Kate + Ben // Palm Beach Boathouse Wedding

I’ve been a bad blogger, I’ve been working on the new website for the last almost year (which sounds like a crazy long time, but it’s almost done) and I keep putting off blogging thinking “oh, when the new site goes up, I’ll blog this then.” But now the blogging queue feels slightly overwhelming. We’re heading in to the 50+ weddings to blog territory and going through them all, I’m now kicking myself for not sharing more of them. So I’m starting with this one, Kate & Ben’s gorgeous Boathouse Palm Beach wedding!

Kate & Ben’s wedding was a day was full of just the most awesome moments of joy and anticipation. Kate is a wonderful journalist and cook, and it definitely runs in the genes coming from her grandmother Margaret Fulton (I won’t lie, I’m a massive foodie and I may have gotten a touch star struck at meeting Margaret! I mean who wouldn’t?!). I really, truly don’t have enough good things to say about Kate & Ben, from our first meeting I know that they were just kindred spirits and even just the way they spoke about each other and their day, I knew it was going to be something special.

I know I talk to people a lot about unplugged ceremonies and unplugged weddings, and it’s definitely been a talking point amongst photographers and I can tell you, for me, the reason isn’t someone getting in my way or blocking a photo. I can understand how excited people are to be a part of their friends day, but I don’t think you enjoy it as much if you’re focused at looking at the back of the screen, and so much of the joy is taking photos of people during the ceremony and reception where you can see their faces, tears, and smiles.

What drives me more than anything are those little moments. That connection, when everyone is together enjoying and celebrating their two friends and the lifelong commitment they’re making.

Looking at Kate & Ben’s wedding, I can feel that intimacy and connection so much throughout the whole day, and now that I’ve rambled on, I hope you enjoy their wedding day.

These are just a few of the lovely people involved with their day:

Cake: Suzanne Gibbs
Choco Cannelle – croquembouche
Band: The Baker Boys
Florist: Flower Drum
Hair & Makeup: Samantha Powell
Wedding Dress: Johanna Johnson

Emma & Enzo // Centennial Park Pine Forest Wedding

I really do love when people get ready in their family homes, I love the little details of their family histories and lives. Emma & Enzo’s wedding was one really rooted in that family love and history (along with their love of wine and music!). Their wedding was a true reflection of who they are, everything had such beautiful and personal touches, from having a wine ceremony as part of their wedding including a bottle of their favourite Pinot Noir and love letters they wrote to each other the night before the big day, which are to be kept safe and sealed until their 10th wedding anniversary, to Emma’s dress, which was designed to showcase her tattoos, one of which is one of my favourite quotes from Milan Kundera:

The brain appears to possess a special area which we might call poetic memory and which records everything that charms or touches us, that makes our lives beautiful.

I feel like the phrase “poetic memory” really encapsulates their day, it was such a touching, laughter filled day that I’m so happy to have been able to document. Thank you Emzo (their amazing nickname) for having me be a part of your day and for having your wedding day your way, exactly how weddings should be! xx

The fine people that contributed to making Emzo’s day special:

Cinematographer: La Lune Cinema
Wedding Planner & Stylist: Love 2 Love – Wedding & Event Planner
Bride’s Dress: George Wu
Bride’s Shoes: Tony Bianco
Bride’s Jewelry: Earrings – Vintage 60’s sapphires
Hairstylist: Anna Tran
Makeup Artist: Laura Anne Orlowski & Camila Alves – Stanley & Co
Bridesmaid Dresses:Zimmermann
Bridesmaid Dresses: White Runway
Bridesmaid Shoes: Tony Bianco
Groom’s Attire: MJ Bale
Groom’s Shirt & Shoes: Calibre
Groom’s Cufflinks: Zedelle Jewellery
Barber/Grooming: Joe Orlowski – Stanley & Co
Groomsmen suits: Peppers Double Bay
Personalised Cufflinks: Cuffed
Flowergirl Dresses: Gilly Gray
Flowers: Clara’s Flower Studio
Invitations & Stationery: Libby Young
Ceremony Venue: Centennial Parklands Pine Grove
Ceremony Officiant: Jessica Murdoch
Rental Furniture:Harbourside Decorators
Reception Venue: Centennial Parklands Dining
Cake: Buttercream Bakery
Band: Rhythm Republic
Wedding Rings: Carat Jewellery – Minto Market Place
Transport: Openair Wedding Cars & White Ribbon Harley Escorts

The Road Not Taken {A little review of 2014}

I wish I knew how to write it all out, how to say everything I want to say, but I felt like I needed a bit of distance between myself and the last year before I even began to think about it.

You see, it was a year of personal loss and professional gain and in a way I feel like that’s always how it goes.  When one thing in your life is going well, something else suffers. 2014 was by far the best year for the biz with getting to shoot so many amazing weddings in so many gorgeous places both near and far, being asked to speak at the Canada Photo Convention, and getting named as one of Rangefinder’s Rising Stars of 2014, but we had a lot of loss in the family. My grandfather passing away being the biggest and it left a deep sorrow that I wasn’t sure quite how to process. I can deal with most any kind of physical pain without skipping a beat (for those that don’t know me so well, I broke a toe in the first hour of shooting a wedding and kept on going right through the other 11 hours), and yet this pain was different.

This last year has had me reliving some of my family moments, through the photos and little notes written on the backs of them. I remember my very teeny grandma telling my brother and I that she was “average height” for her generation and the two of us, who towered over her, laughing. We found some photos fairly recently of my grandma and her group of friends and sure enough, she was the same height as everyone else!

There are few things that I regret, but not taking more photos of my family is by far the biggest. I have so many photos of my family from when I was little, but in the hubbub of life, you forget to take photos of your family as they are now. Sometimes I feel like the builder with a half-finished house. My resolution for 2015, if you can call it that, is to take more photos of my own family, as it grows and changes. To document our lives as I get to document the lives of others.

I’m so very thankful that this job means that I get to do just that, document other people’s lives and tell their stories, viewing some of my family story has made me appreciate it even more. Most, if not all of my favourite images of last year were of family and friends enjoying a moment at their weddings. Candid little morsels of time. I look through the photos and they remind me of the joy, love, nervousness, and care that is this life.

I feel like I’ve written much too much, but my goodness, it felt good to write it. Before sharing some of my favourite photos from the last year, I wanted to share with you a poem by Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken. In the last year, I’ve questioned my path a lot, but this one, right here is where I’m supposed to be.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
~ Robert Frost