Subscribe to our Blog
Kathy-Lee told me that she knew it would be beautiful weather, somehow she just knew. I wish I had that same confidence when I rolled out of bed and saw the icky sky looking back at me. Metservice said it was going to be showery in the afternoon, and that would simply NOT DO for this garden wedding. Thankfully Metservice was wrong (I wish you could see my sincere look of not-surprised!) and it turned into a sunny day!
The dress was simply perfect!
Kathy-Lee and the girls got ready with Deirdre at Locks and Lashes.
See? Perfection!
The wedding took place at Timara Lodge, what an amazingly beautiful place that is!
I love the way that Nigel looked at his bride. Pure happiness, right there.
And the way that she looked back at him. Ah, bliss.
Ella is three. It was the first time she had ever been a flower girl, I expect, and well... the flowers had a bit of a rough ride.
But hey, when you're this cute, it's not about the flowers!
Thankfully Kathy-Lee knew to keep her flowers ON the stems!
I could have spent ALL day on the grounds at Timara Lodge. It really is amazing, and well worth a look at if you're planning a wedding in Marlborough!
Then off we went to Spy Valley for the reception. Kathy-Lee works as a winemaker there, and was able to get us into all sorts of very cool spots! We just needed to trust and follow....
The roof! How insanely awesome is that!
The girls all had fabulous matching shoes. Walking on a winery catwalk in these shoes is a skill in itself!
This wedding had the most FABULOUS details! I was in detail heaven!
And kids - very cute kids too!
And this is where I left them to enjoy their evening with their nearest and dearest.
Thank you so much Nigel and Kathy-Lee for inviting us into your special day - it was absolutely stunning and we wish you all the very best in your married life together!
Vendor Shoutout:
Hair and Makeup: Locks and Lashes
Ceremony Venue: Timara Lodge
Reception: Spy Valley Wine
Food/Catering: The Swisse Guy
Flowers: Linda Avery
There are more images on my facebook page. Just a little reminder to come and join me over there!
In other news:
I learned how much I really love my camera yesterday during the portraits in the garden. I had worn shoes that Paul warned me not to wear, but vanity won out - and before I knew it I took a tumble on the uneven ground. My 5d Mark II and 50mm 1.2L went CRASH straight down onto concrete. I heard the crack, and my heart sank. But it was absolutely FINE! I couldn't believe it! Yay for Canon! My ankle didn't fare quite so well, I managed to finish the wedding fine, but today it's a strange shade of purple. sigh. So before the next wedding I will be doing some shoe shopping methinks!
This is Devin. As you can see he is total cuteness!
I met him and his Mum Nic this afternoon. It took a little while of just quietly getting to know each other before he'd let me into his personal space. It's essential with these little ones to let them just be themselves and not to push them for a performance!
Once we had become friends it was all about finding games to play!
Ohhh... those eyes!
You can just see what he's thinking here "Hey Mum, that crazy woman with the camera thought of THIS?"
"Hey, it's not so bad after all...."
Then off to the park. I LOVE the dribble in this shot - toddler teething time!
I finally coaxed Nic in front of the camera, she was convinced she wouldn't look any good. Oh how wrong she was!
Thanks for today guys - that was great fun! Devin is such a gorgeous little man, and Nic - you're an awesome Mummy! Keep up the good work!
"The light! The light!" she squeals. And anybody that has ever been on a photoshoot with me will know exactly what I'm talking about. I'm constantly looking for that magical light that turns an ordinary photo into something quite spectacular.
I've just come into the office to catch up on my work to find Paul's latest project still open in Lightroom. He's just finished doing a job for Bayleys who are marketing Woodend Gardens. It's already a beautiful place - but last night Paul went when the light was just right.
A small trip in the helicopter gives everything a bit of context.
And the gardens themselves are really awesome, we've photographed several weddings here already.
Like!!
And this is the spot that the ceremony is usually in.
Awesome job babe! You're my hero....
Met Nicola and Vaughan:
These guys are a super cute couple who are getting married in March. I first met them about a year ago when they were planning their wedding which still seemed so far away. They walked back into my office the other day, and I couldn't believe that a whole year had passed!
Anyway - Nicola had seen the Japanese Gardens on the blog, and quite liked the idea of that - so off we went! For those who don't know where they are, they're up the end of Howick Rd. Not a whole lot of people know about it, well so it seems anyway. There's a big cage with cardboard in it that the kids use to go scooting down the hill. Very fun.
How cute are they!
Nicola is a doctor and in the process becoming an anesthetist - such a cool job!
This is THE TREE. I know - I feature it a lot. I love the tree. It's worth the trip up the hill to get there.
I can't wait for your wedding Nicola and Vaughan, it's going to be spectacular!
