Italian Summer Wedding Elopement Inspiration at Olive View Estate in the Scenic Rim, Australia

Seasons come and go. Trends can come and go. Priorities can come and go. However, an Italian-inspired, pink & sage floral-infused garden party in an olive grove is always in vogue, right? When you can choose to have your wedding any single way you wish, a light-filled elopement could very well be the dream.

Olive View Estate, in the Scenic Rim, was the perfect venue to channel all the fun Italian summer vibes. The versatile groves proved to be the ideal location for everything - portraits, ceremony & the reception.

With a canvas as beautiful as the groves, it was important that the details were in harmony. Aside from the obligatory (& delicious) grazing spread and a bottle or two of Freixenet, the vespa (provided by Mylee Abbott) was a must. The bespoke stationery by I am Poppy Designs featured an endearing nod to both the scooter & the landscape of Olive View Estate. Poppy created a watercolour collection of lovingly handcrafted paintings. The invitation had a custom painting of Olive View Estate printed on traditional cotton paper and accompanied by gorgeous pink envelopes with a liner depicting the views of the Scenic Rim. Given the vespa was an important part of the shoot, a beautiful watercolour of the couple - Emma & Nigel - riding off on the vespa was a must.

The day of the shoot was memorably hot & humid. The gorgeous florals - provided by Le Sans Souci - handled the challenging conditions better than most and were incredibly robust! It is one thing to have a vision and palette and it is another to tie it all together (on a sweltering hot day!); Nadja (Le Sans Souci) achieved this as both the floral artist and stylist.

Lovely Katie, from Katie Young’s Cakes, created a three-tier fondant wedding cake in pink & sage tones. The stunning cake featured a sponged double-barrel bottom tier. In addition, Katie freehand painted floral details and completed the look with handmade sugar flowers.

Emma, the bride muse, is an experienced model and has been involved in numerous wedding-style shoots. It is always a pleasure to have Emma as part of the team. Lovely Vanessa, from Sew Master Fashions, provided the floral-inspired dress featuring delightful bows. Tyneale Hahn Makeup Artist created a relaxed up-style (ornate pins were placed in the hairstyle as a feature) & natural makeup (featuring smoky eye detail) was created to fit effortlessly alongside the details on Emma's gown.

Nigel, the groom muse, is currently training to be an organisational psychologist and does part-time modelling as a creative outlet and mainly just for fun. This was his first time participating in a bridal shoot and it has since become his absolute favourite style to shoot. What he enjoys most about projects like these is their collaborative nature. The combined efforts of all the creative minds involved as well as the passion of each individual really shines through the final images. He also appreciates the subtle nuances from the floral arrangements to the makeup style and even the shoot location that each project requires in order to achieve the concept that the team aspires to create. He also understands that the individual differences of each team member makes the project and final product even more special and unique when it is completed. It is always a pleasure to work with Nigel. Nigel rocked his suit - pink, for something refreshingly unique - from the wonderful team - Jonathan & Mark - at Wil Valor.

Without a celebrant, a wedding is just a party - an excellent party but a party nonetheless. The celebrant in attendance was Christelle Marriage Celebrant. We are grateful to Christelle for contributing to the shoot with a peppy ceremony resulting in fun, organic moments.

The inspiration for the shoot had been floating around in Emily's head (photographer at Poppy & Sage Photography) for a few months. The team took the inspiration and translated it into a real-life dream. Emily is always humbled by how incredible the result can be when everyone - specialists in their own areas - pulls it all together.

Enjoy! 💕

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Models: Emma & Nigel

Cake: Katie Young’s Cakes

Venue: Olive View Estate

Scooter: Mylee Abbott

Dress: Sew Master Fashions

Suit: Wil Valor

Stationery: I am Poppy Designs

Celebrant: Christelle Marriage Celebrant

Makeup & Hair: Tyneale Hahn Makeup Artist

Florist & Stylist: Le Sans Souci

Photographer: Poppy & Sage Photography

Assistant to the Creative Director: Introducing Coco Mittens <3

Our team recently expanded. Our 5-year-old Creative Director, Chloe, has been asking for a kitten for a little while now. We went to our local vet where they rescue 00s of cats every year. We popped in and met 8-week-old Coco Mittens. It was clear that Coco Mittens just had to be part of our family and there was no way we could leave without her. The decision was easy. Meet Coco Mittens! <3

Chloe is very doting on Coco Mittens, and this is perhaps more representative of their day together:

Information :: Best Time to Book the Wedding Photographer(s)

Wedding vendors typically are booked as follows:

  • Jeweller

  • Venue

  • Photographer/Videographer

The other vendors - celebrant, cake, dress, suit, flowers, and so on - are usually booked after the first three are locked in. Having said that, some venues will provide you with a shortlist of dates to take to your photographer and increase the chance of everyone being available.

