Bimbadgen Estate in the Hunter Valley has always had a special place in my heart. After sampling their fantastic produce during a wine tour I signed up as a member and enjoyed receiving their care parcels for several years. I also saw one of my Motown heros Lionel Richie perform there back in 2011. So I was especially excited to return to Bimbadgen to shoot my first wedding at their restaurant, Esca.

Eloise and Ryan are a gorgeous, affectionate couple and it was clearly evident that they always place others before themselves, especially when it comes to kids. Now, there are definitely benefits of having kid-free weddings, but if I’m honest I love having kids around. They inject a sense of fun, innocence and curiosity and they are more often than not the stars of the dance floor! And for Eloise and Ryan having kids present was a no brainer as Ryan has three handsome boys of his own, two of whom had reading and ring-bearing roles during the ceremony. All up there were eight kids who were treated to a table of their own and provided with the coolest goody bags I could imagine. Seriously, I would have freaked if I was given a Bugatti Lego kit when I was their age.

It was also special to have Eloise’s grandpa there. A fine gentleman who by all accounts has led an astonishing life and is still going strong at 96.

It was a wedding thirteen years in the making for high school sweethearts Eliza and Matt. Despite numerous nudges and hints it was patience that their friends and family had to exercise and that virtue was finally rewarded on, fittingly, Grand Final weekend.

Rain had threatened all week and wet weather contingency plans were on standby for their first look and outdoor ceremony, but it all came good in the end and we enjoyed a gorgeous spring day of sunshine and blue skies over Lavender Bay and Athol Hall.

After a rather delightful first look the effervescent Eliza surprised Matt again at the ceremony with an outfit change into a Bianca Spender dress, while Matt and his boys surprised everyone later in the evening by dropping their pants on the dancefloor and revealing their coordinated budgie smugglers.

One of the other special features of this wedding was the amazing celebrant Kathryn Breusch who we’ve had the pleasure of working with on several occasions. Kathryn is married to Eliza’s uncle and Eliza was a flower girl at their wedding!

I can’t express how much Amy and I enjoyed this wedding. We were made to feel super welcome (including a nice mention during the speeches!) and I might have even been encouraged to bust out some moves on the DF. Overall it was a fun day for one of the funnest couples we’ve ever met.

It was an exciting day for us as we had the pleasure of working with yet another amazing couple as well as shooting in two new venues and managing one of our biggest weddings yet!

We loved Carla and Sam from the moment they got in touch with us and knew that their day would be a lot of fun no matter where they had it, but they chose two crackers. The ceremony was held at the beautiful chapel of Trinity Grammar School in Summer Hill where Sam and his groomsmen attended. The ceremony was held in the recently renovated Grand Ballroom of the Four Seasons Hotel right in the heart of Sydney CBD - a spectacular space that was the perfect size for their almost 300 guests.

There were many highlights and fun from the day (try to spot how many photos below don’t have big smiles!) but for me Carla’s gorgeous dress from Moira Hughes was a real showstopper. In fact I loved it so much I needed to look it up, so if you’re interested in finding out more about this creation it’s called Marley.

We’re just a few days into spring, but the sunny and 31C weather forecast couldn’t have been more perfect for Miriam and Tom’s wedding at their favourite beach, Balmoral.

The day started in a more formal manner, however, with both the boys and girls getting ready in the historic surrounds of the spectacular Westin Sydney. Now, in situations like this we’re used to the girls having the better of the two rooms due to the extra space required for hair and make-up and, well, because girls. But Miriam’s room was on a completely new level. Due to a housekeeping issue this bride found herself upgraded to the Presidential Suite! The images here should give you a feel for the space but let’s just say it was larger than most people’s homes and I’m now concerned that I’ll struggle shooting in a standard sized room (not really).

Once we reluctantly vacated the hotel it was all sunshine and sunscreen through the ceremony on Rocky Point Island and photos along The Esplanade before finishing up at one of our favourite venues, the Public Dining Room.

Gee I love Filo weddings. They just seem to have the perfect mix of culture, tradition, emotion, amazing smiles, and bad ass dance moves. It could just be that the fantastic Maria and Gerald came from perfect families and happened to invite the perfect crowd, but I’m guessing that their day is pretty much par for the course for this friendly and graceful nation.

It was supposed to rain.

We don't like to think negatively on a wedding day, especially knowing from experience that the coastal weather forecast can be highly unreliable. But it was supposed to rain, as in 90% chance and a possible thunderstorm in the afternoon, as in when the outdoor ceremony was scheduled for.

So when I arrived at Watsons Bay Boutique Hotel to cover Emily getting ready, I was bracing myself for a conversation with a disheartened bride who had resigned herself to the wet weather contingency plan.

I had clearly underestimated Emily.

After a winter staycation in Chippendale we kicked off another wedding season on Saturday with the effervescent Bernie and Hally. As with TV shows and soccer games there's always high expectations for the season opener as it sets the standard for the rest of the season, and let's just say these legends delivered! And I'm not even talking about the venues, the outfits or the styling of the reception. Bernie and Hally are two of the loveliest, most genuine people we've had the pleasure of working with. Their love for each other was on display the entire day and their beaming smiles and constant laughter kept everyone's spirits high. When we work with couples like this there really isn't any hard work for us to do, we simply enjoy watching the day unfold.

After more than seven years and 250+ weddings you'd think we would have seen everything. But Bella and Jono's wedding at Allview Escape in the Blue Mountains delivered two firsts for us. The first was a real milestone - our first wedding in the Blue Mountains (I'm still trying to get my head around that) while the second was seeing our first leaf shower! How good does it look especially with those gorgeous autumn colours?! More of that please!