Pip and Dave exude the kind of style I only wish I had.  Where I flap and squeal and scrunch my face into all sorts of unhuman expressions, Pip and Dave smile kindly, introduce sincerely, stand tall and beautifully and are so darn stylish. 

When Pip was showing us around their grounds the day before the wedding, I knew that this was going to be one of those weddings, you know, the ones where anywhere you point the camera at would be beautiful.  Pip had everything perfectly planned, I knew that all we had to do was turn up, shoot and enjoy.

Paul was with the guys while they got ready.  Everything about this wedding was of a beautiful quality, even the light.  How did they manage that?  I have no idea.

Pip smiled all day long. 

Pip's Dad's reaction to seeing his little girl as a bride.  Gotta love it.

And what a beautiful bride she is!

Grand arrival.

Could Dave look more pleased with his bride?  I don't think so!

This is the most 'approving sister' look I've ever seen.

I love how the girls were wearing white too.  So perfect!

Married!  YUS!

Then off to get some portraits in the gardens.

This is Bruno, their baby.  He was wearing a special black and white bandana for the occasion.  So so cute.

Then there was a mini airshow organised by Pip's dad.  I kid you not!  Especially for Pip and Dave.  So awesome!

It was the perfect day for a garden party.  Warm and still and full of beautiful happy people.  Yup, my kind of day!

Dave's Mum and Dad created this garden over the last ten years.  It's been a real labour of love, and it's absolutely beautiful!  The perfect place for a garden party!

Pip and Dave, thank you so very much for being a ray of sunshine in my week.  You are a beautiful couple and I can't wait to show you the rest of the photos!

Vendor Shoutout:

Celebrant: Peter Minson, Nativity

Hair & Makeup: Deirdre, Locks & Lashes

Dress: Kate Dowman

Caterer: Janet Enright and Vicki Young - Bon Vivant

Marquee: Karen Solomon, Hirepool Blenheim

It's been the most amazing journey, being with Mum these last nine months since her diagnosis of Motor Neurone Disease.  Watching her fade from a fit and healthy 70 year old, to holding her hand in the early hours of Tuesday morning when she finally took her last breath.  It has been the most harrowing journey, and we're so blessed to have been able to share it with my precious Mum.

Tomorrow we say our final farewell to Mum, surrounded by family and friends, who have been nothing but fantastic during a gruelling week.  I love you guys!

Thanks to everyone who has been patient with us as you wait for your photos or an email from us.  We'll be back up and running real soon.  We've also got some AMAZING weddings to blog when I get back home as well.

In the meantime, here's me and my gorgeous Mum last month.

Bye Mum, Love you.  Miss you already xx

My life is weird right now.  So this post will be more brief than most, I'm sorry.  But rest assured, when things become less weird, I'll be posting many more photos from Saturday's wedding!  I'll share more at the bottom of this blog about my weird life, but first onto Grant and Libby's beautiful day!

I gasped when I saw Libby's shoes.  I love them with every single atom in my body.

This is Caitlin.  She's four and full of all the fun and wonder that little girls of that age have.

The wedding was held at Libby's parents place, Blue Ridge Estate.  The day was as perfect as the immaculate property.  What a perfect place for a wedding! 

Libby decided to make the grapevines her 'aisle', so that the first person to see her was Grant.  Caitlin walked like a perfect princess most of the way down, and then, suddenly, at the last few meters she shot away and straight into Grant's welcoming arms.

This was the moment she arrived at the end of the aisle, meeting Grant with the biggest and most true hug a little girl can give.

Libby and Mia followed soon after.  Half way down the aisle, Mia decided to stop and have a little jig to the music.  Impromptu dancing, always good!

Looking through her Daddy's knees as her parents get married.  Such a beautiful little thing Mia is!

Grant and Libby are so cute together!  Libby spent most of the day giggling.  She's bright and bubbly and, amazingly enough, the third person in a row I've photographed that works with kids! 

Love!  You just know I love those shoes!

I love this old cottage, so many interesting places to take photos!

Back at Drylands for the reception, and the speeches were successful in drawing the desired responses!

Particularly special, Grants ring belonged to his Dad before him.

