A very exciting day today. Jess is my sister-in-law twice removed ( or something like that ) so it was great to be there and see all the planning come together. Concordia Chapel is a very photogenic ceremony location and i have been there a few times in the last month or so i am getting to know the best spots for lighting and angles which then leaves me to be able to try a few ideas as well. Alex and Jess left the ceremony under a guard of honour from the bridal party and i could see the girls biceps flexing and straining as they were holding the swords above their heads. Running a little short of time to do the photos we got stuck in and thanks to everyone's co-operation i could get all the shots i needed and have Jess and Alex to the Coffee House in time make their grand entrance on schedule. Plus some enthusiastic driving from the boys helped to get them there on time as well.

Plenty of back story here and a very eventful day. I have known Dylan and Merinda for years as they were the kids in a youth group that my wife and I led. Over breakfast, my wife and I were discussing how old we felt with kids from our youth group getting married. But these two have been together for, i think, 8 years so it is great to be a part of their wedding day after seeing them from the start of their relationship to this point. Everything was cool, calm and collected with the both the brides and grooms house being pretty chilled out. The ceremony was great with a lot of Dylan and Merindas friends and family involved with music, readings, prayers and the message. We headed of the Empire for our photos and within about 15 minutes of starting the shoot we have to evacuate as the fire alarm had gone off. Not quite part of the plan. We waited outside for about 20 minutes while the fire crew searched the building and it turned out the alarm was set off in the kitchen. Maybe a bit of an overdone steak? Funny thing is that Dylan and Merindas reception was at Encores Restaurant at the Empire so hopefully it wasn't their dinner that set off the smoke alarms. We headed to the outskirts of town to get some shots looking towards the south of Toowoomba and we could see the rain coming but beat it just in time. Finished the shoot and off to the reception. Even made it on schedule. :-)

And down came the rain. It was threatening all day and it almost, almost held off long enough. After a mad dash to the car park we regrouped at Picnic Point and resumed the ceremony. Nathan and Madonna both held their composure throughout the hold adventure and had plenty of laughs along the way. After the ceremony was over and we had steamed up the windows inside, when then braved the elements again and headed out for some photos. We tiptoed across the wet grass at picnic point and despite the mud and grass and rain Madonna shoes stayed pink!! Those shoes are fantastic.

Very excited about today. I have had some work out around Ravensbourne and have fallen in love with area ( now just to convince my wife about buying some land there ). The reason i was excited is that we were heading to Craig's family farm ( at Ravensbourne ) to do the location shoot for the wedding. I already had heaps of ideas and i hadn't even seen the farm yet. But arriving out there, it was even more amazing that i anticipated. As we drove around the farm, over each hill the scenery got even more amazing. A big thanks for Craig and Jess for being so willing through out the whole photo shoot and also a thanks to the girls for hopping up and down out of the landcrusiers more times that i could count.