The wedding industry seems to attract very warm, positive people; by it’s very nature it is well and truly a ‘people persons’ job!  I looked around on Thursday night at all those lovely people in our gallery and was struck by how lucky Waiheke is to have so many top notch wedding vendors.  You really can source everything you need for your big day on Waiheke.  From experienced hair & make up artists to the new state of the art marquees available on the island… florists, wedding planners, celebrants…  it is ALL right here.  It goes without saying that the Waiheke Island venues are incredible of course, and I know this fabulous photographer…

Why pay your vendors extra money to travel to Waiheke when everything you need is available on the island.  Check out our links page to find the best on Waiheke.

The second, a share of a beautiful TED talk from spoken word poet Sarah Kay.  Some light and loveliness for your Monday… enjoy.

I loved the style and laid back feel of their day, everything from Cat’s stunning A La Mode dress and the pre ceremony G&Ts, right down to the relaxed laughter during their ceremony and the understated bunches of gypsophila on the reception tables.  Yep, I reckon if I got married again, I would do it pretty much like this (except for the early morning swim Toby… I mean, really, what kind of man would throw his visiting English mates into NZ waters in April.  It’s just not cricket, is it?)

Oneroa Beach, here we come…

At Chardy Ridge, the bridesmaids and their exceptionally helpful partners and friends were madly at work decorating the reception and ceremony site

Beautiful flowers from Virginia at Waiheke Flower Gallery.  Cat’s make up was from Waiheke fave Charlotte from Island Beauty, and her hair was from Heather at Phoenix Hair Design

Love love love Cat’s look… sophisticated, elegant, and effortless

We headed off to a couple of island hotspots for our photoshoot, the ever popular Little Oneroa Beach being our first stop.

Large bridal parties are always a good laugh!

Back at Chardy Ridge the reception was ready and waiting in rustic chic style.  Cat and Toby’s guests gathered in the Chardy Ridge glade, awaiting the ceremony to be led by the wonderful Irene Armstrong (officially Waiheke’s most popular celebrant, as declared by the Births, Deaths and Marriages office).

Following the ceremony, Toby’s talented sister Sian and their friend Mark sang and played a couple of songs in their honour…. it was really gorgeous and special.

While friends and family mingled on the lawn following the ceremony, we snuck away to capture a few more images around the stunning Chardy Ridge environment.

gorgeous bridesmaids dresses from Coast in the UK

Thanks so much Cat and Toby, what a pleasure it was to capture your perfect wedding day.  I hope you enjoy your long awaited sneak peek! xx

Caroline and her family got ready for the day at Claire’s Luxury Hideaway in Onetangi, a premium property which is always an absolute pleasure to shoot in.

Caroline’s bridesmaid was her stunning niece Anna, who tried her best to remember her ‘school tie days’ while helping Caroline try on the stylish retro tie Sarah had given her a part of her wedding gift.

Caroline’s navy pinstripe suit was from boutique suit makers Anton‘s in Australia

Sarah and her family had booked a place just around the corner which overlooked Onetangi Beach, one of Waiheke’s most popular beaches.

Sarah’s stunning gown was from Astra Bridal, with her hair and make up from the ever-awesome Sharon Kenny and flowers from Virginia at Waiheke Flower Gallery

Sarah was accompanied by her sister Emma and niece Aisha

love this

Sarah and Caroline wanted to do their photos before the ceremony so that they could spend more time with their guests following the service so they had a ‘first look’ moment before the shoot in one of my favourite locations…

It was such an emotional meeting when they first caught sight of each other…

Lance’s photo above – love it!

And then it was time for the ceremony to begin at Mudbrick, under the expert eye of Auckland celebrant Chris Mullane

We had a wee bit of time up our sleeves after the family portraits so we spent some time in the Mudbrick vines, taking advantage of the lovely light as the sun went down.

What an amazing wedding… Sarah and Caroline, your love is divine.  Thanks for trusting us to capture it xx

Blue steeling it like pros…

Lances’ shot above – totally cool

Jess and Duncan got married at one of Waiheke’s most primo wedding venues, the gorgeous Delamore Lodge.

Jess’ gorgeous up-do was done by Jennifer from Bridal Beauty

Stunning dress by Jane Yeh, and flowers from Virginia at Waiheke Flower Gallery

As the ceremony approached, Jess was worried about shedding tears as she came up the aisle so she asked for her mum to come up so they could both have a wee cry and get it out of the way before the ceremony…

As you can see, the ‘getting the crying out of the system’ didn’t quite work.

Following the ceremony we spent some time around Delamore Lodge before Jess and Duncan headed off in a helicopter to go and visit her grandfather who was too ill to make it to the wedding.  He had always promised that he would see her married so Jess wanted to make sure he was part of her special day.

Lance went in the helicopter with Jess and Duncan while I stayed behind at Delamore and captured the guests and reception details,

The chopper landed at a school ground which backed onto Jess’ grandfather’s house and a little posse of inquisitive younguns came out to see which famous person had arrived by chopper, so Lance organised a group “yeehah” before they headed back to Delamore Lodge.  Cute.

The styling of the reception was done by Jess’s step mum Julie who did an amazing job, with loads of lovely details everywhere you looked around Delamore Lodge.  Amazing cupcake tower created by Rebecca Lloyd from The Cake Parlour

Thanks Jess and Duncan – it was a pleasure to capture your day.  All the best for a blessed and happy life together…

The event was put together by Rachael Brown and Emily Adamson, whose enthusiasm and energy was legendary.  The speakers included Oli Sansom from Melbourne, Wellingtonian Kate McPherson, Fiona Andersen from Glenavy (oh yeah!), and Mike Hill and Jake Thomas both from Waihi.

The experience of all these speakers was far reaching, not just from a photographic perspective, and they shared their minds and souls freely.  There was laughter and some tears, the meeting of many new friends, lots of time to sit around and chat, advice, inspiration, good food, good wine, some photobooth madness and party of E.P.I.C proportions to top it all off.

One afternoon we were challenged to spend some time around the amazing property (Bendemeer Woolshed) and photograph each other.  Photographers are notoriously uncomfortable in front of the camera so as far as the eye could see, photographers spread out in little clusters and nervously shot one another, growing in confidence until finally this is quite good fun could be heard uttered (whispered, of course).

Emily and Rachael: two words for you…  Thank You. xx

The boys got ready for the big day at Azure, a property represented by my friends Erin and Kim from holiday rental and accommodation biz  Stay Waiheke.  I had never been to this Oneroa property before but seriously hope I do again because it was wicked.  Mark’s best friend and two cousins were his groomsmen and they were all relaxed and easy and such a lot of fun to photograph.

A stones throw away at the girls house, cute little flower girl Abby was absorbing some appropriate reading for the day…

I love Lance’s photo above showing Nicole being made up under the watchful eye of both mothers.  Nicole’s make up was created by Fallon and her hair was done by Vanessa from Savilles.  Nicole’s stunning dress was from Jane Yeh

Stunning bride

Flowers by Virginia from Waiheke Flower Gallery

When bridal kisses go wrong!  Too cute!

Nicole and Mark had their wedding at the wonderful Mudbrick Vineyard, always a pleasure photographing up there.  Love it.

There goes that bright red lipstick…

Love this one

A low tide at Oneroa Beach gave us the option to shoot some photos by the (recently painted and graffiti free) boatsheds

Back at Mudbrick we explored the grounds a little…

… and then spent some time up on the roof.

A stunning wedding!  Thanks so much Nicole and Mark.  It was such a pleasure to hang out with you and your lovely friends and family.  xx  Enjoy!