Candice and James, Palm Beach

Sometimes, getting smacked in the face by a jellyfish can be a good omen. I reassured James of this as we walked back up the beach the morning of his wedding day.

We had met Candy and James for their beautiful engagement shoot not too long ago, and we were so excited to see them finally tie the knot. The jellyfish-face-smackdown was indeed the heralding of many good things – perfect Gold Coast wedding weather, a happy-tear-filled beach ceremony and two people being completely surrounded and uplifted by their joyous and loving family and friends.

We headed down to the beach for some photos before high-tailing it into the hinterland and jumping a paddock fence – still close enough to the ocean to have sea mist in the background! We love shooting on the coast, we really feel like we got the best of both worlds! Colette is a beach girl, so she was feeling pretty at home in the sand, running up and down the beach. Then we were in the rolling hills, which is where I feel most at home – far away from face slapping jellyfish.

‘Uh, that bull has huge balls…’ our bride pointed out as we ducked inside the gate. We were alert, but not alarmed… not so much about the size of his balls, more the fact that well, he was just all round a pretty big bull. This is where having a tag team of photographers can be kind of good, one of us was on Bull Watch at all times. Luckily, the bull was pretty happy minding his own business and we just got in and shot everything we needed pretty quickly. But honestly, we were so thankful to have Candice and James trust us, and be up for a bit of adventuring!

All of this was topped off by their reception at Pablo Pablo, a spanish restaurant at Palm Beach – which pretty quickly got wild (there was lots of Sangria)! Nobody could contain themselves when Darryl Braithwaite’s Horses came on, almost every person rose in their place and belted it out in the most dramatic fashion. The roof was most definitely raised! The designated dancefloor spilled over into the tables and throughout the whole restaurant, as classic rock anthem after rock anthem was played.

This was one party we had a hard time leaving!

Candice & James’ Dream Team:

Wedding Dress: Carla Zampatti
Groom’s Suit: Herringbone
Makeup artist: Leigh Delaney
Hair stylist: Ingrid Walton
Cake: Adele Galloway
Celebrant: Roz Copley
Bridesmaid dresses: Uluwatu Lace, Bali
Band/DJ: Andy Penney
Reception Venue: Pablo Pablo