Natalie and Will's wedding happened before Christmas. I tell you what, FORGET about Kate and Wills. Forget about that dress that took a team of artisans to produce, forget about all that wedding dress anticipation... and listen to this:

Natalie's mum made her dress (and before you think "homemade" - think again). It took a year. That was like, her job... for a year. Two weeks before the wedding she got about 5 hours sleep a night because she was finishing the dress. And she is an incredible seamstress. This wedding dress combines 3 separate patterns, an engineered bodice, a big train, hundreds of hours of hand embroidery, including their initials and wedding logo. Natalie's grandmother's dress is sewn into the detail work on the shoulder.

The dress was a complete secret. Only Natalie, her mother and the dog viewed it before the big day. The suspense was incredible because everyone knew about Liz's talent - she'd made wedding dresses in the past, for other people. This was the culmination of all her seamstress work, her piece de resistance.

The dedication and generosity and love involved in making the dress was evident in every part of this wedding. In the afternoon tea that took relatives all week to produce, every little handmade detail that has been Natalie's labour of love all year, the jams she made as favours with her bridesmaids, the rocks that were collected from West Coast beaches, the fish that was caught for dinner, the flowers her auntie arranged, and in the story of Natalie and Will's relationship.

I don't want to come over all wedding-photographer-cheesy on the blog, but what a complete honour it was to be a part of this day.

Nb: Liana is getting pretty skilled on camera number 2. Her shots on the blog will now have a little 'by Liana' watermark.

An image from Natalie and Will's wedding just before Christmas..

Jonwin and Bob's wedding was great fun. Their families are big on love and laughter, and the day was organised so that family were part of each stage of the wedding. There were lots of cute children around (one of Jonwin's nephews I could imagine as an older Elmer. Very sweet), good food, dancing, heartfelt vows, humour, pretty details, big personalities and a few tears.

Bob is a builder. Yes. So the table centrepieces were cute, hand drawn characters from the television show. Jonwin works in farming, so before we arrived at the venue (Grandview Gardens), we stopped off at a cattle yard for some glamourous shots of the ladies. Jonwin purchased a brand new pair of RedBands (iconic kiwi gumboot/wellie) for her wedding. I'm not sure how many other brides out there can claim that...

Oh and Sunshine Video and Design from Queenstown filmed the day. First time I've met them - very lovely people.

Some favourites for the blog then...

I love how at weddings I get to find out so much about people I have only met quite recently. Misty and Simon for example, have been living in the UK until a few weeks ago, so we only got to chat on Skype. I got the impression that they were very relaxed, funny, gregarious and welcoming people. However it isn't really until you hear how other people talk about someone during a speech, or the way people interact with their families that those impressions really sink in. Family and friends are hugely important to these two, and it was heartwarming to see how many people came from afar to celebrate with them.

The wedding was at Woodstock in the Catlins, somewhere that is both close to where Misty grew up, and a place that Simon fell in love with when he first visited here (Simon is British). He's a surf dude. We popped to the beach after the ceremony for some photographs. The water does look tempting, but only to those who have a REALLY warm wetsuit.

Misty and Simon couldn't stop thanking people all day - me, the caterer, the catering staff, the barman, the flower girl and page boy. Such lovely, sweet people, it was an honour to spend the day with them. A few photographs then:

I only met Janie and Andy about two weeks before their wedding. They are both laid back, lovely, friendly people, and put their trust in me entirely for their wedding photography, which is very flattering since Janie is a really creative person. She MADE the bouquets you see here, which looked stunning with her wedding dress, and the whole simple yet elegant country style of the day.

The wedding was held under one of my favourite giant trees at Chingford, and the reception was literally across the road from Janie and Andy's house in St Clair! There is a little hidden away hall down an alley there that seems straight out of the 1940s. Janie's decorations, with hundreds of cute doilies, simple little flower vases and tealight holders fitted perfectly. It was like being transported to a village wedding from the past. Loved it.

Janie and Andy met before the wedding at their home so we did some location photographs after that. Then the wedding itself was really sweet, with lovely readings and an intimate air, all bathed in dappled afternoon light....