Archive for the ‘Destination Weddings’ Category

So, on my way back from Townsville the next day I photographed Leigh and Justin’s wedding at Mission Beach. Mission Beach is looking a lot better 4 months after Cyclone Yasi decimated everything in her path. Leigh’s parents live in Mission Beach and before the cyclone had a magnificent rainforest garden. The garden is still lovely but not as lush as before! The reception was held in their backyard. Leigh and Justin’s wedding ceremony was held on the beach at South Mission and what a glorious afternoon it was!

I photographed Justin and the boys playing poker before the wedding and I love the shot with the cards flying! I climbed a tree to photograph Justin in his pride and joy……his fishing boat! I did not almost fall out of the tree climbing down! Thanks to Leigh’s brother in law for the helping hand!

Leigh was staying in a gorgeous house just down the road from the boys and was ready when I arrived. I took some shots of her dress then helped her into it. I love the photo of Leigh in the bath in her dress!

The ceremony was at 3.30pm and was performed by local celebrant Peter Parakas. There were lots of laughs throughout the ceremony with Leigh’s sister reading a hilarious Pam Ayers poem about marriage. After the ceremony, paper work complete, everyone gathered for a group photo with Leigh and Justin, followed by family photos. Mission Beach is surrounded by big rainforest hills, so the race was on to catch the light for photos before it dissappeared! And how lovely and warm the light on the beach was!

I so enjoyed photographing Leigh and Justin, you can see in their photos they are having a great time laughing and loving each other the entire time! It made my job really easy! So, thanks Leigh and Justin for asking me to share your special day and capture it all for you! It was so much fun!

Below are just a few of my favs from their wedding day. You can check our Leigh and Justin’s on-line album to see the rest!

I love shooting in new locations, so when Christie and Peter contacted me and asked if I would travel to Townsville for their wedding I was very excited! I love finding new places to take photos, composing the shots and seeing the results when I get back to the office! Having said that, trying to follow the tail lights of the black hummer through suburban Townsville in the dark for half an hour to the reception location and then finding my back to the hotel was a challenge!

Christie and the girls got ready at the Casino. Their room was on the waterfront and overlooked Magnetic Island in the distance and was big and airy with lots of light! All the girls were ready when I arrived so we jumped straight into the photo shoot, starting with the dress. Christie’s niece was the cutest flower girl ever and loved having her photo taken! Easy! All the girls looked gorgeous in their purple dresses (my favorite colour) and Christie was stunning in her white gown. We headed downstairs to the foyer for some photos with the big white window and staircase and a few quick family shots. Then I headed down to The Strand to photograph Pete and the boys awaiting Christie’s arrival to the ceremony.

Anne Barnes was the celebrant, she performed a lovely ceremony on the foreshore under the palm trees with the sailing yachts racing in the background. After the ceremony and paperwork was complete all the guests gathered with Christie and Pete for a flower shower followed by a big group photo. Family and friends photos were next and then it was time to get on with the bridal party photo shoot. We stayed pretty much around the area where the ceremony was held, taking advantage of the great scenery nearby. We used the really cool figtrees as a background. I love the texture of all the branches and vines. My favorite background was the big round shaped, historic building across the road.  We don’t have big old buildings like that here in Cairns!

A few quick shots down the Strand on the jetty and then it was off to the reception at Brothers Leagues Club on the other side of town from which I did find my way back to the Hotel!

Thank you for asking me to be your wedding photographer Christie and Pete, it was certainly my pleasure! I had the best day!

Below is a pick of my favorite shots from the day. To see some more please check out Christie and Pete’s on-line album.

Angela and Mark are from Darwin and chose to have their special day on tropical Dunk Island. Dunk Island is south of Cairns and a 20 minute Quick Cat ride from Mission Beach.

Friends and family came from all over the country, by car, plane, train and finally boat! The weather was a bit of an issue early on in the day…..suffice to say lashing rain and howling wind did not instill confidence in Tourism Queensland adverts!

While Bob and I were waiting to check into the water taxi we saw Leanne from Cakes by Design, deliver Ange and Marks wedding cake! It was securely encased in a cardboard box wrapped in plastic to keep the rain out! I must say that it arrived looking none the worse for wear! Leanne had seen my car at the water taxi and emailed to ask if the cake had made it all AOK! It did Leanne! Well done!

Bob and I had been booked to catch the water taxi, but due to rain and the inability to keep my camera gear dry, we quickly transferred down to the Quick Cat. We arrived on the Island 20 minutes later without having been sea sick and with nice dry gear!

Mark met me and the other guests at the jetty, the downpour had eased by now! We were very efficiently checked in by the friendly porters sporting their “Movember” efforts and shown to our room.

I made a dash through the rain to say hello to Ange and try to convince her that it would stop raining in time for the ceremony to be held on the beach. Lucky for me it did!

About and hour or so before the ceremony, the rain dried up and the sun started to shine through the clouds!

A lovely ceremony was performed by Elrae Schnitzerling, including a sand ceremony and each guest adding a shell to the sand with a wish of happiness for the bride and groom.

After the ceremony I gathered all the guests for a flower shower and group photo with the ocean as a back drop for the photos. Friends and family photos followed and then some fun with the bridal party on the beach. Sarah, the wedding co-ordinator at the Resort drove Ange, Mark and myself to the other end of the Island to do some photos on a deserted sand spit looking back towards Mission Beach. There were some very cool and interesting clouds in the background!

We rushed back to the reception at the main restaurant part of the resort. Just before entering the reception we took advantage of the last morsels of setting sun to grab a few quick pics with the bridal party.

Ange and Mark kindly asked Bob and I to join them for the reception. So we did! Thank You! The food was delicious and the staff had done a great job of setting up the room.

Thank you Ange and Mark, for asking me to be your wedding photographer in this very special location. I know it was touch and go for a while there with the weather but I would say it was all good in the end!

Congratulations!

Below are some of my favorite pics from Ange and Marks day. You can see all their images at their on-line album.

On the 22nd March I went to Hamilton Island to photograph Jessica and Nathan’s wedding there. They received their albums this week and yesterday Jessica sent me this lovely email.

we received our wedding albums yesterday… they are perfect. I cannot thank you enough. You have done such a fantastic job, everybody i have shown has been so impressed, especially with the magazine style album. i cried(with happiness) when i saw them for the first time. You have done an awesome job in capturing our wedding day, your attention to detail and presentation of the albums are second to none.
thank you so much for travelling to hamilton island to be our photographer. Nathan and I felt so comfortable around you, you are a lot of fun
thank you thank you thank you

Thank you Jessica and Nathan, I feel all warm and fuzzy now!

Last Sunday I had the pleasure of photographing Jess and Nathan’s wedding on Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays.
Jess and Nathan flew me from Cairns to photograph their wedding on the gorgeous tropical island. They also flew Roger Thomson up from Canberra to perform the ceremony. Roger had also married Nathan’s parents.
After the ceremony we “buggied” down to the beach where we caught some awesome sunlight for the photos. We finished off at the Marina with the sun just sinking down behind the boat masts.
What a glorious day! The weather was perfect for Jess and Nathan and their 70 or so family and friends who traveled from far and wide to share this special day. There was an overall feeling of warmth and love in the air the entire day.
Thank you Jess and Nathan for asking me to capture this wonderful day for you.
Below are a few of my favorite pics from the day. Check out Jess and Nathan’s on-line album to view the rest of their album.