This is Sue and John

they are a very cool couple.  and LOTS of fun to photograph….

We left the story of their epic wedding after ceremony no 2 at the Mary Immaculate Church in Annerley… ceremony no 3 kicked off shortly after, back at John’s parent’s house -

there was lots of singing and praying and smiling…

and of course lots more tea…

and after a quick meal break we headed out to Newfarm to take some pictures of John and Sue and the bridal party…

ooooh parasols!

hmmmm boys with parasols

gorgeous Sue and John at my favorite corner of the Power House…

the girls -

having a bit of fun with this gorgeous couple

an extra cool shot of the guys -

down by the river -

everyone in!

And it was off to wind up with a few shots at the reception venue – Landmark Restaurant in Sunnybank.

Thank you Sue and John for providing me with such an epic wedding to photograph!!

heaps more highlights from the wedding to be found here.

This was an epic wedding if ever there was… 8 am start, 3 ceremonies, 2 bridal dresses, 8 attendants and a whole lot of GORGEOUS.  John and Sue are just a brilliant couple… sooooo laid back, soooooooo much fun and OMG drop.dead.gorgeous.  GORGEOUS…!

see what I mean??

but back to the epic part…

We started in the bright and early at Sue’s parent’s place to get a couple of quick shots of the girls getting ready, before ceremony no 1 kicked off at 8.30pm

Sue looking beautiful in her traditional dress

a cuddle with mum before the ceremony

the wedding altar

John and the guys arrive

a little nervous perhaps??!

the guys ready with their gifts lined up out the front

the ceremony kicks off…

the bride arrives

blessings…

earings for Sue from the mums

and the tea ceremony

lot of hugs…

a brief moment after the ceremony with the happy couple…

and getting ready for the next ceremony!

Sue, being a hairdresser by trade was quite happy to put her own veil in!

breathtaking!

15 mins later and we are at the church to check out the guys

John looking very handsome

sue arriving

proud mum ready to walk her daughter down the isle

cute flower girls ready and waiting…

so that was ceremony no 2 completed

Stay tuned for  ceremony no 3 and some awesome photos around New Farm…

this was a lovely laid back wedding last month with a lovely laid back couple….

what a perfect day this was… how could it not be?  We started out with the girls getting ready and grabbed a couple of detail shots whilst the hair and make up ladies were applying the finishing touches

Shanelle giving her bridesmaids some obviously FABULOUS earings…

gorgeous Shanelle

(wheeeeee candy legs )

so we dragged ourselves away from lovely Shanelle and her beautiful dress, and headed off to Kangaroo Point to get some shots of the guys before the ceremony…

the fantastic location -

the anticipation

and the arrival

beautiful ceremony

Bit of romance down by the river

bit of fun with the bridal party

and then it was off to a secret location in the city that my awfully clever friend Denise Yates told me about a couple of months ago… sneaky, but perfect.

more fun with the bridal party

and these next two shots are really homage to the great Todd Hunter McGaw… I saw an awesome pic of his ages ago where he did something similar with a bridal party and it just stuck in my my mind.  I had to try it…

(Todd you are the jedi-master )

and we don’t really know that we have had fun with the bridal party until there is a crazy jumping shot… YEAH!

walking from Custom’s House over to the reception at the Alchemy Bar…

one last romantic shot… awww

Shanelle and Jeff thank you for letting us share such a great day with you, and for making the experience so easy and stress free.  Shanelle you are a honey for letting me take my time with these

for heaps more pics, check out this link.

This is lovely Ioanna.  Along with her husband Michael, Ioanna owns the fabulous  Photomounts and Albums. (in case you are a wedding or portrait photographer and you haven’t heard of them… do yourself a favor….  PMA are the best in album design and manufacture!)

So considering how lovely AND gorgeous this woman is, I was very excited when she asked me to take some pics of her and the bump…

oh and this little possum is Ioanna’s daughter Isabella…

the whole family…

Isabella having a quiet moment with her daddy  -

awww…

what a fabulous afternoon this was.  Thank you Ioanna and Michael for letting me share such a special time with you…

So you may recall that a couple of months ago, I had a most magnificent time with this incredibly talented couple taking their engagement photos.  (if you don’t you can take a look at the shoot here.) And to refresh your memory, both Callum and Jasmin are dancers with the awesome Velocity Dance company.  So even when I first met this couple, I knew their wedding was going to be something special…

And not only was there a dance theme to this wedding, Jasmin was transforming herself into Audrey Hepburn for the day… Amazing.

