4.28 am 12/11/11……….after Mel & Glenn‘s fantastic wedding on the beautiful Evans Head coast we headed inland up the Richmond Range to Tamworth. Even though they currently live in Blackwater in central Qld, Courtney & Scott wed in the town where they grew up. I am humbled to think that a person who has dreamt, wished  & hoped of their wedding day from a young age would trust us to capture that day in all its entirety ……. wow ! As a photographer the defining pressure, the cause of the nervous excitement that you feel before every wedding is the pressure allow yourself to feel, as you are competing against yourself. This is what motivates you, to accomplish each new job in better than the last…….but confidence comes through experience, & self belief & thus here we are……..

Courtney & Scott fell in love in high school …….. & that’s the way it has been ever since. What a beautiful record of time they have & a what a reflection on life their relationship is. It truly was an honour for us to travel & be a part of it.

To know that here was the one person you will grow old with & that you will always come home to & today was the day when everybody you loved had gathered to celebrate that with you……..when you see Courtney’s face in the images below,  think of that what must feel like.

Courtney’s brothers Jessie & Tom were back from Europe & played an electrifying collection of music to accompany the ceremony on a beautiful spring afternoon at The Pavilion Function Centre in Kootingal.

I know you have been looking forward to this so enjoy, Courtney & Scott xo.

Thanks so very much Courtney & Scott for your hard work & for allowing us into your lives like this. Thanks also to Mal & Shar, Stewart & Doreen & the beautiful bridal party for being themselves & for the laughter & the love.

Merry Christmas Mr & Mrs Weatherall, love from Ben, Jodie & Elsie

Last month Melanie & Glenn returned to the East Coast to marry, far from their lives in Western Australia but near to all of their loved ones. At the busy, but serene, fishing hamlet of Evans Head on a spring day like no other ……when all the number one’s aligned . The air was thick & heavy with moisture & the sand & scrub just damp enough to be soft under foot.

As people who go to a lot of weddings I have to say that there was a lot of work behind the scenes…..many small things that at first glance may go unnoticed. Down to the beautiful, handwritten sentiments on the bunting hanging around their heads during the ceremony, to the mason jars acting as drinking vessels, each with it’s own personalised stamp to the flowers (!!!!!) & of course …….the shoes ! Ladies !

When you edit a wedding & the majority of the images, particularly those of the bride & groom, are of laughter with eyes & mouths wide open you know you will remember it as a great day. This was one of those days.

?WARNING ? This blog contains graphic images of corsage attaching & the pitfalls of not quite getting the angle of the pin correct…………..read on

What a beautiful day to reflect on & a great community for us to be a part of. As I left the rain was setting in gently but it was not going to bother a single person.The marquee was humming with the warmth of a shared experience.

 To both the Hawkins & the Humphries families – thanks for having us & to Mel & Glenn see you both in a couple of weeks. Travel safely & take care of each other xo

Like a gentle giant with hands of iron & a heart of gold, a tall building in whose shade you can always seek some relief & who you can always look up to ………. this is Shayne with his new wife Erin on the property they will soon call home, after marrying on a jetty built with those same hands for all the world, their world,  to see.

All day the air was thick & heavy & clung to your skin like plastic & this gave way to a spectacular early afternoon thunder storm. The thunder felt like it was right above my head & it chased us all the way from Modanville back to Lismore……..but it did not matter one bit. The way human beings come together to celebrate love & life always makes me smile & go home happy. Erin & Shayne’s wedding was brilliant…………..

Because Jodie goes ahead of me to be at the ceremony early I often have to describe the groom to her in varying amounts of detail so she can find him straight away…….not as easy as you might think sometimes. But when it came to Shayne all I said was ” he’ll be the tallest bloke there, he’s got massive hands & he’s always laughing……….

Something blue ……..Erin’s grandfather wore this to his own daughters wedding, & you could tell he was a major presence, even by his absence. It really is the details, the small things especially when they are in people,  that tell our stories.

Erin, softly spoken with a gentle beauty, had a calm grace about her all day.

The valet boys waiting for the cars & the girls, to arrive

What to do when it rains in Lismore…………..

Thank you Erin & Shayne for a day to remember & for having us into your lives.

Piggi Billa, (aboriginal for wombat), was the scene for Wendy & Jake’s spectacular & long awaited day of hope, longing, belonging, & a long enduring love.

Jake’s parents live in a pocket of paradise in our beautiful part of the world & what better place to wed the one you have loved for more than a decade, with a spring garden all around you & only the sounds of birdlife to compete with the celebrants’ words. The family home for Jake, the only son, had been built by his father over a period of ten years. In this time they lived in the shed to the back of the house. For the wedding day the shed had undergone the sort of transformation plastic surgeons charge a fortune for………scroll to the end for a link to a before/after.

