Rebecca and Jonathan's wedding day started early for me. At dawn, Roisin, Elmer and I drove back from Wanaka to arrive in Dunedin late morning. The wind was gale force, it was cold, cloudy and I think in Waitati it was raining. I seem to talk about the weather a lot but it is so extreme over here! Honestly, it could not have been any more miserable outside.

In contrast to the great outdoors, the homes where Rebecca and Jonathan were getting ready were full of friendly, warm faces, with what seemed like tens of family members all getting ready together! I love houses that are full of books and photographs and ornaments, special things that people have collected over the years. Liana and I felt instantly at home! Plus, I just love the way the light works in older houses, bouncing off high ceilings and wooden floors.

So despite the weather, we started on a good note and the rest of the day flowed beautifully. There were a couple of minor mis-haps, including some missing wedding rings, and a broken down car. The kinds of things you could really do without on your wedding day, but we just used the down-time these episodes provided to capture some family portraits that we otherwise wouldn't have had time for. Plus these two carried off any hiccups with smiles and grace. I was really impressed.

Rebecca is pregnant with baby number two. Baby number one is Amalia, a total cutie with a big exciteable fun streak, and a penchant for digging her teeth into bare flesh. Elmer does the same thing, so that's reassuring.

On to the photographs! (Lots of kid photographs, but they're my favourite type from this wedding....)

I know I went home to the UK last year for a while, but I feel like I haven't had a proper holiday for ages. The relaxing/beach/ice-cream/reading-a-whole-novel-in-one-day kind of holiday.

It was so lovely to hang out in Wanaka for a very short amount of time with my sister and Elmer. I can't wait to do more of this soon.

Sarah cried through most of her and Chris's wedding ceremony last week at The Venue in Wanaka, and I love that! So much of a wedding can be taken up with planning the details, worrying about the weather, getting the seating plan right.. that the real emotion of the ceremony gets a little overlooked. In this instance the details were gorgeous (I love all the different colours that Sarah chose, and they worked so well together!), and the wedding itself was full of happiness, tears and laughter.

The day before the ceremony was hot, sunny and calm, but unfortunately D day was cold, cloudy and very, very windy (it seems my wedding-weather luck has run out). Some of the spots we'd chosen for location photographs had to be ditched because the gales were too strong, but I actually prefer more sheltered spots - I like the more interesting light and the cosy enclosed feel. We did brave the shores of Lake Wanaka for about 20 seconds and I snapped a few images whilst trying not to get blown away...

These two are lovely, generous people and included me in their meal plan. I tell you what, the food at The Venue is AMAZING! Wowee. I have another wedding here in July (Karina and Nick - Chief Bridesmaid and MC for Chris and Sarah) and I can't wait!!

I just love having my sister here on holiday, and that is honestly (mainly) because she is a hilarious, chatty, interesting person. But of course a minor benefit is the fact that she can babysit whilst I work. Elmer is in LOVE. So... I've had time to do long hours of editing and have some images to blog from Sienna and Hayden's wedding this weekend.

My run of incredible wedding-weather-luck continues! (I hope I haven't jinxed that by stating it on the blog...) I left Waitati on Sunday morning under cold, heavy clouds. By the time S & H's wedding began at Islington in Mosgiel... it was hot, sunny and beautiful. What can I say? I should charge extra.

This wedding was beautiful in a very classic way with Sienna's stunning floaty dress and hair (I love her veil), her seven bridesmaids in dusky pink, groomsmen (and woman) in simple white and black and gorgeous summery garden details. The huge established trees at Islington added a bit of gravitas to the scene, and the ceremony was intimate with lovely personal vows.

When I asked Sienna and Hayden what they fancied for our post-wedding photoshoot Sienna waved her hand and said "whatever you think!" These two are so relaxed, but especially with eachother,. They have such a lovely way together, and are obviously (to me) madly in love...

****NOTE - After I wrote this blog post, Steven did some further enquiries in the chicken pen. It seems a terrible mistake has been made (of the type you might find in a Victorian body switching tradgedy) - HUSSEIN IS NOT DEAD!!! His son, a lesser gent, is actually the victim. Steven thinks some kind of family drama may have taken place whereby Hussein felt it necessary to knock off one of his younger sons. Those roosters are little brutes, so we imagine it would have all been entirely necessary. They are (as Steven puts it) "pretenders to the throne". *****

Steven found him this morning lying in the grass. He thinks a stoat got him. I'm quite sad - I liked Hussein and his gentlemanly ways. He's certainly had his moments....

We got him just over 2 years ago, and kept him in a cage until we made him a chicken coop. He made a grand attempt at escape, and had Steven chasing him over fences, under bushes, across paddocks. One of the funniest sights I've ever seen I think. We named him Hussein (mistakenly at the time) after Usain Bolt, the 100m champion.

He used to stand with Donna and Mavis, staring in at me (when we lived in a tent!!!) for long periods of time...

He made suspicious footprints in our new barn, rampaged through the tent stealing my salmon dinner, and enjoyed spending time roaming around with his laydees for company.