5 hours or more of coverage

We recommend booking in your photographer(s) as soon as you have a date/it is up to 18 months from your wedding date. In fact, we recommend booking in any vendor you have your heart set on as soon as possible! Some months are busier than others and should be booked in… well, yesterday (for example, the spring & autumn months). More specifically, some dates are more popular than others (Saturdays in September will always be busier than Mondays in January, for example). We shoot only one wedding/day. On average, couples tend to book between 9-12 months before the date. There is no point spending hours narrowing down your research to your favourite photographer and then postponing reaching out to them. Furthermore, photographer(s) are usually really well connected and can give you direction with other vendors, too, and potentially save you time. We were recently asked to provide recommendations for a celebrant, catering, DJ, dress, & florist; we were happy to pass on details.

Elopements/less than 5 hours of coverage

We recommend booking in approximately 3-6 months before your date. (We have booked with weeks to spare previously so it does not hurt to ask; your date just might be available. In an ideal world, we like enough time to fit in an in-person chat to meet you and so that you have a chance to meet us! We can also learn about your priorities so that we have all the information we need before capturing your day.)

Wedding: M+K <3 (Empire Theatre)

Lovely Kate and Matthew.

K&M’s wedding took place at Pete’s favourite wedding venue: Empire Theatre in Toowoomba. It was a spectacular day - full of love, fun and colour! A lifetime of memories was packed into one day for wonderful Kate and Matthew.

I believe this is our largest blog post to date! We have included 275 images below (25% of our total delivery; we have tried to include something from all parts of the day). You will find examples from throughout the day (early afternoon till night/indoors and outdoors).

Scroll all the way to the end for the portraits in the theatre. We were pinching ourselves the whole time we were there as it is just such a truly unique, stunning, heritage-listed, art deco-inspired building.

P.S. For the record, we always include more colour than monochrome in our galleries. Sometimes this ratio can get a bit lost in our blog posts as we post our own favourites from the day and, very often, they are the monochrome ones (the ones full of emotion with no distracting elements).

The image below is untouched except for colour correction and perhaps some straightening. The confetti literally fell as shown and framed Kate’s face! As I was culling the images and making the decision on which ones to keep, I had to include this one in the gallery. Our Creative Director (Chloe, 5) was watching on as I culled - “Mum, you have to give them that one. Even the confetti is cheering for Kate!” <3

The image below was actually taken by Kate’s little granddaughter. It was a spontaneous moment. The little one had done an amazing job of being the best flower girl on a hot summer’s day. It got to the end and she was starting to fuss (completely normal!). In order to buy K&M a moment of peace to focus on speeches, I offered the camera to her. She immediately focused on Kate and took this one (I have not cropped or straightened it). I showed it to her, “That’s how Kate smiles when she looks at you!” The beaming smile as she took it in was priceless. <3

We worked alongside Dan Vonhoff on videography. Dan was great to work with - clear communication and fantastic collaboration! When couples ask if we do videography, we inform them that no - we specialise in photography and that we are more than happy to recommend videographers. We recommend Dan. :)

Brisbane Elopements & Micro Weddings

Are you planning an elopement or micro wedding in 2022 or 2023?

Due to the current pandemic, in association with increasing interest in/demand for elopement and micro wedding packages, we are offering the following (all include one photographer only and up to 20 guests):

1 hour of coverage // $550

2 hours of coverage // $950

3 hours of coverage // $1350

4 hours of coverage // $1600

All weddings requiring 5 hours or more of coverage remain at $550 per hour and include 2 photographers (from $2750).

During these crazy times, it only seemed fair to meet our couples where they are at: feeling stressed out making big decisions and wanting to keep celebrations small for now. The big occasions can wait for better, brighter days when we can all be reunited again. Sending support to everyone going through the anxiety that is planning a wedding during a pandemic. Here to make life as easy as possible for you! We are fully vaccinated.