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 :)

Liam belongs to Jeremy and Wendy (see last week's wedding!)  We had planned this shoot with him waaaaay back before he was even born!  He is gorgeous, bubbly and full of smiles.  Everytime he saw me he would just break out into this huge smile, I would like to think that it's me he loves to smile at - but it's probably just life itself.

See - look at that little face!

Jeremy and Wendy absolutely dote over him!

I love the perspective of how short he really is.

I had to add this one of his 'serious side' - don't you just want to pinch those cheeks, like one of those old annoying Aunties?

I hope you guys have enjoyed your time over here, and that your trip back to the UK goes well!  Maybe if you're over this side of the planet again sometime in the future, you'll have more babies for me to take photos of....!?

In other news:

Things in the Jones household are going well.  We've been insanely busy trying to keep up with the weddings and other work coming our way lately.  We're not too far behind where we'd like to be, it's so exciting to have plenty to do!  Paul has done some gorgeous scenics lately, must get him blogging some shots soon!

My belly has gotten somewhat bigger over the last few weeks, and it's not just the Christmas chocolates!  We'll be expecting Little Jones #6 in July, which is rather exciting.  We're going to have to work on finding a better name though, that'll be our winter project!

Emma and Nathan got married on Saturday, and thankfully the weather was just perfect!  We were called in at the 11th hour to photograph it, and as I couldn't make it - Paul went and shot it alone.  I must admit to feeling a little left out, especially considering it was at the spectacular Cape Campbell Lighthouse!  However, I was confident that Nathan and Emma would be in good hands with Paul behind the lens.  I suppose I am involved to a certain degree now that I'm able to select my favs from the day, edit and blog them, so there's still a little bit of me in there!

These guys were all about a relaxed day with their friends and family, in some beautiful New Zealand scenery.  I love this shot as it really sets the tone for the whole day.

Once again Paul captures one of those split second moments, I'm sure they didn't even know he was shooting them!  Gorgeous!

Because of the rain the day before (see Jeremy and Wendy's wedding for evidence of the rain...) the track to the Lighthouse was boggy and needed drying out before anyone could go driving on it, so much of the party was held before the actual ceremony.  This was the band, they look like a whole lot of fun!

Emma and Nathan's little man soon discovered the guitar, and was quite taken with it.

Plucking technique needs a little work though!

Then it was time for the ceremony to start - and as everyone headed off to the Lighthouse, Emma got into her dress and prepared for her surprise arrival!

I love the animated expressions of the surprised guests, priceless!

You can see how relaxed and happy they were to be getting married! 

This was the view of the ceremony from in the air... next time it's my turn in the chopper my friend!

There was time for a few quick portraits of the newlyweds before they headed back to their party.

I love a wedding that is informal enough for the guests to go for a quick swim in the sea! 

I adore this shot, it's so Cinderella!

And yes, it's still amazingly windy up those stairs!

Congratulations Emma and Nathan - what a gorgeous day you had!  I'm so pleased that we could step in at the very last minute, and be part of your special day!

Jeremy and Wendy came from the UK to get married and had visions of a fantastically sunny Marlborough wedding day.  Unfortunately, they seemed to have brought the London weather with them!  Thankfully, the day went tremendously regardless of the weather.  Beautiful Ferneaux Lodge was the location again.

We were there in plenty of time to get the initial preparations for the wedding.  A change of plans due to the dampness meant that the wedding was held on the deck.  Here we're just about to practise walking down the aisle.

There was no dampening these girl's spirits!

These were the placeholders for the tables.  Wendy's Mum carved these out of stone - how cool is that?!

Paul was with the guys getting ready - I love this shot!!

Meanwhile the guests are turning up to the wedding.....

The rain stopped just long enough for the ceremony, but the muddy path meant that Wendy got a special ride to the ceremony.

And check out Jeremy's face when she gets to him - how adoring!

After the ceremony, the happy couple spend a private moment together....

Very awesome sign as you step off your boat.... it wouldn't work for many weddings though would it?

Ok, so the weather wasn't ideal - but you know what?  I'm beginning to really love rainy day wedding photos! 

The menfolk, do their mafia stance...

And the ladies, a little Mary Poppins!

Beautiful!!

I love this idea! 

Thanks for sharing your day with us Jeremy and Wendy, I hope you had a fantastic day!  We'll see you in a couple of days :)

Angela and Jason were married at The Portage Resort Hotel - in a gorgeous setting, the beautiful Marlborough Sounds.  All plans were for a beautiful summer's day, but that would be like everyone else's wedding, and how interesting would that be?  Nope, it bucketed down!  But no matter, these guys had such a positive attitude and the day was lovely regardless of the weather!

Total cuteness going on here....

The finishing touches to a beautiful bride.  Loving the soft dreamy effect on this one.

Dad's ready to go, and proud as can be!

Not a bad looking groom, I'd say!

The guys wait nervously...

Gorgeous!

Good old Pink Poppie provide beautiful flowers, yet again.

What the heck, lets go outside and get some great shots!

Every now and then there is a marvelous picture, within a picture.  I LOVE this shot!

Sure it rained - but this is still pretty cool!

I think this is my favourite shot, but there's still so many to go through, so I may be proven wrong yet!

Angela and Jason, you guys were absolutely super!  What a lovely day it was, I'm glad we could be a part of it!  Thanks so much!

This week we had our good friends, Richard and Jacqui come to visit us with their three beautiful kiddies, 3 year old twins Anna and Chelsea and 18 month old Ryan. I think the last time I properly photographed these little ones was when the girls were in NICU as very, very tiny little babies. 

They're all 'grown up' now, full of life and lots of fun.  So we headed off to the park for a play and to take some photos.

Naturally, I've got a legs shot... so I'll start with that.

Whenever it's possible, I like to just follow kids around and capture them playing - it makes for a far more relaxed photo than the one where you sit them down and bark at them to SMILE!  Real smiles always look so much better and more refreshing than the fake ones.

Even though the weather was threatening to pack it in, these kids were still keen to go exploring.

I can't work out which one of these next two pictures I like more, so I'm just going to post them both!

I just adore the hair on these little girls, I'm sure it keeps Jacq busy - but isn't it just so CUTE?!

I'm hoping that next time you guys come up to visit us, we'll get time to photograph the whole family!