David & Tracey's Wedding Photography with Sirromet's Chandelier Package Wedding

Tracey's daughter Angela is a friend of mine and was eager to book our services in for her mums big day. They had locked in Sirromet Winery in Brisbane as their Wedding Venue for the Ceremony and Reception and after taking a look at my website they noticed some images already from this amazing venue. Tracey and bridesmaids where getting ready at the Merlot house which is located on the Sirromet grounds, Here are a few images of Tracey and her bridal party getting ready. 

Jess stayed with the girls to document their departure and I headed down to the ceremony location and set up my lights, which I think for this location is a must as when shooting natural light the beautiful background in blown out, We are shooting with multiple cameras, With Jess and I both Having 2 cameras with different focal lengths, so we also had the option of both. Here is a quick example which may show this.

Natural Light

Off Camera Flash

There was a string quartet named Angel String Trio playing for all the guests when they arrived and eventually the bride walking down the isle which is a nice touch, I got some quick pics of them before David and his Groomsmen arrived. Before we knew it we where preparing for the brides arrival in the beautiful 1952 Bentley supplied by Private Transfers, It was a touching ceremony with a few tears around and some passionate vows. These guys really are madly in love and its always great to be a part of such pivotal moments in our clients lives. The Celebran managed to keep things pretty light and break up the emotional parts with some humour. I hope you can tell through my images that I always have telling a story in mind.  

David and Tracey didn't want to spend to much time posing for alot of photos after the ceremony preferring to have a chat to family and friends for awhile before getting some images and then having a little bit of down time before the reception started. Having said that they knew it wouldn't take me to long to work our J'adore magic and get some beautiful images for these guys. I have put a few below for your viewing pleasure. 

I LOVE the barrel room at Sirromet which is the room they use for the reception it may actually be my favourite room, For Sirromet this was actually there first night featuring there new Chandelier package, Amanda from sirromet really is great to work with and we look forward to many more future weddings at this amazing venue. We also enjoyed getting the chance to work with G&M DJ's who always do a great job, Glenn & the DJ both did a great job, One of the highlights for me where the speeches the bond between Tracey and her 2 daughters who where also her bridesmaids really was amazing with lots of tears of which some where even mine, I have added in a few more photo from our time at the reception. They also has a illustrator there who I didn't get the details from but he had a big line up waiting for his original drawings which would be great souvenirs as a reminder for David and Traceys special day. Please let us know what you think of the images. 


Brides Marketta Spring Event with House of Serendipity Gowns

I received a call from Lee the owner of House of Serendipity Gowns around 5pm telling me that she was at the brides spring marketta which is hosted by A little Vintage Bliss  and featured all the rest of the great Gold Coast wedding vendors from The Wedding Hub, Lee said there are 4 beautiful models in wedding gowns with make up done by Bayly Allure and Hair by Style Creations that she wanted to know if I was interested in coming down and doing some photography. I jumped at the chance grabbed my gear and hopped straight in the car.

On my way I noticed the sun setting so I quickly realised that it was going to be a bit different and that I would have to use the ambient lighting from the marketta in combination with my portable studio lights. Which was a exciting prospect as I love being pushed out of my comfort zone and getting creative.  I will show a few images and give you descriptions of the vendors involved as we go.

All of the J'adore crew pride them selves on creative lighting like this and its a big reason why we have been so busy over the last few years in Brisbane and the Gold Coast

From left to right Emily, Kate, Alana & Tanja all looking stunning in their House of Serendipity Gowns in front of "woody" the mobile bar from Luxury of Vintage Enterprises

Emily adding a bit of movement in her House of Serendipity Gown 

The first 9 Images are all in the same area, Luxury of Vintage Enterprises who are a part of the wedding hub, had their Mobile Bar "woody" and there Kombi on display which made for a really nice backdrop for some of the images. 

This English old school black cab was brought in by Fox & Hound and I couldn't help but put the girl in for a few quick images. 

We really did have a lot of fun which is definitely part of my shooting to style I try to keep things light and fun, which in turn means we get the more natural smiling images. There images are in the My Vintage Lane Caravan which is another great option for a mobile bar. 

