I still remember watching the final episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation huddled in a huddled in a basement with a half dozen or so friends and the sad feelings I had when the title screen rolled.

‘All good things…’

It was the only thing I could think of when my best friend and nerd-in-arms Robert told me he was packing up and moving back to Australia with his wife and impending child.  After recovering from the heartbreak, we (our mutual friends) decided we’d best through a farewell party for our favourite couple.

Alex managed to hire the campest ‘Australian Life Guard’ to come and sing/entertain the group for about half an hour, which lent to the perfect combination of a giggling and embarrassed couple.

We had decked out the place with all manner of Aussie decorations, flags and the pinnacle of Austrailiadom: Fosters.  We also had a bottle of two of Robert’s personal favourite tipple that were quickly consumed.

It was a lovely evening that ended too soon, but fortunately with the marvels of modern technology this isn’t the end of our friendship at all.

Quite unlike like my childhood favourite: TNG.

There are a few more party photos in the gallery.

It wasn’t intentional, but we happened to be in and around the Westminster area on Remembrance Day weekend this year.  The plan was just to do some standard sight seeing and get a few photos of Baba at the parliament buildings (which we did), but it’s always interesting and humbling to see the displays set out to mark the occasion.

The lawns of Westminster Abby are completely transformed for the weekend.  All along the walkways are thousands and thousands of tiny memorial crosses, divided up into the military units they represent, covered in notes, photos, mementos and words of thanks.  I’m not certain if the crosses are supposed to represent a one-to-one relationship with the soldiers who’ve died in one of the many wars starting with WWI, but I do know there are an awful lot of crosses and it certainly makes you stop and think.

Moving on from the Abbey we crossed the road and took a few photos of the lovely fall colours in Victoria Tower Gardens next to parliament before crossing the river at Lambeth Bridge.

It’s a nice day out and a good walk, especially this end of Westminster as it avoids most of the major touristy areas once you’re away from parliament and the abbey.  We stopped for a bit of lunch at a cute riverside restaurant on the south bank of the Thames before gathering our things and heading back home.

There are a few more images in the gallery as always!

I didn’t realize just how behind I was in posting updates to the site until I saw how far back I had to predate this post.  The wedding in October followed by the honeymoon (the subject of this particular post) and Danni finally moving her things into my our home not to mention my continued work on my 365 project have kept me rather busy.

But enough excuses.

We spent an amazing week at Coco Palms Dhuni Kolhu resort and couldn’t have asked for better weather, food, drinks or anything!  The island itself was accessible only via a seaplane from Malé and the entire landmass was circumnavigable (my big word for the day) in about 30 minutes.

We spent most of the week lounging around on the beach (as was a honeymoon requirement), snorkeling (Danni’s new love) or simply gorging ourselves on the amazing food offered from their kitchen.  And when we weren’t doing one of those three things, we were taking photos of Danni in her many wedding dresses at various stunning locations around the island.

We also managed a couple of boating excursions during our week.  The first was an early morning outing to do some dolphin watching.  I’d expected to see a couple of dorsal fins here and there, but what we ended up seeing were about 200 dolphins in several pods splashing around and doing their morning hunting.  Most of them were too far from the boat for my longest lens (85mm) to really do them justice, so no great photos but it was a great experience (apart from Danni getting sea sick of course).

The other trip was a gifted private sunset cruise for two with champagne and canapes that was bought for us by my good friend Robert.  It was a lovely little motor around the island that didn’t go so far out as to encounter any big waves (and thereby make Danni ill again).  The sunset was one of the weeks best and all the better for enjoying it aboard a private boat with my new wife.

It was definitely difficult coming back to dreary London after being spoiled so fully for a week.  We can’t recommend the resort enough.  If you get a chance, take it!

There are LOTS more photos in the gallery.

How do you write a blog post about the happiest day of your life?  I’ve never been much of a wordsmith (which is part of the reason I started writing on this public forum) so I’ll struggle to find the appropriate words and metaphors to describe the events of October 18th, 2011.

I awoke in our London flat early in the morning with my family present and already buzzing about.  The day was about as perfect a day you could ask for on such a special occasion.  White, puffy clouds and sunny skies don’t come every day in the UK so we couldn’t have timed it any better.

Danni, her father and her brides maid Ping had spent the evening prior at a hotel in Thornbury near our venue, so all that remained was to load up my family and make the 2 hour journey.  The trip was uneventful, but in hindsight stopping for a coffee was probably a bad idea as the caffeine wasn’t helping my prenuptial jitters.

Our venue for the day was the amazing Thornbury Castle, which just so happened to be location of our engagement 7 months earlier.  We had actually looked at quite a few other options, but we had such a special time at Thornbury that it just felt right to go back and exchange our vows within it’s walls.  There’s also something to be said for getting married in a castle.

My brother and best friend Robert had agreed to a shared role of best man, so the three of us got ready together in a nearby hotel where most of our guests would be staying.  It wasn’t until we started to get dressed that my nerves really kicked in.  Not so much because I was worried about getting married, but because I was worried that something might go wrong with our carefully laid plans.  It seems like so much hangs on other people (most of whom you’ve never met) getting things just right, and the control freak in my was not happy about this at all.  I think this was very likely the first time I’ve ever paced in my life, it was impossible for me to sit still.

The previously mentioned coffee was certainly not enhancing my calm either.

Our brilliant photographers (the ones who’ve taken all of the images in this post) where on hand to capture the getting ready stages of the day.  I was lucky enough to have a London based wedding photographer (and my good friend) Ian Schofield with his assistant Richard Swaffield (also a good friend) covering our day.  We couldn’t have asked for more professional coverage and the images, as you can see here, were simply stunning.

