It has been a long time since I touched base with the outside world, and there are many reasons. No.1 We have made a “tree change” to my home town of Grenfell in country NSW. After many years of city life, Mickey and I thought it would be a beautiful, nurturing environment for Lila to grow up in. So we packed up our house and studio in Brisbane in December. After a 13 hour drive, we arrived at our new home that we bought complete with run down vege patch, room for the chooks, sheep and a view to die for. But more importantly room for us to just “be”.

We took a month off from work to settle in and build the chook shed and bring the 5 acre garden back to life, basically switching off which was long overdue for both of us. During this time I was busy scoping potential studio buildings for sale in our historic main street.  I came across the perfect space built around 1900. SOLD. We began renovating in February, I am a sucker for a renovation rescue and this was a challenge on many levels, as there was a few things that I had never encountered before, i.e how do I re-motar a brick wall? Good old Google…(I spent two weeks alone on that brick wall, it nearly broke me!)

Last week we launched our new website (check it out) www.dayates.com.au and  today is May 25,  Our wedding anniversary and a fitting day to open the doors for business.  Welcome to the new Studio Yates + Gallery.

Let the renovating begin. Before shots on my IPhone, I am much more clever on my big camera.

Oh dear what have I done!

And Now…We are so proud of our place.

This is the front Gallery, housing our fine art works for sale, pretty portrait and wedding shots and ample space to chill and enjoy. For those of you that came to the studio in Brisbane this is double the size of the space we had.

A walk through our new hallway and you reach our studio area and client viewing space. I am now very good at white washing floors, Mickey is a master painter and great at hanging art work.

Our huge office. Compete with fully stocked wine fridge, oh yes…

My bricks that I made friends with, and no studio Yates is complete without a blackboard..

So there you have it, I am back. And I cant wait to show you all the new things we have been working on and will be introducing in the future. And sharing with you our adventures with our beautiful brides, families, bush landscapes and the chooks.

x Denise (photographer, master builder, and lover of her new home.)

P.S Happy Anniversary my love, thank you for being my sunshine and such a brilliant painter and plasterer.

Sometimes things are just meant to be and have a funny way of showing you what’s right there in front of you all along. This is the case for these two love birds Alisha and Samuel. On a sunny September day Sam and Alisha declared their love with song and incredible amount of emotion in front of 400 family and friends in Caboolture. Sam and Alisha attended the same high school and both had an incredible shared passion in music. It wasn’t until many years after their schooling that they realised they had a bit of a passion for each other. These are their memories of an incredible day.

Sam the man.

Sams’ adorable nephew who was such a cutie all day.

And here she is and what a dress, I tell you I only have Bride’s with great dresses, a passion for fashion I share with them. Alisha looked and looks all the time even without the dress AMAZING. She is such a dream to be around.

And look at these little ladies in their dresses, ALMOST stealing the show.

Beautiful.

The little boys got the best entrance to the ceremony on remote control vintage cars. Now thats an entrance.

After a very emotional entrance, Sam and Alisha took advantage of their talents and entertained the crowd with some fab songs and what a voice! How she fit behind that piano in her dress still bewildes me.

This is Alisha’s Dad Michael who married them today. Awwww. Que to my tears flowing right about now… A very moving union.

They are too cute.

We headed off to Cabolture High for some sentimental location photos, of course in front of the music block.

And on the local railway tracks near school.

And to top it off we conceived the idea of getting a lounge and putting it in the paddock across from Alisha’s parents house. Love you guys!

A moonlit end to a perfect day. Alisha and Sam I wish you all the very best with your new adventures in Germany. And WOW. What an incredible day to set the tone of your journey together as husband and wife. It was wonderful to be apart of your day with you and your families.

x Denise (photographer who wishes she could sing like Alisha)

Roll up..Roll up… everyone get their tickets for the wedding of Cassandra and Wojtek. Seriously people, welcome to a fun and fabulous wedding of two awesome people in West End at the lovely Franklin Villa. Woj and Cass are the craziest bride and groom in the most beautiful way and put some many amazing personal touches into their incredible day with fun on every corner. Enjoy.

The theme for the wedding was the “Greatest Show on Earth” and everyone was sent tickets as invites and even some tokens to get in. I had a bit of an idea about the mad themeing of the day and was excited to be apart of the fanfare.

Of course she should wear just the cutest little dress.

Now, have you ever seen a bouquet of flowers made entirely from buttons? Some frilly blue knickers or a Card Monster?? AWESOME.

Our lovely groom Woj. Complete with proper button holes made from real buttons.

I like your plates.

I like the lady.

I dont know how I kept the camera still for this shot as I was on the floor in fits of laughter at Cass showing me her knickers….It was a first for me.

Here comes the bride, as she meets the groom straight away. We did family photos and shots together before the ceremony, bucking tradition. Another awesome idea.

We took advantage of our groovy surroundings. Love an old house.

No, thank you.

Guests started to arrive and it was time to make the celebrating official, with a lovely outdoor ceremony. Thumbs up Cass.

