On a hot and humid day, friends and family gathered by Turtle Lake at the Hamilton Gardens to witness Cliff & Ellie’s beautiful wedding ceremony. While sweat literally poured off the groom’s forehead, perhaps quietly wondering why he chose a full black suit for a summer wedding, I’m sure that was momentarily put aside as his gorgeous bride made her way down the stairs toward him. Ellie was looking stunning in her uniquely designed dress, as were the entire bridal party. We just loved their rustic orange theme – its no secret that we love orange around here! We had a fantastic afternoon with Ellie & Cliff as we made our way around all the great themed gardens that Hamilton has to offer. Unfortunately without a designated ‘bar man’ the bridal party was quite parched by the time we had finished, so we trucked through as quick as we could before heading back to Auckland for their reception at Cafe Mosaic.
Cliff and Ellie, thank you for letting us share your wonderful day with you and your family. As was mentioned in the numerous speeches, your love for one another is truely evident & you compliment each other so well. We wish you both all the best. Here’s a few of our favourites from the day. Enjoy!
Eighteen months is such a cute age. Kids just have a mind of their own, and Piper certainly did today. We had to keep up with different props and distractions to keep her occupied before she moved onto the next thing. Getting her to sit still in one spot was the goal for the session! Piper has changed so much from her 1 year session. It will be interesting to see what she’s like at her 2 year old session! 
Here’s a few to enjoy.
What could possibly be better than A wedding? I’d say having two of them! That’s exactly what we got up to today with Rupesh and Kamini. We began the day literally at the crack of dawn (thats 6.45am for those that are still asleep at that time!) as Kamini and her sisters got ready at their family home in Pukekohe for the first of their ceremonies for the day. I absolutely love all of the colours of the rainbow you get to see with indian weddings. The detail in all of their saris, the jewellery and everything that goes into them is absolutely gorgeous. Kamini looked stunning in her wedding sari and I’m sure I could have photographed her all morning!Their indian ceremony was held at the amazing Shri Swaminarayan Temple in Avondale and was followed by an indian meal for lunch, which was enjoyed by the 300+ guests who shared in their celebrations.
Later in the afternoon we ventured back out to the south out to the beautiful Castaways. Rupesh and Kamini chose this stunning venue for their 2nd ceremony of the day, out on the clifftop overlooking Kariotahi beach. What had started off as a beautiful sunny day, had soon changed into looming thunderstorms and rain, but even a few drops during the ceremony was not enough to dampen anyone’s spirits. We quickly headed down to the beach for a few shots before the wind and rain saw us headed back up to the chalets after only 10 minutes. The shower soon passed and the clouds parted ever so slightly to let through some amazing golden sunlight. Its not often during summer that we get to photograph in this kind of light (an hour before sunset – the golden hour!), so we were rather excited when the long grassy field at the back of the chalet lit up against the stormy skies behind. The whole bridal party were fantastic and we had everyone back down at the function centre in time for dinner. Shortly after dinner we managed to sneak out for some beautiful sunset shots which finished off a long but fantastic day.
We wish Rupesh & Kamini all the best with their future together as husband and wife, and thank you so much for letting us share in your special day. Here’s a sneak peek of a few favourites, and seeing as there was two weddings, we’ll share double the amount! Enjoy!
This afternoon we headed just down the road to check out the new Barry Curtis Park with all its weird and wonderful sculptures . There were all sorts of places we could have used, including a childrens playground with a very ‘kiwi’ flavour to it. A nest of pukeko eggs, along with the giant pukekos themselves form part of the themed Wetlands playground. We met up with the Ferguson-Ikihele family for some casual family portraits and had a lot of fun doing so. All of the kids were fantastic, and how cute are they!? We finished the session down in amongst the sculptures and pukekos, while the kids scrambled up and over all sorts of obstacles. We wish the Ferguson-Ikihele family all the best with their upcoming wedding! Here’s a sneak peek..
I was lucky enough this weekend to have a bit more time to sit and relax, in between editing. With a postponed shoot on Saturday, my first shoot for the weekend wasn’t until Sunday afternoon, so when Deja came to see me in the studio along with her dog Mojo, I was relaxed, refreshed and ready to go. We had great fun chasing bubbles around with the help of a bubble machine, even Mojo was in on the game, chasing what he could! I’ve done lots of shoots with bubbles before, but I tell you, a bubble machine beats blowing with a stick and bottle of solution any day! Such a great idea. With all sorts of other toys to keep Deja entertained, we began her in the studio and finished off with some casual shots outside with Deja and her mum, Tania. Here’s a sneak peek of a few faves, enjoy…
With new years, traditionally comes resolutions and one of ours is to share with you a bit more about ourselves. We’re sure it appears that all we do with our time is take photos of babies, families and weddings – and anything otherwise is spent hiding behind the computers editing and sending photos out! But not all of our time is spent chained to our desks, on the odd occasion we find some spare minutes, sometimes we’re lucky to get hours! And so we’d like to start blogging a bit about some of the other hopefully interesting (or at least not completely boring!) things we do with our time (when we find it) – so that you can see we’re people too, and not just robots. :)
One of Aaron’s hobbies is cacti growing. Luckily these things are pretty slow growing, so they don’t mind if we don’t see them often. Eventually these plants will take their place in a themed garden, but until then the back yard closely resembles Saguaro National Park! Believe it or not, these are all very different plants. To say our yard is a little child-unfriendly is putting it mildly Although most only seem to touch them once!
Also, change is good, so we’re starting the new year off with bigger picture sizes because bigger is always better!
Beautiful Caitlyn was born before Christmas, but in the madness of the silly season, we’ve only just found time to catch up with Emma & Brandon for Caitlyns portraits. Emma featured on our blog back in November with her maternity photos, with their first daughter Elsbeth. While we didn’t manage any sleeping photos today with Caitlyn, we still got some great photos of her along with big sister Elsbeth. Here’s a few faves!
The forecast rain for this evening never eventuated, which was great for Mike & Susan’s engagement portrait session down at Mellons Bay beach. It certainly looked very threatening over the Coromandel Peninsula and made for a fantastic dramatic backdrop. It definately didn’t look like a day for a walk on the beach, although it felt warm enough! We tried to keep things quick just in case it did decide to bucket down, but it worked out well. We love doing Engagement sessions as they’re a good way to get to know a couple before their wedding day, and it gives everyone a chance to work with each other, so there is a bit of familiarity when it comes to the wedding day. We had a great session with Mike & Susan and look forward to their wedding in late February! Enjoy.
It was a fantastic day in Auckland today despite weather forecasts, which I was thankful for, as we had a busy day with three sessions at the beach today! Stacey, David & Jack travelled all the way up from Matamata for some family portraits and a weekend up in Auckland. I love it when people come from all over, especially out of Auckland. We started off with some quick photos in the studio and then headed down to Cockle Bay for a few more relaxed shots. Unfortunately the tide was right out at this time, and when it goes out here its WAY out! We managed to get away from the mud flats and crowds though to a more scenic area around the point and while I took some shots of Stacey & David, Jack found some rock pools which were a whole load of fun! Here’s a sneak peek of some faves from the session. Enjoy!
I got to see my two favourite girls again tonight for some for more photos, this time sharing the time with their cousins. It was so much fun trying to get 6 little kids to sit in one spot, looking in the same direction, at the same time! So after all of that, we were left with Ella and her baby sister Olivia, who she loves very much. She’s such a little mummy, its so cute! Always fussing, and concerned if there is any crying to be heard. Ella is no stranger to our blog, and she’s so great with the camera, always pulling out a smile
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