A castle. Horse and carriage. A princess dress. Pretty jewels. A bride, and her charming Prince... the love of her life.

All the ingredients required for a fairytale wedding. Add in magical misty fog billowing around the castle, and you have a rich, dreamy, very mystical atmosphere. Holly and Cam's wedding at Larnach's Castle was one of a kind - I felt I was away in some far distant land, surrounded in pretty details, a loving family, and a gorgeous couple who adore each other completely!

Hoooold the horses though... I'm getting ahead of myself - that part comes a little later on down the track! First let's begin this "Once upon a time" story with a beautiful bride and her gorgeous girls getting prepared for a beautiful day ahead...

Back at the family home, the house was abustle with family members running around doing the final preparations, getting kids clean and tidy, and getting Holly into her stunning wedding dress...

Holly and Cam are lucky to have some VERY gorgeous nieces and nephews!! Most of them (those old enough!) were part of the bridal party... so there was a lot of cuteness to capture. I love this moment as Holly walks down the stairs, with the kids waiting at the bottom to get lots of big smooches...

After a quick stop over at the beach to get some photos with some of the little children that she teaches at an early learning centre, we headed to Larnach's Castle. The fog became thicker and more romantic the closer we got.

Holly's proud father watches on as she steps out from her modern day wedding car, to step back in time and into a fairytale....

This fine young gentleman even blew me a kiss after getting out of the carriage...

The sound of the bagpipes filled the gardens, and the beautiful ceremony began with some special people...

Smiles and happiness...

Giving their hearts to each to hold and protect forever...

A stunning backdrop to a beautiful, heartfelt ceremony...

Delightful bride!

Rich in love, Holly and Cam have a whole lifetime to look forward to! And they are going to live happily ever after...

Holly and Cam, thank you sooo much for allowing me and Liam into your beautiful day! It was actually such an incredible honour and pleasure to be there to capture it for you... I will never forget that beautiful mystical vibe, and your incredible love! All the best... I hope the rest of your life continues to be like a wonderful fairytale...

xoxo

Summer...
Warming. Joyful. Glowing. Blissful.

Drifting in and out of sleep, 9 day old Summer melted my heart. What an honour it is to meet tiny new friends like this, so soon after they arrive into the world. Summer is an absolutely gorgeous little bundle of perfection! Her parents are so smitten, and so blessed to have such a beautiful little girl to call their own.

Know in full how loved you are, wee Summer. Dream sweetly xoxo

Gabby and Josh first met at church at the start of 2009, when they were both studying at university down here in Dunedin. Gabby fell for this spunky boy pretty quickly. She couldn't stop thinking about him... she knew she had to have him as her own. Sundays were happy days, when she got to hang out with him again. Josh, being a boy, was a little more oblivious. Gabby was an awesome chick in an awesome bunch of friends. He really enjoyed hanging out with her... but did he pick up on her hints?! Nope.

Gabby persisted subtly and gently... trying to figure out whether or not this relationship could, or would, ever happen. She decided that the real test was whether he would choose to attend her 21st.... over Bathurst.

Wooooo. That's a big call for a boy. Did Josh pass this test???

Nope. V8 Supercars won on the day.

It's a very good thing that Gabby is so happy, bubbly, fun, easy going... and forgiving! She decided, out of the good of heart, (and perhaps because she liked him sooo much)... that he deserved another chance.

But then Josh moved back to Christchurch to work as a surveyor, and Gabby moved home to Ashburton as an interior designer. Some might have thought this would have been the end of what could have been. But nothing stops a girl in love, and Gabby conveniently started heading to Christchurch most weekends, just to go to church. And what do ya know... it just happened to be the same church that Josh went to!! What are the chances?!

The next year, he chose Gabby's birthday over Bathurst. A change of heart perhaps?!

Love is a funny thing. Sometimes it may take longer than you think... but when you are created to be together, the timing will work out. Josh got to know Gabby more and more... and as in any good love story... he fell head over heels for her too! A long-distance relationship has had to become the norm for these two awesome people... but thankfully the Ashburton-Christchurch journey is workable!

