I first met Kate when she was a bridesmaid for Rachel last year, and so I have been looking forward to photographing her wedding for a while now!

Loyal blog followers will recognise Rachel, who is looking lovely as ever.

But this day belonged to Kate, and she looked absolutely gorgeous!

Aha - that's rain you see there on the window.  And although Kate no longer lives in England, she did book me while she lived there, so does that count towards my theory?

The rain didn't seem to get anyone down though!

And James waits...

This was my view of Kate and her Dad.

And this was Paul's.  I had NO idea Dad was helping her with the veil until I saw this picture.  How cute.

There's a whole series of gorgeous expressions from Kate during the actual wedding.

The parents during the ceremony.

These guys are so friendly, smiled a whole lot, were really into eachother, and more than a bit attractive - what more could I ever ask for?

Inside by the crates for Kate's parents nursery - Ormond Nurseries and I think this may be my favourite shot.

When I shot their engagement photos, I think they thought I was a little loopy for a doing legs only shot.  However, after seeing them and using those very same shots on their invitations - they were quite happy to do a wedding one!

I dunno, but I think this may be my favourite of the day.

Cute!

Some very cool expressions going on here....

And back at the reception, and I love this one of James' Dad.

We thoroughly enjoyed this wedding, rain and all!  You guys had the most fantastic attitudes, and were so much fun to be around.  Hopefully we see you next time you're down this way, stop on by for a coffee!

Andrea and John are another one of my couples that have planned their wedding entirely from the UK, although they are originally from NZ (which may account for the fact that it was merely overcast, not raining this time!)

As soon as I saw that beauitful lace on the dress, I knew Andrea would look absolutely perfect!

And she did!

Meanwhile, back at Old St Mary's Convent the boys seemed fairly relaxed.

One of the best parts of a wedding is when the bride walks down the aisle with her Dad, and without fail the Dad looks as proud as can be.  This wedding was no exception!

The view from that back can be equally as moving.  What I especially loved about this wedding was that everyone was there enjoying the ceremony, not spending most of it trying to get their cameras to work.  There was not a single camera out during the ceremony - except of course ours capturing everything from both angles!

This was the moment after the kiss.  How cute is that?!

I am a big fan of St Mary's Convent, there are just so many fantastic places to take photos, wet or dry.

Flowers again by Pink Poppie - great job as usual Nina!

This was such a fun group, I thought I'd try something new for me.  I took a photo from the front, as usual....

but also from behind!  I think it would be great to put these in an album, on either side of the page.

The boys were great fun all day.  When I said we'd try for a 'boy band' look, they took it quite literally and grabbed a couple of old rakes.

I love throwing in a jump shot every now and then.

I'm loving the vineyards right now.  I think harvest starts in a week or two.

Back inside the Convent, and there's no lack of pretty places.

I love the back of Andrea's dress, that lace was just exquisite!

And back at the reception, the speeches were about to begin.

Great emotion was to be captured, from tears...

to laughter!

And some yummy looking food by Alaine the 'Swiss Guy'.

What a great day it was guys - thanks so much for letting us be part of it!  Have a great trip back to the UK!

This week we photographed our second wedding out at beautiful Te Mahia and for the second time the bride and groom were called Matthew and Jennifer! 

The wedding was organised entirely by Jennifer's Dad and Stepmum, and they made sure there were surprises for them through the whole day, and one of them was us!  Now, I don't know that I've ever been a surprise for anyone before (except maybe my parents....) so this was all new to me!

Jennifer and Matthew are our third couple from England coming over to get married here in as many weeks.  This may account for the rough weather we've been having, they've been bringing the rain with them! 

Waiting for the go ahead.

It was a lovely intimate ceremony with only six guests in total.

How's this for some beautiful scenery!

Jennifer and Dad.

A really lovely and easy going couple, I never expected them to be able to 'work it' like rock stars, but they totally did! 

