Lakshal Perera

Melbourne, Australia.

lakshalperera.com

23
Dec 2013

2013 Weddings

Best Of 2013 – Weddings

2013 is nearly over! It’s been a crazy year—our first year—and I’m very happy to show you our 2013 retrospective – and a bit more. It was hard to decide how to choose amongst all the amazing works published here; this is a selection of real weddings, but I’ll also show you later this week in some other posts, our selection of couple sessions, amazing details or pieces of decoration, and some very awesome brides and grooms. Thank you all for being the best and following what’s happening here!

So here we go, we liked…

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That Swedish wedding, where the bride and groom used old wooden cars to go from the ceremony to the dinner place.

Louisa + Eskil
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That totally rad Aussie circus wedding.

Lauren + James
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That yellow themed Estonian wedding by the sea.

Teele + Mart
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That Parisian jazz musician wedding on a river boat.

Sonia + Tony
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That couple of newly weds and their dogs, with a wedding by a pond.

Aileen + Dan
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That French-Estonian wedding, with an epic arrival on a Viking boat.

Aurore + Jérôme
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That wedding in a hippodrome, with a stylish retro bride and laser robots for the party!

Lucila + Guilliano
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That wedding on the top of a mountain, with a helicopter arrival.

Tim + Doug
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That wedding in the French forest, with a pack of wolves.

Cynthia + Arnaud
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That German rock’n roll wedding, with stylish retro bride & groom and some epic scenes in their car.

Johanna + Didi
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13
Nov 2013

Our Birthday Gift

Win your Wedding Photographer

LuckyFamily(From left to right: Lakshal, Kristen, Meow and Quark.)

Lucky (Lakshal Perera) isn’t just one super great photographer, he’s kind, he’s funny and he’s smart. In our first email exchanges I remember we had a discussion about our respective PhD subjects, which obviously doesn’t happen very often. I could actually talk about him both as a photographer and a person for a long time, but that’s not quite the subject right now.

As you may know, the blog is one year old this week, and he’s the birthday present I got you! Your beloved blogger has secured Lucky’s services for photographing a wedding and one fortunate reader can enjoy our birthday in style. Yes, you read that correctly, there’s a full wedding reportage to win here, and it will be shot by this man assisted by his adorable business manager lady, sometimes 2nd shooter and wife Kristen (the cats unfortunately weren’t available this time around)!

… And this offer is available in all Europe!!!

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To participate, you must be having your wedding somewhere in the EU in June 2014, that’s it. Lucky is an Australian but is basing himself out of the UK for a few months and all you will have to do if you win is to cover Lucky and Kristen’s travel costs from England and accommodation while at your wedding. But to be honest, that wouldn’t be too much to pay to get a super great photographer to shoot your wedding!

Now, to enter the competition, just follow these 4 easy steps.

  • 1 • Tell us about you! Your story, fun anecdotes, your habits, your cat… Anything you can think of that will make us fall in love with you!
  • 2 • Describe your wedding & the location/ venue in a few lines. Tell us what’s going to be so special about it! If you’re planning to work with suppliers like wedding planners or decorators, let us know who those persons are.
  • 3 • Choose between a) or b)
    • a) Start a Pinterest board with images exclusively picked from You May French Kiss the Bride (except for the pictures of you and the location if you want to add some). The images should represent your ideas for the wedding. For instance, if you pinned an image from a barn wedding but your wedding is happening in an underwater cave (obviously if this happens consider yourself the winner, but I’m getting lost), it may just be because you too want to have those retro dishes that are on the picture; make sure you make that very clear in the description that goes with it. Title this board with basic info about your wedding: name1+name2, dd/mm (date), location, country and then send it to us!
    • b) You’re not a Pinterest user, or no Pinterest board would be good enough to describe your absolutely perfect wedding (hello, underwater cave wedding!)… No worries! You can write a little more for point 1 & 2 – we’d love to know all about your wedding and why it is consistent with your relationship and the things you love.
  • 4 • Win-win situations are great. If you have something to offer back, whether it’s free doughnuts for life or just great stories from your grandpa, let us know!

 Ready??! Send and email with your answers to [email protected]. You have until December 15, winners will be announced on this blog on December 22!