Macaroons and heart shapes. Life is good with these two things.

Gabby and Josh are getting married on May 26th in Ashburton... and I am soooooo excited about photographing their wedding!!! If this engagement shoot was anything to go off... it will be immaculately prepared and designed... and Gabby and Josh just adore each other so much, so photographing them is too easy!

Josh and Gabby are toooo much fun!!

Simplicity. Prettiness. And gorgeous bling.

How good do they look?!

Wahoooooo... pleeeeease come sooner 26th May!! I wanna go get you guys married and have more fun with you! Can't wait. You both rocked the engagement shoot... thanks for all your amazing preparations and all the effort you put into making it awesome!!! Hope the final few months of planning go well... I know you have it completely covered Miss Gabby 'Organisation' Ward! And Josh, you are doing great too! XOXO

As we drove from Invercargill to 'The Hideaway 201' near Winton, Liam and I were scouting out a heap of awesome locations, and praying the rain would hold off for this outdoor wedding! When we pulled up at the house where Jess and the girls were getting ready, my happy dance could not be contained... our amazing friends, Mickey & Jess, were getting married that day, and we were heading there to capture it all!!! Plus I could see a stunning bride getting made-up in the doorway, annnnnd there were long grassy fields full of fruit trees outside, which just completed my photographic happy place.

You may remember Jess and Mickey's blind date love story from their engagement shoot. The relationship and friendship that developed from that moment is something extremely precious... grounded in faith, and love in abundance and fullness.

I grew up in Gore with Jess and Mickey, so heading back to Southland is like heading home for me. What I love about a good Southland wedding is the rich heritage and very wide and extended (albeit it slightly inbred?!) family support that covers the couple. Everyone knows everyone, and a wedding is a celebration for the whole community! And Jess and Mickey definitely put on a ripper of a celebration!! I have been hounded by many friends to make sure this is one of the biggest blogs I have ever done... just quietly, I don't think I am going to have any trouble with that. 12 hours of photographing awesomeness... I'm allowed a big post... 

Crazily enough, about 40% of the masses of photos we took all day were all at the girls' house before the ceremony!! And this is why...

1:17pm and everyone was all ready to go... an hour and a quarter before the ceremony started!! I definitely wasn't complaining though, and there was no thumb-twiddling here... we were going to make the most of the time, the incredible location, a stunning bride and the crazy awesome wind...

Abby, Nicole, Kathryn and Teresa were AWESOME to work with... they supported Jess with a laugh a minute and they all looked stunning!

Ohhhh my golly gosh I fell in love with Jess' veil... the wind was pretty strong, and it made everything so fun and spectacular!

One minute down the road to The Hideaway for the ceremony... Jess arrives perfectly on time...

Mickey takes a first peek as his bride begins her walk down the incredible aisle...

We headed off location for the majority of the bridal party portraits, and left the guests to wander around the beautiful gardens at the Hideaway.

Drop dead gorgeous bride.

The boys. Oh the boys... always a laugh, always smooth. Always making photos look too darn cool, just by being boys.

Except there is always one in every crowd... where are you off to Jonathan???

The next two photos were taken at the same time... almost down to the exact same second. This is why having a second shooter with a different eye is awesome... mine is first, Liam's is beneath... (he was being stealthy in the bushes with a big lens!)...

What began as a drizzly, grey day, turned into a very bright morning and hot afternoon... and we were also lucky enough to have a sprinkling of awesome moody thunderclouds for some of the portraits too! The wind picked up to something near gale-force, but the threatening rain was only that. Totally what you might expect for a Southland wedding... these mood swings just made for an awesome range of photos...

Five farmer boys and their toys...

Did I mention it was windy?!?! It was so intense we just about lost all of these parasols... this makes me giggle...

It's actually quite unreal how many photos I have of the boys carrying the parasols, and Mickey carrying Jess' flowers...

We passed this field with a lonely tree and tyre swing on the way to wedding... screeched to a halt, reversed, and popped into a random house to ask permission to use it. I totally love this location. It's serene, and makes me think of childhood fun, and lovely dates with someone you love.