A few more photos and time to celebrate with a lolly shop and the best photobooth with hollywood inspired dress ups.

Aww.

It was time for the dance and to work that fabulous dress, look out for the knickers.

A fitting end to a beautiful day, ahh River Fire. No really I got those fireworks just for you two! Woj and Cass thank you for letting Mickey and I enjoy your crazy, beautiful day. A wedding that perfectly is all about these two. And the magical L word they share to make the greatest show on earth.

x Denise (photographer in love with my offbeat groovy brides)

Some days are almost too perfect for weddings. I was very excited to be photographing Lydia and Ross’ wedding day in August. They are such a sweet couple, Lydia is a photographers dream and they have a beautiful little lady called Scarlett. Yes, everything was perfect, the sun was shining, the election was on but we didn’t care. It was all lovely until two days before when I tore ligaments in my ankle at netball. (Some may say I might be a bit past my used by date for such a game, but I am hanging on). But never fear as I enlisted the help of fabulous photographer Stephen Henry at the last minute to help me out. So back to our perfect day, we met up with Lydia and the ladies at her folk’s house in Brisbane.

Oh Lydia, told you she was lovely!

And her little pomeranian thinks so too! (Insert a woof whistle)

Lydia you look amazing, your dress and veil were the perfect choice. I couldn’t wait to see Ross reaction.

And here he is with little Scarlett waiting patiently for Mummy.

Love this shot.

Lydia and Ross had their ceremony in the Albert Street Uniting Church.

Lydia’s lovely Mum Vicky.

Now its all official, and he didn’t let go of her from this moment on. Ross, even though he is a policeman, is a big softy when it comes to Lydia.

And Scarlett.

We headed off, well I hobbled and Stephen carried everything to some of my favorite Brisbane spots.

Awww…

Sometimes I think they forgot we were even there.

Our celebration venue was Indooroopilly Golf Club, so we took advantage of the surrounds and I was very glad for the use of the buggies and for Stephen being my wing man.

I love it.

Possible the most photographed fig tree in Brisbane, but its just so majestic.

Even a really throbbing ankle and 3 feet long grass couldn’t stop me from taking this shot.

It was a perfect day. Look at him, he cant stop staring at her. I think I am always so privileged to see this, it affirms to me constantly that there is a someone for everyone and love, no matter how soppy you think it is, is alive and real and right in front of me. Congratulations.

x Denise (photographer who can photograph in lots of pain with the help of Mr Henry and Mr Panadine Forte)

In my busy busyness of late, it was brought to my attention my lack of blogging. Its funny you know, in the last five years I have never worked so damn hard and blogging is a chance to show off what I do but its always something that gets pushed to the side when I am up to my neck in work. So thank you to that lovely person today who suggested that I might be hiding away in workload land a little too long. Welcome back to regular Friday blogs.

And what a wedding to come back on…This fine lady is my very special Angela, OUR studio coordinator extraordinaire and as my postman likes to call her, My Girl Friday. When I say “our”  I say this with purpose as Angela not only helps me out but also the extremely talented Juanita from Broderick Photography. So the best present we could possibly give for Angela’s and Liam’s big day was both of us fine ladies capturing their wedding day. Go Team Broderick + Yates!

We started our day with Angela and her little ladies in waiting at the Treasury in Brisbane. Ange is a wonderful designer and when she told me she had designed her own gown I couldnt wait to see the results. Absolutley beautiful and perfect for this art deco inspired wedding.

A little old school glamour with the most glorious lace with a hint of cheek. Can this dress describe her any better? Angela you are the most sophisticated, graceful and elegant bride.

And here is the man its all about. Hello Liam.

After having a bit of fun in the back alleys of Teneriffe with Liam we headed down to the ceremony inside the Rotunda at New Farm Park.

Here she comes.

Ange and her beautiful Mama and Dad.

A simple, beautiful ceremony. There could have been no one else watching these two as their eyes were fixated on each other.

Liam kissed Angela’s finger before he put on her ring, I had never seen this before and he gave us all another reason to sigh and cry!

Hi Aunt Bag!

Now it was time for a little stroll through the Powerhouse and time for Broderick + Yates to work their magic.

Incredible to photograph – Juanita and I were ooohhhing and arrrrhhing when we would sneak a peak at each others cameras.

Nice one JB.

We eventually dragged ourselves back to celebrate at The Salon in Teneriffe. An amazing venue, this is my second time here for a wedding and the food is just incredible with a matching atmosphere. Truffle infused popcorn – does it get any better?

Angela, you make our lives a more pleasant place to be by your insane organisation skills, and most of all endless style and inspiration. Everyday you come into our studios you bring us an incredible gift. This is ours to you. To you and Liam, all of our love and well wishes for many years of happiness, fortunes, fine wine, fabulous food and of course LOVE.

x Team Broderick+Yates (collaborating photographers who road trip, shoot pears and tomatoes and kick ass for beautiful brides)