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…

Ah the weather, the weather.  It is always on the mind of a bride in the lead up to the wedding day, especially with the erratic displays we have been having in the last couple of months.

The day Penelope and Richard arrived on Waiheke in the lead up to their wedding day it was POURING.  The. Whole. Day.  And… it didn’t really look like stopping, which is why is was a very pleasant surprise indeed for them to have just the occasional sprinkling of rain on their wedding day and some gorgeous patches of sun to boot!  It was a true ‘four seasons in one day’ day.

The boys began their day by playing some football along Onetangi Beach and generally relaxing in the morning at the Onetangi Beach Apartments.  Richard said he only started to feel a little nervous when I arrived – funny, I get that a lot!  We could see a strong rain front coming in from across the sea so we decided to head to the beach almost immediately, but by the time we had crossed the road the heavy rain was already upon us.  Luckily it passed by quickly and after a couple of minutes we were able to duck back down to the beach for a few photos.

Penelope and the girls were getting ready at The Black Bach in Palm Beach, along with Penelope’s family.  Everyone was nice and relaxed and enjoying being pampered by lovely make up artist/hair stylist extraordinaire, Sharon Kenny.  Penelope’s beautiful dress was by Pronovias from Modes.

The ceremony was to be held by the massive Pohutukawa tree at Goldie Estate.  It’s been a year or so since I’ve photographed a wedding at Goldie Estate, actually the last time was when it was still called Goldwater Estate.  Since that time, several new areas that used to be private residence have been opened up for public use (like a secluded bay and boatshed, and villa buildings with verandas wrapping around)… it’s a beautiful venue and I was looking forward to shooting there again.

Above: Goldie manager Heinrich says to me as he goes past, “you’re not going to put that on facebook are you?”… why of course not!! (this blog doesn’t count, right?)
Below:  Richard looks at the threatening sky.  I think we probably all knew that it was looking like rain but everyone was crossing their fingers!

And sure enough… as Penelope came down the aisle, it started to rain.  Out came the brollies and the smiles!

The rain only lasted for a few minutes, I think mainly due to The Look at Richard threw at the sky, captured in the image below. 

Penelope and Richard began their ceremony by each giving their mothers a white rose, which I thought was a really lovely touch.

Following the ceremony and some family photographs, we stole Penelope, Richard and their lovely bridal party away for a few photos.  Goldie Estate is one of those wonderful Waiheke venues where you could do all your photos there if you didn’t want to leave your guests on the wedding day… however, we had planned to go to the beach, and as the ticking clock is always a factor during this part of the day we only had time to spend a few moments around the beautiful grounds at Goldie Vineyard before heading off to Onetangi Beach.

We were tossing up between Palm Beach and Onetangi Beach, and I am SO pleased we decided on the latter because the Pohutukawas looked completely amazing!

Back at The Goldie Room…

Thanks Penelope and Richard – we had a lovely time with you and your bridal party at your gorgeous wedding.  I can’t believe the amazing weather we had!  Hope you enjoy your little pre-Christmas peek at your wedding photos!  xx

A touch of a kiwi Christmas…

Krissy and AJ’s wedding day was hot and gorgeous, another stunning summer day on Waiheke Island!  It was such a wonderful wedding to be part of, with traditions from both Krissy’s Samoan and AJ’s Tongan heritage.  We were even graced by the presence of her Royal Highness Princess Pilolevu Tuita and Lord Tuita.

Krissy got ready for the big day at The Estate in Church Bay, always a lovely location to shoot at.   There was a zing of excitment in the air when we arrived, especially from Krissy’s gorgeous little girl who was SUPER excited and sooooooo cute!  Krissy’s amazing dress was from NZ designer Kate Dowman.

AJ and his crew were preparing for the day at Twin Views in Burrell Rd.  All the men wore traditional tupenu for the wedding day attire, and AJs in particular included many many layers!  I was feeling pretty hot in the blazing sun wearing my photographer-ninja-black attire, so I can’t possible imagine how sweltering AJ must have been… but he wore it with style and looked as cool as a cucumber.

Back at the girls house, our little flower girl was still bouncing around (well, jumping on the bed to be exact) and excitedly anticipating putting on her dress.

I love Krissy’s gorgeous look… she looked amazing.  Her hair was from Heather at Phoenix Hair Design and make up by Charlotte Edwardes from Island Beauty.

The view from The Estate…

Following the ceremony and the family group photographs, we ambled around Mudbrick Vineyard to take advantage of their amazing grounds and the wonderful light… so many beautiful moments with these two.  I was in happy-photographer-heaven!

Below is a great example of the old, ‘don’t worry, you can relax your faces because I am cropping your heads off in this shot” trick!  Their bridal party was on the roof of the Mudbrick and when they waved out to AJ and Krissy I couldn’t resist capturing their responses…

Krissy and AJ’s reception was awesome with some fabulous dancing and moving speeches.  The Mudbrick restaurant looked great with lots of beautiful roses on the tables.  (The floral arrangements were from Virginia at the Waiheke Flower Gallery).  Each guest was given noodle boxes with fortune cookies inside and the women were gifted a beautifully scented Mudbrick soap when they entered the reception; just another one of Krissy’s lovely little thoughtful touches.

Krissy did a traditional ‘Siva’ to welcome and honour her guests which was so much fun and later in the night, there were some seriously smooth moves going down on the dance floor!

Told you it was fun!!  Thanks so much Krissy and AJ – we had an awesome day with you and will look forward to showing you all of your images soon…

The lovely wedding of Krissy and AJ…

MMMMmmmMMM.  More to follow later in the week.