A Moment With 'Wandaful Media'

ABIA meets Adelaide-based husband-and-wife wedding photography and videography duo Holly and Steve Bradley.

All images Wandaful Media

Given it started with a fortuitous encounter, the name Wandaful Media seems an obvious fit for this talented pair’s wedding photography and videography business, but the creative couple actually credit their dog with the unusual spelling.

“Our adopted miniature labradoodle is called Wanda, and she’s brought so much love and joy to our family that we wanted to incorporate that into our name,” Steve and Holly explain.

Name aside though, as their ever-expanding portfolio of emotive images and films showcase, Wandaful Media has been doing wonderful things, and their recent coverage of the ABIA Wedding Awards in South Australia is no exception.

ABIA spent some time with this dynamic double-act to chat wedding packages, favourite locations and why they love it when it rains.

Tell us about your business and wedding videography and photography services.

We are a husband-and-wife team offering engagement shoots and wedding and event photography and videography.

How did you get started in the wedding industry?

It started with a chance encounter on a street photography group’s FaceBook page. Someone was looking for a photographer to take photos of him proposing to his girlfriend. We’d only recently become engaged ourselves, so we offered to help him out. That led to being asked to shoot their engagement photos and, as a surprise, Steve made a keepsake engagement film for them too.

We loved the experience so much, and the couple loved what we had produced for them, so we decided to keep doing it.

We started advertising photoshoots for couples and families and this year is our first wedding season, and we already have bookings going in to 2025, so we are really excited about what the future holds.

Where are you based and what locations do you service?

We are based in Adelaide, South Australia, but provide our services across the state and all around Australia. We'd also love the opportunity to shoot overseas destination weddings in the future.

Where do you get your creative inspiration?

We both get a lot of inspiration from cinema — when we watch great cinematographers, we are inspired by the images we see on screen and recreate them in our own unique style, through both our photography and videography.

We also get inspiration from apps like Pinterest, Instagram and Google. And, because we love shooting outdoors, we stumble across a lot of great locations simply by being adventurous and exploring.

How did you come up with your business name?

Wandaful Media has a personal meaning to us. Our adopted miniature labradoodle is called Wanda, and she’s brought so much love and joy to our family that we wanted to incorporate that into our name.

Are there challenges when recording both the videography and photography for a wedding? How do you manage both mediums?

We’re a great team, so doing both the photography and videography works really well. Steve is primarily the videographer and Holly the photographer, and if only one service is needed one of us will help the other out as their second shooter or assistant.

Do you offer packages? What are the inclusions?

We offer ‘photography only’ and ‘videography only’ packages, as well as ‘photography and videography’ combo packages. We also cover elopements and other unique approaches that don’t fall within set package offerings.
We can offer highlight films, full ceremony coverage, speeches and first dance films, high-quality audio recording of vows and speeches, online galleries, prints and photobooks as inclusions, depending on the package.

With some of our larger packages we also include a complimentary engagement session and a keepsake film of the shoot.

What's the craziest wedding photo you've ever taken, or moment you've filmed?

One that immediately comes to mind was a groomsman who sculled a cask of wine, then proceeded to breakdance on the dancefloor, losing his pants in the process!

What are your favourite locations? And what do you do when it rains?

The Adelaide Botanic Gardens is one of our favourite locations, as there are so many beautiful spots to have wedding ceremonies and to take beautiful engagement and wedding photos.
And, as fans of street photography, we love it when it rains. We grab our raincoats and some clear umbrellas, wrap our cameras in plastic and go out looking for great reflection shots — and catching a rainbow can make for a really epic photo or film.

What do you suggest couples look for in a photographer or videographer? And how far in advance should they book?

A major thing we suggest is making sure you are a good match with your photographer and videographer, and we are always happy to jump on a phone call or meet for a coffee, before booking our couples, just to make sure we all click.

We also suggest looking closely at how vendors communicate. Planning a wedding can be stressful, so you don’t want to be left waiting weeks or months for a reply. We pride ourselves on delivering fast responses to enquires and questions.

Of course, looking over portfolios — to make sure you like their style — and reading reviews from previous customers is always a great idea too.

What makes your service stand out?

We like to be personable and connect with our couples and we like to treat them like friends rather than clients. We always aim to make everyone feel comfortable and relaxed, and have a laugh with them.

If you’ve never had photos taken before it can seem daunting, and we understand that, so we make sure it’s a fun experience filled with authentic smiles — this makes such a difference to the photos and videos we deliver.

Do you have a favourite wedding?

The first wedding we shot will always be the one that sticks in our heads as the most memorable — from the nerves through to the joy of capturing a beautiful day.

How would you describe the couples that you connect with the most?

We have been very lucky with all our couples, as we've connected effortlessly and always come away feeling as though we've just made new friends.

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