The TJ team recently caught up with Australian photography + videography duo Jordyn and Andy of Rabbit and the Bear who shared with us an insight into their business, life and work during covid, their advice for couples struggling with planning during this time and a little look into their lives outside of the wedding industry…
Specialists in alleviating camera awkwardness and known for their classically modern style fusing deep yet vibrant colour palettes against sun drenched Australian landscapes. Lovers of a party and suckers for a good time… but lovers first, always.
You’ll find them based in Northern Rivers and servicing Byron Bay, Northern NSW, Brisbane, Gold Coast + destination weddings. Keep on scrolling for the full details of our catch up with Rabbit and the Bear.
Tell us about what you do and how you came into the wedding industry?
As a photo/video team I would say we do a little bit of everything. The job for us has never just been to take pretty photos are make engaging films. We never really wanted to be those photographers/videographers that don’t say a word all day and don’t really embrace people and their families. We are there for pretty much the whole day so there’s a few different hats you have to wear.
The logo for Rabbit and the Bear actually came before anything else, it was a little sketch I did when we met almost 7 years ago in England and the idea to turn it into a logo just kind of evolved when we decided to create our business. Andy had worked as a camera operator in England for a number of years so he always knew he wanted to venture down that route once we were set up in Australia whereas I am from a graphic design/marketing background so we are both very creative people with complimentary skills that have seen our business grow and flourish.
What does the changing wedding landscape mean for you?
It’s a pretty crazy time, weddings are far from what they once were and at times we have had to share the hard truth throughout with our couples. For us, our entire industry has pretty much ground to a halt. I think people are now realising they don’t have to push forward with a wedding they didn’t envision in the first place. There was a lot of encouragement in the industry rightly or wrongly in the way of wanting to see weddings still happening but for us it came down to asking couples ‘Are you going to look back in 50 years and wish you had pushed it back a year or even two?’. We asked our couples who were unsure of what to do to write down their wedding day non-negotiables and if the current climate jeopardised their dreams then we helped them to postpone. If it was just about the two of them exchanging vows and having their nearest and dearest witness that than they kept the date and made it all they had imagined. The world will resume and when it does we will carry on our business as usual.
In truth this is the first time in 5 years of business that we have really stopped to take stock and reflected on all we’ve done since meeting each other. Our life together in all aspects has been pretty non-stop so it was an inadvertent time of reflection more than anything, It gave us time to work on our farm, add to our animal family and generally catch up on all that life stuff we never have time to do.
What are you doing as a brand to harness any new opportunities or changes and support couples?
We have had a couple of different things in the works alongside other wedding industry professionals that have kept us busy, but we never really set out to be a jack of all trades, there’s an art to every type of photography and genre of filmmaking and there is always a worry of spreading yourself a bit thin if you take on all types of projects.
Any advice you can give to couples and businesses who may be struggling at this time?
For couples I would say really don’t base your decisions upon what everyone else is doing or what others expect/want you to do. Make sure your wedding day has all the aspects that the two of you set out to have… if you want a big messy party then this probably isn’t the time to throw a wedding as you may just end up with a very expensive sit down dinner.
I think for companies who are able to diversify that’s great, it’s not the route we went down during all of this but as we’ve seen there are plenty of avenues where vendors have been able to diversify successfully and if they can do this without sacrificing the business they had built, when the world does resume that’s an incredible thing.
What are you looking forward to in the future?
We are awaiting our removal home to land on our farm so that’s pretty exciting, lots of work to do on it but that’s kind of the way we have done everything in our relationship and business thus far. Jumping in feet first and giving it our all time and time again.
What are some of the most memorable times you have had as wedding photographers and videographers?
Through our business we have made a lot of very special memories but I think we would say the most memorable things for us have been being able to travel to so many diverse areas and even different countries that we may not have been able to or even thought of going to otherwise as well as making some incredible friends who we couldn’t now imagine our lives without! It really is an incredible industry to be a part of and we wouldn’t change what we do for the world.
You can find out more information and get in touch with Rabbit and the Bear on their Website HERE, or visit their Instagram HERE.
