Well, what a treat to do a wedding at Waiheke Island’s gorgeous Connells Bay Sculpture Park!  It’s rare indeed – as I understand it they only do the very occasional small wedding and this stunning wedding fitted the bill exactly.  Chris and Sarah are living in the UK and came to NZ to get married and share the day with Chris’ parents so it was a very  intimate wedding day with only 4 guests!  The weather was being a little unreliable to say the least and we had some pretty impressive displays of rain and wind to contend with as well as stunning blue skies and a couple of rainbows.  A mixed weather bag which provided us with some great images and the odd spurt of fast running!

Sarah and Chris kept their wedding outfits a secret from each other until the ‘great unveiling’ so that was a really special moment.  Sarah’s choice of a 1950s inspired red strapless ball dress looked fabulous with her black birdcage veil and peacock feather fascinator.  A unique and stunning combination which suited her perfectly.  Chris looked very dapper in a 1950s vintage pinstriped suit with a pink shirt.  But enough talk, let’s see some images…

Chris surveys the rapidly changing weather while in another room…

I love the glamour of this above shot. Gorgeous.
The weather came out all blue skies again so Chris patiently waited for Sarah to emerge so they could begin their ceremony.

And then the weather gods got a bit fickle and a massive rain front came across and we all had to adjourn to a veranda (even the very nonchalant cat) to complete their ceremony which included a very sweet ‘palm ceremony’ where they took each others hands and acknowledged their bond and commitment to each other.

A quick running down the jetty re-enactment before we headed off into the sculpture park for some photos (although we did have to shelter on one of the generous verandas for a wee while before we went exploring).

These two were so sweet together – it was a real pleasure to capture their bond.

Yep, gumboots.

Too cool!  Such a lot of fun to be shooting in amongst sculpture from New Zealand icons like Virginia King (the bridge), Phil Price (kinetic yellow aerial discs), Jeff Thompson (the cows – sorry about the milking shot Jeff, had to be done!) and Gregor Kregar (the men in overalls).  If only we had more time to explore!  Connell Bay Sculpture Park is A*M*A*Z*I*N*G!! Thanks Chris and Sarah for inviting me to be part of your day – it was wonderful!! Enjoy your sneak-peek…

Wow, well, you could have knocked me over with a feather when they announced me as the winner of the NZIPP Iris Awards Wedding Album of the Year for 2010.  I was up against three other NZ photographers (Kate MacPherson, Sarah Beaufoy and Tony Carter) who are all spectacularly good and whose work I LOVE to pieces so it was such an honour and a wonderful surprise to hear them call my name.

Don’t mind that other little award in front of me, it belongs to the poor cropped out soul to my right who is the lovely Blair Quax, this years’ Wedding Photographer of the Year. Sorry about the whole cropping you out of the picture Blair…

As well as this accolade I received another Bar to my Masters (which means that I have received at least 10 points on the judging system since I was appointed the ‘Master of Photography’ distinction – each gold is worth 3 points, silvers 2 and bronzes 1 and each additional 10 points gives you another bar).  I also was awarded 1 Silver with distinction Award, 2 Silver Awards and 3 Bronze Awards!  A very good year and I am pretty happy with the results.  Here are the successful prints…

NZIPP Silver Award, with Distinction - Portrait Category

NZIPP Silver Award - Portrait Category

The photo above is of my lovely little boy Joe – what a little darling to let his mummy give him a mohawk!
And this shot below received a bronze and is a pregnancy photo of wonderful Waiheke physiotherapist-extraordinaire Ingrid, who very graciously climbed a bit of the way up a cliff face for me. (Thanks Ingrid!)

The photo above is of Onetangi Beach bride Toni hugging her mum as she walks down the aisle, petals all a swirling… LOVE this shot!  You can see Toni’s wedding HERE.

This shot below received a bronze in the wedding category and was from the wedding of Bec and Scott.  One of the judges scored it at 92 which is a GOLD but unfortunately the other 4 judges obviously didn’t feel the same way!  Stinko.  Bec’s wedding post is HERE

And lastly, a couple of my favourite layouts from the Wedding Album of the Year entry which were taken from the completely gorgeous wedding of Samantha and Graham at Delamore Lodge here on Waiheke Island – link to their blog post HERE.
I will try and upload a slideshow of the album in a few days time…

Thanks so very very much to all my fabulous brides who were happy to let me use their photos in this competition – You are all STUNNING!!  The Wedding Album of the Year category is sponsored by New Zealand Bride and Groom Magazine so thanks very much to them also for the support.
xx

Am a little late with this post due to being at the NZIPP Iris Awards in Queenstown – will blog an update on how it all went soon!  Meanwhile, check out Magnolia Rouge for a few more details about Ingrid and Shaun’s gorgeous wedding day…

Am heading south to Queenstown for the annual New Zealand Institute of Professional Photography (NZIPP) Iris Awards and Infocus Convention – always a good, fun time with great inspirational speakers to spark new ideas.  Ex-cit-ing!!  Amongst this years keynote speakers are celebrity portrait photographer Michael Grecco, Aussie lifestyle photographer Robert Piccoli and kiwis Alan Dove and Jackie Ranken…

Ingrid and Shaun got married last summer at The Estate in Church Bay so this is a bit of a late post (understatement) but… better late than never, right?!

They had a vintage-y themed wedding with many personal touches which made their wedding day unique.  Ingrid handcrafted her invites along with some help from her friends and also individually made the very crafty ‘button’ buttonholes for the boys to wear.  She describes her flowers as, “a mismatch of  wild, country flowers, that were as fragrant as they were pretty, and tied with raffia. I wanted flowers that looked as if they were straight out of a field. “.  Mmmm-mm, this is my type of bride!!

The handsome groom…

Ingrid and Shaun live in Bondi (Shaun is a surfer) and she kept all details about her dress under wraps until the big day.  She said that one of her favourite moments was seeing the looks on the faces of her family when she first came out in her finery…

Ingrid looked amazing with softly curled hair and the longest lashes in the known world.  The ceremony was held on the front helicopter pad at The Estate which is a stunning spot that overlooks Auckland City from one direction and has a background of hills and vines in another direction.  Their celebrant was local Waihekian Rosemareyn van der Sluis.

A quick run up the hill at The Estate before we headed down to Oneroa Beach for a few laughs along with their excellent, fun bridal party…

Pick the groom…

OK, this next shot probably needs an explanation!! A year or two ago Shaun and Ingrid were featured in a book called Faces of Bondi by photographer Ursula Hechenberger and in the book there is great shot of Shaun putting Ingrid in a headlock so we thought it only right to replicate this image on their wedding day… except that we also shot a second image with Shaun in the headlock!! LOL. The reproduction of Ursula’s photo below is from a little booklet that Ingrid made for her guests called ‘from then to now’ which told the story of their blossoming love.  Too cute!

This next series of shots cracks me up…

Laid back kiwis at the beach vibe as evidenced by the jandals… or maybe it should be ‘thongs’.

Another of the lovely little touches Ingrid and Shaun had at their wedding was a selection of various lollies in jars for their guests to make up their own lolly mixtures… a bit of a trip down memory lane there but I would just like to assure you that I was the soul of discretion and only sneaked a couple of milk bottles.  I’m sure no one saw.

Thanks Ingrid and Shaun – we loved being part of your wedding day and you are quite right… Love is sweet.