While we've had a very wet summer this was the first wedding we've actually done the bridal shoot indoors, but it certainly didn't dampen the spirits of the bridal party and we managed to go outside briefly during the reception to catch the last of the afternoon sun when it did appear.

The afternoon began at Jenny's parents house where she had grown up, we took some photos in the front lawn where apparently she'd had previously been photographed in a white dress... that time for her first communion. So lovely to have the family history all wrapped up in the wedding photos. Then onto St Peter Chanel, Hunters Hill for the wedding ceremony. Gerry and his boys were a little nervous but soon relaxed into it, and said he just wanted to get on with the show.

Following the wedding ceremony all the guests spilled out of the church to hot muggy conditions, and huge black clouds just waiting to open. We had just finished the last of the family photos when the heavens opened, and rained with good heavy Sydney summer rain for the whole time we had allocated for the bridal photos! So we headed down to Deckhouse Woolwich, where the reception was being held and found their other function room and balcony empty so utilised that with a bit of fun. Then after a few speeches and food at the reception, the sky had cleared to a lovely late afternoon light, so we took the bridal party out for just a few more photographs outdoors. Before the real partying began with lots of dancing, cigar smoking and even a guest jumping into the harbour!

What a stunning day!

We first met Carla's family almost a year ago when Justin photographed her father's 60th birthday party, then Carla got engaged an immediately thought of us for her wedding photography. She has such a beautiful family, and so does Matthew so we had a wonderful day celebrating with everyone. Both of their families are so close that their bridal party was made up solely with their siblings.

We started the day at Carla's family home in Woolwich with beautiful views of the harbour. The atmosphere was filled with excitment as the whole family including parents, sisters, nieces and nephew were all getting ready at the house. Then we met Matthew at the church with his brothers and sister as the excitment (and nerves) built for them. 

As Carla's nieces, nephew and sisters walked down the aisle ahead of her all the guests were full of smiles, then followed the stunning bride with her father, so relaxed and ready to take this wonderful step. The ceremony conducted by Father Kevin at Holy Name of Mary Hunters Hill, was as always with Father Kevin filled with laughter and love.

After the ceremony we headed down to Clarkes Point Woolwich, for a lovely bridal shoot with the couples siblings. Then walked up to Cucinetta's Restaurant where all Carla's family celebrations are held, it's location, atmosphere and food are exceptional and all the guests had a wonderful evening.

Bonnie & Chris are a great fun couple, Bonnie the professional horse rider and Chris the policeman, and their friends knew how to have a good time too!

The day started off with hair and makeup at Hair By Maree in Naremburn, Bonnie has been going to this hairdresser since she was little and wanted their involvement in her wedding story. The atmosphere was fun and relaxed, we even got interest from the passing crowds....

Once the preparations were complete we headed down to Harbourside Apartments for the girls to dress, more laughter and fun there. Then onto the church, St Mary's North Sydney, chosen due to its location near Bonnie's childhood haunts and opposite North Sydney oval where Chris played for the Bears. When the ceremony was concluded the clouds started to roll in, but not detered we needed back to Blues Point for some lovely soft romantic bridal portraits in the rain.

The reception party was held at Sails Lavender Bay, and it was definitely a party, it even started with the bridal waltz to set the mood. Then fabulous speeches, feed and dancing well into the night.....

As you will see from our photos Steph and Scott are quite into their sport, Scott is a diehard Parramatt Eels fan and the theming of the wedding was based around the Eels colours.... you'll see even the bridemaids wore yellow nail polish to go with their blue dresses! Then the cake and table names at the reception also tied in with the theming....

We started the day at the house that Steph grew up in, we even had a photo on the front step with her Mum to replicate the one they took when her parents first bought her home from hospital. So lovely to have these memories tie in to another milestone in her life. The garden was beautiful filled with colour, and the atmosphere at the house was very excited. 

We then met a very nervous Scott outside St Francis Xavier Church in Lavender Bay were the ceremony was to be held. It's a lovely church, and the priest was lots of fun adding to the relaxed nature of the guests. Followed by lots of congratulations on the church steps and family photographs. The bridal party, including the flower girls and page boy, headed down to Blues Point and the pier next to Harbourside Apartments on a beautiful spring afternoon on Sydney Harbour. They bought along a cricket set for a game at Blues Point Reserve, plus a rugby ball for a quick game of touch, and of course a lineout!

