Summer of 2011 was awesome & crazy at the same time, and I realised I haven’t been blogging some of my favourite weddings because I was worried I wouldn’t do them justice in the madness of wedding season. It’s never too late to start so here goes…

I love the friendships I gain from my job and Rhian & Toan are two very special people. It’s not just how relaxed and easy-going they are or how much joy & happiness emanate from them, you can tell they are just made for each other (which makes the necklace Rhian wore on the day even more apt – it’s a peapod, cos they’re two peas in a pod!).

And just like them, their wedding was really special – it was truly a labour of love, all the details are DIY-ed by Rhian & Toan and their family and the day was one big celebration of love & laughter. I was a DIY bride myself so I know how much time & effort goes into planning one, and most things you see here were handmade – I hope this weddings provides some ideas and inspirations for all you future brides.

Of course a great wedding does not a great marriage make, but Rhian & Toan are truly a “happy couple”, I dare you to look through these images and not smile once!

One of the most comical moments of my photography career… the cows decided to do what the birds and the bees do (check out Rhian’s expression when she spotted it LOL), they then got spooked as we walked closer and crossed the road, but no… mister bull couldn’t even wait till he got over to the other side of the street to carry on! Priceless.

Who says you can’t have fun outdoor in winter? Jaime & Steve came out for their engagement session in the park just a few week before Christmas and fun was definitely had by all. Can’t wait to shoot your wedding in April, guys! x

P.S. I am a little obssessed with the animation at the end of this post :-p

Lucy + Michael {Wedding Magazine}

Vikki + Matt {Wedding Ideas Magazine}

Ruth + Ben {Cosmopolitan Bride Magazine}

Mads + Nick {Rock n Roll Bride Magazine}

Rock n Roll Bride Paris shoot {Rock n Roll Bride Magazine}

Peri + Ryan {Vintage Life Magazine}

Sindy + Richard {Your London Magazine}

Sibing and Lei are such a lovely couple, they were childhood sweethearts now living in Hong Kong. Sharing their mutual love of travel (they just got back from the Nordic!) we had many a conversation in the cabs (between locations) about places to visit and exchanged travel tips (Iceland is firmly on my list now). And whilst I was expecting that, like most couples wanting to do a shoot in Paris, they’d want photos with all the Paris landmark – they were actually not interested in the tourist sights and simply wanted relaxed photos of them enjoying the city of light.

So we did. It was a fun afternoon going around different places in Paris. Unfortunately unlike my previous shoots, the weather wasn’t on our side – the sun never came out to say hi and the rain gave us a bit of a hard time. Nevertheless, Sibing and Lei were troopers and although we had to call it a night when the rain started to pour down at the Lourve, I think we did good considering!

Well I hope you enjoy this wintry love shoot. Getting married in France (Paris or otherwise)? Hit me up!

Disclaimer: this post is a review of a workshop I attended so is probably of more interest to photographers. If you’re a bride/groom-to-be, feel free to scroll down past the text to look at the pretty pictures! and hire The Tea Set for your wedding – no joke, best stylist/all around creative lady ever!

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending a workshop at the Photography Farm, if you haven’t already heard of it, you should definitely check it out – I can’t recommend it enough! In a nutshell the concept is an all inclusive 2 days/2 nights workshop (on differing topics so take your pick) where “the farmers” not only get to learn during the day, but also gain invaluable lessons from chatting to other like-minded people at dinner and drinks (and more drinks all night if you’ve got that kind of stamina!). Here is just a little snippet of how Lisa Devlin, the brain child behind it, describes it:

“Imagine a 12 acre farm with meadows, woods, a lake, an orchard. A rambling old farm house with a range cooker and log burners. Imagine it was used for entertaining Rock Stars so there is a swimming pool and a hot tub, tennis courts and a housekeeper. Imagine styled shoots with real couples, happening in the grounds. Imagine having access to top photographers showing you how they work then hanging around for dinner.”

Lisa is a dear friend of mine and knowing her, I knew this workshop would be awesome, I just didn’t expect it to be THAT awesome. It was every bit as amazing as it sounds and then some.

The workshop I attended covered off camera flash – though I was happy with my knowledge of flash I always find off camera flash (OCF), with everything you have to drag around with you, a little daunting. I remember second shooting for a flash-heavy photographer back when I first started and watching him get humungous kit after kit out of his car throughout the day (some of which weigh more than me – no joke) really turned me off using OCF at all. Alas, I believe a photographer should NEVER stop learning, and was ready to tackle the subject once more. Adam was a great teacher, he went through everything from the basics to how the techniques are applicable when shooting weddings. I told Adam up front my aim was to go away knowing everything but only using the minimum of equipment as it wouldn’t suit my shooting style otherwise (you know I always try to be a ninja, and it’s a bit hard to be a ninja carrying giant gadgets around with me), he was very understanding and provided great tips on how it could be achieved.

