Weddings
Sarah & Gareth – Albert River Wines Wedding
Apr 12th
Aurelie has been photographing some simply stunning weddings this last twelve months. Here is one of them.
Gareth met Sarah at high school. When he and his twin brother were young, Gareth’s South African parents decided to move their family to Australia for a better life, and now Gareth & Sarah are starting a life of their own. They celebrated with an intimate wedding with their closest family and friends at Albert River Wines.
I loved these images when Aurelie showed them to me because I could instantly see how important family was to this couple and how much love there was there on this day. When I see the photos taken during the speeches, I can imagine the thoughts and feelings of their parents. It reminds me that one day, Marcus & I might be watching one of our own twin boys in a moment like this, so just maybe, all the hard work, and every sacrifice we might make on the way will all be worth it too. Really there is nothing more that you can want for someone else than to have real love in their life and a future that they can choose. Aurelie tells me that in the speeches, it was pretty clear that Gareth knew this was the gift his parents gave him.
Gareth & Sarah, thank you so much for choosing Studio Impressions to capture this special day. We wish you a future filled with real love.
Brisbane Wedding – Nirija & Nathan
Mar 11th
Marcus is in the US at the moment at the WPPI conference for photographers, learning lots from all the brilliant photographers from around the world who attend. I couldn’t wait until his return to share this amazing wedding with you. Actually it is two weddings. Nirija & Nathan had a traditional Nepalese Hindu ceremony and then a week later, a contemporary Catholic wedding – the best of both worlds.
Nirija & Nathan held their Hindu ceremony first, celebrating Nirija’s Nepalese heritage at a community hall here in Brisbane. The next week they were married at All Hallows Chapel and held their reception at Customs House. Nirija is beautiful. Stunningly elegant in both her sari and the Ronald Joyce gown she chose for her All Hallows wedding. Her hair & makeup was done by Smoke and Mirrors beauty (not that you need it Nirija), and Bliss Floral Design provided the flowers. I keep looking at the images from this wedding – because well, there is just so much to look at. I think what strikes me most, is the way they look at each other. Then I notice how their guests look at them and I know they see that deep connection too.
Over the past couple of years, I have been quite touched by the diversity of the weddings we have seen at Studio Impressions. I know that Marcus just loves that he gets to be witness to ceremonies from all over the world. It teaches us so much about different cultures and traditions, and opens us to a world full of life and colour. Some weddings are filled with ceremony and ritual, and some are simple understated gestures. They are all beautiful for they all have in common one thing – the love of two people. This might out me as a tragic 90s romantic, but I can’t help think of that classic line from Notting Hill: “After all, I’m just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.”
You can see that in Nirija & Nathan’s wedding. This is a girl standing in front of a boy, asking her to love him. And he does. Nirija & Nathan from all of us at Studio Impressions, we wish you the best of all the world, always.
Bali Wedding – Dorothy & Stanley
Feb 14th
Today is Valentine’s Day. Perfect for sharing a real love story. At the beginning of my preview video for creativeLIVE ( you can read the post here if you don’t know what I”m talking about) I told the story of Dorothy & Stanley. I photographed their wedding in Bali last year and they were just one of those couples that captivated me. They know each other so well, and their love is so solid that there is no pretense. They are just at ease with each other and so it is easy to be around them. They joke & they dig at each other like only people that have known each other a really long time do. This kind of easiness needs trust. Complete trust. No doubt of the others love for you. You know it when you see it in people. You feel it. It makes you smile. That’s why I told Dorothy & Stanley’s story. It wasn’t just because of the images they let me create with them (these guys were fantastic). It was also because their’s is a story of true love. Destined love. It is funny, simple & in hindsight so obvious. What an honour to record their wedding day for them. The day they declared it to the world.
Dorothy & Stanley got married at Alila Villas Uluwatu.
Dorothy’s dress is a Vera Wang and the shoes, Valentino
Dorothy & Stanley’s story is so special, that they let me record it. With the help of Adam, we spent a bit of time with them the day before the wedding just talking about how they met & came to know each other. Here is the result. I posted this on New Year’s Day as my favourite piece of work for 2012. It still is.
Dorothy & Stanley, sometimes I get to see the kind of love story that usually only happens in the movies. Thank you for letting me see it happen in real life.
Guam Wedding – Yumee & Chris
Feb 4th
Time to share with you my last wedding for 2012, and it was something special.
Yumee and Chris live in New York. Yumee is Korean but grew up in Guam and her family still live there. So, in the holiday break between Christmas and New Year, Yumee returned to Guam to marry Chris, surrounded by their family and friends and the warm and loving community on Guam.
There are so many stories to tell about this wonderful weekend. So many moments that made me laugh and that touched my heart. There I was, capturing their memories, only to realize when I looked back on these photos, that Yumee and Chris and their generous, big hearted families had created some memories for me. I’m not going to try to describe every moment. This time, I think I’ll let the images tell the stories. I hope they touch your heart too.
Yumee & Chris, you are very special people. I would wish you all the love in the world, but I think, you might already have it.
Bowral Wedding – Dianna & Wan
Jan 21st
Nature has a way of sending you signs. When things are out of balance, nature brings things back in line. When things are as they are meant to be nature surprises you with something beautiful. Perhaps, on this day, nature was saying that Dianna & Wan were meant to be.
Dianna & Wan got married in Bowral at beautiful Milton Park . I couldn’t resist capturing the rolling hills and vast fields this farm country has to offer, so I took Wan & Dianna into some paddocks for the location shoot. Unexpectedly a few horses galloped towards them to join in the shoot. These were gentle horses and Dianna & Wan loved every second of their company. If that wasn’t storybook enough, as the afternoon wore on and the sunlight softened maybe a close to a hundred butterflies appeared amongst the trees. A sign that all is as it is meant to be. Aren’t butterflies a symbol of new life? Perhaps this was a blessing for their new life together.
Dianna got ready in the Carriage House at Milton Park before their ceremony on the Tulip Lawn under a canopy of flowers. The flowers, provided by Mandalay Flowers also featured throughout their reception in the Baillieu Room, including on the cake created by Antony at the famous Planet Cake. The day was not only beautiful it ran smoothly, thanks to the planning & coordination of Susan – Susan Stanford Special Events.
Dianna had two gowns. The first a Vera Wang that she found through Helen Rodrigues in Sydney’s Neutral Bay for the ceremony, and an Alex Perry creation for the reception, both complimented by hair & makeup by Ervan Woo. The best part about her outfit I thought was the accessories. They were all so special. She wore the sapphire ring her Dad had given her Mum, her Great Grandmother’s gold bangle, and Diamond Earrings that her parents gave her as a symbolic gift.
Dianna & Wan, thank you for inviting me to share your wedding day. May nature always celebrate your love and may your life be filled with little surprises.
Happy New Year 2013
Jan 2nd
So here we are, another year started. So much to look forward to. Every year I start with a post on my favourite image from the year before. Usually I post 1 image & usually it is not a wedding. While I love this image above, this year, I’m posting more than one image. I’m posting a little piece of wedding photography + videography that we did at the wedding of Stanley & Dorothy in Bali, in July at Alila Uluwatu. And I’ve chosen it mostly because it is everything I love about what I do. There are so many reasons why this is my favourite work from this year, but instead of explaining why, I think I’ll just share it. Maybe it will be your favourite too.
Dorothy & Stanley met in Kindergarten in 1986. They even have the photo to prove it.
That was when their love story began…..
May your New Year be filled with surprises, new things, and uncomplicated, pure, love. Just like Stanley & Dorothy.
Happy 2013!
Marcus, & all of us at Studio Impressions.
