Posts Tagged ‘great barrieri reef wedding’

Alena and Berto were actually married in a small church ceremony in Sydney on the Sunday before their Cairns “wedding”. Their Cairns “wedding” was the big family and friends celebration of the start of their new life together.

And what a celebration it was! I arrived to take photos of Alena and the girls at Angsana Resort at 10.15am. Alena looked absolutely stunning in her fitted french lace latte coloured dress. The time flew fast and before we knew it it was time to head off  for the 12 pm ceremony at the Angsana Chapel.

Berto and the boys were looking very sharp in their suits, including William, Alena and Bertos’s favorite nephew who carried the rings. Some shots of the boys all together and then to the alter to await the arrival of Berto’s beautiful bride.

Wayne Rees performed a wonderful Affirmation of Vows ceremony which included a candle lighting ceremony by both Berto and Alena’s Mums. Wayne pronounced them husband and wife and the paperwork was completed. The bridal party danced their way out of the chapel with lots of bumps and wiggles!

In front of the chapel we organised all the guests behind Berto and Alena to have a flower shower followed by a group photo. After this a really big rush to get the family photos done, as unbeknown to Alena, Berto had arranged a chopper to pick them up on the beach front! So it was my job to try to get all the photos done before it arrived! I had one ear to the sky as I took the photos, ready to stop at any minute!

Bradley from Skysafari expertly maneuvered the chopper onto the beach for a nice landing behind the chapel. Alena was taken completely unaware! Berto had arranged it all and managed to keep it a secret for months! Well done Berto!

Alena, Berto and I boarded the chopper and waved to the guests as we departed Palm Cove Beach. Bradley flew us North to Undine Cay, a lovely deserted sand cay island east of the Daintree River on the Great Barrier Reef. We were there for around an hour or so taking photos and exploring the edge of the reef. Bradley and I lifted off the Cay to take same aerial shots of Berto and Alena inside the perfect heart shape in the sand which Bradley had carefully crafted with his feet! Thanks Bradley!

Back on the Cay, we all piled back into the R44 and flew West towards the Coast. Alena was in for yet another surprise as Berto had organised for them to go horse riding at Wonga Beach! You can see that there would have been no horse riding going on in the dress Alena wore for her wedding! Berto had thought of everything and had his sister pack some riding clothes for Alena! We were met by the Ride the Beach pick up bus and driven down to the beach to meet the horses. I took some photos of Berto and Alena with the horses on the beach in their wedding gear, then left them to it! They had the entire beach to themselves and enjoyed a wonderful  and romantic sunset ride. What a way to celebrate your wedding day!

Bradley and I flew back to the Heliport near Port Douglas where I had left my car at 8.30 that morning! Grabbing a bit to eat was my first priority! The reception was to be held at the Sheraton Mirage in Port Douglas, so I made my way to there and got busy with photographing the reception venue set up. I met Berto and Alena back at the Sheraton around 6pmish where we did the mock cake cutting photos before they headed up to their room to refresh in time for the reception.

What an amazing day! Thank you for having me as your photographer Berto and Alena, it was a fun day and I had the best time!

You can see some of my favorite images from the day below (it was hard to pick my favorite!) You can view the entire album of images at Berto and Alena’s on-line album.

Stay tuned for Trash the Dress with Berto and Alena coming up soon!