O photography

NEW WEBSITE & BLOG COMING SOON!!

2010-12-16T13:07:00.002+11:00

I'm exciiiited!!! It wont be long now and I will have a fancy smancy new website and blog. Woohoo! It will be bigger and better with more images for you to peruse yet still remain user friendly :)

I have quite a few weddings and portraits that I am dieing to post online but I want to wait for the new improved version of my blog first. Wont be long now!!

Dan & Brianna - Engagement

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Dan & Brianna - Engagement

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Dan & Brianna - Engagement

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Before the Ball

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My Friends Anita & Cal had their Grad Ball last weekend. I managed to get a few cute shots of them before they left. They are such a lovely pair :) Awww.

Dale & Bernadette - Engagement

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Liz & Andrew - Engagement

2010-11-22T15:05:00.001+11:00

Planning a 2011 wedding?

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Its almost Christmas and Im feeling joyful :) To get into the Christmas spirit I would like to offer all new wedding bookings that book during the month of December for any date in 2011 a very special gift.

A LIFETIME PORTRAIT SESSION VOUCHER - valued at over $1500!

When planning a wedding many couples are also planning for a life together and there is no greater gift than one that lasts a lifetime. Let me be there to capture all your milestones and special moments along the way. The voucher includes up to 10 portrait sessions for the next 10 years! Sessions may be to celebrate your first anniversary, a pregnancy, newborn photos, Mothers Day, etc etc. Update as your family grows. You can also lend the voucher to other family members to use!

Please contact me to find out the details and if I am available on your wedding date.

Merry Christmas :)

Gigglesome twosome

2010-11-18T13:22:00.003+11:00

We had lots of fun and giggles when I photographed these girls for their annual update. Thankyou to their Mum & Dad for coming back for the last 4 years in a row :)

Tanya & Charlie

2010-11-09T16:13:00.002+11:00

Huh? Sorry? Wha?

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I was trying to explain to my little man that it was too wet and stormy for walks today.

Gumboot Princess

2010-11-08T17:53:00.001+11:00

My little brother got married :)

2010-11-01T19:24:00.001+11:00

This post is a special one for me so there may be a few more images than usual! My younger brother Jordan married his sweetheart Stacey on October 15th at Balmoral in Sydney. I had the pleasure of capturing all their special moments through my lens.

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Love this pic of these two :)

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Arriving at the reception, overlooking the pier at Balmoral.
Choco bars that my husband Glenn made! Yum!

Each table was named after a favourite beach and the bowls contained the sand from that very beach!
This is me with my new sis-in-law Stacey :)

Susie & Brendan

2010-10-18T15:36:00.005+11:00

It was a glorious sun shining afternoon in the Snowy Mountains for Susie and Brendan with a dusting of snow to cap it all off. Congratulations you two!

Candy Coated Love

2010-10-04T13:59:00.001+11:00

Candy Coated Love

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Candy Coated Love is a fun little side project that my hubby Glenn runs. We had the pleasure of setting up a candy buffet for the lovely Emma and Gareth for their wedding at the Yacht Club in Weston Park. Who doesnt LOVE candy!? Yum :)

Elise & Adam

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Kelly & Robbie

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More of my work on PolkaDot!!

2010-07-22T14:16:00.000+10:00

20th

Jul

Melissa and Anthony- The Celebration

by Polkadot Bride

How beautiful is today’s wedding? I spent a lot of my childhood in the country with rust brown soil, I can almost smell the atmosphere at Melissa and Anthony’s wedding! Location was particularly important to Melissa and Anthony.

Melissa recounts “We were looking for somewhere that could cater for both the ceremony and the reception. The Canberra region has fabulous restaurants and wineries and one of our favourite things to do is discover new places to eat. We fell in love with the food and rustic atmosphere at Grazing. ”

Melissa recounts “We had our wedding bands made by Jason Ree. Anthony’s wedding band was a Ghost Gum silver and palladium Mokume Gane band and mine was a knife edge platinum band which matched with my engagement ring.”

