We had so much fun at Jen and Gavin’s lovely wedding.  The photos were really important to them so they built in lots of time for catching some great shots.  They chose to have most of their photos taken before their ceremony so that they could fit in a few different locations as well as having time for photos at Mudbrick.  Jen had found a fabulous pohutakawa tree in Church Bay which turned out to be a great spot.  Gavin and the boys got ready for the big day at a cute little cottage in Blackpool…

These guys had great senses of humour and there were lots of laughs to be had on the day!  At one point, Gavin got sent to the corner for drawing on the walls… LOL!  Too funny!  (although I can confirm that the cheeky comments are actually the work of Gav’s groomsmen!)

It was all exciting back at the girls place a small step away from the sands of Palm Beach.  Jen had her hair and make-up done by the ever fabulous Amber Haldane and looked fantastic!  Jen’s flowers were from Jacqui Dinneen of Urban Nature Wedding Flowers.

As they were having their photos before the ceremony Jen and Gav decided to have a “first look”.  Too cute!

Palm Beach is such a stunning location.  I LOVE this veil shot!!

Jen scouted the island to find this spectacular Pohutakawa tree on a hill!

And on to the ceremony which was held at Mudbrick Vineyard.  I adore the look of Gavin’s face as he sees his bride approach…

Jen gets cute on the Mudbrick Fireplace

It’s pretty hard to beat Mudbrick in the late afternoon – lovely setting sun and lots of gorgeous areas to play with.  The rooftop is a frequently requested spot to take photos and I can see why my clients LOVE it!

Gavin and Jen had a cool and quirky cake created by Judit Meron from Artisan Cakes in Auckland. 

Thanks Gavin and Jen for a fun fun fun day with you.  We LOVED being part of your Waiheke wedding!

Well, we have had some trouble with comments in the past and basically getting spammed to billy-o (that may be a made up kiwi-ism so apologies if it makes no sense - actually, if anyone knows the origin of the saying or the correct spelling for that matter let me know).  Anyway, this is why our comments have been de-activated for oh, about the last year and a half!  BUT, I have now loaded in some (apparently) highly effective anti-spam plugin which I am hoping will work it’s magic.  So … if the mood takes you please feel free to leave a comment henceforth…

(to leave a comment you click on the comments button at the end of the post and you will be taken to a new page which looks exactly like the page you just left.  You then scroll all the way to the bottom of that new page and leave your message in the box provided)

Nicola and Clynton had planned a carefree and stylish summer beach wedding along Onetangi Beach here on Waiheke Island.  The weather was a little erratic on the morning of the wedding so we were not quite sure if their wet weather option of getting married at The Dunes was going to win over the beach.  Those pretty beach parasols might become umbrellas! 

Nicola was a respectable 10 minutes late to the ceremony which turned out to be lucky as during this time the weather went from being a settled blue sky to moody and heavy overcast coming in from the west.  The call was made to postpone the wedding for a few moments to see if it would blow over.  Nicola went and hid inside The Dunes and their collected guests gathered under the Dunes entrance. 

The rain blew over once and then came over even worse!  Met Service was consulted and it was decided to wait for this one to blow over – there was good weather following we were assured.  So we waited…  and we waited.  Then, just when Nicola was starting to consider the wet weather option it began to lift and turned into the most beautiful sunny gorgeous day possible.    YAY!!

As you will see from the photos the sun came and went a bit but pretty much behaved for the rest of the day (not counting the wicked and thankfully brief windstorm which whipped down the beach!).  OK, on with the photos….

The gorgeous groom and his men! 

Nicola looked amazing! 

Hmmmm, what to do?  what to do?

While my handsome, brave and thoroughly irreplacable ’assistant’ suffered in the rain, I made the most of the waiting time using The Dunes indoor areas for a couple of shots of Nicola looking serenely fabulous. 

OK, weather sorted – time to get on with the show…

Now, normallywe never get in the way at a ceremony and try very hard not to be visible or in the bride and groom’s space but there were so many guests photographing and filming right up the front of Nicola and Clynton’s wedding that we had to employ the ‘if you can’t beat em, join em’ principle. 

The boys go all Matrix on me during the windstorm –

Nicola and Clynton get a little smoochie

I love jumping shots – always a good laugh!  And these guys were GOOD jumpers.  It’s always so great when the bridal party is really into the photos – makes for some really great shots.

These next two shots are my ultimate faves from the day – I just adore them

Wow!  Cool fun and also touching and romantic - I love these wedding photos (although I might be a touch biased!).  Nicola and Clynt, thanks for a fabulous day – it was an absolute pleasure to be part of your day…

Lance and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary last week!  We went out to Mudbrick for a treat just because we have been there so much recently photographing all our gorgeous wedding clients and we wanted to just sit and enjoy it without taking photos. BUT.. of course we took the snappy and did a few shots (wouldn’t have been right not too!).

Mudbrick did not disappoint – the food was delicious, the night was warm and the atmosphere was delightful especially as the evening cooled and we sat by the fire wrapped in the blankets provided.  Ah, bliss.  We even got to witness another couple having their wedding photos taken by the firelight

When we returned home our lovely au pair Claudia had spent her evening making us a pink and white marble cake with two hearts on it - what a Sweetie!  Of course we managed to squeeze in a little more cake and went to bed feeling well and truly satisfied.

Another day in paradise, another lovely wedding!

Rosalind and Michael had a stunning Waiheke day – blue sky all the way.   Their wedding had a great mix of vintage and modern with Rosalind’s timeless dress and fur-like stole complemented by her ultra cool purple shoes with bright red lovehearts on the soul.  I officially fell in LUUURVE with those shoes!!

Another vintage  touch included the 1928 Packard which Rosalind hired as a surprise for her Dad.  His expression was just priceless!

Michael was a laid back groom, lots of fun to photograph and keen to play up to the camera – my favourite type of subject!  They had engraved special words to each other on their wedding rings (not that you can see that in the photo below but I love the playfulness of the shot).

The lavender was out in force at Mudbrick Vineyard which looked as stunning as always.

Did I mention that Mike was a bit of a laugh? 

Rosalind and Mike are living in the States at the moment so we did lots of lovely shots by the flax - a real kiwi background.

We also ran films through the a couple of different plastic cameras for this wedding to complement the vintage-y feel of the day.  I love the soft hazy romance of this photo…

What a lovely romantic wedding!  I am working on Rosalind and Mike’s album at the moment.  They have chosen a 14×10 Queenberry Digital Magazine style album and it’s looking REALLY nice!  Can’t wait to get the finished product in my hands…  Thanks Ros and Mike for a great day!