The Juno inspired, stick-man story board concept from Sydney's own Pete and Shan. The concept has taken the top spot in our "Your Face Goes Here" engagement shoot competition. We are very excited to shoot with this duo and turn this story board to life. Keep your eyes peeled on www.polkadotbride.com.au to check it out when it's complete.
 

We also want to take the opportunity to say THANK YOU so very much to Mike + Letitia and Ruari + Alecia.  We adore your entries and would love to see them all come to life. As runners up would like to offer a $220 discount off of our engagement shoot package!

Lastly, we want to thank all of the voters, your support and participation has been unreal, we couldn't have done this without you!

Check out the unedited (SOOC) version of this rockstar shot on Flickr.

We are SUPER EXCITED to announce our competition finalists and introduce you to these 3 amazing couples and their winning engagement shoot concepts!!!

First of all we'd like to say how hard it was to choose our finalists because we had so many good entries.  If you were an entrant and did not make the finals, we want to say thank you so very much for all the effort you put into your concepts and for telling us a little bit more about your story as a couple.  We used to think that alot of creative couples only lived overseas, but we're now convinced that Australia is full of them......they're just shy! So watch this space.......we've already had so much fun running this competition, we may do it again soon!  

NOW it's.....business time.

Introducing Couple No 1 - Mike and Letitia

"The idea is based on a shoot at our new first home. The old State School, Circa 1888, High Street Prahran... It's a beautiful old building, and has a beautiful foyer, I would love you to incorporate the Melbourne winter darkness with soft pops of colour, using umbrellas and winter props like scarves and hats. I also love hand type, and typography in general, would love to incorporate that into the shoot, and even perhaps fake snow, and a mini daschund. I want a mini- and Michael doesn't. Everyone who knows us, knows this, it would be funny to have it somewhere in the background, as we will definitely end up with one, one day!

Apart from our building, the area has many rustic and worn down buildings, typical Melbourne homes and local cafes. Our favourite- St Ali in Sth Melbourne http://www.stali.com.au/.

I also want to celebrate our engagement a 2nd time, as I recently lost my ring - but found it a month later in my exfoliating glove!"

Click on photo to enlarge

Introducing Couple No 2 - Ruari and Alecia

"I have some memory of a statistic that 60% of us meet our partners at work. Although we know at least 32% of stats are made up on the spot this one still rings true for Alecia and me. We met at work and our work was filmmaking. Michael Noonan's short film shoots were a rite of passage for a certain vintage of QUT film students- I was the cantankerous soundie, Alecia was the art department, and what a lovely art department she was.

The moment I knew she was more than just a smokin hot set dresser was witnessing her calmly arranging pig entrails around a bathtub...it was a strange place for love to take root but as I saw her wrinkle her nose and bend to the task without a word of complaint, I knew this was one special lady.

So in the spirit of all things filmic I propose our engagement shoot in a cinema! (Hopefully the Regent if it's still standing, failing that Tribal Theatre is lovely). Frolicking through foyers, popcorn for two, dust motes falling through a  projectors silver beam, and a couple together on the back row...we'll keep it clean I promise... "

Introducing Couple No 3 - Pete and Shan

"He is Pete. She is Shan. Together we are Pete and Shan.

O.K. You may see us get a little soppy here... but we couldn't help it with this next wedding! When we first met with Stephanie Sarta and Joseph Sweet, we could tell their wedding was going to be something special. Steph is infectiously bubbly and a little crazy (in the most wonderful way) and Joseph is gentle and kind with a quiet strength. They were a joy to see together. As we got to know them better we realised how lovingly dedicated they were to creating their unique and personal wedding. Rather than book a function venue, they decided to meticulously restore an old chook shed on the family-run organic hobby farm on the outskirts of Brisbane. Joseph and Stephanie worked hard for months to get every detail perfect - doing as much as they possibly could themselves. It was so awesome to see their vision of an amazing barn wedding come to life! Thank you so much Steph and Joseph for sharing your wedding with us, it truly was an amazing experience - one that we will never forget!

Check out the Sweet slideshow here. Also, please keep your eyes peeled for the full story of Joseph and Stephanie's DIY barn wedding (you'll want to read it, we promise!) at Polka Dot Bride.

There are some things in life that just go together.

Lazy summer days,  sun,  surf  and  sand,  winter nights huddled around a campfire, good friends and belly aching laughs.  After spending only one day with Sarah and Stewart, we feel it's fair to say they'd make a pretty amazing addition to this list.

Sarah and Stewart hale from Brisbane however they're currently living as expats in Qatar and would you believe it, they did most of their planning from overseas? Why would this be so hard to believe? Because the day was perfection. Go on, see for yourself....

We get alot of our inspiration from these blogs, so it's incredibly flattering to have our work featured by them recently. Each and everyone of these ladies are unique and incredibly talented (not to mention lovely) blogettes. Thank you so much for your support!! 

