We were lucky to get some nice lovely weather for the Wedding of Chantelle and Brad, which was held in Kings Park, Western Australia’s iconic urban park and ranked one of the largest urban parks in the world. Brad and the Gents prepared themselves for the day at Quest just below Kings park, while Chantelle and the Ladies prepared themselves for the day in Brad and Chantelle’s home. After a beautiful midday ceremony at the Marlee Pavillion in Kings park, the Bridal and families got together at Chantelle’s parents home for some traditional Italian food and some photo’s with absent family members. The Bridal photo location started at Yellagonga National park/Cockman House, which was followed by a series at The Blue Boatshed following some fun wedding day portraits opposite the Old brewery. The reception was a lavish affair held at Fraser’s Restaurant in Kings Park.
Traveling from Australia to photograph the California Wedding of Michael and Alex
In July, we were privileged to travel to the USA to photograph the California Wedding of Michael and Alex. So we have an Australian photographing the California wedding of a young beautiful couple who are studying and living in Utah. What an amazing day this was and the Wedding album has a unique blend to it.
The first look
A few days before the Wedding ceremony, we decided to do a “first look’ preview session. The first look can be very special. It is when the Bride and Groom meet privately before their actual ceremony. On this occasion, the groom Michael covered his eyes in an apple orchard in Vacaville, California. The Bride Alex gently tip-toed down to Michael and when the time was right tapped him on the shoulder and had him spin around to see his Bride to be in all her glory for the first time.
Shooting a California Wedding
This is the first time that I had photographed a California Wedding. And after 1 month of traveling in the United States, there were a couple of things that I noticed. The first thing is that the light in a Californian summer stays up really late. This means that golden hour was around 8pm. The other thing I noticed with the light is that there isn’t many sunrises due to the fog. It would get light early but would be overcast until 11am. When shooting a California wedding it’s important to also allow adequate time for the photographs and allow for all the factors.
Travel time for a California Wedding
One of the biggest factors in photographing a California Wedding is travel time. This is largely affected by the huge amount of traffic. Michael and Alex stay with their family in Vacaville, California. They were married in the Oakland LDS temple. Travel time to the temple was about an hour and a half and that was in normal traffic. Any hitches in the traffic flow could add a very lengthy delay to the travel time. As the reception was back in Vacaville, it meant that we were in the car no less than 3 hours on the Wedding day. This was one of the reasons we did a “first look” preview session and Bridal shoot on a separate day.
The stunning Oakland temple – California Wedding
Michael and Alex walking in a open field in Vacaville California
Groom prepare wedding rings for the Wedding ceremony
Michael and Alex – the first look
Bridal couple in the sunflowers
Wedding photos at the Oakland LDS temple in the evening
I love photographing weddings in cooler weather and with a hint of rain around. Even though most brides would probably freak out that there is a chance of Wedding day rain. Can you imagine a Bride walking down the wedding aisle in her beautiful white wedding gown and the heavens open and rain pours down? And the groomsmen standing in line waiting for the bride to finally hop out of the car with water dripping all over them.
Nicole and Scott were a little bit different. It was obvious that they were in love and of course a little bit excited for their wedding day, and as the clouds hovered around and a few drops fell from the sky, I could tell that nothing was going to bother them at all.
In fact, this beautiful wedding couple actually was quite happy for a few drops to be falling from the sky. It had a very personal and sentimental meaning to them.
Wedding Ceremony
The wedding location was the Gosnells civic gardens. Nicole walked down the aisle to Scott and his entourage of groomsmen waiting excitedly for the moment in which they would exchange vows and rings and become husband and wife.
There are lots of things I like about this couple. They are kind and fun, they have unique personalities and styles and they have a great love for each other and their family. You could tell from the guests reaction, how much this wedding couple is loved.
Wedding reception
The wedding reception was held back at their family home less than 1km from where the ceremony was held. There was nothing fake about the reception. People genuinely enjoyed being there and mingled freely. Nicole and Scott made sure that their personal touch was evident. Decorations were simple yet lovely and after some cheeky and emotionally speeches, friends and family of the bride and groom cranked up the BBQ’s to get the party really started.