So I couldn’t help but go a little bit crazy and retro with the photography -

amazing bouquet by Jennine at Florabella design

Jasmine’s lovely attendants for the day…

and Audrey is revealed – possibly the cutest bride ever!

and over at Cedar Creek Lodges at Tamborine, Callum was helping with soundchecks and other preparations before taking a quick break for photos…

so there was a tense moment for all as it was revealed that the celebrant was held up and probably wouldn’t make it in time… so plan B was being put in to motion.

but it’s all ok if you have your good mates by your side… and as they say “the show must go on…”)

oh and the celebrant did turn up just in the nick of time, and did a fine job presiding over this beautiful ceremony.

and of course there’s that bit in the ceremony right after the ring exchange that most modern couples miss… the part where the whole bridal party breaks out in to dance…!!

definitely a first for me

then it was off to the Cheese Factory at Tamborine for… well… more dancing…

and a little romancing too…

so these guys would have to go down as the most energetic and fun-loving bridal parties I’ve ever photographed…

because it’s just not a wedding without another dance rehearsal in the middle of photos…

we took a quick trip to the lookout to catch the sunset…

and to do some very energetic jumping…

and strike some poses…

then back to the reception where I can only imagine how crazy it all got..!!

thank you Jasmine and Callum for having me photograph your special day…

for more hightlights ffrom this energetic day, click here.

Danica and Tristan on their wedding day…

Beautiful Danica is one of the amazing staff at Photomounts and Albums where I get all my albums made.  She is one of the people out the back of the shop who tries to make sense of some of the crazy album designs that I come up with.  She does an amazing job, and when she asked me to shoot her wedding, I was so very flattered and excited (and a little bit nervous ).  lucky for me Danica is drop dead GORGEOUS and Tristan is head over heals in love with her.  How could I go wrong?

It was a beautifully intimate wedding at the chapel at Macarther Park in Alexandra Hills.  Only close family members were in attendance.  It was small and simple but with some sweet details.

We started out checking in with Tristan who was with his parents at the Shangri-la Hotel getting ready for the big day.

Both Tristan and Danica gave their mums a beautiful lace hanky complete with a beautiful poem about mothers.

then it was off to see how Danica was going with her preparations…

oh the SHOES!  fabulous…

just fabulous!

this is just after Danica gave her mum the hanky…

simple and elegant baby’s breath posy expertly crafted by the fabulous Jennine from Florabella Designs…

of course, every wedding must have mascot his and her ducks…

(Danica and Tristan are fond of ducks. )

and the words… these will appear in the photos a bit later on, but they were read out during the ceremony too.  Some of the sweetest most random beautiful words that I have heard a couple share.

gorgeous Danica…

inside the church

there were quite a few tears shed during this beautiful ceremony….

Now that’s a family photo!

ohhh the balloons….

we headed off to Wynum for a date with the wind…

Now this is an idea we worked on before the wedding… I asked Tristan and Danica if they wanted to personalise their photos with some words about how they felt about each other.  These are just a few of the things they read out to each other during the ceremony…

then I asked whether Danica would be game to walk out on the mudflats in her dress.  She didn’t skip a beat… no problem!

(and along came a man with balloons…)

then it was off to the courthouse for a lovely family dinner.

what a very special wedding.  Thank you Danica and Tristan for letting me be a part of such a beautiful celebration of your love.

To check out a couple more highlights from the day, click here.

I had been looking forward to this wedding ever since I met this couple…  I knew this day was going to be filled with energy and emotion and I wasn’t dissapointed. This was the coming together of two fantasically vibrant italian families – una bella giornata da vero!!

This is Danny… he is a cool guy with a big heart, and he loves Lisa.  This is without a doubt.

the rings and Danny’s brother’s guitar.

I knew these guys were going to be a handful right from the start…!

Lisa’s amazing dress…

Lisa’s mum and twin sister who filled the house with love and laughter…

one of Lisa’s beautiful bridesmaids…

and this is Lisa.  One of the most exquisite women I have ever photogaphed and clearly in love with her man Danny.

my all time favorite bridal photo ever.

Lisa with her Nonna…

at Nonnas house…

arrival and

anticipation

a beautiful beautiful ceremony…

Beautiful Our Lady of Victory Church in Bowen Hills

and some fun photos at the Brisbane Powerhouse.  This place never fails to impress and delight me…

another of my personal favorites from the day…

then it was off to a not-so-secret location in Newstead…

and off to the Hilton for the reception (well a kiss in the lifts first…)

some quiet time before the reception.

Danny and Lisa I cannot thank you enough for letting me share this amazing day with you… You were both such a pleasure to photograph.

Lots more hightlights to be found if you follow this link.

