What sort of bride are you? It's probably the biggest question to consider after 'will you marry me' and for classic bride, Amy, planning her perfect wedding to Ryan was easy after answering that second big question.
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When you're in the business of being front and centre at dozens of big white weddings every year, how do you decide to exchange your own vows? For Taupo celebrant Samantha Johnston, the answer was simple; very differently. With only eight guests (plus me tagging along in lucky 9th place), Sam and Brad eloped to exclusive New Zealand hunting lodge, Poronui, tucked away in the crisply beautiful Taharua Valley.
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One of the most wonderful things about being a wedding photographer is seeing how an event with so many common elements can be interpreted so differently by individuals who bring their own story and aesthetic to their day. Michael and Saasha were a fantastic couple to work with because with their wedding, as with their love for each other, they knew right from the start what they wanted.
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Ashlin and Elyse got hitched in Hawke's Bay at a lovely, laid-back little winery called Crab Farm, just on the edge of the coastal settlement of Bay View, near Napier. The wedding they wanted was 'chic boho' with a chilled and relaxed vibe. "That's why we chose Crab Farm, because it ticked all those boxes'.
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Hawke's Bay weddings pose a bit of a conundrum: coast or country? There is so much of both that it can often be hard to decide, so Nikky and Sam found a little off-the-beaten-track place where they could combine both. Clifton Cafe is authentically Kiwi. From the red corrugated iron through to the simple number-8 fencing wire separating the paddock from the wide expanse of the South Pacific Ocean. Under a home-made floral arch in front of their friends and family, this is Nikky and Sam's love story. We hope you enjoy it!
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A picture is said to tell a thousand words, and in so many ways I find this to be true when photographing people in love. But I still believe in the power of words to put love in context, generate emotion and record history in the same ways we do with our cameras. Douglas' speech after he married his childhood sweetheart, Sophia, was so honestly written that I asked if he would let me share it with you. This is their love story, told by our images...and his words...
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James and Jo's great love began 14 years ago and it was amazing to see how the emotional energy created by a wedding day was able to take them both back there to the feelings we all remember from the start of a relationship.
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There are a couple of things key things that, as a photographer, contribute to making a wedding really memorable and special for me. First, it's good, old-fashioned chemistry. A couple who are IN LOVE, all capitals. It's nothing to do with how they look, it's all about how they are together. Secondly, it's a location that isn't just beautiful, but historical. A place that has generations of family memories layered on it, and I'm a big part of making some more very special ones.
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Occasionally people ask if I ever get bored shooting weddings (I've shot about 600, so it's a fair question!). I can confidently say 'no' because, for me, it's not the wedding that excites and interests me, it's the people. And even though it's bound to happen someday, I've yet to shoot the same bride twice. And I've never shot a bride like Kelly. She is a free spirit, a courageous, strong woman with the softest heart. When I found out she was getting married on my 40th birthday at Waipatiki Beach, I knew I had my party plans sorted.
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We are mostly Hawke's Bay wedding photographers, but for that reason, we love the chance for a good old-fashioned roadie to discover new creative spaces for wedding photography and to tell different stories. It's especially cool (literally and figuratively!) when the roadie is to Waihi Beach right bang smack in the middle of winter.
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London locals, Katy and Andrew really wanted a proper Kiwi home-coming for their wedding, and so the lovely little locations of Eskdale and Bay View (where Katy grew up) set the scene for a gloriously simple and beautiful Hawke's Bay country wedding.
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After a long love affair, Michali and Bree made things official at Millar Road, high on the Hawke's Bay hills looking back to the coastline of Napier and in the heart of the beautiful Tukituki valley. "We picked the venue because it was somewhere different that most people hadn't herd of.
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It was a treat for us to take our creative show on the road to Oreti Village in the tiny lakeside settlement of Pukawa, on the western shores of Lake Taupo. A wilderness of native New Zealand bush and early Maori and Colonial history, the area promised us some exciting opportunities to play in a very different landscape from our normal haunts as Hawke's Bay wedding photographers.
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Ben and Ruth are a chilled out Kiwi couple who believe in keeping it real. They wanted a wedding that reflected that, with a focus on friends, family and the things that matter rather than the complicated trimmings. A country wedding at the chocolate-box-cute church down the road from Ruth's parents' home was followed by a reception at the local hall of small Hawke's Bay settlement, Maraekakaho.
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Graeme and Lasi have a big love, and so it went without saying their wedding would reflect that, with 400 guests and 42 in the bridal party creating a unique and truly awesome challenge for us...
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