The reception followed at The Kirribilli Club, which had a great atmosphere. As you can see all the guests enjoyed the speeches, we also showed a slideshow with highlights from the bridal shoot which everyone was "Wow'd" by....

A September wedding in Sydney and who would expect it to rain? But it didn't matter nothing was going to ruin the day for these guys, Bec particularly is a very relaxed girl from Tamworth who was just so excited to be marrying Jeff, and with a bridal party of 14 there was no time to rest.

The best part of the planning for this wedding was the close proximity of all the activities you could literally see the where the bride got ready, the church, photo locations and the reception venue from everywhere we went on the day! Also something many couples really should plan well is the accomodation they are using to get ready and stay the night after the wedding, if you plan these well and have lovely locations and views then they can be used as the wet weather back up for your photos on the day. As it was the Harbourside Apartments at Blues Point where the bride and bridesmaids got ready provided just that for this couple. The views from the apartment up the harbour, and out the front the pier and large tree were great when the rain set in.

We started the with the bride and her 6 bridesmaids at the apartments, then met the boys at Lavender Bay Reserve for some fun "Boy Band" photos before crossing the road to Christ Church Lavender Bay where the ceremony was held.  Following the service they rain came in so we headed back to Blues Points with the whole bridal party who were prepared with white umbrellas, and champagne! 

The reception was held at Aqua Dining, a fabulous venue above the Olympic Pool at North Sydney with views of the Bridge and Opera House, and the food was outstanding. The speeches were well received by the guests, as you can see, and we also provided the couple with a slideshow of some of the photos we'd taken during the day which the guests were "Wow'd" by, and made the Bec & Jeff very emotional. We left the party with all the guests on the dancefloor for a great night....

What a wedding day, amazing couple, amazing locations, amazing light.... it had it all!

Suzie the bride was so excited and gorgeous, and our biggest challenge for the day was to get Andrew to stop talking and telling jokes long enough to take his photo! We have hundreds of shot of him talking and everyone else laughing....

This stunning Sydney spring day started with Suzie and her bridesmaids getting ready at her parents place. The atmosphere was relaxed, excited and bubbly (a great description for Suzie herself). We then met Andrew at Clarkes Point Reserve where their ceremony took place under a marquee with Sydney Harbour in the background. The ceremony was conducted by a family friend, and celebrant, Caroline Hopwood, it was very personal with the couple even writing their own reading.

Then the couple and their bridal party caught a water taxi across to Cockatoo Island for the bridal shoot. What fun we had with these guys, the light was amazing and we were spoilt of choice of locations on the island itself. There was bush fires in the Blue Mountains which created the most amazing light at sunset, I haven't done any colour work on these images this is exactly what the light was like.... The smoke in the atmosphere also created that amazing moonrise shown in these photos and I also blogged about after the wedding.

The reception was held at Deckhouse Woolwich, stunning spot, beautiful food and service, plus it was great fun. Andrew is an Event Manager (it was great we knew lots of the same people and got on like a house on fire, but I digress), so the evening was filled with all sorts of surprises for the guests. They had an exhibition of photographs, the couple had taken on their many travels, set up for pre dinner drinks. The guests then got to take a photo home a the end of the night. There was a Chinese Tea Ceremony, part of Andrew's Malaysian heritage. They also held a raffle at each table for the framed images, and the digital camera which they had provided each table for the guests to take photos on the night. As you can see from our photos everyone had a ball....

When we first met Clare & James they described the plans for their wedding as a "Country Wedding in the City", and that's exactly what it felt like. There was a large number of guests who had travelled to Sydney for the wedding itself, everyone was relaxed and excited for the couple which made for a beautiful atmosphere.

We met Clare at the Sebel Residence Chatswood for some photographs of "the bride" getting ready, there was a crowd of girlfriends there to celebrate with her and her 3 adorable little bridesmaids. We then went on to Chatswood Golf Club which is where the ceremony and reception were being held. Here we found James and all the guests enjoying the beautiful sunshine, with some drinks, out on the course awaiting Clare's arrival. James couldn't keep the smile off his face, and it just grew bigger when Clare arrived.

Following the ceremony the bride and groom, plus the 2 of us, jumped in golf buggies and zoomed around the course for some beautiful photographs with the couple on their bridal shoot. It was a lovely time for them to enjoy by themselves before they headed back to get into the party with all their guests!