We did just about get blown away here as well though...

Back at the Hideaway, the 'netball' shot was a must for the boys...

The speeches were a laugh...

Air hostess Teresa gave us all great instructions for the toilets and exits...

Some people got in trouble about the stories they were telling...

Team Rainbow had fun with our placemats...

Heartfelt love was expressed...

And we boogied the night away under the stars...

Thank you, thank you, thank you for asking me and Liam to photograph your wedding - we had suuuuch an awesome day with you all, and are stoked with the photos! We hope you like them too... they are all in the post on their way down to you!! We are blessed to know you both and look forward to many more years of friendship! You are a great team.

And to everyone else who played a part in this incredible wedding, you can all give yourself a pat on the back! It was so awesome to catch up with so many people down there... we love our big Southland family! xoxoxo

December 2011 brought with it another great round of graduations for me. It was full of graduates stoked to have no more exams, parents bubbling over with pride, grandparents full of stories from their days at university, and siblings who were really just looking forward to a good feed at night (I know... been there, done that).

I photographed 36 graduates in 45 minute sessions, over 5 days. Doing the math... *opens up a calculator*... that's 1620 minutes of doing the laps around campus! And it was awesome - I met so many hilarious, fun, smart, short, tall, talented, lovely, sweet, jumpy, pretty people... who all hugely deserved to be wearing that silly black hat and a colourful hood.

Here is a snippet of the thousands of photos I took... I do of course do all the traditional photos and standard family photos too... but let's be honest, it would be boring if we didn't have a bit of fun as well...and I LOVE laughter!! Hope you enjoy! xx

Cute little birdie joined us for this one too...

Mr. Duck and I hung out for about 15mins while I waited for some graduates to arrive! I'm very tired.. so I apologise that my silly sense of humour got the better of me here... haha...

Dani even got her 84yr old Grannie JUMPING!! Go Grannie!!!

These guys became famous in an instant... all of a sudden they had a bus load of Asians taking photos of them across the river!!!

I cannot talk highly enough of Rebecca and John's Wyndham wedding on the 14th of January... they did not stop smiling all day, and they just made our photography so easy! Love was abounding and oozing out from everywhere. It was one of those weddings that gave me goosebumps and tingles all down my back from the emotion and loveliness of it all!

They intended on getting married outside in the gorgeous Mayple Glen gardens, but unfortunately rain changed that plan. It really was no problem though - Rebecca and John breezed through the day without a care in the world..."all in God's plan!" they said... and they couldn't have been more correct.

John and Bex first met a camp, and got to know each other further as John became a regular visitor to the Diack family dinner table. They became best friends, and fell deeply in love. Two months after they started going out, John whisked Bex away on a motorbike for a picnic, to the top of a hill on their farm... and asked Bex the best question she could have hoped for.

On their wedding day, we met the groom and his 'people' first. John was introducing us to everyone running around the busy household... "this is my sister, and my brother, and another sister... and two other brothers... and... another sister and brother...". My head got so frazzled trying to work out where these people kept coming from... until I found out there are 12 kids in the family!!!! TWELVE kids!!! That's a whole sports team!!! Jeeeeeepers, there must be a lot of food and odd socks and washing in that house!

They also had lots of nice manly details... including a very classy new watch that Bex had given John as a wedding gift.

John (like most grooms) was having a little trouble getting his tie done up evenly...

John's wonderful mother, (who deserves huge credit for raising a whole tribe of children full of integrity, love and respect), watches on proudly as her precious son gets suited up for his wedding day...

Over at Rebecca's home, everything was suprisingly calm, and there were smiles and beautiful girls galore!! Turns out they don't do things by halves down in Wyndham - Rebecca and John each had 6 friends or siblings in the bridal party - so we had a total of 14 to photograph for the afternoon!!

More pretty girly details - including the stunning gold bangle John had gifted Bex for their wedding day.

How many people does it take to lace up a wedding dress? 6 bridesmaids + one mother apparently!