We were both required by UK law to be interviewed by the registrars before the wedding, presumably to ensure that neither of us were being married under duress.  Great care was taken to prevent Danni and I from accidentally bumping into each other while our separate statements were being given, and we must have answered to their satisfaction as they allowed us to proceed.

I don’t remember much of the waiting period while I chatted with friends and family waiting for the event to begin and Danni to finally arrive.  There were a lot of nervous jokes, more pacing and an awful lot of watch checking.  It wasn’t long before Glinis, the registration officer conducting our ceremony, began to organize the wedding party and give us a run down of what was about to happen.  Before I knew it, we were all lined up, the music had started and Danni was entering the room with her father and bridesmaid.

I remember turning towards the door in time to witness her enter, and then quickly turning back and facing away.  I can’t say for certain why I looked away.  I think part of me didn’t believe I was getting married to someone so amazing, someone so stunning that I was afraid my eyes were actually playing tricks on me.  I didn’t want to look back for fear that it had all been just a wonderful illusion, that maybe none of this was actually real.

It only lasted a second or two before I couldn’t stop myself from glancing back to watch my lovely wife-to-be walk down the aisle in her breathtaking dress.

Glinis was eloquent and warm as she read through our vows and guided us through the ceremony.  She spoke with the slow, even pace and confidence of someone who’d done this a thousand times.  We were made to feel as though she was talking directly to us while still projecting for everyone else in attendance.  My mom also gave a lovely reading which she modified and personalized to more closely reflect our life in the big city of London.  It’s always nice to have that personal touch.

Repeating our customized vows whet smoothly despite our mutual nerves and with no one objecting to our union, we exchanged rings first, and then a kiss.  I even managed to remove Danni’s veil without disrupting her carefully arranged hair and makeup, something I’d been fretting about for most of the morning.  Describing the feeling of actually getting married to the person you love is difficult as for me, there doesn’t seem to be an equivalent and descriptive terms like amazing or incredible just don’t cover it. Everyone says it’s their best day ever, which is vague and accurate all at the same time.

I think the goofy grin that never left my face describes it best.

After the ceremony we chatted for a bit in the lobby, exchanging hugs and receiving congratulations from our family and friends before heading outside for the formal photos.  The October weather was chilly enough force a few people back in, but not before we’d taken several large group shots.  Immediate family and the wedding party got to stay behind for some additional photos before they were allowed back inside to the bar, but we didn’t keep them long.  Once again the photographers were great and moved things along to make sure we got all of the images we wanted.

Our afternoon tea was served at 4 during which a few speeches were given (Danni’s fathers speech being the highlight for me), thanks were offered and scones were slathered in cream and scoffed.   The intimate dining room we were provided with was perfect for the occasion, complete with a roaring, crackling fire to help set the mood.  If there is a better setting for a proper English tea, I haven’t found it yet.

In keeping with the English feel of our wedding, we then set off to a traditional local pub in the town centre for food and a few drinks.  We stayed and chatted till late in the evening before saying farewell to some of our heartier drinking relations and heading back to the castle for a night in the glorious Henry VIII room.  A perfect end to a day that couldn’t have been more ideal.

We want to thank all of our friends and family who made the journey (however long) to be with us on our day.  Thanks to the fine folks at Thornbury Castle for a perfect venue, amazing food and exemplary service.  We really feel that everything we asked for was taken care of to the letter.  The clerks from South Gloucestershire were helpful throughout the process and nothing short of professional on the day. Our two photographers were brilliant as you can see from the photos included, and I can’t recommend their services enough.

And finally, thanks to my lovely new wife for being everything I’ve ever wanted.

Whiney xxx

There are a load of additional photos in the gallery.

After last years successful trash the dress shoot we knew we wanted to have another crack at it.  Steve did his usual thing of buying used wedding dresses off of ebay and then soliciting models through model mayham.  What started off as 10 willing girls quickly dwindled down to 3 and we were blessed the lovely Shez, Chelsea and Alice.

The day started off as most of our photo shoots do.  A little behind on the time schedule and a little bewildered about where we were supposed to be.  We quickly found our bearings and made our way to an odd little area of Hounslow Heath that was part of a disused rail line.  Lots of curved, 6 foot retaining walls covered in graffiti making up a line of semi-circles.  I can only assume these were used for turning rail cars?  Very odd.

The plan for the day was to get warmed up doing a few standard shots of the girls in their respective wedding dresses before we broke out the paints and destroyed said dresses.  The models were great and very easy to work with, which is always a bonus as most of us there don’t have much experience in directing people how to pose.

The best bit of the day for me though was the 2 local kids who happened to be rummaging around looking for ‘not quite empty’ tins of spray paint so they could practice their tagging.  We drafted them in to spray the models with paint instead of wasting it covering up decent graffiti with their names and mostly illegible phallic drawings.  As a bonus, one had a hoodie on and we had a spare handy for the other so we could complete the asbo-tot image.

After the kids were called away by a slightly angry mom on a phone, we carried on with the planned paint fight.  I’ve got a few images that have yet to be processed of the paint fight, but like last time it was fairly chaotic and I generally wasn’t happy with the results.

Overall though, it was a brilliant day and we all walked away with some great images.  Thanks to Rich, Rob and Steve (don’t know your website Steve) for all of the ideas and help with the shots.  Always great working with you guys.  Oh, and I’m very happy I broke my ‘no new gear this year’ and picked up a 125cm softbox and tri-flash adapter.  Soooo worth it!

More photos in the gallery and a few more to come over the next week or two.