I’m starting a new little segment on my blog where I ask my former brides to share their best piece of advice with future brides. I’ve photographed some amazing weddings with some amazingly beautiful, sweet, down-to-earth and intelligent brides and I just know that they would have some pearls of wisdom to share.
So I’m starting with Ashleigh Davidson. Ashleigh and Scott were married in October last year in a beautiful country-style wedding up at Clear Mountain. Both Ashleigh and Scott’s families were the most welcoming people who worked tirelessly to help create the perfect wedding for the pair.
This is what Ashleigh had to share with brides who are in the midst of planning their own weddings:
As far as advice goes, something that really struck me whilst trawling through wedding blogs was one little phrase on a site called A Practical Wedding. It reads "Weddings. Minus the insanity, plus the marriage." Well....HOLY DOOLEY!!!! I felt like stamping this one little phrase on every wedding mag/blog out there!!
It is incredible how much a few little words can impact you, and once I read this my entire mindset shifted. It is so easy to lose yourself in all the tiny details, stressing over how to create a picture perfect day. As ironic as it is, it is actually easy to forget what a wedding is really about.
Once I read that one little sentence things suddenly seemed so clear. I felt an overwhelming sense of relief as I realised that in the end no one will remember what colour nail polish I wore or what font we used on our invites, what they will remember is the tears in our eyes as we said our vows, our beaming smiles and the atmosphere of the day!
So here is my advice: weigh up what is truly important to you and you will have an unforgettable day regardless of what earrings or shoes you wear. Scott and I decided that what was important to us was really quite simple. Vows written in our own words - from our hearts, great friends, good food, honest photography and a fun relaxed atmosphere much like a backyard bbq.
Scott describes the wedding process as throwing a heap of ideas in a box. Like one amazing gigantic puzzle - you really can't predict how it will be put together until the very last piece, you just have to relax and TRUST – surely only something good can come of all your favourite things being pieced together one by one! The best thing about today is that you don't have to follow traditions, or conform to societies expectations. Make the wedding as individual as you two are, and you'll have one hell of a party to celebrate your lifetime together!
Aside from this, the best thing we did was see each other before the ceremony. Take five minutes to look into each others eyes, breathe and take in what the day means to the two of you. It was such an amazing moment and I can't recommend it enough.
Ashleigh, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for writing that! Not only is it great advice for future brides, but it pretty much encapsulates exactly how I feel about weddings, and how I approach weddings through my photography!
I’m not sure that anything I could say could convey how wonderful this wedding was.
Somehow everything was perfect – the place, the details, the simplicity, the love, the people. Mostly the last two. I’ve never felt so welcomed! Like I wasn’t just a photographer, I was a guest and a friend, too.
Dominee and Barry contacted me about a month out from their wedding – a month! – and when I heard what kind of wedding they were planning on Dominee’s Aunt and Uncle’s property, I was secretly jumping out of my skin to photograph it. (Or maybe not so secretly. Dominee and Barry probably thought I was a bit overt about the whole thing, actually.) Luckily they weren’t put off by my enthusiasm and we were right to go.
Good thing that they weren’t put off by my enthusiasm, because the first thing I did when I arrived on the day was yell at the best man, “THIS PLACE IS AWESOME!”. I just couldn’t contain it.
Labradors, orange tree groves, macadamia nut tree groves, converted stables, chickens (chickens!!), beautiful dams with cows mooing across the way, photo booths, shetland ponies dressed in tuxedos (!!!!), amazing homemade food, amazing people. I hope the pictures below convey even a TINY BIT of how awesome all of that really is.
Perfection. :)
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