Dreamy golden fields, a tie to the face & setting a world record*

*OK fine, not a technical world record. But when you see how many table photos we got through you’ll be ready to send an email to Guinness World Records on my behalf!

Giselle and Chatwin asked to me to capture their fun and cheeky side. During our first video call, Chatwin’s biggest wedding-related concern was that I’d cut all of my long hair off. Luckily I was able to whip it out of my hair elastic and calm his nerves, though didn’t get to whip it out on the dance floor on the wedding day so IOU one Chatwin!

13 hours of shooting, a 500 person ceremony with many family photos, a 2 part bridal shoot leading straight into a traditional tea ceremony and then a massive 400 person reception. And to top it off - 33 table photos in 30 mins! Giselle and Chatwin still hold the record for most photos we’ve taken at a wedding: 10,780. Overkill I know, but we went hard! How could you not when you were part of the endless joy and energy from these two?! (I will update this if I ever beat this record - Lord forbid! - so if you’re reading this, they still hold the record).

Straight after the wedding ceremony, these guys had a mini reception with a cake which was so special for family and friends to enjoy. Some legends named Matthew and Sarah even had a box of lunch and dessert goodies ready for us so we wouldn’t go hungry on our way to the bridal party photos. Fun fact, we later ended up photographing their wedding too!

One of my favourite photos was the first photo we took at our first location. Moments are so important and this photo is a balance of both joy and absolute contentment to be with each other. Unplanned, unposed just a moment with each other. 

The lovely old brick barracks gave such cool shapes and light in their photos together. Spending time having fun, creating memorable and tangible moments to connect and remember when they see these photos for years to come. 

Easter Egg: find the moment where Giselle copped Chatwin's tie in the face! Thank goodness she was a good sport about it. For context, it was a pretty warm day, so when the breeze kicked up, it was well worth with embracing the cool air flow.

Before heading off to the reception, we walked up a hill with even more dreamy crazy golden light which was such a great reward for the effort of climbing up! On the way back down Chatwin walked in front of Giselle to support her down the trail; it’s little gestures of love like this that warm my heart and charge me up to love the people in my life more.

Once arriving at the reception we dove straight into the traditional tea ceremony. This is such an amazing experience to be a part of - I love the honour this gives to their family, the colours and textures of the ceremonial dresses and the ornate teacups and teapots. This was a cherished moment by both Giselle and Chatwin’s families.

During a whirlwind reception (the 33 tables in 30 minutes as I mentioned), we also had the opportunity to eat some incredible cultural food. Jellyfish was a pretty cool thing to try. Some things I would eat again, and others… well, I can say I tried it! The speeches were full of good old roasting and absolute teary-eyed moments - speeches can go one of two ways at weddings in my experience, but these were such a celebration of Giselle and Chatwin’s love and were so incredibly special.

Our final photo may be the one that surprised me the most. When I was ready to get the one final shot they had asked us to kindly stay for just one final moment; the bride and groom honoured us by asking to have their final photo with Mel and I.