Melissa says “We had the reception in the Stables at Grazing. The Stables have beautiful stone walls and high pitched dark timber ceilings. It also has an attached garden marquee which accommodated our 104 guests. The weather on the day was so perfect that we were able to open up the garden marquee which has beautiful views out over the garden (where much of Grazing’s organic produce is grown) and across the rural landscape.”

The three tier caramel mud cake was made by Cakes Of Your Dreamsand topped with a custom cake topper by My Face Figurines.

Food was a priority to Melissa and Anthony, she says “We enjoyed a divine lunch (food and wine is important to us!) of twice-cooked pork belly or steamed cabbage dumplings filled with quail, pork and pine nuts for entrée. For main course we had the choice of beef cheeks, slowly cooked or a crisp confit of duck. For dessert we had our wedding cake which was a caramel mud cake (the cake topper was quite a hit). Grazing sourced fabulous local wines to celebrate with.” The bonbonniere boxes and invitations were created by Melissa usingCristina Re paper.

Melissa says “The bonbonniere boxes were small card boxes topped with miniature gardenia scented wooden flowers. Inside the boxes were the traditional five sugared almonds (representing health, wealth, happiness, long life and fertility) and a small love note which came fromCompendium Stationery. Anthony and I both wrote on the back of each note.”

The tables were dressed with menu cards and bonbonniere boxes for each guest, vases of double white ranunculus and beautiful Marseille Gardenia Glasshouse Candles which provided the room with a beautiful soft gardenia fragrance.

Melissa, Anthony and their guests enjoyed their lunch reception before heading back to Canberra to celebrate further with guests. “The formalities were overseen by my older and only brother Michael (he was hilarious). My dad made a speech as did Anthony’s middle brother (David) and Anthony. All of the speeches were fabulous – my father’s funny, beautiful and from the heart – didn’t leave many dry eyes in the house. David’s speech was hilarious, this time leaving people crying with laughter.”

Thankyou for sharign your beautiful wedding day with us today Melissa and Anthony! All the best in your married life together!

Photos by Candice Ottaway for O Photography

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5 Comments add

My work is on polkadotbride.com

2010-07-22T14:11:00.000+10:00

20th

Jul

Melissa and Anthony

by Polkadot Bride

Melissa and Anthony

Good morning lovely readers! We’ve been a bit quiet on the Polka Dot front but we’ve been working feverishly behind the scenes to get some finishing touches and brand new features completed!

Now that we have our brand spanking new site, I can show off some of the weddings that were waiting just for this moment. It is SO exciting having such a gorgeous site to show them off!

First up is the wedding of Melissa and Anthony which took place in Gundaroo in New South Wales. It’s so beautifully Australian- glamorous, laid back with that beautiful country backdrop.

Melissa and Anthony met through a mutual friend “A good friend introduced us. The first time we met it was a set up but she didn’t tell either of us so it just didn’t work out. A year or so later she decided to be much less covert and arranged for us to go on a date. The rest is history! We married a week short of our first date three years earlier.”

Today’s photos are by Candice Ottaway for O Photography.

Melissa wore a black and white, one shouldered, Lisa Ho gown with a custom headpiece made by Christina Waring Millinery. She says “One of the few traditional things about the day was the something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. My old were my grandmother’s earrings, new was my dress (shoes and headpiece), borrowed was an antique lace hankie and my blue was a blue bird broach of my mother’s which I had pinned to my bra.”

Melissa and Anthony hired buses to transport everyone from Canberra and back, Melissa says “It was very important that our wedding have a relaxed atmosphere and we wanted our guests to enjoy the day and not have to worry about logistics so we provided transport to and from the wedding. Many of the traditional aspects of weddings didn’t appeal to us but we did insist that the trip on the way out was strictly gender specific – we had a bus for the boys and a bus for the girls!”

Melissa and Anthony has a string quartet (Just Add Red Quartet) who played Pachelbel’s Canon as she walked down the aisle with her parents to the ceremony in the grounds of the Royal Hotel which is a beautiful, historic restaurant in a restored 1865 pub about 30 minutes out of Canberra.

