Following on from yesterday’s post of Sam and Joe’s wedding in Maitland, here’s the second part of the story. And loads of dancing.  And an awesome sequence of the bouquet toss.

Sometimes, when you’ve had a beer or two – eh, Tom? – it’s hard to work out how to take a photo of the hubcap without getting your own reflection in it…

Obligatory Blue Steel.  What groomal portrait session is complete without Blue Steel?

LOOOOOOK at that SWOONFUL look on Joe’s face!  Gah! So lovely!

Such a musical pair, these two… you can tell that music fills their lives, day in, day out.

The Grandparents all took pride of place above the cake table at the reception.

Sam’s dad warned Joe that she was addicted to a substance that she likes to ingest in large quantities in powder form, sometimes inhaling; that it’s very expensive and she will tear the house apart to get it:

Fezzes are cool.  Just ask any Whovian like me.

See? Joe even sang for his bride (but not for his supper).

This is Newcastle musician Mark Wells.  He and his awesome band ROCKED the house. The dance floor was completely packed for hours, and people only took breaks to go to the bar and drink before coming back for more dancing.

OK, you get points if you can identify the songs in the next four photos: the first two are the same song.  The third is a different song, and the fourth is different again.  Let me know in the comments if you know what they are!

BAGPIPES SEE I TOLD YOU!  It’s a long way to the shop if you want a sausage roll…

Garter toss facial expressions of awesomeitude:

This following sequence has everything a bouquet toss should have:

Flowers? Check

All The Single Ladies? Check

Someone inadvisably holding their drink, still? Check

Someone jumping far higher than anyone expects, incluing herself? Check

A random boob grab? Check.

WINNING? Check!

So many images I want to blog so this will be a two-parter, with the other half coming tomorrow.  So stay tuned!  There will be Frog Prince kissing.  And Milo.

Frantically searching for Sam’s phone…

Love it when a groom gets teary-eyed with emotion…

OK this was a first for us – the priest singing the final blessing!  He sang at Joe’s parents’ wedding many moons ago, so he wanted to close the circle, I guess, by singing at Joe’s wedding as well.  It was a complete surprise to Sam + Joe!

Everyone knows my shoe fetish.  Are these not the best shoes ever on a wedding guest?  WANT.  I had to restrain myself from making off with them during the reception.

Desperately thirsty.

Such a gloriously sunlit afternoon, so many beautiful warm tones.  And an open windscreen while driving.  Split-windscreen kombis are SO AWESOME.

OK that’s it for this post.  Tomorrow: a duck, a frog, some milo and the bagpipes.  Yeah.

Totally envious of a) their epic backyard and b)that Aprill still fits her wedding dress after ten years and two kids.

Hijinks were had!  It was a great shoot – lots of work went into it from Stu but also the actors Cadilak Grill and Nathan Dyer, model, Gillian Cooper, hair and makeup artist Lisa Fowler and editorial stylist Tim Neve who spruced up the apartment!

And, of course, you can watch the end result – the Sexie Coffee ad on YouTube.

Beautiful view from the borrowed apartment…

Yeah I don’t understand this next one either.  What?

Freaking out the ‘delivery boy’.

Thinking outside the box, from inside the box.

Lisa gets Gillian all dolled up….

Tim relaxes once the styling is mostly finished.

Nathan takes a minute to chill between takes.

Storyboard!

Bet you’ve never had anything as beautiful as this arrive in enviro-packaging!

All of the team after the shoot had wrapped.

And of course, to add to our already late night drive home from Sydney, I got pulled over for an RBT.

Officer: When did you last have an alcoholic drink, ma’am?

Me: Ummm…… maybe about 4 months ago?  Despite my red face…

It was a bit odd, though, because even though that was true – I hadn’t had a drink in months – about three officers suddenly clustered at the front of my car and they all seemed to be looking at the bumper bar. But nobody chased us down and insisted on cavity searches, so everything must have been fine!

We then moved into town and shot around one of our favourite locations, until it was time to drop the pair at a Harbour restaurant for their intimate ceremony with their families.

