As I had no weddings on the weekend, I thought I’d trawl through the vault, for wedding pictures from pre-blog days. After all, its the pictures we all come here for, right??? (I’m sure its not my sparkling wit and repartee!!)

The wedding I chose was from January 2005, which happens to be very special for me, as it is the wedding of my best friend. I’ve known Kelly since I was 12 years old, and I’d have to say there’s probably nobody who knows me better than her. Normally, if your best friend announces they’re getting married, you’d probably expect to be a bridesmaid. But Kelly knew I’d want to be the photographer, even before she asked me. How right she was!

Kelly & Matt were married on January 7, 2005. They got ready together at the Treasury Hotel, and we did their formal shoot before the wedding, as the ceremony was held at 6.30pm at Mt Cootha. Its not often I do photo’s before the wedding, but with a late wedding like theirs, it made sense to take the photo’s earlier while we still had light. And its pretty cool to get the first photograph of the couple, when the bride is wearing a bathrobe!

My first ever Market Street photo (now a favourite!)

Yes, I’ve already asked myself what on earth was going on with my hair colour…..

I’ll be digging up the archives when I don’t have weddings, so will be particularly handy during December on my month off to still have weddings to blog about! Its actually a very humbling experience looking at old weddings you’ve shot. Seeing how much your photography has changed, and how much your pictures have evolved with experience, and equipment, is very bizarre!!

I got some wonderful news that absolutely made my day yesterday. One of my most dearest friends, Steve Dyer, called me up to tell me that he and his lovely girlfriend Amy, are engaged!!

I first met Steve back in 2000 when he came to work at Telstra. He was only all of 18 or 19 years old, and quickly became the little brother I never had, and then one of the most sincere friends you could ask for. I love Stevie-Poo with all my heart, and can only thank Amy for the influence she has had on him. Before Amy he was your typical young 20 something lad, running amuck, and getting way to many speeding tickets.

I can still remember the day Stevie called me just after he had met Amy, and you could tell right then and there, that she had stolen his heart, and this was going to be “the one”. The change in Steve has been unbelievable, and I am very proud to call him my friend.

This is one wedding I can’t wait to photograph!

Steve & Amy

Me & Stevie-Poo circa December 2004 (yes Stephen Dyer, its been nearly two years since our last photograph! Lets rectify that ASAP!!)

And we’re going to have to work on that smile before the wedding matey…..

Congratulations guys, I wish you every happiness for the future.

What a day! There were ups and downs, moments of tension, but in the end - it couldn’t have been more perfect!

Moses & Jenni were married at Avica on the Gold Coast, a resort which specialises in being a one-stop shop for weddings. I knew today would be very unique, and very special, especially from meeting Jenni and learning about her life’s journey. This is one woman who has shown remarkable courage in the face of adversity, but still manages to see the bright side of any situation. Together with Moses, who is one of the sweetest guys you’ll ever meet, they are just perfect. There is the deepest bond between the two of them, that when you got them together, they just got lost in eachother. Ahhhh, love.

I was one of the few privy to the secret information about the colour of Jenni’s dress! As we all know, I love different dresses, so I wasn’t disappointed. Jenni lived up to her affectionate nickname “The Queen of Sheba”, looking radiant as she walked down the aisle to see Moses. The ceremony was beautiful, centred around family, with both Jenni & Moses’ children joining together in the wedding vows.

After the formal photo’s we headed back to the resort for the reception. There was family, friends, good food, and wine. How could you ask for more?

Jenni is a mum of triplets, who I’m betting can be quite the handful. But in these relaxed portraits, they’re three little angels..

With Dad shooting the official video today, it meant that my toys were all mine to play with! Here’s me packing heat…

And a shot with the bride…

 Strap yourselves in folks, this is going to be a long one!!!

 Todays wedding was a little bit different. For starters, I was INVITED!!

I’ve known Tab since I was about 15, when her older sister Juvena and I went to highschool together. I first met Mat around 2001, and even back then you could tell they were made for eachother. These two are very laid-back, easy going, take it as it comes kind of people. After all, Mat is the guy who proposed to Tab by pulling out a ring and asking “So, how about it?”.

Our day kicked off around 11.30am, at the Treasury Hotel. I’d been eagerly anticipating seeing Tab’s dress for the first time, and it didn’t let me down. The girls were running a little behind schedule, but true to form, Tab was bang on time to the church.