Vendor Shoutout:

Celebrant: Terry Terrill

Hair: Beyond the Fringe, Redwood

Dress: 102 Design, Ashburton

Reception: Drylands Restaurant

I didn't go home after the wedding on Saturday.  Instead I came to sit by my dear Mum, who is in her final stages of Motor Neurone Disease.  My sister had let me know that things were getting pretty serious, and perhaps it might be a good idea to come out sooner rather than later.  I haven't left her since.  As each hour passes, she slips further away from us.  The whole thing is surreal, peaceful, painful but most of all, well, just plain old weird. Thankfully we've been able to keep her at home. She's comfortable and peaceful, for someone who is dying, I guess.  As we sit and hold her hand, we wonder if each breath is her last.  We tell her we're with her, and we sit.  And we wait. 

This is new territory for me.  I've never lost a parent before.  Come on, everyone dies, and even though it can't be fun, plenty of people have coped with it.  That's what I thought, before I was the one loosing a parent.  Now that it's me going through it, it's harrowing.  Then I feel bad about feeling sorry for myself, because this part is all about Mum.  Then I look at her, I see peace.  I know she's ready to meet the God she has loved and followed for the last 34 years.  I know that it will all be over soon, and she will be perfectly happy.  But in the meantime, we sit.  And we wait.

I'm so spoiled, you know.  I didn't realise this planet could grow so many lovely people, and that so many of them would find themselves hiring me as their photographer.  Next weekend Paul and Emma get married, and they belong to the group of lovely people I speak of. 

This is Phoenix and Finlay.  I told them to sit nice and close, and even cuddle.  This is exactly the reaction I was expecting.  boy GERMS!

Phoenix belongs to Emma.  I have no idea how she stays looking this young.  I even asked her about her skincare regime.  For real.

Finlay belongs to Paul.  Some seriously amazing genes going on there.

I offered to take them home with me, maybe I could keep them?  But they seemed happy to stay in their own family.  Ah well. 

Look at them.  Just look at how beautiful they are.  As someone on facebook said - it looks like I picked them out of catalogue.

Emma is a preschool teacher.  It takes a special kind of person to do a job like that.

I don't really need to point out how pretty this wedding is going to be, do I?

This is Ayla, Emma's doggie.  She didn't want to be left out.

I was a little worried about the weather, I really should just learn to let it go.  Couldn't have been better.

Beautiful, beautiful people.

Emma and Paul are getting married on the beach.  Oh yeah!!

Paul and Emma - I can't wait for next weekend.  It's going to be beyond gorgeous.  See you soon!

She rather fancied him when they first met at the ripe old age of 19.  When Frith was 20 she declared she would marry Jeff one day.  Fast forward several years and they meet up again, this time the attraction was mutual and a lifelong relationship blossomed.

Who knows why it took them so many years to fall in love, looking at them now, they're just perfect for each other!

The Malthouse!  Oh how I love the Malthouse!  I also love the fact that it's here in New Zealand.  If it were in Australia (where Frith and Jeff currently live) I would absolutely not be as happy to go poking among the cobwebs.

Frith is a Nanny and has cared for about 100 children in her time!  How's that for amazing?  Makes my effort with my six look a bit meh.

Jeff and Frith are such a gorgeous couple, I can't WAIT for the wedding.

Jeff is a builder and assured me that we were not going to fall through the floor.  I was grateful for this knowledge, as at one point, I was wondering...

Yep, that's an outhouse behind them.

Getting all dangerous.  Frith and Jeff are a super fun couple.

How's this for Oh-My-Goodness bling?!

A brief stroll in the rain, throw in a gorgeous yellow field and a bit of love, and all is well with the world.

It was the greatest pleasure to meet you both yesterday Jeff and Frith.  I had such fun with you both!  Bring on April!

I met them for the first time last night, but within minutes I was sure we had been friends forever.  Kris and Michelle are fabulous on the outside, sure, but what matters to me more is how lovely they are on the inside.  We chatted effortlessly all the way out to my favourite new spot, well, first we got ever-so-slightly detoured by my rubbish sense of direction, and THEN we got to my new favourite spot.