And not only are there wedding BTS shots, there are behind the scenes shots form the trash the dress session on the day after.

We also checked out a couple of the back lanes of the Hunter Street Mall, one of our favourite playgrounds.

Meanwhile, here are three kisses from the session.  Can’t wait to photograph Sam + Joe’s wedding in March in the Hunter Valley!

Now it’s time for the extended wedding dance mix!

Claire and Russell were married on a calm day last year, at Claire’s mother’s house in Merewether.  It was an amazing venue – the house is the oldest in Merewether and its grounds are just amazing.

One of the most amazing things about this wedding (apart from two people in love getting married!) was the care and attention to detail, and the personal stamp that Claire and Russell put on the wedding.  From the wedding dress to the cufflinks, the wooden boards on which the hors d’oeuvres were served and the polaroid frame for the photobooth, so many of the details were handmade and assembled by the bride and groom.  And keep an eye out for the love heart Claire embroidered onto Russell’s collar!

And another thing was clear: the amount of love and respect that all of Claire + Russell’s attending family and friends have for the couple.  Moving (and amusing) speeches made it clear that they are a generous, funny and adventurous pair; they’re clearly very well matched!

Thank you, Claire and Russell, for having us as part of your day.  I hope you have many beautiful days to come in a long and loving life as husband and wife!

Some details about the details…

Dress: handmade by the bride and her similarly talented sister

Hair:  Leanne from Sherlocks Hair Salon on Darby

Makeup: Helen Ford

Jewellery:  Wedding & engagement rings hand crafted by Kara Breadmore of K’a'llure Jewellery, Melbourne

Shoes: Milana

Bridesmaids’ dresses: The Cocktail Boutique

Bridesmaids’ earrings + brooches: handcrafted by Claire Collins

Accessories: Handbags sourced on Etsy

Cufflinks:  handcrafted by Claire & Russell Collins

Florist: Peonies sourced from Joy Horne at Inhope Farm, NSW.

Reception venue: Merewether House

Celebrant: Glenda Smith

Band: The Ryan Patrick Daley Band

Caterer: Hot Rock Events & Catering together with Kim Hughes  (the food was seriously delicious!)

Stationery: by Claire & Russell Collins

Ceremony music: Russell’s sister, Belinda Collins together with Rosie Cassidy on Piano

Honeymoon destination: Fiji – Navutu Stars Resort, Yasawas - all arranged by the groom as a surprise for his bride!

On to the photos!

Handmade item number 1: Claire’s dress, made by Claire and her sister Carly.  Carly also makes animal costumes for kids – you’ll see a penguin soon!

This folder was made for Claire by her bridesmaids.

Handmade items number 4 & 5 – Claire’s necklace, and earrings for the bridesmaids.  Made by the bride.

Handmade number 6: Claire’s veil.  After getting the positioning right, bridesmaid Mae quickly stitched the netting into the right shape (see a few photos below).

Handmade item #7 – the bouquets, made from peonies sourced from Inhope Farm.

Nothing like a bridesmaid train for dressing quickly!

Here’s that gorgeous penguin I mentioned earlier!

The divine dress.  It fit Claire like a glove, the detailing was amazing – it must have been a labour of love for the two sisters!

Claire used highlights of watermelon and pink throughout the day, including these gorgeous suede slingbacks.

Claire’s mum Kim, taking in Claire dressed as a bride.

I love this moment – it’s the moment that Claire struggled not to be overwhelmed by emotion.  Just beautiful.

Handmade number… oh I give up counting, there are too many!  A beautiful little love heart for Russell to keep with him on the day…

Cufflinks for the groom and groomsmen, made by the bride and groom.

Handsome brothers!

Yeah, I’m not quite sure what’s happening here either!

…but I know this was their GQ moment…

Guests gathered on the lawn just before the ceremony.

Russell’s sister played the flute prior to the processional:

First glimpse of the bride

Popcorn instead of confetti!

I think this might be in my favourite five shots of 2011

These are the breadboards made by Claire + Russell…. and wow, the food was amazing!

The band kept everyone on the dance floor for hours!

Finis!