Wow. Bex, look at you!! You are sooo incredibly stunning!

You were radiant with love and excitement all day... and it was beautiful to watch!

These girls were all fabulous. Not only did they look amazing, they were so helpful and giggly and fun!

Sisterly love...

The ceremony was held in the Wyndham Presbyterian Church because of the rain... John and Bex are so popular and loved that it was packed to the brim in there!

I'm pretty sure there was not a dry eye in the whole congregation as Rebecca walked down the aisle... it was a very emotional moment. It's a good thing I have a camera to hide behind in these moments, because I was welling up something chronic too.

They were just a little bit cute together throughout the whole ceremony!

The pastor reminded us all of the importance of a husband cherishing his wife's heart, and of a wife continually respecting and honouring her husband. I have no doubt in my mind that Bex and John understand this fully. They are so sweet together.

Just married, and pretty darn happy about it! Bex and John totally rocked the shoot. The heavy rain decided to cease just as we arrived at our first location, and we were able to head outside for all the portraits!

Meet the bridal party of awesomeness. Truly, all 14 of these guys and girls totally rocked. They are most definitely in running for the cutest big bridal party ever award. If you are thinking about hiring a bridal party at any stage, I suggest you seriously consider this crew.

Cameron, Peter, Paul, Andrew, Hannah (Miss Groomsmaid!), Hayden, Hannah, Emma, Kimberley, Jess, Alana and Claire ... (phew, that makes you breathless)...you did an amazing job at making the photos fun and helping with poofing dresses, keeping Bex and John fed and watered, jumping in stillettos, and keeping calm and cool. It is very obvious that Bex and John have an awesome and loving support crew around them!

I've been sitting here trying to type a wolf whistle... but "wit weoo" is the best I can come up with. Anyway, John you have scored yourself a very hot wife!!

I really wasn't joking when I said that this massive bridal party was so cute! Check this out... we took Bex and John away for a little bit to do some portraits, and when we looked back at the rest of them, they were all huddled around in one big group hug. Although only 6 of the 12 were either Bex or John's siblings, they are all just one big happy family!

I am mostly including this photo because it makes me giggle! Liam and I have fun playing around with different sun flares and colours... and get a bit competitive over it... but we didn't know our bride was something out of Star Wars! When we looked through the photos the first time, I was like "Look Liam!!! You gave her a light-saver!!!!!". He pretty quickly laughed in my face... turns out, it's actually a light-saber. Whoops. I'm clearly not a die-hard Star Wars fan.

Bex can even make a light-s.a.b.e.r look awesome... watch out John!

You are truly an amazing couple, and it was such a privilege to photograph your wonderful wedding!

Bex and John, we wish you the very, very best for soooo many happy years of marriage and life together! Your wedding day was incredible... yet that is only the beginning! You share an huge amount of love and now you get to live a beautiful life together because of it. We hope you have enjoyed your sneak peek of your photos... there are so many more to give you! Bless you both hugely xoxo

Eight and a half years after meeting at a 3rd form rave, Krista and Brett each committed their lives to each other. They are best friends who complement each other completely.

We are going back in time a tiny bit here... just to November 25th, 2011 - to a very sunny and extreeeemely windy day in Timaru. This lovely wedding took place just as I hit peak busyness, and I was unable to blog it... so I am catching up! Again, I am going to let the pictures do most of the talking... because there are plenty of other blogs lining up to be done as well!

Krista is an absolutely stunning girl, and she made a perfect bride. She is my brother-in-law's younger sister, and my sister-in-law, Laura, was a bridesmaid... so there were a lot of family connections during the day! The whole wedding was incredibly gorgeous...

Krista's elegant dress was made by my mother-in-law, Christine, and the bridesmaids dresses were made by Krista's Mum, Lynette! They are two very talented ladies... Krista looked amazing in her dress.

Putting on her great-grandmothers ring...

I love this moment as her parents peek around the corner and watch their stunning daughter become a bride...

While I was at the girls, Liam spent a wee while with Brett and his mates, who were getting ready all very casually...

