I’m down to my last 3 weddings of the year, and I’m saving the best for last! Shafiq is the cousin of one of my former brides, Sameera, whose entire family I fell in love with when shooting her wedding in July. 

We arrived at Jameela’s house, just shortly after the traditional Nikkah ceremony took place, and she just looked stunning. I don’t think Jameela truly realised just how beautiful she looked, and was so gracious and humble accepting compliments. Shortly afterwards, it was time to hit the road, and make our way to Hope Island Golf Club.

Jameela walked down the aisle to her awaiting groom, and a civil ceremony/ring exchange took place, to make their union official. They both looked so happy, and so relieved at the same time! We had a bit of time, to take them both around the grounds for some photos. Jameela isn’t a big fan of “photo taking time”, and isn’t too crash hot on being the centre of attention, but she did an awesome job.

It was time to return to the clubhouse, for the reception to begin. The venue looked unbelievable filled with the over 200 guests that were present. And talk about FOOD, all I can say is WOW. I think I stuffed myself full of some of the most delicious curries - I was in my element!

With full tummies, and after a long, but very enjoyable day, we made our way home and slept very soundly!!!

cutest.kid.ever…..

mmmm sweets…..

Sameera & I…..

Shane & Rochelle from Lumina Video saddled up once again to capture the days events, and did a fantastic job…

With my two brides….

I have a new car!!!

I am so excited, because I have never owned a new car before, and I’ve never even bought a car before, so it’s two firsts for me!

It was all rather daunting leading into this, as I didn’t really know where to start. All I knew was I had my heart set on a Mazda 3, and headed to SouthCity Mazda at Mt Gravatt. Imagine my suprise and delight when the salesman who approached me was one of my former grooms, Brad Manning.

I needn’t have worried, because Brad made the whole process an absolute breeze. He looked after me, and kept me informed every step of the way. And there was no waiting months for the car to arrive either. The process from me walking into the dealership, to getting my new car, only took a week, and there were zero hiccups.

And to top it all off, check out how Brad prepared my new car for me to come and pick up…..

I was really touched, because Brad knew how excited I was about getting the vehicle, and he went above and beyond to make sure it was an awesome experience for me!

Brad & I…

So if you’re in the market for a new Mazda or Nissan, go in and see Brad and the boys at SouthCity Mazda, and tell him I sent you!

Brad & his wife Katrina were married in June 2006, so just missed out on getting their wedding on the blog as I started it in July that year. Brad tells me that Katrina is a big fan, so just for them, here’s a pic from their wedding…

I’m off to drive my car!!!

I’ve known Marty since before he was born. So when his Mum called me earlier in the year and told me that he was getting married my immediate response was “but he can’t be getting married - he’s only 10!!”. It wasn’t until I took a look in the mirror and realised that I wasn’t getting any younger either - and that it was certainly possible that “little” Martin was now all grown up too.

It was a little bit surreal watching Marty & Karen getting married. Your mind wanders back to when you were kids playing cricket in the back yard, because it doesn’t seem all that long ago, and now here he is, embarking on the next phase of his life with the woman of his dreams beside him. It makes you step back and really wonder where the time has gone.

It was a super early morning getting up before 6am to hit the road and make the trip up to Mt Tamborine. Karen and her sisters were getting ready at Bagunyah Manor, and walking into the foyer of the building, we could hear the giggles straight away coming from the girls room.

Just down the road, Marty and the boys were raring to go, and looking sharp. Everything was going well, until the girls cars pulled into the driveway, and then it started to pour. It rained all through the ceremony, and then as if there were some kind of divine intervention, as Marty & Karen emerged from the church, it stopped.

From there we made our way straight to the reception at O’Reilly’s Vineyard at Canungra, stopping only at a lookout on the way. I think we were barely out of the cars before the rain came down again, so we had to bail out, and keep on moving.

We sat down to a lunch time reception, and afterwards Marty & Karen entertained the crowd with their rock’n'roll bridal waltz! Once it was time to finish up, we took the bridal party for a walk in the vineyards for some more photo’s before calling it a day. 

An hour before the wedding, and Karen is standing on a coffee table, having her dress altered!!!…

On the way home, Dad and I stopped off at some little country town, to partake in our favourite pastime, voting. Seeing we don’t get to do it all that often, we like to make the most of it. My favourite voting booth prank is to emerge walking awkwardly and tell the other voters waiting in line “they’re out of toilet paper!”.

Also it was my Daddy-Poo’s birthday today, so happy birthday Poo!

And I am so excited!!!

My best friend wanted me to come over and shoot a quick family portrait she could send out with her Christmas cards. So under my “will work for food” arrangement, I went over for lunch (it was lamb roast - and it was pretty bloody good!).

Milly warming up at the dinner table…

Then it was down to work. Say cheese…

Let’s take a five minute break…

Now work it Milly, own it…

Before finishing up with some Daddy cuddles…

It is so hard to believe that our baby girl is five months old already! And it is true, you wonder what you ever did without her!

They met at a cab rank on Caxton Street. Both heading home. One from a night out with the girls, the other from a Reds game at Suncorp Stadium. Little did they know as they waited in line that night, that their lives would never ever be the same!