{ A few things. 1/ If you’re selected, booking can only be confirmed when travel and accommodation have been paid for. 2/ You barely speak English? Well, barely’s enough, as long as you’re able to communicate. 3/ Please be nice and do not apply if you already booked a photographer! 4/ Last, this goes without saying, but the pictures of your amazing wedding will be exposed on both our blogs! }

You’re probably already familiar with Lucky’s work as I posted a few weddings he shot (one of them being this epic circus wedding but they can all be found under his profile) and the picture of me you see on Facebook & Twitter was taken by him also. But just for the magic, here are a few more shots.

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To see more of his work, check out his blogFacebook page, and some of his recent publications on other blogs, for instance here on Rock’n Roll Bride, or on Hello May (these last two weddings are truly amazing btw).

And… GOOD LUCK!

Lucky-last

07
Nov 2013

Tammy + Scott

DIY Aussie Rock’n Roll Themed Wedding

I love it when you guys are getting serious about organizing your wedding! Almost everything at this super amazing rock’n roll themed wedding was DIYed. Both families were deeply involved, not to mention their close friends (apparently, everybody had a defined role), and everybody did a damn good job! So, sorry, you will not find a vendor behind the amazing wedding cake they had, nor will you get a chance to buy the same dress or headpiece the bride was wearing. But don’t be frustrated, because you still get to see these photos and feel a bit like their guest today. Photography by Lakshal Perera – it’s always a pleasure!

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The wedding took place on August 4, 2013 at Chateau Wyuna, Mt Evelyn, VIC, Australia. Here’s about this 100% perfect DIY wedding.

We were married at Chateau Wyuna in the Yarra Valley at 3pm! Such an amazing day and so great to share it with 140 of our family and friends :) It was so lovely how much everyone helped us with our wedding! We had such an amazing time and it was our happiest day ever! We both love music so much so I walked down the aisle to a String Trio playing Metallica – Nothing Else Matters, our bridal party entrance song was Mindsnare – Bulldozed, our first dance was Time Of My Life (Dirty Dancing), I threw the bouquet to NOFX – Linoleum, Coops took my garter off to Miles Away – Anywhere, our farewell song was Luca Brasi – Isaaac Bowen. Some Band To Write Home About played songs by Pennywise, Blue Line Medic, Millencolin, The Ataris, Gaslight Anthem, The Bouncing Souls, The Descendents and No Use For A Name.

 

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Regarding the wedding, name one thing you regret…

We bought a birthday cake for our friends who were having birthdays on the day of the wedding but I accidentally left it in the fridge at home! We still got to sing happy birthday though so that was good!

 

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… And one thing you’re really happy about/ proud of.

Being able to make our wedding totally us.

 

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The word of the photographer.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a couple walk in to their reception to a song by Mindsnare. And to be honest, I doubt I ever will again. The love that Scott and Tammy have for music is amazing; they don’t just love it, they LIVE it. And by live it, I mean they run and produce all the content for an amazing website called Chucking a Mosh. I must admit, I don’t like every artist they have featured on there (I’m getting a bit old for music that loud) but I really respect the time, effort and energy they put into it – every industry needs people who do things for other people simply because they love it. And this is a summary of these two people. Their passion and love and drive makes the world a better place, and the fact they’re committing the rest of their lives to each other is a pretty damn cool thing.

More pictures on Lucky’s blog here!

03
Oct 2013

YMFKTB v 2.0

The Blog Got Spruced Up

Hello, friends! Remember how I told on Facebook a few months ago that Marcio was working on version 2 of the website? Well, I have to say we wanted it to include super new (and still secret) features, but as this may take some time until it’s totally ready and as I thought it wasn’t fair that we could enjoy all the beautiful pictures published here on the brand new design and not you, we decided that the new version should be public already. So here it is! I am personally very happy with it, and I guess this says a lot, as I’m usually rather “reluctant to change”. When I look at this new version, I just feel like the blog got dressed up! Anyway, I hope this isn’t too much of a revolution for you regarding your habits here – don’t be scared, everything is meant to make your life easier, not more complicated!

Besides, a new blog look cannot come without a new Facebook page or Twitter look: the few images of Marcio and I displayed here were taken by Lakshal Perera while he was in Paris a few months ago, and the dress was kindly lent by French designer Delphine Manivet. These pictures are amongst the ones I am going to use from now on on the different social medias, so you may actually see them a lot! And stay tuned, this afternoon I’ll post another and quite different series of pictures of us!