Over at All Saints Church, if Mat was nervous, he wasn’t showing it. Mathew doesn’t particuarly like having his photo taken. Boy did that sure change by the end of the night! Tabitha’s dad Jon, who is almost like a second father to me, looked so proud walking his little girl down the aisle, it was a very touching moment.

Its always nice when photographing weddings for friends because you can tell them… suggest to them what time they should have their wedding. With a 2pm wedding, we had oodles of time for photo’s - which mean we got more locations in, and were able to do it in a more relaxed, enjoyable manner. From Market St, to the Eagle St overpass, Botanic Gardens, and Parliament House, you name it, we did it. I pushed these guys hard, but they were absolute sports, and never complained. Trust me, the length (not to mention height) Mat and Tab went to for me, they deserve a medal.

So, once my formal role for the day had ended, I actually got to ”slip into something more comfortable”, and join in the festivities. Its not that I don’t enjoy looking like Lara Croft, but their comes a time when you have to ditch the utility belt, and actually look like a girl!

Its not often that I get to be a real bonafide guest at a wedding. For all the weddings I have been to, I can only count 5 where I was a guest. I’m basing that on my adult life, at least since I’ve been old enough to legally join in the toasts. 5 Weddings. Now, at 2 of them, I was the photographer, and for another one I was a bridesmaid. (And for two of those weddings it was the same person getting married twice, so does that even count??). Therefore, that leaves only two other weddings where I was a real guest, with no job to do. Truth be told, I’m much happier with a camera in my hand capturing what is happening, than sitting back watching what is happening. I get to be a part of creating something beautiful.

This was one crowd that knew how to party. The dancefloor was always packed, and everyone was genuinely having a great time! A funny moment, which made you happy to be sober, was when Mat and his best man sang “You’ve lost that lovin’ feeling” to Tabitha.

And of course I had to get some for my own album…

I’m a big fan of self portraits, so here’s one with Jon, the father of the bride…

Leonie, mother of the bride…

And some random wedding guest…

Juvena and I skipped our 10 year highschool reunion today for the wedding, but honestly, is there really any question as to where you’d rather be??? 

And yes gentleman, we are single…….. (I know, its a crime!!!)

Congratulations Mathew & Tabitha, it was an honour, and an absolute joy to share in your day.

Well, after some unforseen delays, the new look tonisnell.com.au website has finally launched!

It was an anxious couple of days, as there seemed to be problems in propogating the name servers to my new host. (Yeah, I don’t know what that means either). But thanks to Andrew at TPP internet, things seem to be up and running!

All that’s left now, is to get the sister site tonisnell.net.au working, for those who have trouble viewing the new site. Hopefully that should be finalised by next week. On the new site, I have a little bit of tweaking to do, mainly with adding two more galleries, and the Album Styles section, which just involves me re-shooting my album pictures.

I hope you enjoy the new site, as much as I have putting it together!

Who said the simple things in life are often the best? Well actually I think it was a Kelloggs Corn Flakes commercial, but the point I’m trying to make is that it’s the weddings that are all about simplicity, that I enjoy the most! Its the feeling you get when you know its all about the two of them, rather than being about the fanfare of having a wedding.

Here were two people that just went together so beautifully. No fuss, no fanfare, just two people wanting to get married that I think the when/where/how wouldn’t have mattered to them.

The wedding was held at the Albert St Uniting Church in the city, where I think it is so cool that the Reverend who married them, is female! I’ve always loved this church, the inside is just glorious, and I love the contrast the orange and white brickwork gives the external facade.

After the wedding we wandered over to Roma St Parklands for the formal shoot, where a lot of fun was had by all, before winding up at the Treasury Hotel for the reception. These guys were the coolest bunch of people today, so much so, I think we did more joking around than taking photo’s!!

Another thing that I think is totally cool, is Katrina’s wedding band is EXACTLY the same as the ring my folks got me for my 21st. Good to see I’m still in style, considering this year marks the 5th anniversary of my 21st birthday!

P.S. Personal note to Katrina (so nobody else read this) - 4 paragraphs baby!!!

The tonisnell.com.au website is getting a facelift! In partnership with a fantastic web design company in the United States, I have been putting the finishing touches on my new site which is due to launch on Tuesday.

Whilst I do love my current site (mostly because I built it from scratch), I thought it was time to get a little fancy schmancy, and bring my website into the 21st century!

