feel like the star of the show throughout.

We even managed to get out in the garden for 10 minutes in between snow showers to get some lovely couples shots:

Mum really loved the whole experience and we now have some lovely current pictures that can proudly put on display rather than old school pictures or selfies! She said of the experience:

It was something very different and a lovely surprise.  Mandy made us all feel very comfortable and at ease (despite a last minute change of venue because of the weather), and this is reflected in the quality of the photos.  A lovely family reminder of a milestone birthday.

So if you’re looking for something different for your mum this Mother’s Day, I can’t recommend Mandy highly enough. After all, if she can make me look thin and pretty, she’s nothing short of a modern miracle worker – it will be money well spent I promise 😉

Check out more of her work at Mandy Charlton Photography or follow her on social media here:

Blog: http://www.mandycharltonphotographyblog.com
Facebook: Mandy Charlton Photography
Twitter: @MandyCharlton