A few weeks ago, Joel and I took a nice drive down to the Southern Highlands and were greeted with a spectacular sight at the gorgeous Summerlees Cottage for Sam and Ashley’s wedding.  The pretty ceremony setup was styled by She Designs and I was absolutely wowed to find out that all the other reception details had been sourced and styled by the Sam herself, with help from her mum and friends.  We were blessed with a gentle day and a brisk night (made cozy by lots of warm chatter in a candlelit room), a wonderfully chilled out bridal party, and two lovebirds who made our job easy with their laughter and banter.  Thank you both so much for trusting us with your day and for looking after us like we were old friends.  Your thoughtfulness is dearly appreciated!  Much love, xo

Yep.  You read right.

A little (a lot) earlier than expected, given this little peanut is definitely unexpected, but such are the joys and surprises of life.  I felt icky for a few weeks but simply couldn’t get my mind around that possibility, so I ruled it out entirely and just plodded along, blaming the extraordinary tiredness on busy season.  Long story short I decided I better take the test to rule it out, and the practical side of me quietly had a heart attack and my dear husband might have actually had one.  I’m due right in the middle of our next busy season which included a destination wedding I was looking forward to, as well as being a bridesmaid soon after!  The rest of me just wanted to hold my little Jesse for awhile, as I didn’t feel quite ready to lose my alone time with that precious little boy just yet.  But people have told me it will be nice that they grow up together, so I hope the little ones agree too!

So since we’ve now had a bit of time to adjust I’m rather excited about the next few crazy months – settling on our new home in a couple of weeks, trying to figure out how to make it pretty (there will be finally be space for a studio yippeeee!!!!), getting a much needed break in Singapore and Malaysia in winter to bring our little Jesse to visit all his relos, and getting ready for this new little addition.  We also decided to cancel our extended holiday so we could just get our new place homely, so overall the timing has been quite a blessing.

I wanted to say a huge, huge thank you to the clients who have been so amazingly understanding through this time.  They were the first to know and I was honestly so anxious about telling them as I can imagine what a big inconvenience this is to say the least, but their warm congratulations and willingness to come to a happy compromise made everything okay.  Thank you also to my fellow photographers who helped me out in this pickle so that everyone could be taken care of (even if you didn’t flat out ask me if I was expecting haha), and I know that everyone is in wonderful hands!

So that is all for my little life update.  I am now just past 12 weeks and looking forward to getting some energy back, having fun with a bunch of sweetheart and family sessions in the next few weeks, and…oh….living in leggings all winter….again :P

Much love!!  xo

<edit> p.s.  Just in case I freak people out inadvertantly, please rest assured that if you have not been contacted prior to this announcement, your wedding with us is snug as a bug.  On the booking front however, there are very few spots left for 2012, but we will be ready to rock and roll into 2013 so please drop us a line whenever there’s some sparkle on that finger haha!  Mwah!</edit>

Born from love.  Made with love.  Celebrated in love.

Hedda and Dom’s wedding was such a joy to be part of.  Way out in Yass we weren’t really sure of what to expect but everything was just perfect for this laidback couple from Canberra, who chose to do everything to fit their own personalities and we absolutely adored them for it.  All the decor, crockery, and florals have been done by wonderful friends and family and wow did they do an amazing job of it!  Thank you both for having us around to share your day, we loved it to bits and hope these images bring you many more smiles and laughter in the years ahead!! Much love xx

There’s many parts that work together to make a perfect wedding day – a relaxed afternoon with friends, an unseasonably warm afternoon and a night filled with classic R’nB beats from the 90′s definitely helps. But more than that is when two families have a genuine love that brings them together and lets them all share in the emotions of the day. Maybe one day I can cry happy tears with a daughter-in-law. I’ll put that on the bucket list. Sue and Jay, your kindness overflows to your family and friends….and even to your photographers! I hope the best for your future together….and in following Sue’s mum’s advice. our love and best wishes, joel.

There’s something about beach weddings that I love.  And Friday weddings too.  Put them together and it makes for a beautifully relaxed day of family and friends who are cherishing this time set apart to witness loved ones tie the knot. Jenni and Scott, you guys are so perfect for each other and I loved how close your families were as well, despite being from different sides of the world.  Thank you so much for having us be a part of your day, hope this little peek brings back lots of smiles!!  Much love xx

One gorgeous bride and her adorable groom, a delightful sunny day at the Q Station in Manly, and a wonderful crowd to celebrate (and do some rowdy bush dancing) with!  Ineke and Trenton, thanks for having us round to be part of all this – we fell in love with everything as soon as we hopped off that shuttle bus!  We hope these images bring back some beautiful memories of your day, and even more that you may not have even noticed. Special mention also to the Style Salon and Sandra Glynn Makeup for doing such a beautiful job all round! Much love, xo

I’m still smiling from how much fun we had at this wedding.  The rain was pelting down (as per usual), but the energy coming from this bridal party and all their guests just laughed in it’s face.  It was truly a celebration for one and all, smiles all round, and so much fun to be a part of.  Thanks Naomi and Ben for having us around, thank you for dragging your pretty shoes through puddles that were deeper than they appeared, and for hosting such an awesome party.  Now we all get to be jealous while you travel the world for a good five weeks, but I hope you’ll be sitting around just like the rest of us, stealing a little peek at this photographs when you get a quiet moment, and I really hope you love them.  Hugs!  xoxo

A favourite frame from Jesse’s weekend haircut.  We decided to trim those little curls due to numerous “oh my, what a happy girl!!” comments.  There was however a funny moment about ten minutes after the chop when Joel and I looked at each other, and realised that for some reason he looked girlier than he used to, partially due to the resultant mushroom-esque hairdo.  In other Jesse news, I have an almost 8-month old that has suddenly learnt to crawl, and can pull himself up to sit and stand all in the past week.  This proves rather frustrating when he tries to master all these new tricks in his cot when he should otherwise be sleeping. Oh well, my little one is not so little anymore!!  I shot a few snaps on film of him last weekend as well but I’m so impatient to get things developed I’m now considering a polaroid back for my mamiya just for instant gratification ha!  Hope you are all having a beautiful day, a new wedding blog is right round the corner!!  Much love, xo

Oh how I loved this wedding!  At one point Z and I gasped in unison and the sheer beauty of our surroundings.  We were all so content, goosebumps and all, just celebrating this wonderful occasion with E + J.  The rain was hardly of any interest to us (definitely just part of the scenery these days), and instead we looked for little nooks of shelter and cups of coffee warmth and loved it even more so for that fact.  All the amazing details you see here have actually been hand done by Elisa herself….we were all amazed at the effort she had gone to, and the vision which came together so perfectly.  Props also to Myra from My Violet who created those beautiful florals, the colour palette was spot on for the occasion and I couldn’t stop staring at them! Thank you Elisa and Jason and the rest of the party for being so easy going about everything and we are so glad you guys have finally tied the knot.  Hugs, xoxo!!

A few quiet images of this beautiful couple to sweeten this drowned out day.  We shot in the rain for this session as well, lightly falling as we trampled through muddy ground on yet another greyed out summer afternoon.  Love the softness of these images and my wonderful willing subjects, and thank you also to that sliver of golden sunlight that decided to peep in for a fleeting moment.  Happy Wednesday my lovelies xx