For all those prospective brides and grooms and those who see a hint of Wedding day rain, what do you do? My advice is to follow the lead from this wonderful couple and go out and enjoy yourself and embrace the moment. If you do you will have a wonderful wedding celebration just like Nicole and Scott did.
Scott & Nicole’s Wedding day at the Gosnells civic gardens
This Wedding album is the story of two very wonderful people. Vanessa is Filipino and Aaron is Samoan. She is Catholic and he is Mormon. Luckily they have a love of travelling in common. They are currently on their honeymoon, travelling through the Caribean and USA. When they return they will get to relive their amazing wedding day.
The 8th of April was a beautiful Autumn Friday in Melbourne. Aaron and his groomsmen prepared themselves for the Wedding at Hoppers Crossing while 10 minutes away Vanessa and her bridesmaids and her family were getting themselves ready for this momentous occasion.
The ceremony was in a lovely little catholic church and was conducted by the wonderful Father Paul. Family photographs were swift and to the point. This was a bonus considering the large contingent of family members from both sides travelling from many parts of the globe.
With the sun appearing and providing warm radiant light we set off for a series of bridal party photographs in Williamstown. The botanical gardens proved to be a great place to start things off. Our next location was the foreshore in Williamstown which provided a beautiful backdrop of Melbourne city. There was one more location on the way to the reception in Richmond, and that was along the winding South Yarra banks. As the light dimmed down we squeezed in one last set of wedding portraits of the bride & groom.
The reception was beautiful celebration embracing the coming together of 2 cultures. The lavish venue was finely decorated and the music from the live band was exceptional. Later during the night, Aaron showed us his talent in singing by joining the band on stage. Confidently he took the mic and in perfect key sang a cover of “My Girl” to his stunning new bride. His young nephews and cousins brought the house down with their synchronised dance moves, and even Vanessa joined in on the party.
As the night proceeded so to did the formalities. Parents of the bride and groom spoke highly of their children’s achievements and toasted them their best wishes during the speeches. This was followed by some heartfelt speeches from several members of the bridal party. Aaron capped off a memorable night with a beautiful speech and a tribute to some beautiful women in his life including his mother and his new wife.
A rush of blood erupted on the dance floor as bachelors and single ladies lined up for the traditional garter toss and the throwing of the bouquet. There is only ever one winner in these contests, and it was obvious who was after the mantle of the next Mr & Mr’s. Aaron and Vanessa celebrated their first dance as a husband and wife. This was followed by a traditional Samoan custom, with family dancing with the bride and groom and launching money at them.
The night quickly came to an end and it was time for the wedding couple to depart. They did this in fine style with a boat picking them up from the jetty at the bottom of their reception centre. As they walked down the stairs, their dear family and friends lit sparkler to guide them on the way out. And so ended the Petaia Wedding in Melbourne.
For me as the professional photographer, it was a big week. I had flown over from Perth a few days earlier to prepare for this beautiful wedding. A couple of days had been spent scouting out locations and meeting the bride and groom to be. Plans and timelines had to be finalised gear to prepare. After the Wedding, I was able to travel to Mount Gambier to attend to some other business. This included some glorious sight seeing along the way, stopping at the 12 apostles and several other magnificent sightings in rural Victoria.
The images for this Wedding album were photographed on the trusty Canon 5D Mk3. A variety of lenses were using including wide angle, prime and telephoto. Images were created using a combination of natural light and off camera flash. Images were processed in Camera raw/Photoshop and the album custom designed using Indesign.
Aaron and Vanessa have chosen one of our popular and contemporary “LifeArt” series for their Wedding album. This style of Wedding album is printed on archival photographic paper and flush mounted for a sleek and modern style. ‘The LifeArt’ Wedding album comes with a minimum 20 sides included as standard. As we photographed so many gorgeous images from the day, the lucky bride and groom will have over 70 sides to choose from to fill their wedding album. A complete “LifeArt album for our clients can contain anywhere from 20-80 sides. In larger wedding where more than 80 sides are available, our clients can consider adding a complete 2nd volume wedding album to compliment their main volume.
I heard from the grapevine that Tom is a little camera shy, while the bubbly personality of Renee loves to shine. Well after spending the day with them on their Wedding I discovered that only 50% of this was correct. You can look at the photos for yourself and tell me what part you think is correct.
