Nico and Helga - Castaways Wedding

We were at our favourite venue Castaways again lately - this time for Nico and Helga's wedding. They had flown in from the Netherlands for their ceremony and the weather was hot and brilliant. Luna - their daughter was such a delight.

It was a great day for paragliders too - and many shots were taken as they floated past down towards the Karioitahi surf. After the ceremony and family photos on the cliff edge, it was down to the beach for some fun relaxed shots. Sally, with her new camera, was with us to assist again -thanks so much Sally :)

There was a distinct Dutch theme to the wedding, not surprisingly! and the colour orange was prominent.

A great sunset favoured us again and we finished off the night with a few late evening family shots.

Thank you so much Nico and Helga - the wedding was so relaxed, it was a pleasure to meet you all and photograph your wedding.

Kelly and Andrew - Auckland Wedding

A quick upload of Kelly and Andrew's wedding in Auckland City recently - and what a marvellous time we all had. The best wedding service ever - in St George's Epsom - and then on to the Auckland domain for a quick photo by the "tree". However a busload of tourists very quickly got in on the act ...cameras everywhere!! No doubt our couple and the wedding party will be famous and feature on a site somewhere in the Northern Hemisphere!

Then on to Sals' Pizza in downtown Auckland - where a number of hot delicious pizzas were demolished rather quickly - then over the Harbour bridge to Northhead and Cheltenham - and then to the reception at the wonderful McHughs.

What a great day, a terrfic wedding and such a wonderful couple. Thanks so much Andrew and Kelly for allowing us to be part of your day ..

Rochelle and Mark - wedding at Castaways

Another super wedding held at Castaways recently, being that of Rochelle and Mark. My first shot of the day was of Rochelle's gorgeous ginger cat, who was wondering I imagine, what all the fuss was about, as he was removed from his perfect grassy hideaway. The gorgeous flowers were by Lisa Hamilton at Bridal Flowers. After shots of the family and attendants at home - it was then a comfortable ride via Rolls Royce down the southern motorway to Karioitahi. It wasn't long before Rochelle, who was given away by her son Lachlan ,was being piped down the lawn at the Castaways venue, towards Mark and the wedding guests at the cliff edge.

Another windy day on the West Coast and it was perfect for the glider type aircraft zipping past overhead during the perfect wedding ceremony - which was taken by Chaplain David Smith.

After family photos it was off to the beach for fun shots at the beach. Sally was again assisting for the day (thanks so much Sal) and was a wonderful help to us. She has discovered my penchant for jetplans :) and Mr Mike had to make do with what was left!

Rochelle and Mark and the wedding party were great fun and we had the best time - with some terrific images produced, a perfect mix of fun, casual, arty and classic shots. We returned to the Castaways venue later in the evening for the sunset shots and we were rewarded with colourful sunset.

Much thanks again to Rochelle and Mark and the great cast and crew at Castaways for another awesome day!

Tina and Connon Wedding at Castaways

I love New Years weddings - especially those at Castaways. Tina and Connon had travelled from Vancouver, Canada for their wedding held at Castaways. I knew they would be a fun couple after Tina had emailed me a fun shot of them - early in our correspondence.

There was much excitement and a bit of tension before the wedding as the rain swept across the ceremony location early in the afternoon- but it cleared perfectly in time for the wedding on the cliff top.

My favourite wedding shot - that would be :: well there are far too many.

However -I did get an "accidental"shot - which is hilarious - but can't be published here:) and involves a groomsman... He will need to wait to see that one!

The gorgeous peonie flowers were from Flowers by Katrina.

The celebration carried on well into the night and we had such a great time with super couple and their friends and family.

Looking foward to seeing you again sometime when you return to NZ - Thanks for letting us be the ones to share your day, it was such a pleasure to be your photographer.

I love hot chocolate

One of those "things we do" is photograph at Castaways fairly regularly, being our "local" so to speak..

After the biggest part of our part of the wedding day is over (ceremony and photo shoot etc..) - we return to Castaways about 15 minutes or so before sunset. The Bride and Groom come out onto the cliff edge with us and we take sunset photos for about 20 minutes while the sun is going down. Sometimes (well mostly) the sunset is great - other times not so much - but it is always interesting and exciting to see what we get...and 99% of the time there is also wind!

While waiting for the bride and groom (after or between the speeches/dinner) I said in passing to Marcel how I loved hot chocolate... And three minutes later - Voila - a lovely hot chocolate - arrived for me - very yummy and moreish.. Thanks Marcel.!! ... At that time of night the last thing I need is coffee - so hot chocolate filled the gap very nicely, thankyou.

Rumour has it that Marcel will also be Head Boy at Waiuku College this year...Congratulations Marcel - I hope you will still have time to work out at Castaways.

Marcel does have a nice smile, but I managed to catch him totally unawares... You are now on the blog Marcel - you will be in hot demand for more of those hot chocolates I imagine...

See you again :)

Thanks once again so much to Steve and the team - who make our task so much easier and provide awesome service to everyone.

One day we should write a book - -there would be some stories to tell:) based somewhere totally fictious ... of course