Cathedral of Saint Stephen & The Stamford Plaza Wedding Photography & Video Combo, David & Stephanie Brisbane

David & Stephanie's wedding at St Stephens Cathedral with the reception at Stamford plaza was one we where looking forward to, we love both of these amazing venues. 

As the boys were getting ready the reception location, The Stamford Plaza, this made travelling around Brisbane and knowing the area a little better, easier for us location wise. The groomsmen looked incredibly dashing as all were wearing dark red maroon bow ties that perfectly fitted in well with the black and white suits. 

With the girls starting off at a family home in Carbondale, with six bridesmaids at Stephanie's side, the jokes were already starting to come out, and we got to find out a bit of info about the love Stephanie and David shares.

With them both originally meeting at university as they were both studying to become a dentist, they hit it off well, and the fireworks continued to grow, from the first gift of perfume David gave her to the other little momentos.

Usually when we get to a brides house we go first to the accessories and try to collaborate a creative look for all of the little details. We were surprised to discover in Davids wedding ring the extra little bit of detail Stephanie had gone to, to personalise her token to him.

We quickly got into the action of things, as soon enough it was time to get Stephanie into her bridal gown. With a wide open room and the curtains half closed, this created the perfect lighting for both photography and videography standards. With a smile adjoining her face the entire time, emotions swirled around as it was time to read his letter to her.

You could see the tears welling up in her eyes, with such raw emotion we quickly snapped away, and it was a beautiful thing to see as you could practically feel the love Stephanie had for David coming off her. Unable to finish her letter we decided to take some quick shots of some family photos before heading off to the ceremony in Brisbane, St Stephans Cathedral! 

The Cathedral is located in the heart of Brisbane. With high ceilings pillared by sandstone towers, the imported stained glass windows from Munich, add a completely different feels to the Cathedral, and lets not forget to mention the aisle. 

With the tripods already set in position, we quickly put the remainder of our excessive tools away before checking the audio was on, then it was time to go outside and meet the bride as she turned up in her limo. 

Stephanie was glowing when she stepped out of that car, and you could tell that even while she was nervous for the next few moments to take place, there was no where else she'd rather be. As it was time for everyone to walk around the side, we quickly got into our places and the ceremony started. 

For the photo section we ventured to Kangaroo point in Brisbane to shoot the bridal party and couple by themselves separately. As we were walking along the banks, an open plain area with the Brisbane city as the background came up and I was able to get a tease of their first dance. Lets just say they didn't disappoint at all! With David twirling Steph around effortlessly the final product at the reception was going to be AMAZING! 

We continued further along though, finally meeting the rest of the bridal crew, where we then decided to take advantage of the great scenery we had and get some group shots before taking the girls and boys away separately. 

Right as we got to the reception at the Stamford Plaza, we decided to take a little detour back to the botanical gardens with the couple, from walking along the river to mucking around and having a tear being shed or two, we couldn't wait to get back home and look at the footage. 

Back to the reception we were excited to be shooting in the River room. As this is one of the most sought after wedding reception venues with glass windows along the Brisbane River, as we were in for some more amazing footage! Throughout the rest of the night we were apart of more tears and laughter of joy, as the speeches were conducted. This was followed by a beautiful first dance by the couple. We at J'adore hope they have a wonderful start to their Married life, and may it continue to grow and evolve into newer and things together. 

Please enjoy viewing the Images, their video is close to completion so stay tuned!!

Written by Natarlie Weller 

 

 

Intercontinental Sanctuary Cove Wedding Photo & Video Andrew & Rebecca

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After getting ready with an iconic Gold Coast backdrop Andrew and Rebecca wisked away to the always beautiful Sanctuary Cove Interconinetal for their ceremony. The Queensland weather was picturisque as Andy and Bec had their intimate ceremony, the chapel overlooked the waterways glissining with midday sun. After the ceremony we stayed on the grounds getting all of these amazing pictures. As the afternoon started to come we headded inside to continue the intimate gathering. I was grateful to be able to spend a day surrounded by tears, laughter and good vibes. It was a special, perfect, and picturesque day. Congratulations to Bec and Andy.

Braeside,Wedding Photography/video Gold Coast, Matthew & Jenna

Matthew & Jenna first met when they were working together, with him being her boss.  Jenna had taking quite a liking to Matthew when they first met at the pub, with her persistence she won over Matthew. And still he's incredibly amazed that he gets to have Jenna as his wife. 

When one of our crew members turned up at Jenna's pre getting ready place, she had her two bridesmaids and mother surrounding her with a few laughs. With a deep dark red lipstick and a dress Jenna's mother made for her; the white lace meshed effortlessly with the pink undercoat to which we rarely see!! This sleeveless dress looked exquisite on Jenna with her hair done up and curled to the side, she truly looked like a dream. Accompanying her look was the two bridesmaids of her choosing who to which wore dark maroon floor length gowns with white trimming. 

