Lace and a rainforest deck
Our morning began up on Tamborine Mountain at Cedar Creek Lodges, where Bec sat on the couch in her lace gown, her train spread out across the rug and a little gallery of framed prints on the wall above her. Then she stepped onto the deck. Tall palms and gum trees crowded the railing, so the light came through green and soft, and we stood back to let her veil and the rose pattern of her dress fill the frame. Her bouquet of white roses and powder-blue flowers matched the morning perfectly.
A first look in the trees
Liam waited at the far end of the deck in a deep green suit with a floral tie and a lilac flower on his lapel, one hand on the railing and his back to the door. Bec walked up behind him, he turned, and his face said everything. A first look is one of our favourite ways to start a wedding: it gives the couple a private moment before the crowd, and it gives us time to photograph it properly. They stood face to face under the timber roof, holding hands and grinning, with the rainforest all around them.
Into the back seat
Down the mountain, Albert River Wines opened up in front of us: a white arched gateway, timber fences, a big spreading tree and Tamborine Mountain blue on the horizon. Bec and Liam rode in together in a white vintage car, laughing in the back seat. We shot Bec through the open window, the curved door frame wrapping around her like a picture frame, and Liam leaning in beside her. Photographing through a car window is an old trick of ours: it adds depth, a little reflection and a feeling of peeking in.
An aisle for two
The ceremony was set out under a huge, branching tree, with white folding chairs on the gravel and a timber arbour at the far end. Bec and Liam walked down the aisle together, arm in arm, her long lace train trailing behind on the stones. We stood behind them first, so the guests and the arbour stretched out ahead, then ran around the side for their faces. Liam grinned at a friend in pale grey who gave him a wave as they passed, and the whole front row was beaming at them.
Pink, navy and happy faces
The guests were a bright crowd: a loved one in hot pink beside friends in navy and blue, older guests in sunglasses grinning from the front row under the shade of the tree. Bec looked up at Liam with a smile that went on and on, and we framed it over his shoulder so his suit softened the edge of the picture. A big tree like this is a gift at a late-morning ceremony: it throws shade over the couple and the chairs, so faces stay even while the paddocks behind stay bright.
Kisses by the white chapel
They kissed on the way back down the aisle, then we moved everyone to the little white timber chapel, with its green trim, steep gable and red carpet rolled out to the vintage car. Bec and Liam kissed in front of it, and then every guest gathered around them on the gravel and waved their arms in the air. Families came in one group at a time, and their two attendants in pale grey stood beside them against the white fence. Old weatherboards and a vintage car make an easy, classic backdrop: bright, clean and full of character.
Jacarandas, vines and cattle
For portraits we walked them down the gravel drive, where a row of jacarandas was just bursting into purple and Tamborine Mountain rose behind. Then we slipped into the vineyard and shot through the new green leaves, letting them blur across the front of the frame. At a white farm gate, a herd of red cattle wandered behind Bec and Liam as if on cue. Our favourite Albert River Wines wedding photos came from this quiet walk. Then everyone gathered on the deck for one long group photo before the lunch reception began.