I’ve had the pure joy of a lazy sunday afternoon at home.  Whilst I probably should have opted for something away from my computer, I found myself lost in blogland… randomly reading some wonderfully inspiring and beautiful blogs on the net.  This one stood out, and I thought I would share a link to it.

http://www.dayswithmyfather.com/

It made me cry.

and it made me remember why I do what I do.  It reminded me that although it’s great to try to pull off technically beautiful location shoots, photographing people is really about documenting LIFE… in all its bittersweet, exquisite beauty.

Thank you Mr Toledano for reminding me of that…

Finally… the European wedding event of the year…

The lovely Martina and Justin were married in  Strassburg Castle near Klagenfurt in Austria last month.  The day was as romantic as it sounds… Although this couple have been together for ages, the love and romance is still very obvious…

A couple of quick shots of the two of them getting ready together…

and then off to Woertersee for a couple of pics by the water before flying off to the castle.  (Flying is not a typo.  We actually flew…)

so this is what awaited us on the way back to the Hotel.  I understood I was getting a lift with Justin and Martina to the castle… but literally…?

Yep.  Mountain climbing, photographing a castle wedding, a helicopter ride??  All part of the job…  Somebody pinch me!

a little glimpse of the castle destination, from the air…! AMAZING!

it was starting to feel a lot like a fairy tale to me…

but wait… a horse and carriage to meet the fine couple and take them to the castle…!

So inside the courtyard the crowd was gathering, and listening to some fabulous Austrian music…

(oh I do love a man in Lederhosen )

and so the ceremony began…

complete with a traditional Austrian choir

and doves…

yes it was a stormy stormy night.  In fact storms were predicted for the whole day, but we had fabulous sunshine until just before the reception began… amazing!

the guests wrote well wishes for the couple and attached them to balloons and sent them heavenwards…

then Justin and Maritnas friends played a little game with them… they made them dress up in alpine gear (including tandem ski’s) and enact a medical rescue.  It was fitting as both Justin and Martina are doctors…

oh and first they had to find the patient…

And this poor wounded fellow is Ashish.  (Hi Asish!) you may remember him as the handsome groom from a wedding I shoot early last year http://broderickphotography.wordpress.com/2008/04/01/scarlett-and-ashish-part-1/

so they had to stitch his leg wound together despite having ski mask and gloves on…

pefect execution… with a lot of laughing…!

then it was up to the reception… more music, great food and lots and lots of dancing…

Justin and Martina I wish you both much happiness for your life together.  Thank you for choosing me to share such a special day with you…

To see a couple more highlights from this amazing day, click here.

Often before a wedding, it’s a nice idea to do a prewedding shoot, or engagement session so both photographer and bride & groom can get comfortable with each other.  I suppose this is a variation on that theme…

Justin and Martina got a group of friends together the day before the wedding and organised to go for a little hike in the mountains near their home.  This is more or less how we understood it… 3 hour hike in the Alps… might get a bit steep and all… but nothing too strenuous – not the day before the wedding…!!  that’s more or less how Justin explained it.  Martina wasn’t so sure it would be so little, so she organised a contingency walk for the less adventurous of the group.  Theoretically, being the day before a big wedding I should probably have been in that group…

Nah!!

It all started out inoccently enough -

then it started to get a little serious…

yep.

This is Siebe from Holland.  (not so many mountains in Holland I’ve heard) He is demonstrating our safety gear for the hike (helmet, climbing harnesses and rope).

This is Siebe and Michael “hiking” up behind me…

So it was a wild and crazy climb… but my o my was it an awesome awesome experience!  To experience this countyside… and the views… amazing!

This is Michael looking back to where we came from…

Yay!! the summit!!!!  It only took us about 5 hours to get to this point.  oops.  But SERIOUSLY worth it.

Photographic evidence that we made it to the summit… me, Michael, Justin and Siebe.  (I wasn’t quite ready to take my helmet off at this stage it seems…!)

In Justin’s defence, he has done the hike before in 3 hours, and he didn’t need to use a harness…

getting down seemed strangely more strenuous… very rough terrain to walk through.  I kind of twisted my ankle coming down which was a little worrying… but it came good for the wedding

amazing amazing views…

back in more civilized terrain…

some Austrian cows just lazing about.

My whole time in Austria was just incredible, and I have to thank Justin and Martina and Justin’s parents for making it such an amazing experience.

This is a photo of the hotel that Justin’s parents run in Klagenfurt.  They are the most fantasically hospitable people I have met.  If you’re considering a stay in this part of Austria, look them up and book a room www.sonnenhof-mariarain.at

and this is the view from the hotel… breathtaking!

stay tuned for some wedding photos