Before it was time to put on the assemble of clothes first Jenna had given Matthew an entourage of gifts accompanied with a letter. It was truly a beautiful moment, as Matthew claimed he wasn't even through the first paragraph before he started to wipe tears away from his eyes. What made the gifts even more personable was the little notes attached to each seperate gift she had given him for the day. From a pair of sunnies, to the expensive watch, Matthew was over joyed. Matthew adjourned his dark blue suit with a dark red tie and a matching hanky chief  accompanying his look.  Matthew had two of his groomsmen apart of his morning ritual, to which involved a selection of gifts and Matthews dad never failing to get a laugh or two from us.  

when it was time to turn up at the ceremony, We couldn't wait to see how Matthew would react when he saw Jenna for the first time, this is always one of our favourite bits about the day, the groom getting to see his future bride. 

The ceremony was small yet filled with soo much love inside the chapel. One of the favourite bits from the ceremony was the little small words Matthew said to Jenna in French, that small yet thoughtful gesture was beautiful. 

The photo section was filled with all of us playing outdoors, with Braeside having a wide and open venue, featuring swings, courtyards and the quirky life size chess game. With all of these small locations taking into effect, we were left spoilt with our choice of where to go with both photo and video. 

One of the massive surprises that contributed to the day, was the extreme hard work Jenna's parents put into surprising her for the reception of the year!! Yes it WAS  Harry Potter themed.  Starting from the very doorway, their was a quirky sign with each guest needing to look at the the houses and table/classes they were to be assigned to. With each table having it's own class and small trinkets  centred around the middle, what made the gesture even more sentimental was the hard work Jenna's father put into carving the centre pieces around all of the reception tables.

Seeing Jenna's reaction as she walked through was amazing, she couldn't contain herself, and you couldn't fault her on that behalf. Planning a wedding in general is extremely taxing, with every detail needing to be precisely worked out, this beautiful gesture, was something I hope to see MORE of within working at weddings.  

As the reception started to kick into action, their were numerous guests wanting to grab a photo with the bride and groom before everyone all ventured inside for the speeches and entree/dinner. We had an excellent selection of speeches made by the few chosen people Matt & Jenna wanted to speak at their wedding. 

Throughout the rest of the wedding at night, it was spent with everyone sharing a few drinks and laughing along. The old classic songs came on over the dj system and with everyone knowing all of the words to to those certain old songs, this made for some great footage. 

 

 

 

Sergeants Mess Wedding photography & Video Sydney, Scott & Dominique.

There's a certain love you find yourself embracing when you meet that right person in your life, as the love though continues to grow with a box full of memories, unexpected yet beautiful surprises occur in the name of Piper. 

We love coming across families in our industry, as you see the love practically glow on video & Photo throughout the whole day. It was our greatest pleasure to be apart of Scott & Dominique's special day in Sydney!

We started off at the grooms location at Pier One Sydney Harbour.  This was one of the best locations throughout Sydney as you're just steps away from world-famous landmarks, including the Sydney opera House and the historic Rocks District.  Scott adjourned a black and white suit. Right away it was really easy to converse with Scott and the four of his chosen groomsmen.  Scott then decided to mix things up just that little bit extra by hitching a ride across to the ceremony location via boat. 

Turning up at at the same location for Dominique's pre getting ready time, she was just getting her finishing touches. This elegantly styled apartment was perfectly ideal for the getting ready location as it provided amazing light that gave us a lot of leverage to get some more creative shots/video for the couple. As Dominique got her cream styled wedding gown on, it fitted her perfectly, and nothing better could have been added than to accentuate her bridal look with a glorious headpiece pinned with her long train and white bouquet of flowers.  One of our favourite moments though was when Dominique's father saw her for the first time though, these treasured memories are fast becoming a huge reason why we love our job, for moments like with Dom and her dad. 

Before Dominique went off to to Sergeants Mess Sydney, with breathtaking harbour views, and elegant intricacies of design this venue gives you absolute privacy whilst also opening up the Sydney coastal views for this outside venue.  The ceremony was a beautiful location, that had a certain special twist at the end with a balloon tying ceremony.

We then whisked the couple and bridal party off down the road to get some different jetty shots that incorporated the Sydney Harbour Bridge at night. It wasn't long though before the reception was fast approaching at the same location as the ceremony. 

This Sparkling waterfront location was completely lit up and done to perfection when we opened the doors to the ceremony, and the upbeat and fun nature of the guests and everyone around us didn't stop all night. From the heartfelt speech that Dominique's father produced to the comedic moments shared between Scott and Dom, there wasn't a moment we didn't want to capture with this wedding.