So here we go, I let you now see the first few photos of us, and discover the new features of this new version (some are actually not new but I doubt you all knew about them!). And… you can already get prepared for v2.1! :)

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• One of the most important change concerns the menu bar. When scrolling down, it becomes an easy access to all the post-related tools you like to use (Facebook likes, Twitter shares, comments, etc), so that you don’t need to go all the way down to access these; when scrolling up, it goes back to being the good old menu bar you already know. Try it out!

• Marcio added two new view modes: in addition to the regular view, you can choose to see the posts in grid view (one small image and no text), or in list view (one image + an abstract of the text content). Both modes enable you to see many posts on just one page; the former actually allows you to browse all the posts on the blog really fast, while the latter, showing more info about each post, can help you decide which post you’d like to open!

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• One other feature—that some of you may already have discovered by themselves—is that, when reading a post, you can go from one picture to the next one using the up and down arrow keys. If you’re tired of scrolling (which happens to me all the time), that’s a good alternative. You can try it on the set of pictures below! The left and right arrow keys will make you jump to the previous and next page (or post if you’re in a page dedicated to one post).

 

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• Besides those features, there’s a new sidebar, the search bar has been redesigned, and the favorite page also. Go have a look! And for those who already have a WordPress account, you can now log in to the blog with your own account.

 

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• We already had a mobile and iPad version of the website, but we’re now totally satisfied with it. If you possess such a device, you can try to see what the blog looks like on it!

 

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• Finally, for the ones that are being notified of the blog updates by email, you’ll see that our “newsletter” has a new look also! I hope you like it!

Please leave us your feedback on this new version, and make sure to be back later today for the second post!

12
Aug 2013

Alana + Rob

Moving Australian Wedding at the Beach, in Yellow!

So much (and so many) emotions came up went I went through the pictures of Alana and Rob’s wedding! I was basically moved and amused at the same time, especially when first seeing the pictures of their ‘first look’—Lucky commented about this at the end of the post! I loved so many things about their wedding: It was a wedding at the beach and everybody got to take off their shoes; the groomsman gifts were customised and instead of names you could read things like “smart ass” or worse; the night ended up with a campfire on the beach and they had a rainbow cake. Also, everybody looked fantastic and yellow is definitely a nice color for a wedding. Of course, you cannot actually feel other people’s emotions throughout images without a great photographer being involved; this wedding was shot by Lakshal Perera (but you should call him Lucky), who we had the absolute pleasure to have at home for a few days a couple of months ago, and that I am now proud to call my friend. Enjoy.

•••

 

The wedding took place on April 27, 2013, at Home Beach, on North Stradbroke Island, Queensland, Australia. The reception was at Point Lookout Community Hall, North Stradbroke Island. From the bride:

We decided to invite quite a few friends to be part of our bridal party. We had a relaxed wedding, and they got to wear their own clothes (within a few guidelines), so there was no stressing over trying to wrangle people to fittings or finding a dress that matched different body shapes. Having our friends involved was a really fun part of the day.

 

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Name one thing you regret…

One thing Rob regretted were his nerves leading up to the big day. He hates being the centre of attention and was really nervous, but we ended up having so much fun that he’d love to do it again!

 

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… And one thing you’re really happy about/ proud of.

We chose to have a ‘first look’ and see each other before the ceremony. We were so glad we did, because it gave us a few special moments together, and we got to say our personal vows in private. It also helped with nerves!

 

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The word of the photographer.

I loved everything about Rob and Alana. From the first time that I chatted to them on Skype to getting to know them better on Facebook in the time before their wedding, I really felt a connection with them. And being on Stradbroke Island the day before the wedding and spending some time with them just confirmed all of that. But it almost didn’t happen – I caught the ferry over to Stradbroke Island and Alana was supposed to come and pick me up from the terminal. I had messaged a bit earlier with which ferry I was going to be on but due to the remoteness of where they were, the phone reception was somewhat lacking and my messages didn’t get through. I didn’t know where exactly they were so jumped on a public bus and asked the driver whether he could help take me to where I needed. Thankfully he did and I made it in one piece! From the moment I arrived, Alana, Rob and all of their friends and family treated me with complete warmth and affection. I was one of them and I shared their wedding experience with them. It was a beautiful and touching wedding, filled with personal touches that Rob and Alana had spent countless hours preparing. And these two people were clearly absolutely devoted and committed to each other – they loved each other to the core. I was just lucky enough to be there to photograph it and these are the kinds of things that I live for.

