aeronny and natia tie the knot

tonight i had the privilege of being a guest as my friend aeronny and her love natia were sealed for time and all eternity, as husband and wife, in the perth australia temple. aeronny have been friends for more than fifteen years and it made me so happy to see her so blissfully happy.

♥

there is nothing more beautiful than seeing the temple in the background of a wedding photo and i know there is no greater feeling in the world than knowing that the person you love above all else, will be yours for time and all eternity. 

congratulations to the bride and groom, may your joy continue as you embark on your happily ever after 

♥

20 years later

twenty years ago today i waited excitedly outside of the sydney temple with my brother isaac while my oldest brother jared and his wife donna were married for time and all eternity and i gained my first sister. what a wonderful day it was for us all. i honeslty can't believe it was that long ago, i was only 12 years old! but here we are twenty years later hauling out the photos...

here we have mum and i at the reception a few weeks later in wa (they honeymooned in nsw after their temple wedding) it was my first time as a bridesmaid and i was so excited to be a part of it. to this day i don't think donna has any idea just how special she made me feel by asking me to be her bridesmaid. i really felt like i had a sister that day... and have every day since. 

congratulations on such a huge milestone jared & donna. i love you both ♥

wade & deb's wedding

today i had one of the coolest experiences of my life. for the first time, i was the one and only photographer for a wedding. an awesome wedding. do you remember wade and deb? i did an engagement shoot for them in august last year... and their mothers liked the photos enough that they wanted me to do the wedding photos! that was pretty exciting for me. of course i said yes and now, it's all over already :( and the editing begins... i was asked not to share more than a few pictures (beacause they want to see them first...), but this one certainly had to be shared! i just love the colours they chose. the beautiful pastels and the vintage feel to the wedding (you'll see more of that when i can share more pics and include some from the reception)

our family is very close with the fepulea'i family, in fact people often mistake tayla (front left) and doug's sister dominique for sisters. i had taken a few standard photos of the bride and groom with family and got to adding the girls in with everyone else. i called out for them and next thing i know, the two of them (totally unrehearsed) go and stand directly in front of wade and deb and start throwing up gang symbols. it was so funny, that i had to edit this pic and pass it on to them. it's just so them, especially with nifae rolling his eyes and vivienne just laughing. it's how it always is. 

but the icing on the cake of the day, was totally this shot. years ago when doug and i got married, i had a vision of one picture and knew i would be completely happy with my wedding photos as long as i got that one perfect shot. i did. very similar to the above in the whalers tunnel underneath the round house in fremantle. i tried to copy that shot here and it worked! perfectly. i was looking the whole day for that one shot that would just have that wow factor. we had been cruising around the golf course snapping shots and were almost back at the club house for the ring ceremony and reception to begin, when i saw to one side, this tunnel. i yelled at our guide to stop and quickly dragged wade and deb into the tunnel for one more shot. and i am so glad i did. what an amazing shot! it was such a great day and i am thrilled i could be a part of it!

to the bride and groom!

jayden & leigh got married!

today was one of those days that was just in a word, perfect.

our dear friend leigh got married to her sweetheart in the perth australia temple, and we were invited to be there for the sealing, as well as attend the reception that followed.

jayden and leigh looked so blissfully happy, they are such a perfect fit and i am so so happy that they have found each other. they have known each other for years and years, and were friends long before they started dating, so they've always been perfect together.

doug and i at the temple

leigh's family, the brennans have been friends of our family for as long as i can ever remember. we moved to northam when i was 4, before she was even born, so we have always known each other! she and her sister alexandra (who was one of my bridesmaids when douglas and i were married, almost 9 years ago now..) has always been like the sisters i didn't have. over the years they have borrowed my clothes, my jewellery, come over to have their makeup and hair done... and just been a huge part of my life. i love them (and their whole family!) so very much.

my boys at the reception

reception was at the bluewater grill in applecross, a gorgeous restaurant overlooking the swan river across to the city. it was perfect, the room was set up beautifully, the weather was great (not too hot!) and the food was amazing. we were so impressed with it - and the service offered by the staff. a+

this awesome cake was made by a girl leigh knows here in perth (who is also from brisbane and married a perth boy - there seems to be a lot of this perth/brisbane intermarriaging going on... cause that's what leigh and jayden are too! haha) and was banana and carrot cake layers. oh my gosh. it was incredible. so yum and so perfectly finished.

i had been helping leigh over the phone for the last few weeks to organise some of the wedding preparations, which included making 24 mini vases to be placed on the tables at the reception. each was a small milk bottle, with a page from a vintage book i had wrapped around and secured with double sided tape, then tied off with ribbon. the roses were kindly donated by the garden of a company i happen to be quite close to. i won't say any more than that - but i did ask permission!! promise! the roses were at their end and it's been so hot that they didn't last as well as i would have liked, but they looked nice regardles. 3 on each table... it was a nice touch. we also organised the flowers over the phone and i ordered them from our work florist in subiaco. thank goodness for technology and facetime hey!

i had a chat outside with alex between courses and couldn't resist snapping a few pics of her sweet evie. what a little doll she is. ♥

you can see how much fun these two have just from glancing at pics of them together. i asked if i could snap a few of them to send to mum and dad seeing as they aren't back yet, and they certainly obliged, even if jayden decided to go all crazy on her with the nearest steak knife. haha.

but really, they look as if they belong together.

another cake shot - with that dream view in the background

as always, the time for speeches comes... with memories and lots of laughs. the dads had everyone in fits with some good stories from leigh and jayden's childhood. they've certainly gotten up to some mischief.

and the cake cutting! 

i just loved leighs dress. it was so classic, i am sure it will never go out of style. she just looked amazing and so beautiful. more gorgeous than i have ever seen her look and just so happy. there was no wiping that smile off her face.

at the end of the reception there were a few games, including guess who, with questions about their lives, to see if it was leigh or jayden who did something. we were all given a stick with both their faces to make a guess. some of the questions had the two of them in fits of laughter and us all scratching our heads, where as some were blindingly obvious... one thing is for sure, their children will be absolute daredevils.

it was a day of love and sooooo much laughter. congratulations leigh and jayden, it is truly a pleasure to know you both - and to have shared your day with you.

♥