Barry is Scottish, and Nicky is from Dunedin, so this wedding featured quite a few of Barry's family and friends who flew over from Scotland, complete with kilts and lovely Scottish accents. The weather was pretty Scottish too, so everyone fitted in nicely.

I have to say, having communicated with Nicky and Barry mostly by email (they live in Wellington), it was really lovely spending the day with them (I only met Barry just before the wedding), and all their guests. Everyone was so welcoming.

The service, at Grandview Gardens, was simple and moving, and the day eased from one part to another in a relaxed, seamless way. In the evening the sun came out and lovely warm light poured into the barn just before the dancing started.

We rented a crib (I believe that's what I'm meant to call the holiday cottage here) in Peel Forest, near Geraldine for me, Elmer and my parents. All we did for 5 days was walk in the forest, go to the park, eat nice food, play records on the old record player, read books and play scrabble. There was a tree house in the garden that Elmer climbed to fly his helicopter, and a little bridge over a stream. The television was in a cupboard and pretty much stayed there the whole time. I must say, I feel a lot more relaxed than I did before we left.

Oh and Elmer is totally in love with his grandparents.

This was my second wedding in a row where we got to race around in golf carts scouting out photogenic locations. How cool is that?

Nicky and Nick had a beautiful outdoor ceremony at Clearwater in Christchurch, and from my very first dealings with them were super relaxed and trusting of me. Christchurch was hot and sunny, and a large part of the wedding day was spent just hanging out, enjoying the fine weather. Nick played some mini golf with the boys. Nicky and the girls enjoyed their luxury hotel room complete with balcony overlooking the lake. The sun discreetly hid behind a cloud for the ceremony and then popped out again. After dinner, the kids ran about on the big lawns, infront of a pretty pink sunset.

Considering at one point there was a possibility the hotel couldn't be used for the reception due to earthquake damage, I think the day turned out pretty well. Which was fabulous, considering Nicky and Nick are such lovely, genuine people.

Been meaning to blog this for a while. It's Elmer and his little girlfriend Erin. I love almost everything about this photograph..

Hello! My second couple called Sarah and James this wedding season - what are the odds?! This particular Sarah and James live in the UK, and actually married early (for visa/work type reasons) over a year ago, always with the intention of travelling back to NZ to celebrate with their family and friends and a really fabulous Kiwi wedding. I was conscious of this when we did our location photographs, trying to make sure we captured lots of iconic New Zealandness in the images.

Things I loved about this wedding: The strawbale house the girls got ready in (ey ey?!); the beautiful art gallery the ceremony was held in that used to be a dairy (and I mean dairy in the British sense rather than the NZ sense); the dress with cool winged back... but mainly, I loved how super super excited and happy Sarah and James were to be marrying eachother. Just look at the expressions during the ceremony and after. Honestly. Just lush.