Marielle & Sylvan's wedding day

Today I was wedding photographer for my third wedding here on Norfolk Island.

It was my honour to spend most of the day with the bride and bridesmaids and with the groomsmen and the family and their friends.

Marielle was one of D'Anne's bridesmaid's at her wedding in January and liked my photos enough to ask me to photograph hers.

So here is their blog of wedding photos (only a select few as there were so many to choose from)

The Wedding ceremony was held at my Uncle Bernie's property at Steele's point, Simon's water which over looked the ship being unloaded at Cascade bay with Elephant rock in the distance.

Marielle surprised Sylvan with these Army vehicles complete with air raid siren, this was the photo when he first saw them.

The reception was in the lovely grounds of Tradewinds homestead.

YoYo and Nat provided the music including a wonderful version of Somewhere over the rainbow for Marielle to walk down the aisle.

In total, I spent 11 hours taking 2670 photos on 6GB of memory cards (one which fell into the long grass, giving me a momentary heart attack!)

From Hairdressers to Honeymoon(only joking).

Until my camera was finally worn out after the cutting of the fantastic frangipani cake, made by Jindaporn

....and the throwing of the bouquet.

I love the flowers sprinkling down from the just caught bouquet in this photo.

All three Weddings I have photographed on the Island involved the couple's children which I loved, very special family photos.

This Sylvan & Marielle's gorgeous son River.

It was an absolutely beautiful day.

CONGRATULATIONS and THANKYOU.

A Golden Party

Sally holding her original wedding dress that she made 50 years ago.(How did she keep it so white?)

Marion is holding up Mary's bridesmaid dress which Mum also made.

My Parents celebrated their Golden Wedding anniversary on the day yesterday.

It was very special as they had all but 2 of their original wedding party there (including the priest that married them, Father Ken Sargent whose first wedding was Mum and Dad's, he also married Brandt and I in 1995).

Here is an edited excerpt from an email that my Dad wrote.

Well,the 7th February,2009 dawned bright.We awoke & congratulated each other,then we saw an enormous golden orb rise up from the sea -a happy fitting omen. We went to morning Mass to give thanks to God for each other,then down to Mike & Kate's new beautiful white palace on the waterfront at Grays Point for a substantial finger food lunch,followed by glasses of Vodka White Ladies & Champagne, as that's what Sally wanted -no big Cecil B. de Mille production- just family & close friends. It was a lovely,lovely day.

Remarkably,there were 4 people there who were at the original wedding in 1959 -Sally.me,Marion,(her bridesmaid who Sally met on the ship during their move to Australia from England in 1950) and Father Ken,who married us.

Ken was so impressed at all the love & laughter in the room & he sadly remembered so many of other marriages that he did,which had failed. He got me to sit with him in a corner overlooking the river view for 45 mins.& got me to tell all the news of every Lyle & to tell him more Qantas yarns.
Mike took a photo of us with our heads close together & quipped'Is this the Confessional?'
Joan & David made up a beautiful scrapbook of our long friendship with them. Mandy mounted our original wedding photos in a neat golden frame & Jake put our old family home movies on a disc,which ran continually on the wall & gave us lots of laughs!
The girls made up platters of fresh prawns,smoked salmon,little quiches & of course,Mum's famous & delectable sausage rolls & Italian meat balls! The finale was a huge white cake with golden trim & a large "50th Golden Anniversary" scroll on it.
Mandy made a very beautiful toast from the bottom of her heart & got quite emotional,which we all loved & a few tears were dabbed away.In fact it was so good that I got emotional,too!
As guests had to drift away to other commitments,we just sat out on the verandah & reminisced for hours. A refreshing cool sea breeze sprung up & drove the 34 degree heat away.
It was a fabulous day & we can hardly wait another 50 years for the next one!
Thank you for all of your love & friendship over the years. We love you! Sally & Roy.

Jessica who works at a florist made this beautiful bouquet for Mum using Tuberoses and Ivy, just like her original bouquet.

Jess wearing Mary's bridesmaid's gown. Mum made all the dresses.

Jenni organized the cake, it looks beautiful.

The photo of Mum and Dad laughing is when we brought up that they were unconventional and didn’t fit the norm stereotype of all Mums cooking and Dad hammering nails as we all know Mum did the hammering, fixing etc and Dad would be turning the satay sticks on his Hibachi on the verandah. I cant remember what was said but it was one of Mums quick one liners I'm sure.

This was a quote from my sister Jenni who sent these great Photos, Thankyou.

Party photos.

We hope they had a lovely day, It sounds like they did.

50th Anniversary wishes for Roy & Sally

My Mum and Dad.

Roy & Sally Lyle (nee Winch)

Married 50 years ago today!

7th of February 1959 at St Anne's shrine, Bondi beach.

The young priest who married them , Father Ken Sargent was performing his first wedding.

Brandt I were also fortunate to have the lovely Ken marry us almost 14 years ago.

Mum had tuberoses in her bouquet and Yes, she made her beautiful dress herself as well as the bridesmaid's dresses and a complete wardrobe for their honeymoon to Hawaii, San Francisco & Los Angeles.

