The day finally came for Juliana and John. It was just a few months ago when our bride was the maid-of-honour of the previous Samoan wedding that I covered.
We began our day at John’s place. For a while, I thought we where at the wrong address as it was very quiet outside the house. There’s hardly any cars or any activity. I was relieved when John came out to welcome us.
We then proceeded to Juliana’s home. It was different here as the whole street is so abuzz with activity. When we went in, we where told that the bride had not arrived yet from the hairdresser. Without the bride, we just did the detail shots.
After a while, Juliana arrived. It’s time for her makeup.
The ceremony was held at the Our Lady of Rosary Catholic Church in St Marys
It is customary for Samoan weddings to have a big bridal entourage
After ceremony, the plan was to do the formal shoots at the Bicentennial Park at the Olympic Park. It is unfortunate that the weather soured on us. Also, we where a bit short on time. So the couple just decided to do the shoot at the park close to where the reception will take place.
The reception was at Skyview Liverpool
Samoan weddings always (at least the ones I’ve been to) has a large number of wedding cakes. The maid-of-honour divide the cakes and gives it to the bridesmaids for distribution to the families’ table.
We had a wonderful time covering their wedding. It was specially entertaining watching the performances as most of them where very funny. The Samoans are a very happy bunch. I was glad to be given a chance (again) to experience their culture.
Dodie Labial is a wedding photographer servicing the Metropolitan Sydney area.
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