It was only a few weeks ago that Tom & Renee met me early one morning for some customary pre wedding portraits. That particular morning we braved the cool fresh wind and hiked up to Stathams quarry to watch the sun rise. Well to keep the story short, the sun didn’t rise that morning, but we did get some amazing pre wedding portraits which you can find at this link. Tom and Renee are definitely in love, and after a little while they began to love my camera. Lets skip forward a little bit
So the day finally arrived and what a beauty it was. The Wedding was the day before April fools day but there was no joke about it at all. The only funny thing, if you want to call it that is the fact that poor old Tom had suffered a fracture in his knee and would have to hobble around on his Wedding day, eventually finding a walking cane in our adventure in the pine forrest.
Tom & Renee celebrated their Wedding with family and friends making the large journey from far and wide including Sydney and New Zealand, and the weather turned on a treat. Now its not everyday that a Bride and Groom chooses a Thursday for their Wedding. From a professional photographers point of view its actually pretty good, it free up a day from the usually busy weekend and the only thing you really have to deal with is the weekday traffic. Now this was a small problem as we ventured to our Photographic locations while busy commuters picked up children from school and drove home from work, while a convoy of 4 vehicles containing bridal party made their way to our secret spots.
Tom and Renee were sealed in a private ceremony at the LDS Temple in Yokine. In this sacred ceremony they were sealed together as Husband and Wife for time and all eternity. The sacredness of this ceremony has a strong significants to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day saints, and photographs are only permitted outside of the holy temple.
The family enjoyed some snapshots with the Bride and Groom as they exited the Temple and then we made our way to a quiet spot in the Gnangara Pine forest for some Bridal party photographs before enjoying cracking a bottle of non-alcoholic bubbly at Kafarela’s Vineyard in the Swan valley. Finally things wrapped up with a lovely warm reception in the hall of the Warwick LDS chapel.
Now by the way if you want to know, it takes at least 6 goes at jumping to get the bridal party to jump in sequence.
This week is the countdown to a South West Wedding. Its always a nice week leading up to a trip down South, and its especially nice with all this marvellous weather forecast for the day. Scott and Candice are a lovely couple, in fact they are pretty cute together. Their story is interesting. They went to the same school, chose the same elective subjects and were both interested in the same field for a career. In fact their journeys together have been more parallel than what meets the eye. From high school to Tafe to work experience to church and finally to marriage. Its all pretty exciting this week, but try tell these guys that. They are happily cruising along taking everything in their stride and without any fuss whatsoever. But what you can tell is that there is a real magic between them, a genuine love and yes I think a couple of nerves floating around too. Come this Saturday though we will really get to see the magic between them as we witness them tie the knot at the beautiful Yallingup Brook just out of Dunsborough. After their intimate ceremony where they have asked for people to unplug and just enjoy, the bridal party and co will head to Castle rock for some bridal party portraits and some stunning images of the Bride and Groom. As part of the lead up to the Wedding day, we try to make some time to produce some pre wedding portraits. This session is a great way for couples to eliminate any camera shyness or nervousness before the real deal of the wedding day. It just so happened that on the day this lovely couple decided to get some pre wedding portraits done, that the Perth heat wave was in full scale and the temperature was well into the 40s. For a few brief moments in the sweltering sun and under the mango trees at Kafarela’s vineyard we were able to click off a couple of shots.
My Bunbury family came up to Perth for Wedding the other day. I wasn’t working this day and I just happened to pop into my Mum’s house where my nephews and niece were getting ready to celebrate a big day in their family. Many people question whether it is right to have nephews and nieces attending a Wedding. Well how could you not let these little ones attend, they are so gorgeous and bring life and personality (and sometimes a tantrum or two) to a Wedding.
We photographed this beautiful bridal couple as they celebrated their Wedding day in Sydney with an intimate LDS temple ceremony and a Samoan cultural reception. The album planning was done via skype, to assist with their wedding album changes.
Once the family photographs were completed, the small bridal party chauffeured by the grooms parents had the Bridal portraits photographed, firstly in a vacant field in Campden, then on a beautiful horse property not far around the corner.
The weather and light was stunning and comfortable, with most of the wedding images captured using natural light.
Family and guest attended from many parts of the country including Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania. Distinguished guests also journeyed from New Zealand and Samoa.
