Really looking forward to the Waiheke Wedding Expo this coming weekend, organised by Sophia from Coco Lily Events… it’s shaping up to be a great get together of some of Waiheke’s finest wedding providers (and a few Auckland ones as well!) so if you are thinking about Waiheke as an option for your wedding day, make sure you come along and have a lookie!

I absolutely loved capturing Alysha and Alon’s laid back and wonderfully kiwi wedding last weekend.  It was a simple and honest wedding, true to the personalities of the people involved.  Lovely welcoming families, lot’s of love and laughter in the air… ahhhhh (contented photographer sigh).  Everyone was there to have a good time, and it was FAB!

Alysha and Alon have been best friends ever since they met at school in the 4th form.  Theirs is a true love story and it was so lovely to be part of their day.

The boys looking fine….

I always get a flutter of excitement when I first see my bride on the wedding day, usually in the make-up chair as with Alysha’s wedding.  The getting ready zone was a hustle bustle of people and children, and I love this photo of Alysha seeing one of her bridesmaids in her outfit for the first time.  You can almost hear the excited squeal!

I loved the girl’s reactions to seeing Alysha in her gown…

We were doing the photos before their ceremony so Alysha and Alon had a little first meeting away from the eager eyes of their family and friends. (You can just see them all collected together in the background of the hug shot).

Totally love this photo below of Alysha… a stunning bride!  Hair and Make Up by Hannah Bylo, flowers by Vicki from Wildflower.  Aylsha’s mum gave her the beautiful pearl-drop necklace she is wearing – I adored her whole look.

We headed down to Onetangi Beach to begin our photography session.  The weather had been pretty messy all week in the lead up to the wedding but we were really lucky to have some blue skies and sunshine on the wedding day…  oh yeah, and a little bit of rain (but not too much, just a sprinkling to make sure we were all paying attention!).  Alysha and Alon are blessed with some awesome friends, and they were heaps of fun to photograph.

Top ‘groomsmen marks’ to Simon for managing to look like he was walking on air!  Impressive.

Love this moody shot of Lance’s above, which really shows off the gorgeous petticoats of Alysha’s stunning gown from Hera Bridal in K Rd – very cool.

And then we were off to the ceremony which was at a S.T.U.N.N.I.N.G property overlooking Onetangi Beach which has been in Alysha’s mums family for many many years.  Alon had worked alongside Alysha’s dad to build the pergola they got married in – it all look pretty spectacular when we arrived and everyone was crossing their fingers that the weather would hold.

We had some light rain as the ceremony began – heavy enough for my trusty assistant Lance to pull out his pop up umbrella and come and shield me from the elements (I always feel a bit special when this happens but in my heart of hearts I know that he just does it to protect the equipment and to make sure we don’t end up with rain spots on the lens!).  You can see the rain in the below photo of Alysha’s Dad, but luckily it passed on before too long  and caused no real disruption to the ceremony. Phew!

The little flower girl lasted so well and was such a honey, but by the time we left she had shucked off her dress and was looking a little over the fuss… as 4 year olds are wont to do!

Thanks Alysha and Alon – it was SO wonderful to share in your casual, loving and refreshingly relaxed wedding day.  Hope you enjoy your sneak peek! xx

All kinds of wedding yummy-ness.

It’s not everyday that you get a request to photograph a wedding only three days before the event but that’s exactly what happened in the case of Lin and Mike’s elegant wedding at Cable Bay Vineyards.  They had been traveling around NZ with their friends and family, taking in the action of the Rugby World Cup and had planned a small and intimate wedding day as the culmination of their journey.  They only decided at the last minute that it would be nice to capture a record of the day…  I’m so pleased they did because it was lovely!

Cable Bay, which is known for hosting exhibitions of fabulous art, has some new works by kinetic sculptor Phil Price as their current installation… and shall we just say that the weather on Lin and Mike’s wedding was pretty perfect for these pieces!  It certainly was windy and also a little cold but Lin and Mike were absolute troopers and braved the elements with style…

Lin walked down the aisle on her dad’s arm, and their ceremony was led by one of their good friends who they had been traveling with, which added a really personal touch to their ceremony and vows.

After the ceremony we had a bit more time to play around the grounds of Cable Bay but by this time the weather really had started to get a bit nippy so after a couple more outside shots we made use of the gorgeous Cable Bay cellar and other inside areas.

I especially love this last shot – gorgeous!  Thanks Lin and Mike, and all the best for your lovely future together.  It was a pleasure to capture your Waiheke wedding day for you.

Brian and Barbara’s wedding was our first for the new ‘wedding season’ and I honestly don’t think we could have asked for a lovelier couple to kick off what is promising to be our busiest season yet!

It was the classic kiwi-lad-meets-gorgeous-girl in the UK scenario, when Barbara and Brian met at their workplace, De Beers.  They decided to come to Waiheke to celebrate their wedding day in high style at one of Waiheke’s premier venues,  Mudbrick Vineyard, chosen especially for it’s outlook and the way it captures glorious sunsets (which are top on the list of Barbara’s Favourite Things In The World).  Being a September wedding, Barbara said they were half expecting rain but were hoping for some stunning spring weather… and you should see the sunset they got!  It was perfect.

The boys got ready at Blue Tides in Oneroa.  Brian had his three brothers at his side as groomsmen, and when we arrived to photograph them there was a very relaxed vibe in place, complete with the feeding of babies, ironing of shirts and several attempts to tie bow ties!

Barbara was getting ready for the big day at the stunning boutique accommodation venue, Lavender Hill, which looked completely amazing as always.  She was having her hair and make up done by Hannah Bylo and Charlotte Edwardes when we arrived.  Barbara’s floral arrangements were from Waiheke Flower Gallery.

Love this one..

I adored Barbara’s stunning sparkly Jimmy Choos, the perfect compliment to her San Patrick dress from Pronovias.  Everything about this wedding was completely gorgeous!

Because of the shorter days in spring, Barbara and Brian decided to have a first look moment at Lavender Hill and  have most of their photos before the ceremony.

We made a last minute decision to change from having our creative session shoot at Onetangi to the bay nestled in between Little and Big Oneroa, due to some pretty impressive gusts of wind through out the morning, and I was so pleased that we did as there were some wonderful spots for photos and it was nice and sheltered.

The bridal party all looked very dapper and with three men (the aforementioned brothers) to Barbara’s one bridesmaid (her sister), it prompted a little cutie-pie we passed on the beach to remark to her mother, “Oooh, look mummy… lots of husbands!”.

Fresh young leaves on the vines and the delicate aroma of lavender greeted us at Mudbrick…

Following the ceremony we did a bit of shooting around Mudbrick Vineyard capturing the gorgeous surrounds and indulging in the wonderful sunset.

A bit of fun playing with the shadows!  Barbara and Brian’s cupcake tower was created by Auckland’s Delish Cupcakes and looked a-mazing!

Thanks Barbara and Brian for inviting us to capture your lovely, fun and very enjoyable wedding day… we loved it!