January 16th, 2012
Katie and Wes met at a function in Ocean Grove. Something for the surf life savers. She was attending, him working. There were awkward smiles, a small case of mistaken identity, the exchange of phone numbers. From early on in their relationship they both knew it was heading down the aisle.
It was a thrill to have a cherry red double decker bus full of an excited bridal party following my car around the streets of Geelong.
It was even more of a thrill to photograph Katie and Wes. There’s a generosity of spirit towards each other with these two. Very rare and precious.
Katie and Wes’ wedding team:
The Frock: Collette Dinnigan | The Shoes: Tony Bianco | The Hair and make-up: Rebeccah Vivian @ Blondie Hair and Cosmetica | The Bridesmaids frocks: Alannah Hill | The flowergirls frocks: Trelise Cooper Kids | The bag of fruit: Jack London | The groomsman’s bags of fruit: Roger David | The flowers: Jodie Connoley Flowerbowl | The cake: Loveit Cakes and Little cupcakes | The Bus: Dee Decker Tours | The invitations: Peace Love Letterpress | The ceremony: St Mary’s Basillica | The reception: Barwon Edge Boat house, Geelong | The Candy Bar: The Candy Buffet Company | The photographs: Meaghan Cook
January 13th, 2012
Danielle and Dave’s wedding has been sitting on my desktop waiting to be blogged for months. We’ve been waiting until they’d had their second wedding, so as not to spoil anything for the guests. So now they’re married, twice, and I can show you all.
Danielle is Australian, Dave Irish, they live in Singapore. They arranged two weddings to accommodate their friends and family spread across the globe. I was lucky enough to be a part of their Australian one, down in the Otways. (I love the smell of the Otways. It’s a scent I could pick anywhere.)
I cried as Danielle came down the aisle. As soon as the opening bars of The Frames -Falling Slowly (which is one of my all time favourite songs) started playing, I was a goner.
Dave was a goner too.
I know that no matter what part of the world Danielle and Dave are in, good things will always come their way.
Danielle and Dave’s wedding team:
The Frock: Marianna Hardwick | The Location: Countrywide Cottages | The shoes: Steve Madden | The hair: Tracey Clarke | The Bridesmaids frocks: the girls chose their own | The make-up : Friends Claire and Aisla of La Paisible | The celebrant: Julia Doven | The bag of fruit: Hugo Boss | The Flowers: Cathie Ann | The cake: Danielle’s gorgeously talented mother | The food: Golden Roasts
Location: Countrywide Cottages
January 10th, 2012
This is a story I felt certain I would never be telling. I’d let it be known in the past to friends and family that Amba and I were never getting married. Amba said it just himself the very day he proposed (talk about being sneaky). We’ve got the boys, we’re settled, we’re happy. Why would we need to get married? And if it’s good enough for George Negus to be living in de-facto bliss after 20 years, it would be good enough for me.
But this IS the story of Amba and I getting engaged. I know, fancy that! The news has taken everyone by surprise (including myself), and Amba is rightly very chuffed that he managed to keep it all a secret.
So you want to hear how it happened right?
It’d had been a very long day. We spent Boxing Day mostly in the car, after visiting family out of town for Christmas. We were all a little wrung out. Finally, FINALLY, the boys were in bed. I curled into the corner of the couch, ready for bed myself. And that’s when Amba proposed. (Being the technological hipster kids we are, he proposed with a hand drawn picture of a ring on an iPhone). A hot wave washed over me. Amba smiled at me the way he smiled at me the very first time we met.
(Before I got the chance to say yes, a little voice from the bedroom called out ‘muuuuuuum’. There really isn’t any rest when your a parent! Sheesh, can’t even get proposed to without getting interrupted.)
Yes. Of course. I’ll marry you.
The story of the hand drawn picture of a ring on the phone hides Amba’s plotting ways. He’d been planning this for months. In cahoots with his mother! Amba’s mum is a gold and silversmith, and together they’d been designing engagement rings. Not an easy task to do over the phone, so in the end Amba decided he’d ask me first, then I could design it with his mum. Such a special thing, and I’m very lucky to have a uniquely designed and handmade ring from his mum. And in the end we’re going to skip the engagement ring (this $12 baby from Diva on my finger will do me just fine) and just have a wedding ring each.
So yes, Amba and I are doing things traditionally a little out of order. It was the baby carriage for us first. But never having been people to do things in the traditional way, it kinda makes sense. Doing things our way, in our own good time, in a way that means something to us, is perfect. Getting engaged comes at the absolutely perfect time for us.
One thing I didn’t anticipate about getting engaged is the overwhelming outpouring of love from my family and friends. The well wishes, congratulations, bear hugs and loud squeals down the phone have made getting engaged so much more special. It’s something that as a wedding photographer I don’t see. I don’t see everyone getting excited from the very beginning. So it’s been happily unexpected and immensely heartwarming.
(oh, and when I told my Dad, he scurried off and rang his mother to tell her the news. Made me melt just a little.)
So there you have it. We’re getting married! I’ve deliberately left out gushing comments of how wonderful Amba is and how much I love him – he knows all of that. If you’ve ever seen us together, you know why we’re a perfect fit (and it has nothing to do with our mutual love of late 90′s music).
* Thanks so much Lauren for these photographs. I pulled a little swiftly of my own! I called Lauren and asked her to meet me at a certain spot, and to bring her camera. She thought perhaps we’d bought a new dog that I wanted photos of. (She did say she had an inkling of what it was about because Amba had dropped hints to her a few weeks back). I jumped out of the car, told her the news, and we did that jumping hugging thing that is so not cool but feels so right when you’re doing it. And she kindly took these photographs of us to mark the occasion.