And then there’s the styled shoots, oh my word, they were so surreal that half the time we thought we were in a (very nordic gothic chic) dream! Hannah from The Tea Set blows my mind – she is a multi-talented lady doing everything from flowers to ice cream bike. I REALLY want her to style one of my weddings! I won’t go into details and let the pictures below do the talking.

So I left the farm with some kick ass OCF techniques, feeling inspired and refreshed, made some lovely friends, and best off all had the best couple of days laughing and chatting with fellow photographers – learning everything from how one of the farmers got over 11,000 fans on facebook to the latest goss in the industry. I love my life.

Set 1: The Love Nest (yes Hannah built a nest, a nest I tell ya!)

Set 2: The Nordic Sauna (yup the farm has a sauna!)

Set 3: The Charles Dickens Set (that’s what I call it anyway – just surreal!)

Last but definitely not least, a group shot of all the farmers using the light painting technique! (aka our mug shots)

Jess & David were high school sweethearts and have been together ever since. Their wedding day was a typical English one, where rain and sun both made an appearance – nothing could dampen these lovebirds’ spirits though, it was hard not to spot them without their smiles on all day. I do love me a couple (so) in love!

They went for a 50s rock ‘n roll look with splashes of red throughout (doesn’t Jess look uber stunning in her 50s Candy Anthony dress & bright red Upper Street Shoes?). Perhaps the most popular featured of the day was their DIY tattoo parlour, guests young and old couldn’t get enough of the stick-on tattoos! Fun fun fun!

A few frames of  the lovely Panormos… Yes, I’m a total dork (hey at least I’m not a hypocrite, I don’t just make my clients jump around, see? I jump too). Oh and that’s me and my boy… how I <3 him so!

Lucky lil’ me went to Greece in September to photograph Maria & Tim’s lovely intimate wedding. Maria & Tim are both Australians (woohoo!) who are living in Cambridge, as Maria’s parents are from Greece and they have always loved the country (and why wouldn’t they?) they decided to get married on the coast just east of Athens. This is definitely no “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”, the bride & groom wanted a simple and intimate affair – with only close friends and family, Maria & Tim were married in a traditional Greek Orthodox ceremony in a cute little church by the sea. The evening was followed by (LOTS of) food at the deck of a taverna by the beach and (of course) the dancing and partying into the wee hours, oh the Greeks know how to partay!

Everyone who knows me knows I LOVE destination weddings, there’s something about travelling to a different country, different landscape, different light, or getting acquainted with a different culture that makes it all so rewarding. I hope you enjoy looking through these photos, be sure to come back next year for more destination weddings goodness!

Katya & Ahmed have gotta be one of the most photogenic couples I’ve photographed – they need no direction as the chemistry between them is amazing. They are also one of the most relaxed couples ever, so it is no surprise that their wedding was an intimate, relaxed affair. Katya & Ahmed hired a gorgeous barn in Kent (with labyrinth of rooms + an outdoor hot tub!) and most guests stayed for the weekend and helped decorate and set up the night before.

The wedding was entirely relaxed and unfussy, there was no bridesmaids or groomsmen, no formalities, Katya & Ahmed even opted to see each other before the wedding and walked down the aisle together. They were married at the Archbishop Palace in Maidstone which has gotta be the most picturesque registry office I’ve ever been to. After a few quick portraits we headed back to the house where the party began. The afternoon consisted of eating, drinking and plenty of laughters – just the way a wedding should be. As evening fell, Katya and Ahmed kicked start the party outside by having their first dance amongst the twinkling fairy lights – one of the many reasons to love a summer wedding!

Ok, I’ve been a little bit naughty and haven’t blogged in a while, but it’s not laziness I promise, I have been working *really* hard in the season that was summer-weddings-gallore! This means I will have a lot of weddings to share with you in the coming weeks – A LOT I tell ya In fact,  just to prove I speak the truth, above is a sneaky peek of a little goodness coming your way very soon, but I digress…

As the title of this post indicates, I have booked my flights and will be heading home to Australia for a month in February 2012!! It is really exciting as I actually haven’t been back since I left home to travel around the world, found my soulmate and moved to London-town – and that was almost 6 years ago! The reason I’m heading home is rather exciting too, my little sister is getting married! I love her to bits and very excited about both going home and her upcoming wedding.

So what does my aforemention excitement have anything to do with you, you may ask? Well I am really hoping to photograph a wedding in Australia while I’m there – home is Melbourne but if Jetstar et al are still thriving since I left home then I’m sure I’ll be up for shooting a wedding wherever you are in Australia. So if you are getting married is Oz or know anyone who is and may like the stuff I do, please do get in touch – I’ll be in Melbourne from 7th February onwards and would love to hear from you!