Tanja made a gran entrance into the Marketta on the back of this Somerton Limousine

Somerton Limousines had 3 really impressive Rolls- Royce on show, I would have loved spend some more time with these Amazing automobiles but just ran out of time.

The Crew from See you next Thursday provided some really delicious canapé's which seemed to be the most popular stop for the visitors as they arrived. 

Kate, Tanja, Emily and Alana in front of the Lush Lolly Bar in their House of Serendpity Gowns

The Lush Lolly Bar was also a popular spot for everybody to try some of the yummy treats. 

I got a chance to meet Tricia from A little vintage Bliss and had a little bit of a sneak peak into there showroom at there beautiful collection of Vintage items which included this chair. 

Thanks you so much for reading my blog, Feel free to ask any questions and let us know what your favourite images are.

What is the best time of the day to get Married?

A lot of clients ask me what time of day is best to get married I often out of curiosity ask them what time they think? Especially for outdoor Weddings most of which are on the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Byron Bay and Mount Tamborine. So all fairly warm sunny areas. Most people reply with lunch time.

What do you think? As for lunch time its actually the worst time of day unless its a really overcast day there will be a shadow in your eye when you think about it as if the sun is directly above you. I often think with all my experience shooting over 50 weddings per year for tha last few years what time would I pick for my ceremony?

The answer is This say there is a 6pm sunset we want our photoshoot to end as the sun sets and have at least 90 min of time put aside for that. Say 30 after the ceremony for congratulations group & family photos. Which leaves 30 min for the ceremony which takes us back to around 330 and with a good photographer that uses flash which means you can shoot a little bit past sunset which I like to do we can push that to 4pm.

It also means that you have the best chance of nice light during your ceremony and again with the chance to use some flash hopefully a few clouds and some colour in the sky.

Here are a few examples of some images in the last few hours before the sunset.

The Southport School TSS and Southport Yacht Wedding Photography and Videography

Right from the start i knew that Robert and Grace’s Wedding at The Southport School TSS was going to be beautiful. I've always wanted to go inside, but as its a boy's school I’ve never really had a reason to. So when i found out that Robert was an Old boy which is needed to get married at the school's chapel and that this beautiful location was going to be the place where this amazing couple was going to get married, I was thrilled.

They were married on a beautiful day at the Southport School surrounded by their family and a multitude of friends. We had talked earlier about some of the great locations on the grounds and I mentioned that I thought their wedding was going to be fun and spontaneous, Robert did not fail to please. Grace looked amazing and Robert scrubbed up quite handsomely, their ceremony was held in the chapel on TSS grounds.  A beautiful String quartet played as everyone mingled and waited for Grace’s arrival. It was a beautiful heartfelt ceremony with chaplain of the school that used to the school's service when Robert went to school there and still does to this day and is a personal friend of the family.

After the service everyone enjoyed time chatting and mingling under the trees while we photographed the formal family photos.  After the ceremony we spent some time with the bridal party. This is generally my favourite part of the day as we can really bring them out of their shells and get some great shots on the school ovals and by the river having some fun portraits before going over to the Southport Yacht Club for the reception. The Southport Yacht Club was decorated simply with Fairy lights and a great colour light display from the Dj booth. The building  has million dollar views of the marina. They had a table full of props set up in the corner and we made our own version of a photo booth, they are so much fun at weddings and really get everyone in a fun party mood. Near the end of the night is always some of the best parts for us as photographer and videographers as this is generally when everyone has had a few drinks and is ready to get down on the dance floor and at this wedding the groom Robert was definitely one of these people, finally coming out of his shell and really having some fun dancing with all his friends and family and of course his beautiful new bride. I think personally my favourite part was the last song, sweet and slow and really beautiful as the couple have their last dance of the night they hold each other in a sweet embrace, as she whispers something in his ear. You see him smile and hold her closer and they both wipe a tear from their eye, this was so beautiful and as i did then seeing it as i do now, i wipe my own tears away just remembering this moment. Being a part of someone's special day is such a beautiful experience seeing them laugh, dance and cry seeing the first day of the rest of their lives together as husband and wife, how could we wish for anything more. 

Please enjoy Robert and Grace’s Gold Coast Wedding at TSS and The Southport Yacht Club 

Jessica Mcguiness