We’d earlier been to see Nadine who had been getting ready at the Medina in the city. Nadine runs a tight ship, because there was nothing but order and control in that hotel room. It was actually a really easy afternoon, with a calm and relaxed bride who was so looking forward to 4 o’clock!

The ceremony was held in the rotunda at New Farm Park. I was unconvinced earlier in the day that the weather was going to stay fine, but fortunately we already had a wet weather back up. I always hope and pray for overcast conditions on any wedding day, and it couldn’t have been more textbook perfect.

Gus and Nadine made it through the ceremony, and were greeted by their family and friends for the first time as man and wife. It was then off for a quick jaunt around the park, as well as taking in my favourite toilet block, and the Powerhouse, before it was just a short stroll down to The Powerhouse’s Watt restaurant, where the reception was to take place.

Usually a couple of hours before the ceremony the bride is in the grip of panic. Not Nadine. Being a Pilates instructor, she warmed up with some good stretches….

They’d only been married four days, but David & Lisa jumped at the chance to saddle up and spend another afternoon with me, for a Trash The Dress session.

Yesterday afternoon I went over to David & Lisa’s house, and we all piled in the car and headed down to the Gold Coast. Once we found ourselves a nice spot, Lisa slipped back into her dress and we took a stroll down the beach.

We had some harmless fun on dry land, then just got our feet a bit wet, and then it was one in, all in! David & Lisa were having so much fun splashing around in the water, it almost made me want to get in and splash around myself. And I would have, you know, except for that small issue of the incompatability between electronics and salt water!

Lisa had told me she’d been looking forward to this just as much as the wedding. David & Lisa had wanted to have beach photo’s, but having a wedding in Brisbane City, it just wasn’t going to be logistically possible. This way, they got the best of both worlds!

And the dress?? Good as new. Not a mark on it. Now Lisa can get it cleaned and store it away in the cupboard never to be seen again - safe in the knowledge she DEFINATELY got her money’s worth out of it!

It was an early morning on the road to get up to Maleny for Duncan & Tania’s wedding. To make matters worse, it started pouring down once we got there. No need to panic just yet, there was still 3 hours until the ceremony, and there was some blue sky behind those clouds - somewhere.

The girls were running a little (ok, a lot!) late, so once we finally got Tania ready, and into her dress, I think there was a window of about 15 or 20 minutes to get some shots of the girls, but we powered through it.

The ceremony took place at The House of Laurels, at Maleny, where Duncan was waiting. He was looking a little pale, but his ”boys” kept him upbeat and focused. Duncan’s best man was actually a woman, which always makes for some good jokes at her expense - but she was a good sport about it!

The ceremony got underway a bit late, and there was one stage there where I thought it was about to rain, but it held off. We weren’t able to take another trip to my favourite paddock that we went to last time I was up here. The entire view of the Glasshouse Mountains would have been obscured by low lying cloud, so instead we went in search of the view on the other side of the mountains - and we found it! Fortunately the view towards the Sunshine Coast was clear so we hung out down the end of a country road, before returning everyone to the afternoon reception!

Florals were provided by Terrianne Burns from Mondo Floral Designs, arguably the best florist the Sunshine Coast has to offer….

A quick shot of me with the bride…

It was a mad house like any other, except that the bride was a picture of calm and serenity. You wouldn’t have known Lisa was getting married today, except for the gorgeous hair and makeup, and the white dress hanging in her parents bedroom waiting for her.

The afternoon flew past, and Lisa handled it amazingly well. It does help when your bridesmaids are completely stark raving mad (in a good way!), and kept her entertained! I don’t think she could understand why she was so calm, and she was convinced that once she got in the car and made her way to the ceremony, she would fall apart.

Over to the Stamford Plaza, and David & the boys were looking pretty suave. David had told Lisa that if she was so much as 3 minutes late, he was going jet-skiing. Around this time, a jet-ski did fly past up the river, of which Poo promptly grabbed a photo. When Lisa arrived, and was indeed a few minutes late, we approached the car showing Lisa that picture on the back of the camera, and said “we’re too late!!”. Her reaction went from a serious “NO WAY!!”, to cracking up laughing when she realised it was all a ruse!

The ceremony took place on the terrace by the flagpole, in the beautiful late afternoon light. We then stole the bridal party away for some photo’s in the bottom end of the gardens. It had been over a month since we’d been down here, and it’s always like coming home.

Once we had exhausted the troops, we made our way back inside the Stamford for a guest shot on the stairs, before ushering the bridal party into the reception to party the night away.

The kids had their own moment with Tony Greig…

And then I got my own moment with my two brides, Fiona & Lisa…

So I was shooting David & Lisa’s wedding today, and we’re standing in the driveway of the Stamford (as you do), and who should drive in but the kings of the Channel Nine Commentary Box - Richie Benaud, Bill Lawrie, and Tony Greig. Richie & Bill got out of the car and headed straight into the hotel, but I managed to bail up (pardon the pun) Tony Greig, and snag myself this photo…

Being a big cricket fan (or tragic, depending on who you talk to), I got a huge thrill out of this!! But it only got better as we came out of the lifts, and I spotted Michael Slater…

David & Lisa will vouch for the fact that after this, I was so excited, I nearly pee’d my pants!!! Now, if Glenn McGrath had of walked in…….!!!