The dotty and sweet Ms Polka Dot Bride is in our very own backyard, Aussie Brides she is THE Australian Wedding Blog, seriously. If you haven't seen her blog you MUST! Check it out here!

Rock N Roll Bride hails from London, she's our favourite pink haired punk wedding blogger! Her blog is a seriously cool place for inspiration if you're looking for something outside the box. Check it out here!

The Loveliest Day hollas back from USA (seth's old stomping ground). She lives upto her blog name as not only is she lovely, but her blog is filled with all things charming, whimsical and delightful. Check it out here.

Dear Creative Couples & Phantom Readers,

"We know you exist however you leaveth little trace of your presence on our blogeth."   Feather and Stone.  (We love when people quote themselves, so we thought we'd have a go)

We strive to improve our content however you keep silent.  We stormeth the brain here at Feather and Stone as an endeavour to inspire our readers to comment on our blog and liketh our Facebook fan page.  Many ideas have come to mind however we feel the best way to go about this is....... Bribery.

We intend to bribe (give away) a free engagement session to any couple that sends us the most creative concept for an engagement shoot.  Feather and Stone will pick the top three concepts and blog them for all to see.  Then it's upto the readers to vote for their favourite. You must vote by becoming a fan of our Facebook Page and leaving a comment on our official blog with your name and the couple you wish to vote for.

The winning couple will get to spend 2+ hours shooting time with Feather and Stone, and will receive 30 fully edited High Resolution photos on DVD (for you to share and print to your heart's content) and an online slideshow.  This prize is worth $550, so don't miss out!!

How to apply.

First, become a fan of our Facebook Page. Second please send an email to info@featherandstone.com.au with a snapshot, some information about yourselves and a description of your concept.  Descriptions should be no more than 250 words, however feel free to accompany this with photos, storyboards etc. We are looking for concepts that involve creative themes and locations personalised to you as a couple, something that represents who YOU are.

GO NUTS!!!!!!!!

Terms and Conditions:

Engagement photography must be held in Australia.  If the Photography Session is held beyond 100km from the Brisbane CBD then travel charges may apply. Photography sessions cannot conflict with any pre-existing bookings that Feather and Stone have arranged and may only be held on Wednesdays, Fridays or Sundays.  Entries will be accepted from Friday 11th June 2010 to Friday 9th July 2010, voting is open from 10th - 24th July 2010 and the winning couple will be announced on our blog on Sunday 25th July 2010. You, your friends and your family must participate in this contest or we will look like total losers.

Stephanie in B+W 

Joseph in heaven 

I know what you're trying to say......

It's (photo) business time.......

Check out the first two shots on Flickr to see what they look like unedited!

Two words.

Stunning + Debonair.

Madeline and Nic reminded us that a wedding can still be a licence for creativity. How you ask?

50's style turquoise wedding dress

Gold sneakers

Bustling coffee shop for couple shots

Even though we only had a few hours with Madeline and Nic we were able to observe how you can still maintain the elements of what a wedding is all about......the ceremonial union of 2 best friends, the families, friends, emotions, odd-ball moments and everything in between but......it doesn't have to be done in a sea of overflowing white, laced with tradition. Thank you Madeline and Nic for allowing us to be a part of your special day.

Click here to see their swanky slideshow

Watch this space.......

This cute couple have travelled the world together, but ask them what one of their favourite pastimes is and you may hear the following...

drinking a glass of their favourite wine on their apartment balcony with Brisbane City views...

having a meal at their favourite BYO cafe Sprout; or

riding their very cool vintage bikes....

We enjoyed the Briony and Brandon experience and we hope you do too! More excitingly we await their wedding at Sirromet in a few weeks, so watch this space!

Click here if you want to see more of the Briony and Brandon show...

It's such a pleasure to introduce you to this sweet family, the Kilmisters!

Mum Leonie loves to shop and go out with her girlfriends to all the new restaurants! Dad Paul leads his family on travel adventures, and is just the slightest bit geeky (like us!!!) Hugh is addicted to his iphone (also like us) and is a computer game wiz. The coolest twins we've met yet are Felicity and Bronte and although look very similar, they love to be different too, and they've never given up hope that one day, just one day Dad might buy them a horse. (hint hint Paul!). But most importantly, they all love each other. Aren't they awesome??? Thank you so much for letting us hang out with you guys for one sunny afternoon!

You can see this happy little family's slideshow here.

GOLD.

What was GOLD you ask?

Pretty much the entire day, but since you asked nicely we'll tell you why...

Our location which was on top of a mountain, Mount Tamborine to be exact... was GOLD.

The beautiful light that saturated every pixel of our photos was GOLD.

And the curls on top of Ellie's little head were especially GOLD.

We hope this helps... however if you need more GOLD check out the slideshow of this happy little family by clicking here.