Samantha and Graham got married in style at Delamore Lodge here on Waiheke Island.  There were only 15 guests and the wedding was a simple, stylish, fun, relaxed, intimate, emotional and downright happy occasion!  I loved it!  The weather was absolutely perfect with the occasional blust of wind to catch Sam’s veil. 

Sam looked completely amazing in her Sophia Tolli dress with hair and make up done by Rebecca from Beautified.  The wedding flowers were from Vicki at Wildflower and had a gorgeous scent.  Actually Sam and her lovely mum Susan found it hard to stop smelling them all through out the day! 

OK, on with the photos…

Sam’s mum Susan was a really important part of the day and had been involved with our meetings from the start.  Her closeness to her daughter was delightful to watch and a true pleasure to capture ‘on film’.

Well it’s not as easy to put on wedding shoes as you might think.  You may laugh prospective brides, but soon enough you’ll be precariously balancing while you try and get those gorgeous shoes on too!

I LOOOVE these shots above and below, so delicate and dreamy.

Sam’s family are all really close and she pretty much made every one of them cry during the course of the day, even her brother got a little misty! 

Sam’s brother when he first saw her…

Her lovely dad…

And with her gorgeous mum Susan…

Meanwhile, our handsome groom Graham was relaxing in style with the other guests.

But as soon as he saw Sam coming down the aisle he was a goner too! :)

Delamore Lodge has so many gorgeous spots to use for photos and we made use of a couple of them before leaving for Oneroa Beach for a few photos down there.

These two really knew how to have  fun which made my job EASY!  Graham seriously impressed me by carrying his bride ALL the way down (and up) this LONG (and not flat) driveway.  20 Groom bonus points for you! (All bonus points redeemable from Sam)

Back at Delamore Lodge, the table settings looked just as fabulous as the rest of the wedding with little personalised cupcakes, exquisitely scented soaps from the Waiheke Soap Company and bejeweled napkins.
 

Sigh.  Too much gorgeousness… off with their heads!

Thanks for inviting me to be part of your wonderful wedding Sam and Graham.  I feel honoured to have been part of such a special occasion.

Kristie and Oliver had a GORGEOUS vintage styled wedding at Goldwater Estate here on Waiheke Island.  Kristie had made so many lovely little touches to make their wedding day truly unique.  Her handiwork was everywhere from the handmade fans her guests used to cool off during the ceremony (and the children used as aeroplane wings as they zoomed through the vines pre-ceremony) to the personalised notes she and Oliver wrote for each one of their guests on their favours bags.

When we started with the boys getting ready there was heavy rain which looked pretty much set in for the day.  Just a hint of dissappointment hung in the air - their outdoor ceremony was planned for the top of the Goldwater hill under the great pohutakawa tree –  but by the time of their ceremony less than two hours later it had pretty much rained itself out leaving us with beautiful soft light.

I totally LOOOVE these shots.  It was bucketing down at this point so we found a small area under some eaves for Oliver to stand and Lance held a brolly over my head while I stood out in the rain!

Kristie looked stunning.  Iadored her softly swept hairstyle created by the team at Phoenix. 

Goldwater Estate was a beautiful setting for this elegant wedding and a great space for the children at the wedding to have a run around.

In addition to the vines there were lots of lovely spots around Goldwater for the photos.  After a few shots here we headed to Onetangi beach to capture the Waiheke beach vibe…

These two are too totally CUTE! This photo below cracks me up…

Now that’s commitment!!

The reception was held in Goldwater’s Goldie room.  Below is a selection of the adornments and special touches which made the reception look especially gorgeous.   Kristie and Oliver’s wedding is also being featured on the Magnolia Rouge style blog this week.  Magnolia Rouge is must-see viewing for anyone planning their big day with lots of inspirational ideas and tips for making your wedding look spectacular.  

Thanks Kristie and Oliver – it was so lovely being part of your well-planned and aesthetically beautiful wedding day!