Melissa says “It was important for us to have our parents play central parts in the ceremony. My mother and father (Florence and Terry) accompanied me down to Anthony which was along a rose petal path. Jennifer (Anthony’s mother) was his witness (Sarajane, my best friend, was mine). Anthony’s youngest brother (Paul) did a reading at the ceremony.”

The ceremony was officiated by Anthony’s cousin, Liz Little, who traveled from Queensland for the event. For the wedding, Anthony wore a Bespoke by Italian Taylor suit in charcoal with a Ted Baker tie.

Melissa’s Christian Louboutin Carnaval shoes got almost as many comments as her stunning black and white gown!

Check back later today for more of Melissa and Anthony’s Australian country wedding!

Photos by Candice Ottaway for O Photography

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2 Comments add

My Wedding!

2010-06-01T14:58:00.000+10:00

Glenn & I tied the knot on May 7th :) We had such a amazing day! Thanks so much to all my lovely couples who wished us well. It was such a interesting experience being on the other side of the camera! Our photographer is Tony Warrilow, now based in Margaret River WA. Tony was my boss when I first started shooting weddings over 10 years ago and taught me everything I know. Thanks Tony for some awesome shots!

The groomsmans suits are from Black tie by Xavier. Glenns suit from Country Road.

Bridesmaids dresses are Harvey & Ella. My dress a Reem Acra design made by Gloria Grady, a local dressmaker.

Other accessories such as my veil, flower belt, garter, the cufflinks all found on www.etsy.com

Oh and a plug for my hubby...www.candycoatedlove.com.au arranged our Candy Buffet! It was a hit amongst all the guests!

Oscar - My little man at 4 months old

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Oscar - My baby boy at 8 weeks old

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Like a busy bee

2010-04-19T13:44:00.000+10:00

Yikes! I haven't posted on this blog for aaages :s I have been such a busy little bee photographing weddings every weekend and preparing for my own wedding (3 weeks to go!) that unfortunately blogging has fallen by the wayside. I will try my best to catch up and add some of my fav weddings of 2010!! Oh, I have also had requests from some couples for more photos of my puppy Oscar so I will ensure to include some of those photos too!

Kane & Kate - Grazing, Gundaroo

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Tullio & Sharon - Eling Forest Winery

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Our puppy at 4 weeks old

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Soooo cute!

Damian & Jessica - Wedding in Canberra

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Jake & Lucy - Wedding in Braidwood

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Dave & Sarah - Wedding at Duntroon

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Brendan & Bianca - Wedding in Thredbo

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Stuart & Rachel - Wedding at Duntroon

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Our puppy at 5 days old!

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Lucy & Jake - Engagement session in Braidwood

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Paris & Bernie - Thredbo Wedding

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Family Portrait

2009-10-28T22:34:00.000+11:00

I photographed Jo, Matt, Abigail & Alex this month for their annual portrait update. It is so wonderful to see how fast the girls grow! They looked like 'Little Red Riding Hood' in their red jackets in the 'forest' on Dunrossil drive.

Dave & Mel - Wedding at Goolabri

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I had so much fun at Dave & Mel's wedding. There was lots of laughter from us all and lots of tears from Dave (happy tears!). Also a bit of drama thrown in when we witnessed a dog chase a kangaroo into the dam. Kangaroos can swim! Phew!

Dan & Donette - Thredbo Wedding

2009-10-19T10:04:00.000+11:00

Congratulations Dan & Donette. A big thankyou for being such a brave couple and getting out in the FREEZING cold and sleet to get some great pics. The feeling in my hands and feet returned the next day thankfully :) I just loved the natives used in the girls flowers. 'Blushing bride' is my new favourite flower and I think I will use them at my own wedding.

Hi Crystal!!!

2009-10-19T09:40:00.000+11:00

Crystal and Rob got married in February this year. Crystal has been a loyal follower of my blog so I thought I would suprise her with this post. Suprise Crystal!

