movie day ❤️

there is nothing better than a catch up with friends you haven't seen for a while... mel and her kids went to new zealand for over a month and we were so happy to have them back and for the kids to hang out again while we caught up. joseph and analeah are always so funny today, i love this picture of them together and i seriously can't stop laughing at it.

these girls had a good time too... we cranked a movie in the theatre room and gave them a bowl of popcorn each, while we gasbagged away. 

10 year engageversary

ten years ago today, doug got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife... to spend his life and what comes next - by his side. 

who would have known on our first date (which i just so happen to have photos from, conveniently because we were going to our stake ysa ball) that we'd end up here all these years later.

i mean seriously, these photos are 12 years old! haha.

marriage is hard, but loving doug makes it a little easier ♥

sky & hayley got married!

this week one of my dearest friends got married... in tasmania! hayley and i have been friends for 24 years and counting, so when she asked me to come to her teeny nearly all family wedding i clearly had to go. lucky for me one of mums dearest friends lives in tassie, about 15 mins from the venue, kindly let me stay with her and babysat baby j for me, while i thoroughly enjoyed myself. i was even luckier that a friend here in perth watched madeline for me while doug was at work each day... :)

what a perfect day it was! cloudy (makes for beautiful photos!!) and crisp but not too cold. 

and what a beautiful bride she made! it was so great to be there and see the smile that just couldn't be wiped off her face for the whole day. there is no doubt in my mind that she and sky were truly meant to be.

the ceremony and reception were held at the red feather inn in hadspen, near launceston. it's a gorgeous old inn built in 1842 and is everything a bride could dream of. vintage styling, old buildings, on site accommodation, amazing food...

the ceremony was in the courtyard, where we played lawn games whilst the photographer took her snaps afterwards, then we moved into the barn to have our meal at this gorgeous old long table, heated by a log fire.

hayley was a dream in her gown and sky looked gorgeous (he scrubs up well)... the bridesmaids were beautiful and tyson (skys son) the best little man was perfectly behaved and looked so sweet.

i was thrilled to be allowed to take some sneaky snaps during the day (thank you hayley!) and also to have been asked to give a speech at the reception. i dragged up some good stories and got some laughs, but definitely felt so privileged to be there. watching someone you have known and been friends with for so long, marry the one they want to spend the rest of their life with is just something so sweet to be a part of.

bridal party

the sweet reception area

first dance, i love that look of pure joy on hayleys face in the photo below.

sky's mum even made their cake and it looked amazing, what a sweet mother in law hayley is scoring!

and here we are together. congrats hayley! enjoy your happily ever after. xx

wedding love

i was a leader in our church young womens program for quite some time and saw many lovely girls grow up. one that has remained very dear to my heart is miss crystal and today she got married!

she and michael actually went to school together, but got together years later and now have beautiful twin boys that just turned one in december. i am so thrilled for them and was so happy to be able to be there and be a part of her big day.

of course no wedding is complete without a family photo - so selfies it was on the way back to the car... aren't my babies beautiful?! it was a lovely day, very hot, but not unbearable. being that i was married in february though, i can totally sympathise with the heat!

joseph was so well behaved and sat chilling in his pram during the ceremony, just babbling away to himself and blowing the occasional raspberry.

while madeline had the best view in the place, atop her daddy's shoulders. what a lucky girl.

it makes me so happy to watch the girls i have watched grow up, thank you crystal for thinking of me and letting me be a part of your day. ♥

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!

bath time

bianca and rob came for dinner last night so bianca could borrow some things for a young womens activity that they have coming up. make sure you check back in, sounds like it is going to be amazing! so... we popped mase and maddie into the bath together once dinner was over. oh my gosh - they were adorable. splashing each other and gabbling away in baby talk... i could have watched them for hours.

all this time they get to spend together... betting start saving for the wedding.

maddie and her little boyfriend...

young love

here's a little sneak peek of what we got up to today... we took mason and his adorable parents to the stirling civic gardens for a photo shoot. this was definitely my favourite of the day, maddie & mason at the tree we sat at... doug carved their initials into the tree and then we propped them there for pics. so adorable... if only it happens one day, we'd have the best inlaws ever. i guess arranged marriage isn't always a bad thing. haha! let's see if we can plant the seeds at a young age...