We almost decided to leave our umbrellas at home for this wedding, because it was supposed to be perfect weather, and for the most part it was.  Then suddenly it got dark, and began to hail.  Like bucket loads of hail, pelting down.  So we were fairly glad we'd brought the umbrellas after all!  Thankfully it was over in about 10 minutes, and the lovely weather came back.

Matthew seemed pretty happy to get the girl....

And can you blame him?  WOW how photogenic is she?! 

I couldn't decide which one of these two I loved more, so I just have to put them both in!

A stroll on the beach.

Jennifer and Matthew - thank you for letting us be part of your day!  I'm sure you're going to have the most fabulous reception party when you get back home to England, and you will have had the best of both worlds!  I wish I could come along and capture it for you (I would definately be bringing my umbrella!)

Nic and Phill are just the kind of people I like, although we had not ever really met in person before the wedding practise, by the time we left the wedding on Saturday night it felt like I'd known them forever.  I already knew that I'd love Nic when she emailed me weeks before the wedding saying that she's organised wedding cupcakes for us.  Yes!  You can always win over my love with cupcakes!

Before any cupcakes were to be eaten, there was a lot of fun to be had.  Starting in the morning with hair and makeup at Arthur Devine's place.

Nic has been super organised with this wedding, months of preparation have gone into it - and it sure paid off on the day.  Everything ran smoothly.

Gifts for the bridesmaids...

And those were happy-excited-about-to-get-married tears!

Andrea, one of the bridesmaids (and also Phill's sister) doubled as the day's florist, and did a fantastic job!

You can never have too much fussing, right before you get married.

Nic was positively radiant, and didn't stop smiling and laughing all day.

I ADORE this shot of Sam (Nic's sister) being told by her Dad that she looks beautiful.  Gorgeous!

He thought that Nic scrubbed up pretty well too!

Nic, being the highly organised woman that she is, was ready in plenty of time and so we were out on the road before the limo had even arrived!

All was well though - and sure enough she was off to the ceremony in her stylish ride.

Meanwhile, the boys make double sure that the rings were still in the box.

Phill seems pretty darn pleased to see his bride!

The weather had threatened to rain all week, but Saturday turned out to be a glorious day - there was just a little wind, which simply meant that Phill could share his tender side.

Nic and her new mother-in-law.

Back in the Limo...

and off to Pollard Park!

Just nanoseconds before I took this photo, Phill had tossed his cell phone towards the other guys, not realising that it would fall onto the concrete and bust right open.  This was the exact moment of impact.  Just check out the faces!  I love Phill's "I totally didn't expect that!" face.

I was getting a completely different shot, but Paul spotted this angle and once again outshot me.

Back at Drylands there were some speeches to be had.

Now, I know there is something special about these glasses, but I have yet to hear exactly what it is.  John, who was proposing a toast at the time, also knew the glasses were special somehow but didn't know what it was either.  So we toasted to the glasses, but still the mystery remains.

Have you ever seen a cuter Grandma?

I had warned Nic and  Phill that when the light was right outside, I would be dragging them back out for a few quick shots...

They seemed all too pleased to have the opportunity to practise the dance they had been having lessons for for the last six months!

Ohhhh.... I love this delicious light!

Back inside and some serious cuteness going on!

Time for the dance, let's see if all that hard work paid off!

It absolutely did!  "Let's Get Retarded" may not be a traditional first dance song, but these guys totally rocked!  Everyone was absolutely thrilled.

The Noodles came over from Wellington, and they were awesome!  I found myself tapping my feet and singing along!

Time for some CUPCAKES!  These were from Cupcake Parlour in Christchurch, and not only did they look absolutely awesome, they were soooo yummy!

I know this post has been double the normal size, but the day was just jam-packed with awesomeness and I would have shortchanged the story by having any less!

Nic and Phill, thank you so very much for inviting us to be part of your day - thanks for the cupcakes and the beautiful meal.  It was our absolute pleasure to be able to capture these memories for you.  I can't wait to show you all the rest!

Watch this space for a super-bumper post on Nic and Phill's awesome wedding!  It'll be here by the end of the night - and it'll be worth the wait :)