Penny & Rob's Wedding

2009-10-19T09:32:00.000+11:00

David & Sarah Engagement Photos

2009-09-30T15:05:00.000+10:00

David and Sarah were photographed at the Film & Sound Archives in the ANU (a gorgeous art deco style building). I am very much looking forward to their Spanish Vintage themed wedding in a few weeks time!

Damo & Jess Engagement session 2

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Damo & Jess - Engagement photo session

2009-09-28T17:03:00.000+10:00

I really enjoyed this engagement session with Damian and Jess. It was a beautiful afternoon at a beautiful property in Tharwa filled with so many fantastic photographic opportunities! Little lambs to feed, a rusted out old ute, a big sheep shearing shed and a lovely couple. Bliss for any photographer :)

Grazing, Gundaroo (Melissa & Tony's wedding)

2009-09-25T14:29:00.001+10:00

More from Melissa & Tony's wedding

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Melissa & Tony's Wedding

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Melissa is the funkiest bride! I just love her style and choice of location for the wedding. From Canberra all the guests got on a bus (boys on one, girls on another) and travelled to Grazing in Gundaroo, now one of my favourite venues. The food at Grazing is yum yum yum!

The Brides Diary 2010

2009-09-15T18:51:00.001+10:00

My 'go to' for inspiration - www.greenweddingshoes.com

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Thankyou Thredbo

2009-08-20T20:43:00.000+10:00

So as another terrific snow season comes to a end I thought I would publish a bit of a collage of some recent Thredbo weddings. I would also like to thank the following venues in Thredbo who continue to recommend me to their brides. The Alpine Hotel, The Denman and Credo. Thanks guys!! www.thedenman.com.au, www.credo.com.au.

Angela's Wedding

2009-08-20T20:34:00.000+10:00

Some of my past clients may have known Angela as my co-photographer and assistant. Well she had her own wedding recently and I was delighted that she asked me to be her wedding photographer. An absolute honour! Ange & Matt are great fun and they had the most touching vows I have ever heard, including a special reading by their Mum's using song lyrics by Whitesnake (Matt is a bit obsessed with rock & roll!) Congrats guys!

I'm getting married :)

2009-08-20T20:13:00.000+10:00

After 10 years of being involved in hundreds of the wonderful weddings of my clients I am now faced with the challenge of planning my own! Glenn & I will tie the knot in May 2010 in the beautiful seaside town of Gerringong, not far from Berry (one of my fav places in the whole wide world) where he proposed to me a couple of months ago. The church is set high on the clifftop overlooking the ocean to the front & horse paddocks to the left. We will have our reception at www.terrarahouseestate.com.au where we will dance up a storm to local Canberra band 'Heuristic' http://www.mitchcanas.com/ who were gigging at a pub in Kingston the night that Glenn and I met!

Johanna Johnson Dress For Sale!

2009-08-19T17:01:00.000+10:00

Beautiful Laura would like to sell her beautiful dress. Only worn once! Would fit size 8-12. It has been cleaned and is in pristine condition. Email or call me if you are interested and I can put you in contact with Laura. Oh, and you can see Laura and Justin's photos in the upcoming Cosmo issue! Yay :)

John, Kelly & Kristina

2009-08-09T15:35:00.000+10:00

This is the third shoot I have done with John and Kelly but the first for their baby girl Kristina. She is sooo cute! I think she enjoyed the photo session but she wasn't so happy after she put a handful of sand in her mouth :p Yicky.

Merran, Romana, Aiden & Shadow

2009-08-08T15:29:00.000+10:00

What a fun family! I had a great time photographing this crazy bunch at Point Hut Crossing. Shadow, the dog, had a great time rolling in all sorts of interesting smells and congrats to Aiden for coming up with expressions I never knew existed :p

Belinda, Dave, Layla and Belly Bump

2009-08-08T15:10:00.001+10:00

This is the 5th time I have photographed Dave and Belinda! It has been wonderful to follow their journey through photographs from the first Engagement shoot, then their Wedding, The first pregnancy, new born photos of Layla and now the family photos showing baby number 2 is due any day now! They were photographed at Dunrossil Drive on a beautiful July afternoon.