Louisa Bailey

Emily and Nic had their wedding somewhere I hadn’t visited in years – the Melbourne Zoo! What a fun and different place for a wedding. Perfect for photographing this fun-loving, outdoorsy couple who love having a laugh. Em and Nic met years ago in high school while Nic, who is Canadian, was living in Melbourne. After school finished he moved to Europe to study, and after several years apart they met up, and now they’re married!

Being a photographer for nearly a decade (and before that, a photographer’s assistant) has given me access to some really special places that regular folks don’t get to see. And this wedding gave me the amazing opportunity to go INTO the giraffe enclosure and shoot up close to one of the beautiful giraffes. Em and Nic got to feed a special “giraffe bouquet” of leaves to the magnificent creature. It was amazing! Such a career highlight.

Thanks for giving me such a unique opportunity Em and Nic! Shooting at the Melbourne Zoo was the best! And a huge thanks to Courtney Horwood who 2nd shot for me on the day. I also must give a shout out to their celebrant, Janet Hussey who did such a beautiful job. I highly recommend her!

How classically elegant is this wedding? Beautiful Julia is one of the sweetest people you will meet and I love that she and her handsome groom Ed chose me to photograph their wedding. There were beautiful moments pre-ceremony, when Julia gave her bridesmaid and flowergirl special gifts, and I particularly enjoyed shooting portraits at Melbourne University – where I studied many years ago. It was the perfect backdrop for this elegant couple. As was the Grand Hyatt where they had their reception.

I have also included some photos of their wedding band, who I loved listening to – they’re called The Belle Tones. Look them up and book them for your next event! And Julia’s flawless make up was by my good pal Rebecca Brown. Thanks Julia and Ed!

Oh my goodness! It’s been 2 months since I last posted a wedding. My excuse is I’ve been busy SHOOTING beautiful weddings (so I’m sure you forgive me!). Here’s a special one I shot last December at the glorious Werribee Mansion. It’s a stunning venue that’s perfect for photography and I’m looking forward to shooting more weddings there in the near future.

Alice and Kien are a super-cute couple who are lucky enough to be having another wedding soon in Macau (take me with you!!!). You may notice that their portraits were taken before their ceremony – this is becoming common practice at weddings for a few good reasons: 1) it means a seamless transition from ceremony to reception and 2) it often works better for photos because of light limitations (eg if your wedding is late in the day when it’s getting dark). It’s not for everyone but worth considering if you’re having a winter wedding when it gets dark earlier!

I loved every minute of Alice and Kien’s special day – especially the surprise musical performance by Kien’s amazingly talented cousins – I shed a happy tear along with everyone else in the room!

Here is another wedding at my favourite venue, Boyd Baker House!

Aleisha and Rich’s wedding was such a fun one to photograph. You may recognise Aleisha from her various roles on TV – most recently as a roving reporter on The Circle (which was the best thing to happen to daytime TV while it was on!). I photograph a lot of comedians and had done some publicity shots for Aleisha in the past, so when she contacted me about her wedding I was thrilled to be asked to shoot her big day.

Aleisha wrote all about her wedding on Polka Dot Bride recently so I’ll let you read all about it there. But before you do that, scroll down and enjoy the beautiful day that she and Rich planned and excecuted so well!

It’s that time of year again! Time to relax with family and friends and reflect on the year that was. I had a fantastic time this year shooting weddings and I’ve been looking forward to posting this collection of images from my 2012 weddings. I am so lucky to have such great clients and I’m looking forward to a fun and busy 2013. Take care this summer and stay tuned – I still have lots of weddings to put on the blog soon! Thanks for visiting my little corner of the Internet and I hope you enjoy these photographs.