It was insanely windy... so much so that Krista's veil got blown straight out of her hair! With very little shelter at any of the locations, they did amazingly well to cope with being blown in all directions!

Stunning, and utterly in love...

Playing with a bit of sun-flarey goodness!

Krista and Brett, you are an adorable couple... and Liam and I totally LOVED shooting your wedding! Thank you for letting us be part of your celebrations! I am sure we will see you again soon xoxo

This little baby (known as 'Baby Pea' during pregnancy) graced the world with his presence on his due date, which was remarkably convenient of him! His amazing parents, Catherine and Simon, needed to get home from Christchurch before he was born, and I was heading to Invercargill for a wedding just a few days after his due date... so the timing all worked in perfectly.

Meet little Ezra. He is 9 days old, and he is perfection all wrapped up.

There is only one thing more precious than a baby's wee hands and feet... and that is when those wee hands grab hold of yours. The first thing Ezra did when he was born, was to wrap his tiny little fingers around his mothers...

Isn't he just the sweetest little bundle you ever did see?!

I love the connection here with his Daddy...

Ezra was so chilled out the whole time. He didn't sleep... but he also didn't cry, grizzle, poo, or spew. He just lay, happy as Larry, placidly taking in the world around him.

Remember his wee pea-pod toys from the maternity shoot?!

This is what kisses for a hungry baby look like... hehe...

Love that little tongue trying to find food!

And this is what kisses for a well-fed baby look like...

Catherine and Simon, you are beautiful and loving parents. Ezra is very lucky to have you both. I wish you all the best as you enter the journey of parenthood!

Just fed, and zonked. Wee Ezra finally fell to sleep...

I hope to see you again precious wee thing! xx

Catherine and Simon came up from Invercargill for a maternity shoot just before Christmas... and I am now playing catch up with some blogs... because this little bundle has already been born!! Soon you will get to meet the adorable little face behind this bump too...

Pregnancy is such a mystical and beautiful time of life - maternity shoots aim to capture something of three people... one of whom no-one has ever seen! I'm so glad Catherine and Simon booked a last minute maternity shoot, only a few days before the wee poppet arrived into this world!! They were so excited, but were awaiting his arrival patiently, as they needed him to hold on until after Christmas! We set out for beautiful evening light, and we found it...

Pregnancy really suited Catherine, and she and Simon were awesome to work with - they were like a model couple, who were willing to get really cold feet!

Loving this beachy evening light...

Beautiful Catherine looks adoringly at her husband...

...who is thinking his wife is pretty darn hot right now!

Catherine is a French teacher in Invercargill, so it was awesome to be able to include some different little things that were personal to them. Bébé à bord means what it looks like... 'Baby On Board'... cute!

And I was the only one privvy to the gender and name of their precious wee baby... but now that wee Ezra has been born, I can share these!

_Catherine had the perfect bump. It was called 'Baby Pea' during the pregnancy, (because their last name is Patterson), so they wanted to include these cute little pea-pod toys they got given too!

And just after Catherine, Simon and Baby Pea set off for the evening, the sun set on another gorgeous day, lighting the sky many different colours.

I'm sure you are both enjoying wee Ezra being out in this world so much now! I can't wait to blog his newborn shoot very soon! Thanks for letting me be part of this exciting stage of life! xx

Rachel and Andrew's wedding, on January 6th, was a truly magnificent day! Their ceremony was held in the beautiful St. Pauls Church in Invercargill, and the reception in the intricate and immaculate Civic Theatre! It was such a huge privilege to be part of their extremely special day. Rachel was a serenely graceful bride, she just floated through the day so perfectly! Their classic, 'romantic elegance' theme suited them completely, and the love they share is something incredibly special.

Today I am going to let the photos do the story-telling... take in the emotions, look at the beauty, adore the details, and feel the love...

Thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of your amazing day, Rachel and Andy! You and your bridal party were all amazing and so much fun! I hope you enjoyed your wee sneak peek of photos! All the best for your happy life together as husband and wife! xx