It is easy to see how they fell in love, He very handsome, She stunningly beautiful.

From Dad....
"The wedding photos were taken on the same day. The custom was that after the wedding ceremony, the bridal group went to a studio to get the official photos as most people never had the super dooper cameras of today & the guests went to the wedding reception (held at 'Alexis' in Kingsford) for nibblies & some drinks.Then 45 minutes later,we arrived & made the Grand Entrance We then had the wedding feast & much champagne.. How's that for 2 good memories. Such a lovely day is emblazoned into our memories!!"

I wish them a Fantastic celebration party, 50 years is a wonderful achievement and needs a big celebration.

I will be there with you in spirit.

All my love,

Tina.

xxxxx

The Bridal Party,

Marion, Roy, Sally, Bugs & Mary

DID YOU KNOW?

The golden anniversary is one of the most celebrated wedding anniversaries. And rightly so!
Spending half a century in love with one person is a wonderful statement about the gift of married life.

Here are some 50th wedding anniversary ideas and symbols.

50th Anniversary Traditional Gift: Gold.
50th Anniversary Contemporary/Modern Gift: Gold.
50th Anniversary Gemstone: Gold or Imperial or Golden Topaz.
Optimism and wealth are often associated with gold.
Not only is the metal gold beautiful, it is strong, and resistant to corrosion.
50th Anniversary Color: Gold.
50th Anniversary Flower: Violet

Brandt's exciting news.

For those friends and family that don't know yet, here is the scoop.

Many Thanks to Jenny Jauczius for writing such a fabulous article from all the information that we gave you & also to Norfolk Online http://www.norfolkonlinenews.com/ for kindly allowing us to reuse the article.

Here it is....................

BRANDT McRITCHIE - NORFOLK SINGER HAS CHANCE TO SHINE

It has been an incredibly exciting weekend for the McRitchie household. A television crew has spent several days shadowing the family and filming material to put a profile together on Brandt.

Brandt has been selected (from over a thousand entrants across New Zealand) to appear on the second series of the talent programme Stars in Their Eyes which will be produced in Auckland this April.

In the shows contestants battle it out over two months to present the best impersonations (singing style and appearance) of well known singers. Each programme introduces several performers, outlines their background and personality in a short film, and then viewers witness their transformation into Elvis, Kylie or whoever. The studio audience votes for the best act each week, and these contestants meet in the Grand Final.

The show ran for a long time in Britain and was a hit in New Zealand last year. A Billy Joel impersonator took out the first prize of a trip to Las Vegas, and another trip to the gambling/entertainment mecca is on offer for the 2009 winner. Brandt is one of just 45 competitors, but will have to win his heat to make the final show. Four years ago Australia’s Channel 9 had a similar series called Starstruck.

Brandt and his wife, Cristina, are thrilled at the turn of events, and are hoping to enjoy the experience as much as possible. They manage Fletcher Christian Apartments and Brandt also runs Cross Cut Constructions, a building company on the Island. They moved here with their young children, Teddy and Sienna, in late 2006, but they had holidayed on Norfolk several times. Cristina also has a family link to the Island as her Aunt Mary is married to an Islander, Bernie Christian-Bailey. Cristina visited Norfolk many times when she was a youngster.

They are a creative couple and have been involved in lots of music and theatre productions in Noosa and Sydney. Since arriving they have joined drama and arts groups and both took part in Norfolk’s It Takes Two competitions. These raised funds for local community groups while keeping us all entertained. Brandt also performs regularly in the music duo, Ebony and Ivory, with Eddie Miratana. He and Cristina manage to balance work, family, sporting and musical obligations very well.

However, it was Brandt’s performance at Charles and Kim Christian-Bailey’s wedding last year which led, eventually, to his involvement with Stars in Their Eyes. His version of Elvis’ Can’t Help Falling In Love With You so impressed Karen Mason, Kim’s mother and a New Zealander, that she urged him to audition for the second series. Later in the year Brandt signed up online, sent in a DVD (made professionally a few years ago) that showcased his singing, and waited for their decision.

In early January he learnt that he’d been chosen, and that Tony and Pietra were coming over to film him at work and play. They managed to get some wonderful footage of Brandt singing with his daughter, horsing around with the Creaky Ol’ Convicts and relaxing at Emily Bay. They were ‘blown away’ by Norfolk’s many attractions, and the McRitchies are pleased that the Island could be showcased as well.

Filming the Creaky Ol’ Convicts

So, all Brandt has to do now is practice, but he can’t tell us who he will be impersonating on the big night – the TV producers have sworn all the contestants to secrecy. Cristina, Teddy, Sienna and the Masons will be in the audience cheering him on, and Norfolkers will have their fingers crossed, too.

Good luck, Brandt and we hope you’ll send us a postcard from Vegas!

Brandt with the TV crew

Mal giving an 'exclusive' after the game.

digging the dirt up on what the crowd thinks of Brandt.

(Jenny Jauczius)