Mirjam and Chris had a lovely little ceremony, just the two of them, at beautiful Delamore Lodge here on Waiheke.  They live and work in Papua New Guinea but with Mirjam (pron. Miriam) coming from Germany originally and Chris from Australia, they searched for somewhere unique and gorgeous to celebrate their wedding and decided that Waiheke Island would fit the ticket perfectly!

Mirjam saw her wonderful dress on the mannequin when she walked through the door of Sydney’s Evermore Bridal Boutique and knew it was The One for her.  I love it when I hear that from a bride… The One.  And it was definitely the one for her – very glamourous and gorgeous!   Mirjam had her hair and make up done by Jules (hair) and Charlotte (make up) and looked stunning.

Chris was ready in 3.2 seconds so spent the time before the ceremony wandering around, reading the paper and checking out the stunning views from Delamore Lodge.

And then it was time for the ceremony… Mirjam looked amazing as she floated down the stairs

I love the way Chris is looking at Mirjam in this photo below (actually, through-out the whole ceremony now that I think of it!)

They shared a few sips of champagne with celebrant Rosemareyn van der Sluis to celebrate their union before we began the photo session.

Mirjam and Chris had hired a fabulous Black Rolls Royce from James Clairmont (can be contact through the Waiheke Cheese Company … multi talented lot we have here on Waiheke!) which was a pleasure to photograph in and around.

*Rock Star moment*

I love this beautifully seen photo of Lance’s below of the RR hood ornament, called the Spirit of Ecstacy (thank you Wikipedia!)

One of the lovely things about these smaller elopement weddings from a photographic perspective, is not having the same kind of time pressure you can get on a bigger more structured wedding day.  We were able to go to a few locations and take our good time about it, which is always fun!

These are some of my favourites from the day – so relaxed and loving.

Love that last one!!  Hope you have enjoyed your little sneaky look at your wedding photos Mirjam and Chris.  It was so wonderful to be part of your special day. xx

We did a fabulous wedding on the weekend; just gorgeous – stunningly elegant bride, lovely families, very stylish, lots of fun and happy people all having a great time;  all the good stuff that makes me LOVE my job.  I wish that I could share some of the images but the bride and groom have opted to keep their wedding out of the blogisphere.   So… sad for you viewers, but instead I bring you, da dum da daaaaaaa… Our Family Campervan Holiday Photos.  Lucky, lucky you.

We had a great time away – Wellington for Christmas, then we flew back north and drove in Mango Tango (not her real name) to Miranda Hot Springs (ahhhhhh), traveled through Thames and up to Coromandel Town, across the 309 route to Whitianga, followed by Whangamata.  After that, Rotorua and Mt Maunganui.

We did some indoor rock-climbing, played mini golf, walked to waterfalls, visited swimming pools and a few dozen playgrounds/skateparks (as anyone with children knows, these are high on the list of attractions in any new town), got wet at Waterworks in the Coromandel (highly recommended), got extremely wet at hot water beach along with a gazillion other tourists  …  what is with all the rain this summer?

Had my first – and possibly last – ‘V’ slushy, went glass-bottom boating (Jessie snorkeled with the fishies because she is not a total cold water wuss unlike the rest of the family a brave adventurer), ate Thai from a RSA ‘restaurant’ (not recommended), did The Twist and a few other unrecognisable dance moves at a dine & dance for New Years Eve, frolicked on the beach, drew in the sand, lost some teeth (the kids)…  Yep, all in all it was a goodie!

We are nearing the end of our family camper-van trip around the coromandel (and rotorua/tgaranga). It has been such a treat to be on holiday at a time that is usually so busy for our studio. Feeling very lucky about now. Back at work from the 9th Jan so will post a few photos from the trip soon…
Hope everyone has had a great start to 2012!

Maya and Will’s wedding day was our last one of the of the year and it feels like the perfect way to end 2011.

They had a wonderful little elopement, just the two of them and one of their best friends Michael, traveling to Waiheke to celebrate their big day in a small ceremony which was big on style!  I loved being part of their day.

Maya and Will had always wanted a small and intimate wedding and with the blessing of their families they decided to tie their wedding day in with an adventure to another country… and made NZ their choice.

Maya’s Mom was very involved in all the details of the wedding, amongst other things helping Maya to choose her stunning Badgley Mischka dress and guiding them to stay at the spectacular Waiheke venue Delamore Lodge where we began our time with them…

Maya’s hair and make up was done by the Waiheke team of Jules Arlove (hair) and Charlotte Edwardes (make up).

Love this look of delight when Maya sees her hair for the first time.

They had a very sweet first look with Will waiting nervously.  Despite the fact that he had carried the dress in his backpack for their entire journey, he had NO idea what Maya had chosen to wear.

We spent a little bit of time around Delamore Lodge which looked completely amazing on this pure blue sky summers day…

Maya and Will chose Stonyridge Vineyard (which I always LOVE) for their ceremony and lunch.

Something about the way Will is looking at Maya makes me feel a little tingly behind the eyes…

Michael’s ‘kissy face’…

Love this…

One of the lovely things about an elopement like this is that you are not bound by strict timeframes like you are with a larger wedding, so we spent a little time around the beautiful Stonyridge grounds before leaving Maya, Will and Michael to have lunch together.  We then met up with them a couple of hours later at Rocky Bay to carry on with our photography session.

Lance’s view below…

Their playful love for each other was such a pleasure to capture.

Those last photos make me laugh!  What a wonderful wedding to end our year on – thanks so much Maya and Will for inviting us to share in your very special day.  We had so much fun with you and wish you all the very best for the years ahead…  xx

Merry Christmas!! Hope you have a wonderful day…