I was born in Australia 33 year ago, the youngest of 8 children into a fully Dutch family. So my first language is a Dutch/Aussie mix, and sometimes my sentences come back to front out. I love mangoes, watermelon and Dutch liquorice more than you could know - and I love chocolate more than I'd like to admit.
One thing Jasmine Star encouraged us all to do at her workshop in Christchurch a few weeks ago was to put more of ourselves on our websites.
I guess I've been struggling lately with exactly who I'm writing to. I'm STUNNED (and extremely grateful!) by the amount of visitors I get to this blog everyday, and because I don't exactly know who you all are, I'm not quite sure what you're interested in reading. You see, if you're a photographer, you probably don't care that I'm running (ahem, crawling probably) a half marathon in a few months. If you're a bride-to-be you couldn't care less about what fstop or lens rocks my world lately. I suppose there's always the possibility of the hits all coming from my Mum (must call her more often...). So I'm going to just write about whatever I please, because not writing much at all is not much fun for anyone.
This year I'm going to try to start a couple of different series. One will be for brides (and grooms, but you know, it's more likely to be brides!) and the other will be for photo geeks like me. I've been getting emails from other photographers with questions that may be useful for others as well. I certainly don't claim to know everything (not even half of everything...), but if I do know something that you also want to know, go ahead and ask and I can share it with the everyone else. You can either email me, or join me on facebook and ask there or use the comments section below.
This was us at Jasmine's workshop, taken by JD, Jasmine's husband. I'm the one second from the right, in the red top, smack bang next to Jasmine (I'm totally namedropping right now).
So, I've got to build a section on the website about us, which has to include (*gasp*) photos. I HATE having my photo taken, which is why I can sympathise with my clients on a daily basis! But sometimes it just has to be done!
Ok, so that's me for now! Over and out....
Most days I wake up and I can't believe just how blessed my life is. Really. I've got half a dozen amazing children, a husband I just adore and a job that feels more like a hobby than a job most days.
Some days I have to admit that I forget how blessed I am - and it's not all that often, but sometimes life just gets a bit too busy, the phone keeps ringing and the washing is piling up. I think it was a day like that when I met Pip and her beautiful family. When I told her how many kids I had she exclaimed something like "Oh, you're so lucky!"
She's such a lovely Mum and one small conversation with her and I felt a million times better about the towels that still hadn't been hung out, the baby that was possibly going to wake that night and the groceries that need constant replenishing. I am blessed, amazingly blessed.
So this is Pip's family - really nice people!
Mickey the kitten, saw fun everywhere!
I love this brothers shot.
Often I don't include the head in photos. Sometimes I get funny looks from people, as in "You missed our heads?" Yeah, I did mean to.
In other news:
I'm not sure what's going on right now in the 'engaged couples' world, but they're all coming out of the woodwork! I'm getting so many requests for pricelists lately! Even requests for as far away as 2012. We don't actually book more than a season away, but if you've got your heart set on a certain date, I'll pop your name on the calendar so that I know you're interested. We're planning on having our 2011/2012 Summer Pricelist out in about 6 months, when we'll open bookings for that season.
I can't even begin to tell you how much we enjoyed Hugo and Kelly's big day. The weather was awesome - and I know I keep going on about what the weather was like at weddings, but it can make such a difference to the whole experience!
I knew that Kelly was fun and easy going, but I had expected some kind of nerves, or even a mini freak out - as most brides have the hour before their wedding. But nothing. Cool as a cucumber. She was absolutely the most perfect bride.
We had the whole day at Old St Mary's Convent, and as usual it was gorgeous. I love it when they get ready there too as there's all that excitement of secretly watching people turn up.
How cute is this! Dad needs his own picture!
Kelly was certainly glowing.
Paul found the boys getting ready. I love it how every groom seems to need help putting his flower on. I mean, really, how often in life does a guy need to do that?
Here come the troops!
This is an amazing moment. While we were waiting for Kelly to make her grand entrance down the stairs, this is her Mum glancing at her Dad. Sigh. Beautiful.
And this is Kelly looking at her groom. Sigh again.....
Jane Fowler from Fleurs was one of the bridesmaids and did an amazing job with the flowers!
Another moment. Right after the ceremony Hugo's Dad congratulates his new Daughter In Law.
I have to say, this wedding had more than it's fair share of cute kids. So many that I really can't even blog them all, but you get the idea:
Sometimes I like how children are so.... well.... short!
I'm not sure where the awesome red car came from, but I liked it. A lot.
You know what? Sometimes I just shoot random things, like chairs, just for me. This is an awesome photo, and I don't even know why.
Wow, what a great wedding guys! I wish you guys all the very best - and Huxley too. See you soon!
