by admin | April 2, 2012 | Wedding photography
We love living in the Northern Rivers. I know, I know… I’ve probably said it all before but, really, this is one of the most beautiful areas in Australia. The beach, the rolling hills – what is not to love about this area? When Rich and I were living in Brisbane he used to always say that he never felt like he was home until he saw a particular stretch of sand down Lennox Head way. Now that I live here I can totally understand what he means. This area just has that effect on you. Even on our busiest days, all it takes is a glimpse of the coastline and I remember why we moved and why we work so hard doing what we do. I guess that is why we enjoy our local bridal shows so much. Not only do we get to meet lots and lots of local brides but we also get to meet other wedding service providers who work really hard to ensure that the Northern Rivers Area is a fantastic place to get married.
Hopefully all those who dropped by the Ballina Bridal Show last weekend were just as impressed by the array of services offered and the quality and passion of the service providers. Let’s face it, getting married is a big financial investment and you want to make sure you are hiring professionals who can deliver on your big day. We’ve all heard the horror wedding stories about things going wrong on the day and I guess that’s what makes a bridal show a great place to shop for your wedding service providers. We can vouch for quite a few of the providers around this area so, if you need any recommendations, feel free to drop us a line.
Here are a few shots taken by Richard at the “fantasy wedding” held on the day. All service providers are listed below. Big thanks go out to Vicki at the Ballina RSL for hosting and organising such a great event for our area. Thanks also to Ballina RSL staff members Allicia Blyth and Mark Gray who were our Fantasy Wedding bride and groom on the day.
MW
Allicia’s Hair by Melissa Jane Thompson
by admin | March 7, 2012 | Uncategorized
As this year’s Ballina Bridal Expo draws closer, you’ll begin to see the level of marketing activies promoting the event increase. Here is a sneak preview of the television commercial that will start gracing our screens over the coming weeks. It features imagery from three of my recent weddings as well as some shots from local photographer Suze McLeod. Congrats to all my brides that were selected for the advert. Below is a brief synopsis of each wedding.
Featuring:
Louise – the Face of this year’s Ballina Bridal Expo. Louise and James were married in Brisbane on the 24th September 2011. Come and meet Lousie and James at the Expo and discuss their real-life wedding experiences.
Kobie and her Grandma – Kobie and Phil were married at Ballina on the 7th January 2012. A beautiful garden ceremony and the reception all took place at the Ballina Beach Resort.
Philippa and Scott’s Bridal Party – their ceremony took place at St. Bartholomew’s in Alstonville and the reception on Philippa’s family’s property at Rous. This shot was taken amongst the Macadamias on the property.
Don’t forget the expo takes place 9am-4pm Sunday 25th March 2012… see you there!
by admin | February 25, 2012 | Wedding photography
These days I don’t spend that much time in the studio. I pay a bill here, write a bit of blog post there but, let’s face it, with two children keeping things real for me usually Rich is the one in there working, working, working and I pop in occasionally with a, “fancy a cup of tea?” or a, “do you know what time it is?” or just to check on the progress with an album layout or the final edit on a portrait session.
While, having a second child has meant less time in the office (for me anyway) I somehow still manage to find the time for what I consider to be ‘helpful’ ideas or comments. Often Rich is so focussed on the task at hand that it’s up to me to be that annoying voice that offers a female perspective on a layout, or pipes up with “time for a new blog post” or “how about a new range of albums?” (just like that – get to it!) Like most people, our life is super busy with work and children and building our new home and studio. We have been planning a new line of albums and album packages for awhile now and we wanted to branch out and move to a range of albums that reflect the creative direction we are heading in.
I have a long, long history and ongoing love-affair with books. I’ve worked in bookshops around the world and there’s nothing I love more than beautiful papers and quality binding; a book or album that just begs to be touched, displayed and appreciated. So it was with much excitement that we received our new studio albums. The door bell rang and both of us dropped what we were doing and actually raced each other to the door (I won by the way!) I believe a beautifully crafted book or album has personality even before you open it and our 2012 range of albums have all that and more. They are expertly bound. The pages are crisp and printed with archival inks on museum-quality fine art paper and because we can print on the covers, or bind them in leather or a choice of fabrics, they exude personality.
We’re so proud of our new albums that we’d like to invite you to come down and meet them at the Lismore Workers Club this Sunday. We have a stand at a small, exclusive bridal show happening from 10am – 2pm.
MW
by admin | February 13, 2012 | Wedding photography
Lou and James are fun. Ok, so I haven’t actually met them – but, Rich speaks so highly of them and well… they just look fun don’t you think? Plus, planning this album was just a breeze. They were so open to Richard’s ideas and seemed to really enjoy the whole process. If you follow our blog, you would know that one of the bridal portraits from Louise and James’ wedding was recently selected to be ‘The Face’ of this year’s Ballina Bridal Expo. It really couldn’t happen to a nicer person, and what is extra cool is that I will finally get to meet the both of them when they come down to Ballina for the expo. Yay! If you’re free on Sunday, 25th March we would love to have you stop by and visit our stand. We will have sample albums available, including Lou and James’ album. If you can’t make it, you can check out their album and others here.
by admin | February 9, 2012 | Wedding photography
Last week the above image was chosen to be ‘The Face’ of the 2012 Ballina Bridal Expo. This was one of my favourite bridal portraits from the wedding of Louise and James last September. During their wedding day, we had quite a bit of time between the end of the ceremony and the start of the reception, so to cool the nerves and escape the midday sun for a while, we all went to Bistrot Bistro for an hour or so. Bistrot Bistro is a gorgeous little French Bar and Restaurant in Woollongabba, Brisbane. The upper level is very elegantly styled while downstairs is quite rugged and rustic… perfect for a little variety during a shoot!
The above image was a last minute grab… almost an after-thought. As everyone was packing up and preparing to leave for the next location, I noticed some gorgeous light spilling in through the northern windows. I quickly asked Louise to take a seat near the window and managed to snap off about three frames before we had to move on. I love the image and am proud to have had it selected to be this year’s face of the expo. If you come along to the Ballina Bridal Expo this year, make sure you stop by our stand and meet Louise and James in person. It all takes place at the Ballina RSL Club on March 25th between 9:30am and 4pm. See you there!
