Ronsley and Rochelle's Wedding

It was Wed 13.02.2013 and the alarm sounded off at the crack of dawn. Usually this means one of two things: 1) An early start to measure up the men who are volunteering for my PhD project or 2) a sunrise photography session. This day it was neither. I was off to Brisbane to celebrate (and photograph) the wedding of Ronsley and Rochelle Vaz. 

Ronsley is a cousin of mine...although it's one of those "my-mother-is-first-cousins-with-your-grandfather-so-technically-we're-related-but-it's-a-stretch" type relationships. But in actual fact, Ronsley is like a brother and son in our family. So naturally, I was delighted when he invited me to his wedding...even though it was mid week (still confused about why haha...). 

I was booked on the first flight out of Newcastle - 6am. Well it was supposed to be 6am, but the ground staff detected some damage on the body of the aircraft. Two hours of later we finally took off. Jetstar fail...but at least we know they take aircraft safety seriously. 

I arrived in Brisbane and was greeted by Ronsley and his father (Uncle Ricardo). We drove back to the house where we were to relax for a few hours before the ceremony. Ronsley and Rochelle decided not to stick to the custom of separating the bride and groom before the ceremony. I thought this was a brilliant move. Ronsley and Rochelle got to spend the day with their family in the peace and quiet of their home before all the formalities and hectic nature of the wedding day began. This also presented me with the unique opportunity to capture photos of both Rochelle and Ronsley prior to the wedding ceremony.

The time arrived to leave and we headed into the marriage registry for the ceremony. Many of Ronsley and Rochelle's friends were able to attend, which made the occasion really special. Unfortunately Rochelle's family (who live in Goa, India) could not make the wedding here in Australia. In a beautiful gesture of welcome, Matt Kelly (Ronsley's brother in-law), offered to walk Rochelle down the aisle. A truly special moment in my eyes.

After the ceremony I had the opportunity to photograph Ronsley and Rochelle with their family. Ronsley and Rochelle were a great couple to photograph and we had great fun creating these memories. I barely had to coach these two in terms of postures and poses, these two just naturally did it. They talked, laughed, kissed, cuddled and smiled. They did all the hard work and I just clicked away. 

The reception was held at Ronsley's restuarant Goa-Doodle-Do, a Goan-Portuguese fusion restaurant and bar. Ronsley closed the restaurant for the night and his staff put on a feast fit for kings, including several jugs of Sangria to enhance the celebrations. Ronsley and Rochelle also made the cake themselves and they did a fantastic job.

I hope you have enjoyed this viewing these images as much as I have enjoyed creating them.

I wish Ronsley and Rochelle all the best for their future together. I'm so glad that I was able to share their special day with them.

Cheers
Roy