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.

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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.

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!

… 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!

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!