 

 

 

 

Milos & Dejana's Gold Coast/Brisbane Culture Wedding.

Getting to be apart of another wedding from the same family was truly an honour for the whole team. As we had previously done Milka's wedding earlier in the year, we were keen to get right back in the action of things. This time though, we were avidly more prepared for all of the little cultural traditions.

Serbian wedding is great tradition with a lot of interesting and symbolic “rules”.Car for every guest has to have colourful towels or blankets tied onto the car’s mirrors. The bride and groom’s car, the main and the first car in the column of all guests’ cars, is all in flowers and decorations. Also, groom’s brother carries the Serbian flag. After serving a little food and usually a lot of Rakija, they form column of cars with the bride and groom’s car in the front, and they then go to purchase the bride. All the way towards bride’s house cars from column don’t respect traffic rules and honk all the time.

We started off bright and early for the day, and as the storm was starting to set in all around the south east coat of Queensland, this didn't deter us from our main goal, to provide a spectacular day for both Milos & Dejana. 

While we had two other team members taking still shots of Milos getting ready, their was another camera taking in all of the smaller key moments that were taking outside, this included all of the thankyou's that was provided by the family. 

Meanwhile, at the brides house, we had two other crew members both taking photo and video for the start of the morning. This also included a few smaller traditions such as the exchanging of gifts. With the Serbian music kicking fully into action with the accordion playing on in the background, the whole entire crew was prepared for both families to meet. 

much like Dejana's sisters wedding a lot of the traditions were very much the same. as when the groom arrived, their was a crowd around the front entrance of Dejana's parents entrance where more cultural notions took place, before we all knew it, it was time to take off to the ceremony. 

The ceremony was in the same church as Milka, so this was a lot easier for the whole team to shoot around the venue as we had been their previously before hand. Still we made sure to get all of the small traditions that were incorporated at the Serbian church. The candles symbolise the perpetual light of Christ, and remind the couple that from now on they must shine in virtue and purity with good deeds. The rings are first blessed by the priest, who holds them in his right hand and makes the sign of the cross over the couple’s heads.  

The crowns are said to represent the martyrdom, sacrifice and unwavering devotion. The priest takes the object and makes the Sign of The Cross three times over the couple. The crown is then kissed by the groom before it is placed, then the same with his bride. Then the crowns are exchanged between the heads of the couple three times.

The couple will drink wine from a chalice to symbolise that they will be sharing the happiness and sorrows of life together. They do this three times. The priest will then lead the bride and groom three times around the alter on their first steps as a married couple.

When they arrive at bride’s home groom has to use the weapon and to shoot the apple from great distance to show that he has become a men, and that he deserves a bride. Also, hitting the apple is permission for the guests to come into the yard or house. If he misses the guests join him with their weapons until they blow up the apple. When they come into the house the bride is locked in the room and groom’s brother go to negotiate with bride’s brother about the price. When groom’s brother pays for bride he walks out with her to the yard. In the yard guests can enjoy Serbian food, a lot of Rakija, and guest usually dance Serbian national dance called “Kolo”.

Then they all go to groom’s house. There bride has to throw colander full of wheat and candies on the roof of the house, and if it stays on the roof the bride is going to stay, Dejana's excellent throwing skills worked in her favour as she effortlessly threw the whole basket over landing it perfectly on the roof tops.. Wheat in the colander symbolises fertility of the bride, and candies symbolise sweat, beautiful life. Bride also has to throw little child called “Nakonjce” in the air and catch him a few times to show that she is strong enough to give a birth and raise a children. The groom carry bride into his house and she carry bread with milk and honey on it, and bottle of wine. Wine is like a gift for house, but bread symbolise that groom and bride’s marriage is going to be easy going and great combination like bread, honey, and milk.

For the photo section we went to the botanical gardens, where even the rain didn't deter us from getting some amazing and creative shots! from the cool umbrella and rain image where flash worked in our favour perfectly capturing even the raindrops, to the small intimate moments that we managed to sneak capture for this couple. The best part about shooting this couple, was the constant smiling they produced, this made our jobs simply easy, as we didn't have to move them around much ,it was just all soo natural. 

It was time then to head to the reception that was in Brisbane. the Colossus Reception lounge. With a huge and wide open space that would easily be filled come the end of the formalities, this place was perfect for any big reception catering for many guests, and lets not forget to mention Dejana's style scheme! with every little detail effortlessly tied in to create an etherial look, the reception was done to perfection!  

After speeches and the cake was cut, it was time to make a big wild party . Drinks like great Serbian plum homemade Rakija called “Sljivovica” were passed around to all of those who wanted. Also, there was a lot of dancing. With a saying that goes you can easily party until dawn, this could be plainly seen with this couple and all of their chosen friends and family who came together to create the best night!