I would like to blame something, or someone for me taking the wrong turn initially, but sadly I should have known better, because I took the same wrong turn last time too.  Now I'm scared that the wrong turn has been hard wired into my brain.

I had planned for lovely evening light, but what we were blessed with was dramatic clouds and the threat of rain at any moment.  Give me drama over blue skies any ol' day.

Kris and Michelle have been through a lot lately.  Kris is a miner, and was actually inside the Pike River Coal Mine only hours before that explosion that killed 29 miners in November.  Michelle also works for Pike River and had the harrowing job of dealing with the families of those lost underground. 

These guys are truly inspirational, and seem to be coming out the other side of this tragedy with what I'm sure is an inner strength, and even more importantly, each other.

On a scale of one to ten of how much she loves to be photographed, Michelle gave herself a one when we first started.  By the time we were finished she was claiming she had now become a nine!  Woohoo!  Another convert!  You look gorgeous Michelle, no more hiding from cameras!

I love this old building.  I want to take it home and love it for the rest of its days.  I love the burnt out bits, the falling down walls, the fact that it has no roof at all, and that it has trees growing inside it. 

Michelle and Kris loved it too, which made me love it even more.

Gorgeousness.

The energy that Kris and Michelle had was amazing.  Keen to try just about anything, and totally in love with each other.  My kind of couple!

On the way home we stopped at the blue wall.  Kris had some mad jumping skills.

Kris and Michelle, we're so grateful that you chose us as your photographers, thank you.  I can't wait for your wedding!!

The first line is always the hardest.  Do you have any idea how many times I start, delete and then restart writing a blog post?    I guess it's just like that moment when you first meet someone and you're not quite sure what to say after the initial "Hi".  You smile, as sweetly as you can muster, as your mind darts to the possibilities of chatting about the weather or mentioning how neat those earrings are.  Blogging is much like that, except, I can't see your earrings.

However, when writing about Christina and Brendan there's plenty to say!  Christina was as lovely as I had anticipated and she is as sweet and gracious on the inside as she is on the outside. 

Gorgeous details.

Paul was with the boys as usual.  I love comparing our shots when we get home, seeing what was going on in one camp at the same time as the other.  These shots were taken only minutes apart.

What a beautiful bride!

Flowers by Pink Poppie.  Yay!

Christina's Dad waits for the girls to get ready.

Meanwhile, back with the boys...

Brendan is an IT guy.  So it seems entirely fitting to check with youtube when you want to know where to put your buttonhole.

Totally something Paul would do too. 

Then it's onto the ceremony at Drylands.  Some of the loveliest moments are when Dad presents the Groom with his Bride.

 

 

 

Cute, hu?

This was one of those beautiful people weddings.  Everywhere we would point the camera we would find more pretty people.

Shaun Preston had come over from Wellington with his two baby Grand Pianos.  One white one that sat on the lawn, and one black one that sat inside for the reception.  He's got such an amazing talent, no wonder they shipped him over here!  Insanely talented.

Then we headed off to Old St Mary's Convent for photos.  It can be tricky to find large areas of shade during a sunny day, and so I was beyond excited to be able to shoot there.

Brendan and his posse.  These guys know how it's done.

We were busy taking the bridal portrait when Brendan flew in at a rate of knots. 

And so we decided to include him too.

Paul totally outshot me with this one.  Sigh.

Brendan and Christina have the funniest sense of humour.  I like them a lot.

Then back to Drylands, and a quick shoot in the vineyard before the reception.

This is Brendan's Dad welcoming Christina her into the family.  Love it.

I love reactions to speeches.

Brendan and Christina are really into good wine.  So I thought that this was quite fitting.  If you look carefully you can see Paul lying on the grass in the reflection, and me sitting close by, making sure he's doing it right.  I'm kind of like a backseat driver sometimes, probably rather annoying actually.

Brendan and Christina, thank you so very much for choosing us to share your day with you.  What a great opportunity to witness and capture such a beautiful wedding, planned so perfectly, with great weather and fantastic people.  We can't wait to show you the rest!

Vendor Shoutout:

Hair and Make-up: Arthur Devine

Venue: Drylands

Flowers: Pink Poppie

Entertainment: Shaun Preston