Chalk & Cheese Photography shoots wedding and engagement photography for couples Australia-wide and internationally. They refer to their shooting style as 'pictomentary' (picture documentary) and we love what that represents. 'It’s more than just documenting your day,' explains Cedric from Chalk & Cheese Photography. 'We want to incorporate your personalities, your story and our technique to showcase your memories'. Get to know this photography and videography company a little better...

How did you end up in the wedding business? I travelled a lot in my younger years which is where I fell in love with street photography. This eventually led me to photograph my friend’s wedding. I found similarities in the way moments and emotions are captured in both. The clincher was seeing my friend’s reaction when they saw the final images. It was humbling and it solidified why I enjoy wedding photography so much.

What do you love most about weddings? It’s one of the key milestones in a relationship. I’m inspired to tell the story of couples knowing that the photos will be used by them to talk about their wedding day to their family and friends; and many generations to come. For me the essence of a wedding is the joy, the love and the candid moments. Every wedding is different. You can document every wedding from the start to the end of the reception, but you can’t replicate the story, the heartfelt moment, emotion, and even the atmosphere of a wedding. This makes our job refreshing every time.

If you had to describe your business in one word, what would it be? Storytelling (I always see myself as a story-teller).

Who is your main clientele? Someone who shares their story with us and allows us to really bring this through as part of their wedding day images. We love creating masterpiece bridal portraits which you can enlarge and display, however, our true passion is to really capture the heartfelt moments of the wedding day. We love to bring to life your stories of love and laughter.

Other memorable weddings? There was this country wedding which I photographed a few years ago that I still remember very clearly today. It was a beautiful crisp winter day and the whole day was filled with Irish music, dancing and drinking. I was literally transported to Ireland. The reception was held at the bride’s parent’s estate and styling of the wedding reflected the couple’s heritage and personality. I’m a big fan of weddings that showcase the bride and groom’s identity not so much cookie cutter weddings that simply follow the current trend.

A typical work day for you is? Check my gear, make myself a coffee before leaving home. When I arrive at the bride’s place, I will introduce myself to the bridal party and the parents so that they will be comfortable with us taking photos and video for the remainder of the day. I’ll then walk around to check out the lighting inside and outside the house. My team and I will capture the important details of the wedding and the candid moments while getting ready. Throughout the day I’ll swap between constantly roaming the venue to capture the laughter, tears and heartfelt moments; and giving a bit more direction to capture natural looking bridal portraits.

How would you describe your business style? We call our style of photography as ‘pictomentary’ – picture documentary – it’s more than just documenting your day. We want to incorporate your personalities, your story and our technique to showcase your memories (in pictures) that are unique to you as a couple.

What is your favourite wedding ‘first dance song’? Frank Sinatra’s 'Fly Me to the Moon'. A bit biased as it’s also my first dance song.

What is the one big mistake you see couples make all the time? Whilst the wedding venue is one of the key elements that sets the tone of your wedding day. In some occasions, the venue restricts the time slot for a summer wedding (as a result, the groom and groomsmen are ‘virtually baked’ in their suits under the sun. And your guests will have a big gap in between the ceremony and reception. Some wedding ceremony venues only allow the ceremony venue to be held too late in winter. So, they missed out the best lighting during golden hour for their location shoot. It’s important to always negotiate a time and venue that you want!

What’s the best piece of advice you could give to a couple getting married? Plan early. Get your wedding venues sorted as early as possible to get the best available time. Pick a wedding venue that suits your theme. That will save a lot of your budget in styling. Keep your wedding colours palette consistent throughout the day.

What trends do you think will be big in the year ahead in weddings? More intimate weddings with the emphasis on quality time to spend with their closest families and friends. Smaller destination weddings.

You can find Chalk & Cheese Photography on our directory of wedding suppliers.