Alysia & Kym were married in November last year and I’ve been itching to blog their day ever since. It’s not often that you get a bride that puts so much attention – and energy – into detail, and the result on their day was just stunning. The wedding was held on Kym’s mother’s property in regional Victoria. It’s a place they both love and with the Cathedral Ranges as a backdrop was the perfect setting for their day. Alysia lovingly sourced every little detail, and now claims jokingly that she is an expert on Melbourne’s op shops! In fact she collected so many beautiful items – including complete sets of vintage crockery – that she has found it impossible to part with them, and instead has started up an online vintage hire company, Vintage Lane. If you are trying to source vintage items for your own wedding or event her website is a must!
I won’t say too much else about their day, apart from the fact that Alysia and Kym are one of the loveliest couples ever (I feel like I say that about all my couples but it’s true!) and I feel so lucky that they asked me to capture their wedding for them. Hopefully the photos speak for themselves and show what an amazing – and fun – day it was.
Happy 2012 everyone! I thought I would kick off the year by sharing my last photo for 2011 – a personal one. I put our little bookworm Poppy down in my bed (separating Poppy and Gus is the only way we get daytime naps to happen now) and this is how I found her a short time later. It makes me smile every time I look at it, as it sums her up perfectly – she would spend all day reading if we let her!
I hope your last day for 2011 was a great one, and that you have at least one photo to remember it by. If anyone feels like sharing I would love to see some – you can post your image to my facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/fimimsphotography.
And while we are on the topic, how are everyone’s new year’s resolutions going? I have a few and I am trying to make them realistic this year (I have finally admitted to myself that exercising on a regular basis and eating less junk isn’t likely to start happening anytime soon). Right at the top of my list is to finally do something with the thousands of personal photos that have been sitting on my hard drive since Poppy and Gus were born. This is the year I will finally get around to printing albums that they will be able to have as keepsakes when they get older – when they were born I said I would do one for each year. Anyone else extremely bad like me, or exceptionally good at organising their personal photos? Can somebody please check on me in a few months to see how I’m going? It will help keep me motivated and moving towards my target! xoxo
I’ve dodged more rain on weddings this season than ever before, and Krystal and Sean’s was no exception. We managed to get through the bride and groom’s prep shots, bridal party photos, the ceremony, and then just as we took the group photo afterwards it started to fall, and everyone had just enough time to enter the reception venue before it came down hard. I know rain on your wedding day is a good omen, and I also like to think that it falling at just the right time (ie, when it doesn’t affect the photos!) reflects how lucky the couple are going to be in life. Sean and Krystal, I already know that you are wonderfully in love – I hope you are going to be just as lucky in life! xo
A huge thanks to the very talented Laura Cioccia who came along to help me cover the bridal party photos before the ceremony. Love your work Laura!
Krystal is as lovely as she is beautiful, which made spending the day with her so much fun. We took her getting ready shots at her parents’ home which I always find adds an extra personal touch to the photos, as well as allowing for some lovely moments like the one of her dad looking on as she gets ready below, one of my favourites from their day.
There were two words that kept coming to mind while taking shots of Sean getting ready: Don. Draper. For those of you that watch Mad Men, you’ll understand. For those that aren’t familiar with the TV series, firstly, please go and start watching it now! Secondly, think slick suit, dapper looks and a smile to make you swoon. His groomsmen scrubbed up damn fine too!
Krystal and Sean opted to have their bridal party photos before their ceremony so we started with a First Look at the Willows where they were going to be married a few hours later. I absolutely love the moments we were able to capture during these first minutes, they show clearly how much in love these two are. A huge thanks again to Laura for helping me capture this part of Sean and Krystal’s day perfectly!
Krystal and Sean currently live in Queensland where the beach plays a large part in their lives so the Port Melbourne foreshore was our first stop for more bridal party photos.
Krystal and Sean’s other request was to include some iconic Melbourne landmarks, so we also made stops at Flinders St Station and Alexandra Gardens where we could get some great shots of the city. And them of course!
And then it was back to the Willows to get married! Even though they had just spent a couple of hours together, the excitement and nerves for both Krystal and Sean were still visible …
What’s a wedding without a little bit of fun from the bridal party …
And with the formalities over, it was time to move inside and have a drink to celebrate!
Deb & Mike’s day was very special for many reasons. The number one being they are just two of the loveliest people you could ever meet – which makes them one damn fine couple! Another reason is that I got to catch up with not one but FIVE of my previous wedding couples who were there as guests – Gerri & Dennis, Sara & Dave, Nat & Frank, Elif & Michael & Gill & Ian, it was so lovely to see you all! Another reason – there were about 60 kids in attendance, which made for many hilarious and of course gorgeous moments! Plus Deb and Mike had organised some great surprises for their day – one for the adults and one for the kids. It was such a joy to photograph. Deb and Mike, I hope the photos are a joy for you to look at! Thank you both so much for having me capture this day for you.
Deb & Mike’s day started with a “First Look” which is something more of my couples are now opting for. First Look is a term commonly used now for when couples meet pre-ceremony to have some photos together. One of the main benefits is that it leaves more time to spend with their guests after the ceremony but there are many more. A US photographer I love and admire, Jasmine Star, talks about the First Look in detail on her blog here and puts the benefits of it into words much better than I could. It’s not for everyone, but for those that have done it I’m sure they’d agree it was one of the more special parts of their day, and didn’t take anything away from the ceremony later on. As a photographer, capturing moments like these is what it’s all about …
Once we’d finished Deb & Mike’s First Look photos, they took me on a walk to some nearby spots for more. Brunswick has got so many hidden little gems! I lived ‘north of the city’ a long time ago but being ‘south of the river’ now I don’t get there very often. Deb and Mike’s wedding made me wish I did.
