Estee and Paul
Estee and Paul eloped to Cow Bay for an intimate wedding
It’s very hard to take photographs while you are teary. During their vows, there wasn’t a dry eye in the tiny party of five at the elopement ceremony of Estee and Paul. So intimate, so pure and simple. Simply beautiful.
This is a quick sneak peek. There will be some more to come, as soon as I get a chance.
Justin and Emily
Kiss Kiss Kiss
My supremely talented colleague and friend Lizzy Sawdon had been booked by Justin and Emily to photograph their wedding at St Mary’s by the Sea, and she asked me to come along and assist – she knows I really need to get my wedding portfolio filled up with tropical looking weddings which are so completely different to Tokyo weddings in style and atmosphere. My role when I’m assisting Lizzy is to focus mostly on the groom and his fella’s in their preparations and waiting at the church and then photograph the bridesmaid’s and groomsmen while the couple are being photographed. It’s a lot of fun, and in this instance Justin and his best men were lovely, shy bundles of nerves and smiles and were such fun to photograph. The bridal party in general were willing to try anything and it was great to let them blow off their nerves after the wedding with some silliness like jumping, throwing the bouquet and giving each other piggybacks.
Muckin' about with the lads
Ceremony
Click on any of these photo’s to be taken to a click-forward gallery. Forgive the low resolution image files.
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- Kiss Kiss Kiss
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- Ceremony
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- Muckin’ about with the lads
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- Justin with his best men
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- Justin and Emma just after the ceremony
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- JUMP!
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- Flying bouquet…
Kirsty and Marco
Conga line
My supremely talented colleagues and friends Lizzy Sawdon and Ali George were booked to photograph and video Marco and Kirsty’s wedding, and Lizzy asked me if I’d come along and assist them at The Sea Temple Resort in Port Douglas a few weeks back. What a special wedding it was, so full of big Italian style love and joy. It was such a pleasure to work at this wedding that as each of us left we all individually went up to the couple and their mums to tell them how delighted we were at having been given the chance to photograph such a lively and joyful celebration. Thanks to Marco and Kirsty and their lovely families!
Infinite possibilities
Kirsty and Marco
Click on any of the images in the gallery below to be taken to a click-forward slideshow. These are just a few of the 600 pictures I took that day….
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- Marco with his mum and aunt just before the wedding
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- Kirsty and Marco
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- We took Marco and Kirsty down to the southern end of Four Mile Beach for their portraits. They couldn’t wipe the smiles from their faces! They were so very happy.
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- Kirsty and Marco making their vows in front of the celebrant Natasha Kollosche at Sea Temple Resort, Port Douglas.
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- Marco’s father ties a knot around Marco and Kirsty’s hands during their wedding ceremony
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- Kirsty and Marco moments after signing their marriage certificate
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- Heading to the beach just after the ceremony
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- Kirsty and Marco with son
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- Infinite possibilities
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- Conga line
Jane & Daisuke's Japan Wedding
Jane and Daisuke got married the first time around in Melbourne a year or more ago. When they moved back to Tokyo to be closer to his widowed mother, the Japanese family suggested that a Japanese-style wedding here in Tokyo for them to attend would be a wonderful thing since they weren’t able to make it to the first wedding, and in Japan it’s not so uncommon to have a couple of weddings…
There is the Town Hall wedding, often completed as a mundane task with no celebrations at all – it’s just paperwork. Then there is the family style wedding, sometimes at a shrine, but mostly at a wedding hotel, followed by a sit down lunch/dinner that usually requires a couple of changes of clothes for the couple and is full of pomp and ceremony and structure and silliness and boooooooze. Then, the couple usually head on to a second wedding party, this one just for friends, many of whom can’t afford to attend the main wedding (you pay to go to weddings here, instead of buying gifts). These nijikai’s (second party) are always a hoot, and are often where the couples friends get a chance to pick up a new date/marriage prospect….
Jane and Daisuke’s Japanese wedding involved 2 hours-worth of being dressed up in formal kimono’s and hakuma’s, and going to a shrine for a ceremony with 2 buddhist priests and a shrine maiden. Jane even got her own personal hand-maiden for the day (and genuinely needed the support as she struggled in and out of taxi’s and low chairs). The process was fascinating and I was so happy to be there for them as they made their way through the day with a fairly healthy level of nerves. Jane looked absolutely GORGEOUS, as did Daisuke, and I was delighted when they told me over and over how relaxed they felt with me as their photographer.
Having these kinds of photographic chances are not so common, and I was really excited to get the chance to photograph a really traditional Japanese wedding ceremony. They are SO very different to western-style weddings and receptions.
Thanks so much to Jane and D. for trusting me to be your wedding photographer and extra special thanks for that nijikai and the ensuing almighty nihonshu hangover.
You can see more images from the wedding at my Wedding Gallery album.
Lisa & Tomo's wedding
Lisa and Tomo asked me to shoot their engagement and wedding photos. I did their engagement shots on a lovely sunny day out at Showa Kinen Koen back in May, and then shot their wedding and Ni-Ji-Kai last Satarday. I was pretty nervous as the only weddings I’ve shot before were for friends, and they were all pretty casual affairs.
While Lisa and Tomo are old colleagues of mine, and I know them pretty well, this wedding was always going to be very formal and structured in the way Japanese weddings are. Happily, everything went without a hitch and Lisa and Tomo looked every part the beautiful, happy, modern young Japanese couple. It was a great day and I’m really happy with the way the photos. Now I’ve just got to get through editing all 1000 of them. Wah!