Even the very impressive Photographer (lol) and his lovely assistant came all the way from Perth. The Bride and Groom later honeymooned in Samoa.
Click below for the the latest Album Review – The current version has 40 double page album spread (80 face page sides) and plans for a metallic acrylic album cover.
We had the privilege of photographing a stunning wedding for a beautiful couple and it was a little bit exciting to say the least.
I love a little bit of excitement and drama on a wedding day, it really illustrates the emotion of the day and helps us understand how much undertaking bridal couples and their families are willing to sacrifice for the amazing commitment of marriage.
Luckily for all of us the weather held off yesterday for the stunning wedding of Jarom & Remy at Sandalford Winery in the Swan Valley.
For the few days before hand weather threatened to damper the wedding party celebrations for this outdoor garden ceremony, however we were treated to lovely afternoon sun.
The light was amazing for wedding photographs and Sandalford vineyards are perfect for photographers to create stunning wedding day portraits the bride and groom.
A couple of ‘small’ incidents’ made the timing run a little late for the day but when the Range rover sports convoy arrived, family and guests were treated to a beautiful and intimate wedding ceremony and groovy reception.
We can’t wait to share some of the reception picture as the place was amazingly decorated with stunning lighting and table sets.
We have begun proofing the images up for the lovely couple to preview once they have returned from their honeymoon in the Maldives (where else would you go when you are airline hostess?)
The couple have selected their images to be displayed in one of our classic bespoke album and the final design will be a treat.
We hope you enjoy the first sneak preview with more to follow soon. And of course you must check out this lovely couples stunning pre Wedding portraits.
And of course a HUGE HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the Bride for today – Double celebration coming right up
Jarom & Remy are finally getting married (so all their family and friends say) and we are the lucky professional photographers . This lovely couples wedding day has crept up so quickly, and now it is only a day away.
Weddings in the month of march are spectacular. The heat is normally just about over and the light is stunning. Its definitely a popular month for brides and grooms to get married.
The Bride and Groom are having a beautiful Swan valley Wedding ceremony and reception at Sandalford Winery (we love shooting swan valley weddings). The boys will get all dressed up in Butler while the girls will doll up in Sorrento. Can’t wait to share some of their beautiful swan valley wedding.
For now here is a fresh look at the images we photographed in the pine forrest for their pre wedding ‘Love Bird shoot’.
Now the big question for tomorrows big wedding day. Will it rain during their outdoor ceremony?
One of the highlights for me personally during my career as a Wedding Photographer is sharing the wonderful occasions and all the magic wedding moments as a Bride and Groom begin officially their union together with their wedding day celebration.
Storytelling with a lens – Its something that I do not take lightly. I see myself as a storyteller, using images to illustrate and tell your story, like piecing together a puzzle, piece by piece.With each new Wedding brings a unique and amazing new experience. This is the main reason I continue to shoot Weddings each week. Of course the challenge is great, and the workload huge, but the experience we share with so many Brides and Grooms is just so wonderful.
The Standard photographs – Each new Wedding I look for the standard set of images, Mum admiring her Bride daughter, or Dad walking his daughter down the isle proudly just to name a few.
On each and every Wedding day comes a wonderful magic, a joy and peace, love and harmony and sometimes tears. We can never in words explain what happens before the event has taken place, but we guarantee that when the day is done, the words have been spoken, the tears have been wiped away and the smiles have stopped, we will have a memorable set of images that will touch your soul.
The magic wedding moment journey – I want to take you on this journey, so you can feel some of these magic wedding moments.Here is a the start of a series of memorable and amazing magic wedding moments we have seen through our lens at the different Weddings we have photographed. Each has a story behind it, each image captured a piece of something amazing and we are happy to tell that story.
These ladies are best friends, helping each other through the trials of life for many years. When one sees a need to help the other they drop everything to do so. This photograph was captured as the Bride nervously prepared herself for her big day. There was much to worry about, weather, the kids and of course new beginnings.
Amongst the chaos, her friend saw the need to fix a little spilt in her dress, the bride seeing the selfless act and knowing her friend hadn’t finished her hair began pulling the rollers out of her hair. Their determination, teamwork and laughs showed the true meaning of eternal friends and what one does for those they care about.
The stunning Oakland temple – California Wedding