After a few more photos, it was time to go back and greet some of their guests. Since it was a morning wedding Deb & Mike had hired a coffee cart to stick around all day which I thought was such a great idea! So did the guests – the only time there wasn’t a queue was during the ceremony.
Some of the guests got a little more into the coffee (or maybe hot chocolate in this instance) than others …
This guest was so cute she kept distracting me and my camera away from the bride and groom. She was working her outfit and the crowd so hard that she fell asleep before the ceremony…
Before they were married I was able to snatch another couple of minutes away with Deb & Mike for some photos. Since the coffee cart was such a fun part of their day, I really wanted to incorporate it into a few of their shots.
And then it was time to get married!
Deb had asked six of her god-daughters to be flowergirls. They were just too cute! I snapped these candid shots while everyone was getting ready at the back of the church, and this first little girl caught my eye. She was completely lost in her own world dancing around all of the adults, it was just beautiful.
One of my former grooms, Ian, who now has two gorgeous women in his life. Gill and Ian, she is just adorable and growing so fast!
After the ceremony, it was time to eat cake and be merry!
One of the nicest things about Deb and Mike is how caring and thoughtful they are. They had a lot of kids at their wedding and they wanted to make sure everyone had a great time, so they organised an activity room for them, but even better, they had some performers come and do a circus show, after which the kids got to do a workshop. How fantastic is that!
For some kids, it was all too much …
But others just kept on going, like this gorgeous little man who spent the afternoon collecting all the balloons he could manage to carry. I thought this was a great shot to finish on, as the smile on his face pretty much says it all about Deb and Mike’s wedding – everyone just had the best day!
If Ingrid and Dan’s marriage is going to be anything like the weather on their wedding day, they are going to be truly blessed! The day started out grey and rainy but the skies magically cleared when I arrived to photograph the girls getting ready and the rain didn’t start again until I hopped back in my car to drive home – yay! Watching them throughout the day, it was clear they have a lot of love for each and are surrounded by plenty more from their family and friends, so I have no doubt that they are going to have an amazing and rich life together. And they picked a beautiful part of Victoria to kick things off as husband and wife!
Loving some of the stuff I am seeing on Etsy at the moment! Like the email from yesterday (snapshot below) that showcased just a tiny smidgen of the wedding-related items they have on there. Already this season I’ve been photographing some gorgeous details that have been either DIY’d or purchased by some of my brides, and I have a few days coming up which are also going to be full of beautiful details that I’m sooooo excited about (keep your eye on the blog and you’ll see some over the next month or two). I LOVE that brides and grooms are getting more into this, it’s such a great way to add something fun and beautiful to your day, as well as set the mood and show your personalities off. Etsy is such a treasure-trove of stuff, it’s a great place to start if you’re looking for ideas (they have 233,991 items alone listed under weddings!). I wish I had more money and time to browse and shop on there … but then maybe it’s very lucky I don’t!
I photographed this gorgeous little angel when she was just a few weeks old, so it was lovely to see her and her parents for another session 12 months later. She’s grown into the cutest little thing ever, and has a pair of trainers to match … 
A few weeks ago our lovely, lovely neighbours – who we sadly only got to live next door to for a short time up – up and left to live in Copenhagen. I love Melbourne but I have to admit I am just a little bit envious!!! Unfortunately they had to leave behind their gorgeous pup Alan, so we took a few snaps of him with his best friend before they had to part ways. I hope they are both coping okay without each other in their new homes … xoxo
When people find out I’m a photographer I always get the comment “You must have SO many photos of your children!” I suppose that’s true if you count the 1000s of photos on my iphone that are often under or over-exposed, or shaky. My pro cameras are so big and bulky I don’t often take them out with the family. I fixed this problem somewhat earlier this year when I purchased the Panasonic GF2, a compact-sized hybrid camera that takes pretty awesome quality photos. It lives most days in my handbag where I can take it out at any moment and snap what’s going on. But still, I often find I have to choose whether to be in moments with my kids or photographing them. I usually choose the latter and therefore miss out on a lot of photos but I’m just going to have to work hard at holding on to the memories instead. My whole point to this ramble is that due to all of the facts above, and others, I make a point of having a family portrait session every year. I’m going to continue this until my kids absolutely, positively, definitely refuse to do so. And even then I might try bribing them with something to make sure I somehow still get one or two photos of all of us together! This year’s session was taken by Laura Cioccia. I met Laura at a photography workshop last year and was so excited when she said she could do our shoot. We had so much fun on the day and the photos are images of Tony, myself and the kids together that I will treasure forever – particularly during these first years of Gus and Poppy’s life when they are growing and changing so quickly. If it was up to me I could easily do three or four of these sessions a year but I think I’d have a tough time getting that past Tony …
I’ve copied one of my favourite images from the session below. If you want to see a few more check them out on Laura’s blog, along with her other brilliant work. And if you’ve been thinking about having a family portrait session but just haven’t found the time to organise it, do it now! I promise you won’t regret it. I’ll even take it for you if you like *wink* xo
To all the wonderful dads out there, for every little and big thing you do, Happy Father’s Day. There would be much less joy in the world without you. xxx
