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.
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.
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...
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.
There's a wish-list most couples have when it comes to the perfect wedding. But dreams are sometimes hard to transform to reality, so I was absolutely stoked with the way Sam and Gareth's Black Barn Market wedding finally came together.
Anyone planning a wedding knows they can be complicated. That's why we adore engagement sessions. They are, quite simply, about two people in love. There's no dress to fuss over, no bridal party looking on, no timelines to stick to beyond those set by Mother Nature and there aren't 100 people waiting for us to hurry up and be creative so the party can get started.
Rochelle and Mark imagined a wedding that was 'a bit traditional but with pops of fun and colour and a spash of glam'. The Mission provided the perfect backdrop for that when we all came together for their spring wedding day.
Every time I've had an email from a bride asking me to shoot their wedding at Oruawharo in Central Hawke's Bay, I've rushed to my diary in a fever of excitement and always been gutted to discover I'm already booked. When Kate got in touch almost 18 months ago, I was like a kid in a candy story to discover I was free as a bird on her date. When we met at the grand old homestead for High Tea and a planning session, my excitement levels blew out entirely...
I met Rachel at a wedding at the start of the season.When she told me she was planning her own big day I immediately started a subliminal 'pick me, pick me' chant, which turned into what I call 'The Photographer's Dance of Joy' when she booked me a little while later. What a fox. Add to this a 110-watt smile brought on in the presence of new hubby Dan, and you have a recipe for incredible wedding photography.
We all know weddings are about love, commitment and happy every after. But one thing that became pretty clear as Emma and Pete's day went on is that it was also about having the most fun day of their lives, bar none. Happiness is one of the most intoxicating drugs, and by the time these two were spinning on the dance floor at Craggy Range Winery, my entire face was hurting from smiling so much.
The very first shot I took at Innes and Carrie's Hawke's Bay wedding pretty much set the tone for the rest of the day: Carrie was sitting cross-legged on the floor getting a massage from her Aunty. Being relaxed on your wedding day is something all brides aspire to but few can pull it off.
Ashlee & Nick had their 'first look' beside the Maimai on the property they recently bought and will one day live on. I like to think that every time Nick now goes duck shooting there with the lads, he'll also remember the very first moment he saw his future wife.
For Ashhurst dairy farmers Wendy & Richie, June 20th, 2015 was a day on the farm unlike any other. For a start, the milking shed was swapped for an in-home salon, where six already foxy besties rapidly turned into six smoking hot bridesmaids, and the girl everyone knows and loves in gumboots and jeans had her Cinderella moment and was transformed.
Kathryn & Craig's wedding was in the last of the April light at the picture-postcard-perfect country church, Christ Church at Pukehou. A reception at Sileni Estate winery followed. Photography by Eva Bradley.
A white dress with lashings of black lace, a Harley Davidson thundering down the drive and two people in love while the sun sets. Sounds like a wedding worth looking at. Cole & Ellyce were married at The Old Church, Napier, in March.
While boys dream of growing up and driving diggers, little girls dream of finding Mr. Right and having the perfect white wedding. Some of those dreams were doubtless had while Margot was a student sitting quietly in the beautiful chapel of her school, Woodford House
The Farm at Cape Kidnappers is one of the most beautiful destination wedding venues in New Zealand. 6,000 acres of jaw-dropping land and seascapes wrap around the rim of the Pacific Ocean along the rugged coastline of Hawke's Bay.Rustic luxury dominates the architecture, which takes its cue from the original woolshed still operating at this exclusive New Zealand wedding venue
There is something special about working with a couple who are high school sweethearts. A friendship and natural intimacy that has come from formative years spent walking along life's path together.
For a Hawkes Bay wedding photographer, the first country wedding of summer is an aphrodisiac a little like falling in love. Pair me and my lens with historic Greenhill Lodge with its jaw-dropping backdrop of rolling hills and it is hard to imagine a more perfect match
Falling in love is not something that happens literally to people, unless you're Hamish, of course. Eight years ago he walked into a student flat in Palmerston North and was so overwhelmed when he saw his future wife for the very first time that he fell over the clothes horse. A few impressive dance moves the following night (which he busted out again on their wedding day) and Bridget was his. Forever, as it turned out.
Most weddings end on the dance floor, but for Alice and Duncan that was where it all began. In a star-crossed DJ-meets-dancer moment of modern love, these two met and life was never the same again.Fast forward a few years and the late-night club was replaced by a glorious Hawkes Bay winery wedding.
Emma & Matthew embraced the low-light loveliness of autumn for their wedding at The Mission Estate Winery in Taradale, Hawkes Bay. It is one of those beautiful New Zealand winery wedding venues that offers glorious photography opportunities all in one place.
When Philly walked down the aisle towards her soon-to-be-husband Nick, it seemed like the planets had momentarily aligned to create wedding perfection right here on earth. Beautiful summer's-end light made the distant ocean sparkle and the vines shine. Throw in a bit of happy-ever-after and you easily have one of life's great moments unfolding.
The only thing better on a wedding day than the romantic low-lit spaces inside Church Road Winery is a splash of blue sky over the bright green vines in the hills above this Hawkes Bay wedding venue.
A truly autumnal wedding filled with low light, deep colours, and two people in love...and laughter. Rob and Caroline Herbert were married at The Old Church in Meeanee, Hawkes Bay.
Love is a little like a maze...sometimes you take a few wrong turns to find the right path. Long-term soul mates Rose and Jeremy Jones are one of those lucky couples who went right past all the dead-ends to lucky-in-love right from the start.
When tiny blonde pocket rocket Melissa turned up at my studio with a grin and told me to think 'Big Fat Gypsy Weddings' when I imagined her dress, I had mixed feelings. Would she be lost amid a haze of tulle and tiaras? Would she even fit in the car? None of my fears came true, but a fairy tale did, starting with 'that' dress.
Like all good love affairs, my one with Andrew and Nikki Mills' wedding day started in the bedroom. Laid out on on the blood red brocade of the Old Church Villa's 'red' bed was a treasure trove of loveliness to photograph; sparkling diamonds, soft rose petals in muted hues, satin gowns and (sigh)...Badgely Mischka heels. Yes, it was love at first sight
Weddings are about two people and about family. For Kate and Logan, this was especially true as they exchanged vows 'at home' in the country setting of Kate's parents' property in Pakowhai, Hawke's Bay.
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.