The Gowans’ are certainly quite a family to be marrying into & it was obvious Wendy had been happily accepted into their warm embrace for many years. The sheer delight on both their faces is reason enough to believe in the sacrament of marriage & all that it stands for. Enjoy a brief outline of the day ……. I hope it will feel like you are there.

Not just another photobooth ……… this one Jake built from scratch, & even wrote the software !!!! As you do !

The first “betrothed beer”…….. I’ll have some of that !!

This is the shed, miraculously transformed by the magician & ringmaster Sherilee Matthews of Creative Events If you go here you can see a before & after & you will get an idea of just how impressive the transformation was.

My ol’ mate Mick McHugh played & as the sun slowly faded on a breathless, balmy day his voice wafted through the air, like a cooling summers breeze. Nothing could have suited things more.

And to bring the house down Wendy dusted off her voice & performed a rendition of “Come Away with Me” , as a surprise for her man & everyone in attendance.

Thanks for having us there, Wendy & Jake, & for inviting us into your families. It was an unforgettable day.

I know your lives & love will be long & meaningful.

xo

When Brad first pitched his business, Fitness Kidz to a few daycare centres in Lismore, he had no idea he would marry the director of one of the first centres he visited. At least I am assuming he had no idea because if he did then he is even cleverer than I think he is………….A typically beautiful autumn day was chosen, with a gentle warmth in the open & a nip in the shadows. The day felt like an adventure from the word go……Brad, one of the world’s biggest Metallica fans with a shrine to match, had to let rip on the drums to calm himself once dressed & beautiful Rosie, so so happy to be giving herself to Brad, blushing but relaxed & laughing all the more when the make up artist spoke to me “sternly” for “making the bride laugh”

Even as dramas came & went ( Red Combi anyone ? ) nothing could stop the momentum of the day,  not even a wheel just falling off on Old Bangalow Rd…………& a bride in a $4000 dress jumping an electric/barbed wire fence & chasing the fading sunlight to the top of a mountain to be photographed with the one man she loves said it all to me …….whatever it takes, now & forever.

Yes, the Hicks household would have been a great one to grow up in I am sure

The sort of look reserved only for the one you love…….

My favourite photograph of a laugh……..

Oh dear…………. but the solution is as below…………

Love you guys …….considering we looked forward to this wedding almost as long as you did it was AWESOME !!!!! Lets get that beautiful album happening…..see you both soon xoxo

Byron Bay Wedding Photographer

In a few weeks Rosie & Brad will wed & we will be lucky enough to be there & tell their story. Here is how we spent Easter Saturday afternoon…..

And another thing about having a child born into your life is the community that surrounds you & your new life. There is more than one birth as the grandparents are new people with a different take on their lives & are reborn in their own way. This has been one of the best & unexpected eventuations in my life. Hats off to the grandparents of the world ……….& to seeing them in a new light. ]]> http://bluetulipimaging.com.au/blog/grandparenthood/feed 0 http://bluetulipimaging.com.au/blog/milja-mark-melbourne-wedding-photographer http://bluetulipimaging.com.au/blog/milja-mark-melbourne-wedding-photographer#comments Fri, 08 Apr 2011 08:25:57 +0000 Blue Tulip http://bluetulipimaging.com.au/blog/?p=2650 NOTE: the images in this feed have been downsized or removed for copyright reasons. To see them in their unmodified state, please view the original post by clicking here.

Let me paint you a picture……..a gorgeous city in the full throes of Autumn, a magnificent convent saved from the oblivion of Urban Renewal to become a bustling arts precint, two beautiful people melting into each other under the baby oak tree in the warm afternoon light…………what a way to spend a day at work.

Over the course of Milja & Mark’s wedding day last week at Abbotsford Convent, Melbourne I lost count of the amount of times a guest came up to me to say how happy they were that we were photographing this wedding. Not because they were familiar with our work or even knew our names but because Milja & Mark had chosen us to photograph their wedding. To them that meant we must be something special to have that privilege handed to us. A privilege indeed it was…………

The day began in Swan St, Richmond & finished at the magnificent Comme, off Collins St in the CBD & both Jodie & I knew we had been a part of something special. From their home, filled with small symbols of their relationship & large swathes of Milja’s Finnish heritage all the way to the final frame there was such an overwhelming sense that everyone attending knew that this love story was written by the hand of fate.

In a day of many highlights Milja’s sister sang from The Flower Duet from Lakmé during the signing of the register. I have never stood next to an Opera singer while they perform, let alone heard a live performance of that nature but I swear every hair on the back of my neck was upright from the moment Seija began to sing. It was a feeling I will not forget for a very long time.

I could go on & on just as I could have put another 100 photos in this post but you will get a sense of what it was like to be there from what is below. To Milja & Mark & the Knight & Trueman families thank you for involving us in this day. Everything that happened reinforced why we do what we do & why we love it. Enjoy Tassie & each other & I will see you soon xoxo.