So what does the new site have that the old one doesn’t? Well, they’re very similar in regards to content, but the new interface is a little more animated, and the galleries are more interactive. There’s also a really cool feature where prospective brides can check if I’m free for their wedding day through the event calendar (or current brides can get a kick out of seeing their date booked!!).

The new site does require Flash player, and I haven’t tested it on dial-up connections, but would imagine it will be best viewed on ADSL or Broadband connections. I’m going to transfer the old site to www.tonisnell.net.au for those who have trouble viewing the new site. And of course the blog will remain unchanged (and probably still the more popular site!!)

I’m so excited about the launch, and thought I would post a couple of sneek peeks at what it will look like! While the transition is in place, the site could be down for anything up to 48 hours, during which emails to enquiries@tonisnell.com.au may also bounce back. The blog will still be up, so you’ll still be able to catch up on the latest news!

Stay tuned!

What was a great day yesterday, turned into a great night!

I have been a big fan of Mark Seymour for about the last 9 years. He was the frontman of Hunters & Collectors, before embarking on a solo career around 1997. I’d never got into Hunters music as a teenager, but when I came across his solo work, for some reason it spoke to me. I have all the albums he has released - “King Without A Clue”, “One Eyed Man”, “Embedded”, and “Daytime and the Dark”, all of which never leave my favourite songlist on my ipod.

Over the years I have tried to get to see Mark in concert, but circumstances have always meant I missed out. Not being your “big name” artist, he only plays small venues, and his tours aren’t widely publicised. So a few weeks back I logged onto his website (www.markseymour.com.au) and found he was playing in Brisbane, at The Living Room on Caxton St. I had no scheduling conflicts, so I booked my ticket. I had nobody to go with, but I’d waited too long to see this man, so I didn’t care.

The good thing about going to these things alone, is you’re forced to talk to people, or you’ll sit there like Nigel Nofriends. I found a group of die-hard Hunters fans, who took me in, and we shared a few drinks waiting for Mark to perform. He didn’t come on stage until 11.30pm (waaaay past my bedtime), but it was worth it. I cannot explain how it felt for me watching him perform. Finally seeing someone who you have admired for so long, whose music inspired and influenced you in so many ways - performing their craft in front of you - it was amazing. There were tears in my eyes a couple of times, mostly when he sang “See You Around”, and “What’s a Few Men?”. Yes, I am a big girl!

I’d taken my little point & shoot camera with me, unsure of the photography rules at the venue. Turns out they’re totally ok with photography, so I could have brought something a little bigger!

Upon leaving the venue, I wandered down Caxton St to find a cab rank, and ran into my cousins Nea & Zoe! They’d been to the Socceroo’s friendly at Suncorp Stadium, and gave me a lift home. Topped off the evening quite nicely!

Well, as John Denver said, some days are diamonds. Today was a diamond day! I had the pleasure of photographing Jo’s sisters wedding nearly twelve months ago, and that was one of my all time favourite weddings ever. So these guys had a lot to live up to!!

Jo was all about simplicity in the lead up to her big day, and I can say she well and truly pulled off “simple elegance”. There was plenty of detail, but nothing too overstated, which is just how she wanted it. Having been in one of my bridal parties before, Jo knew what to expect, and seemed really at home in front of the camera.

For someone who doesn’t like photo’s too much, Wade did very well for himself, and might I say he doesn’t scrub up too bad either! The boys were waiting over at Old Government House for Jo’s arrival, and were very cool calm and collected. After the ceremony, we casually made our way through the Botanic Gardens, over to the Royal On The Park for the reception. It almost felt like a lazy afternoon, just a bunch of people walking through the gardens, having a great time (oh, and taking some photo’s!!).

So what makes for such a great day like today? The people. You can get married in a rubbish tip for all I care, if you’ve got a great bunch of people around you, it makes the day memorable. Wade & Jo were just so happy to be there, and the bridal party were so “into” what we were doing, it makes for such a relaxed, carefree, and enjoyable afternoon.

I just love this family to bits, and it was truly an honour to work with them again.

One for my own album…

The uber gorgeous (and previous Toni Snell couple) Travis & Belinda…

Today I was reminded of the old addage about never working with animals or children. It was Eliza’s first time in front of the camera, and at only 3 weeks of age, she had a touch of stagefright. It may have taken us a few hours, but eventually she allowed us to get a few shots. Eliza was definately directing this shoot!!

Her little hands and feet…

Wide awake (but at least she’s not crying!)…

Proud Mum & Dad…

Asleep (FINALLY!!)