I was recently doing a touch of stalking and came across the brilliant blogsite of Californian photographers Nate and Jaclyn Kaiser from The Image is Found.  In the archives I found an entry on ‘jowling’ which totally cracked me up – SO FUNNY – so of course we had to have a go ourselves!

To the uninitiated, jowling is the act of relaxing all your facial muscles and shaking your head like crazy… WARNING: it’s not pretty!  Really. Not. Pretty.

Check out The Blog is Found for more laughs… and some seriously cool photography!

Everytime I am part of one of these lovely little Waiheke getaway weddings I thank my lucky stars.  They are always so lovely and personal and it’s so cool being asked to capture these special moments for all family and friends back home.  Ingalena and Hubert’s wedding was even more clever because they combined it with a month long holiday around New Zealand.  Wedding + Honeymoon = stupendously cool Wedding Moon.  What a FABULOUS way to get married! 

Ingalena and Hubert have two friends who have settled here in NZ and were also married on Waiheke so these two gorgeous and fun people were the witnesses to their intimate Enclosure Bay wedding.  Simple hydrangeas were the flowers of choice and the bouquet was created by Vicki from Wildflower.

Mmmm, Cadbury Roses Chocolates… I love delicious props!

The girls had a bit of a cuddle before we left for the ceremony at Enclosure Bay where Hubert waited…

After their ceremony was completed Ingalena and Hubert shared a first dance together.  After a few minutes the others joined in (including celebrant Rosemareyn van der Sluis).  It was yet another lovely moment in this very personal ceremony.

OK, OK, yes there is a story to the photo below and while I won’t tell it in full here on the blog I will admit that there was a touch of directorial mis-communication from me!  Sorry guys, but it WAS very funny! 

I love how Waiheke has so many different looks to it’s landscape – Enclosure Bay is a stunning place to get married!

I hope your NZ Honeymoon has been fabulous Ingalena and Hubert - all the best for your travels back to Germany…

The title of this post says it all!  This was a quintessential Summer Wedding – and Waiheke was the perfect place to host it.  The weather was stunning, blue sky and a hot hot sun blazing away.  Toni and Matt chose to hold their ceremony on Onetangi beach by one of the big pohutakawa trees which was a great relief from the heat for their friends and family as they waited for Toni to arrive.

The summer theme was carried through the wedding by the use of a fresh yellow and white colour palette.  They had an aisle of rose petals and had set up a beautiful pergola of sorts which was draped with flowing white linen.  It looked just lovely – one if the nicest beach wedding beautifications I have EVER seen.

Anyway, enough talk from me!  Here are some shots from the day…

I loved the hats that Matt and his groomsmen chose for the day.  This is our Michael Jackson/Justin Timberlake  tribute shot   Actually, it’s not really although I did ask Matt to give me a falsetto “hee-heeee” noise so there must have a bit of that going through my head!

Toni looked gorgeous – I adored her beaded hairpiece!  Hair and make up were done by Ashlee Kellett of Beautified.  Toni’s bouquets were created by Vicky at Wildflower

Onetangi Beach looked exceptional…
(I know, I know, don’t be jealous but I just thought I’d mention that I  L I V E   H ER E !  :P  )

Check out this beeee-utiful moment between mother and daughter.  I LOVE it!

We headed over to Rocky Bay for some of our creative session before returning to a couple of other spots in Onetangi including my favourite end of the beach (it had suffered a minor flood which gave us some great reflections to work with). 

Toni and Matt are self-declared non-photo people and I know they were a little apprehensive of the photoshoot part of the day but I distinctly overheard Matt saying “this isn’t so bad” at one point in the creative session and by the end of it he was spontaneously jumping off rocks!  See, it IS fun to be photographed by me!!

Yep, they are skipping! 

Gotta love big pools of water!

Back at The Dunes where Toni and Matt had their reception there were lots of lovely little touches which really made the reception look great. 

Thanks Matt and Toni – it was a real pleasure being part of your big day!  I hope you enjoy your ‘sneak peek’!