Eve and Nathan’s wedding was unusual because it was held on a Friday. I woke early in the morning to find it was raining, generally a bit of a downer for everyone. After arriving at the venue, the beautiful Ravensthorpe, just a little south of Wollongong, the rain was still a little stop-start but that didn’t seem to dampen anyone’s spirits.

I’d met Eve and Nathan a few months earlier and I knew they would make a ridiculously attractive couple on their wedding day. Eve looked stunning even before she had put on her wedding dress, a sign of generally much better things to come.

I guess sometimes parents get nervous before the wedding too. Especially proud dads.

The girls were getting ready in the main part of the house while the boys were in a small annex off to the side. As most Aussie boys tend to be, they were pretty relaxed having enjoyed a game of tennis in the morning and having a couple of quiet beers before the big moment arrived.

Since the boys and the girls were in adjacent buildings, it was pretty easy for me to shuffle between both, having a chat and generally enjoying myself.

As I said at the start of this post, the wedding was held on a Friday afternoon. The venue is a little south of the city and there’s one main arterial road which travels south from the city, which at times like Friday afternoon and Saturday morning turns into a parking station. The rain obviously didn’t help things at all and there were numerous people, including the celebrant who were stuck in traffic with a decent delay in getting things started. No one was flustered though, patience was shown all round.

But that didn’t mean people weren’t excited or nervous. I love this photo of Nathan waiting for Eve to walk down the makeshift aisle (after the wedding had to be moved indoors).

It was somewhat fortuitous that the wedding had been delayed by an hour or so as the rain abated for a small 45 minute window giving me an opportunity to get some shots of Eve and Nathan. Eve had been keen to use this large paddock with a beautiful magnolia tree that was right next to the venue and had gone as far as to check with the farmer that owned the land that the rampaging bull which paraded around the paddock was going to be locked away in another field.

Some things are worth getting your dress and feet a little dirty for!

Eve and Nathan, you guys are awesome and you’ll have some very pretty kids one day! Thanks again for including me in your day and I hope these photos remind you fondly of your amazing day!

I first met Rob about 6 or 7 years ago when his old band, The Dawn Collective, were up against my band in our university band competition final. His band was mind blowingly awesome and they won the competition and moved on to bigger and better things! As my musical career slowly faded out and I started heading towards photography, I was asked by his band to take some promo photos. The photo below was one I took for them and remains one of the best photos I think I’ve ever taken. There’s just something I love about it.

Rob and Sarah announced they were getting married about 18 months ago and Rob was very excited to ask me if I would photograph his wedding. Now the thing is, Rob is one of THE nicest people you would ever meet on this earth so even had I hadn’t wanted to, I wouldn’t have been able to say no! Thankfully, I was honoured he asked me and gladly accepted. After what seemed like an eternity of planning and contact, it finally got to the day when I flew down to Camden (about an hour’s drive southwest of Sydney). In her excitement, Sarah had forgotten I was coming to shoot her preparation and was completely made up and looking stunning by the time I arrived.

I didn’t have much to do at the salon with Sarah so I made a quick dash down the road to where Rob was getting prepared and met his groomsmen and family and it was quickly evident why Rob is the way he is; they were amazingly warm and friendly people.

I went back to Sarah’s place to get a few more snaps with her and as expected, she looked amazing. Check out those eyes!

The reception was held on a small winery in Camden and upon arrival, I came to a dramatic realisation. When Sarah was a child, she was, what is known in Australia, as a ranga (a person with red hair, the word stemming from an bastardised version of Orangutan). But they were cute kids who turned into attractive adults! Some people have all the luck!

Both Rob and Sarah are very close to their families, the bridal party stacked heavily with brothers and sisters.

Due to a chance of rain, the ceremony was unfortunately moved underneath a large marquee but it didn’t detract from Rob and Sarah’s obvious excitement. Rob wears his heart on his sleeve and his tears showed how important the day was for him.

But it’s not all serious!

Rob and Sarah had a beautiful vintage car and the driver was more than kind in letting us use it as a bit of a prop.

During the best man speech, it was revealed that Rob had some pretty “mad-az” dancing skills, which he demonstrated to us before their departure.

It was a wonderful day for everyone and I have to extend my thanks for Rob and Sarah’s hospitality before and during the wedding, as well as their patience afterwards when I had a serious computer malfunction and there were delays in getting their photos delivered! May your kindness and understanding extend through for the rest of your lives together!

Randika’s family has been friends with my family since both of us were pretty young; I still remember him when he was a little kid and him and I would gang up on our sisters and make their lives hell. Ah, the good old days!

His fiancee Janika lives in Christchurch, New Zealand while he lives in Sydney, Australia and they’ve managed to make this long distance relationship last for the last couple of years proving that distance is no restriction of love. They’ve decided to have their wedding In December 2010 and had a big engagement party for their family and close friends in Christchurch.

I’d met Janika once before when her family came to visit Australia a year or so ago and I immediately knew she was a wonderful person. Out of all of the Sri Lankan kids I knew growing up, Randkia has turned out to be one of the most kind, loving, honest and friendly people I know so I absolutely convinced that he’s made a great choice with Janika.

I flew into Christchurch two days before the engagement with a plan of taking some casual photos for Randika and Janika the day before their engagement. Thankfully, Christchurch gave us a wonderful sunny late afternoon after a typically New Zealand cloudy early afternoon.

The morning of the engagement, according to the traditions, involves a special breakfast of all of the wonderful foods that Sri Lanka has to offer. I don’t know what half of the names of the dishes below are but I know that they all taste absolutely mind-blowingly awesome.

There’s also a symbolic gesture of the parents feeding each of their engaged children some milk rice (the tastiest of morning treats in my opinion!).

The engagement party was held in the heart of Christchurch, which again gave us some wonderful weather. Janika looked stunning in her saree and Randika scrubbed up pretty well as well, very different to the cricket mad kid I grew up with!

Thank you guys so much for taking me over to New Zealand for your engagement, I’m really looking forward to enjoying your wedding as a guest while someone else looks after the photography!