There’s nothing more adorable than a groom who cries when he sees his bride. That was Leigh.

There’s nothing more beautiful than an already-stunning woman on her wedding day. That was Amy. Who could blame Leigh for getting teary.

There’s nothing more fun than photographing a friend’s wedding day. That was me. I giggled and chuckled and chortled my way through the day with Amy, Leigh and their hilarious bridal party (hands down, most entertaining speeches I’ve heard yet!) and I may have sneakily wiped away a few tears of my own during their ceremony.

Check out all the smiles and some of the tears below.

Vendors:

Ceremony and reception venue: Pottsville Golf Course
Hair: Erin Strong Hair Artistry
Makeup: Makeup By Lorina (0401 243 663)

My favourite part about Tahlia and Beau’s gorgeous country wedding was that it was incredibly personal. Tahlia’s mother personally hand-stitched their wedding date into the hem of Tahlia’s dress in blue thread for her daughter’s “something blue”. The girls made their bouquets themselves. Tahlia made the cake toppers. They were married on Beau’s parents’ property at Pine Mountain in the round yard. They decorated their reception themselves. Beau’s ring is a beautiful and unusual ceramic piece, since as an electrician he can’t wear a metal ring. Their adorable daughter Tilly was part of each stage of the day, warming hearts with her cheeky grin.

Tahlia and Beau also chose to break tradition and see each other before their wedding ceremony in what’s known as a “first look” or “first sight”. It’s a concept that’s gaining popularity – the couple choose a location and the bride approaches her groom and taps his shoulder, he turns around and they get to fully appreciate the first time they see each other on their wedding day, and react – without the pressure of lots of eyes watching! We also took this opportunity to take their bridal party portraits prior to the ceremony at the Wivenhoe Dam, which meant Tahlia and Beau got to head straight to their reception from the ceremony and party with their guests!

There was no part of their day that wasn’t beautiful, and I’m so happy to share it with you.

Vendors:

Hair: Kelly Weaver’s Bridal Hair

Makeup: Tyneale Hahn

Hello friends! This is a friendly public service announcement to let you know that

I will be away overseas, and therefore fairly difficult to contact, from January 20th until February 19th.

Please feel free to send me emails anyway if you’d like to get in touch! Just know that I won’t be able to respond to them until I’m home again and back behind my desk. As for the phone – I plan on using local SIMs when I reach my destinations, so my number won’t be active for around a month. Best to go for the email option!

Thank you so much for your patience, and I promise I’ll get in touch with you as soon as I can!

Bon Voyage

- Erin

(Here’s a shot from my last big holiday in 2010! – out the plane window)

Some people are incredibly lucky, and fall in love young – not just first love, but REAL love, the special kind that you have to hold on to because it’s rare and precious. I’m one of those people. So are Mel and Jason. Their gorgeous December Kingscliff wedding was beautiful in its simplicity, and touching in its honesty. And they both do an awesome tiger-face, though I’m going to leave that part up to your imagination!

One of my favourite things about photographing weddings is the way each couple personalises the details of their day. In Meg and Garth’s case it was Meg’s incredible King Protea bouquet, their super tight-knit wedding party, their adorable ring bearer Tay (the sausage dog! What a fantastic idea!) and their obvious devotion to each other. Add a perfect sunny northern NSW day to the mix and you have the perfect recipe for a fairytale wedding.

Emma and Jason’s wedding was FUN. I really can’t think of a better word for it. The whole day was full of laughter and smiles, and a few tears – but only the happy kind. There was a lot of Blue Steel happening. And there was a whole lot of love.
It rained during our wedding portraits session. Nobody cared. If anything it gave us all the crazies and we went into super-epic-silly-photo mode!

Check out all the fun below.

I’d like you to meet Mel and Jay, and their adorable fur baby Hurley. These guys are total rockstars – especially the Hurley the uber-fashionable dog. I love when people want to include their pets in their portrait sessions!

We caught up for this super-lovely sunset beachside sweetheart session and even grabbed a few shots for their family Christmas card!

Hayley and David wanted a small, simple wedding to celebrate their love. It suited them perfectly. I feel as though a small, simple blog post will suit them too, so I’ll let their images tell you all about it. Congratulations, Hayley and David!

Let me introduce you to some friends of mine. Their names are December and Kiara, and they are IN LOVE. Like, CAPITALS love LOVE. There is nothing in this world that inspires me more than love, and I walked away from this shoot feeling joyous and bright – because December and Kiara are joyous, bright people, and I got to capture their joyous, bright love. Now I want to share it with you!

If you don’t feel warm and fuzzy after you’ve seen these images… I think you’re doing it wrong!

When I think of all the weddings I’ve photographed to date, I think I’d have to say Mel and Nick’s was the most honest, personal and emotional. It was truly touching to witness. I’m something of a sympathetic crier, so when Mel’s tears started up right before she walked down the aisle, I had to work hard to keep my own back!

I have a lot in common with these guys – we share a love of great music (they signed the marriage register to Incubus’ “Friends and Lovers”, which is a song that’s very close to my own partner’s and my hearts) and a love of Asian, particularly Japanese, culture (hence the Hello Kitty/sakura-themed cake), and having so much in common really made me feel like I was capturing the memories of two kindred spirits. Their wedding day was such a pleasure to photograph.

I drove past the beautiful grassy patch where Mel and Nick were married recently. Kingscliff’s been experiencing some pretty drastic erosion the past few years, and that gorgeous little knoll is almost gone. Thankfully, the memories (and the photos) are still here.

Wedding ceremony: Kingscliff Beach
Wedding reception: Kingscliff Beach Bowls Club