One anecdote: During the first look, Alana started crying and nobody had tissues. I offered her a cloth from my bag which I use to clean my lenses without realising that it was covered in lens cleaner which irritated Alana’s eyes and made her tear up even more. Thankfully, Rob donated one of his socks to the cause!

 

04
Mar 2013

Lauren + James

Real Extravaganza Circus Wedding!

If there’s someone here who, deep down inside, still thinks weddings are boring and out of trend, this HAS GOT to be the one wedding that will shut this little voice up forever and turn you into a pro-marriage activist. This, my dear friends, is simply the most unique wedding I got to see and maybe feature in a very long time. Lauren wrote, We don’t like cliches or stereo types and we like things to be fun. Wearing a white dress was not part of my life dream. (…) James’ background is Singaporean Chinese, so the format we chose really pushed the boundaries and conventions as far as weddings go!! Actually, no need to be Singaporean Chinese to realize that boundaries were pushed — and you know we love that. Photography by the amazing Australia-based (but available for some May & June weddings or else in Europe/ France—reservations start now!) photographer Lakshal Perera.

•••

 

I know this shouldn’t be that exceptional, but Lauren proposed to James, and I think I haven’t seen that before, at least not since I’m running the blog. From Lauren:
The engagement happened on 29th of February 2012 in a reasonably non-conventional way. After living together for 11 years, I decided to propose to James by hanging a 13 metre poster across a freeway overpass leading into the city. He didn’t crash the car… and he did say “yes”.

 

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OK, I know that’s all you’re waiting for, so here’s about the circus theme.

After we became engaged, we threw around some ideas and very quickly settled on the circus theme. The more research and people I spoke to the more exciting it became. It wasn’t without some resistance from the traditionalists, but I guess people had 11 months to ask some questions and embrace the idea.

Everyone, including our guests, were in costume. During the evening all things were circus. Food presented in theme, the MC Heidi (miss Amour) was stunning and entertaining. Our events company showcased the various acts, with an umbrella foot juggler, an aerialist / contortionist who can hoola hoop,  and the “muscle boys” performed a comedy and athletic balancing routine. Just spectacular.

 

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Name one thing you regret… Maybe that sounds a bit of an unnecessary question, doesn’t it? Let’s just go on with more stories from Lauren and James’ circus wedding, because I don’t know you, but I can’t get enough.

We choose the traditional bits of a wedding we liked, like entertaining and heart felt speeches, being walked down the aisle by my Dad, the Chinese Yum seng, and a fabulous band and ditched the bits we didn’t. As promised, our Jack Russell dog, Milo Dinosaur, delivered the rings with her 6 year old assistants (the animal tamers) and even barked in response to the crowd’s round of applause.

 

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… And one thing you’re really happy about / proud of.

In terms of the Wedding day, we held both the ceremony and the reception at the same venue, doing photos the day before, something I would recommend to brides to be. I loved the way people got involved and proud of how the event unfolded and was just as we had envisioned it. Our friends and family really went to a great deal of effort to help with the festivities leading up to the event, making invites, a piece of art for decoration, a kissing booth, hen’s and buck’s nights and the list goes on. A lot of thought and effort went into costumes and the response to the invitation calling for “Dress: creative circus” was met with great creativity indeed.  The kissing booth seemed fitting for a wedding and has now become a feature of the venue. The later part of the night attracted greater participation in the booth!… and Lucky our photographer was able to capture it all through his lens.

 

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More pictures on the photographer’s blog here!

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You May French Kiss the Bride

You May French Kiss the Bride is a creativity-stimulating website for crazy-in-a-good-way photographers and couples. We are Joana and Marcio and we think you’re the best. Be in love. Be yourself—and let it spill over the web!

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Wedding blog • Blog de mariages • Blog de casamentos

What’s on our mind these days?

• Have a cool idea for the next theme? Email us!

 Next themed post: (French) kiss.