First of all, I need to say that Carrie is basically springtime, personified. She’s light and fun and has the warmest smile… and Lee - is her perfect match.

I can’t actually put into words how incredible my journey into wedding photography has been, as the first 3 couples I’ve had the privilege of working with have looked at each other with such honest love - it’s just humbling to have been invited into that.

Although I only met Carrie a month or so ago - I grew up with her big sister when we were like 7 or 8, and my Mum had known her Mum since they were at school together - so there was already a nice level of familiarity.

But arriving at her brother and sister-in-law’s house on the day of the wedding? That was INCREDIBLE. So - first of all - if her sister in law ever starts a wedding venue or some form of air b’n’b - just go there! Their home was beautiful, but more than that - so were they!! My first introduction to Amelia was her walking into her own bedroom, and me in there photographing the dress and rings! lol.

She was warm and inviting and there wasn’t a moment where I felt like I was out of place in their home. And - even with some familiarity by knowing the family a long time ago - as someone who’s essentially a stranger hanging around in your home on your wedding day - that’s such a nice feeling.

On top of that, I was given strict instructions to help myself to food and drinks as I wanted it during the day, with different people often insisting that I should just sit and chill for a few minutes and get in before everyone else did.

Arriving at the venue

So - I arrive at this incredible home around 10:30, and just start by taking photos of the kids and basically just hanging out, getting my gear ready, having a nosey around the house and property for where to photograph, and getting to meet the groom.

To say that this was a new photographer’s dream location, is quite an understatement - having the ability to shoot in such a beautiful space really gives you just so much more freedom, rather than having to take more time to find the “right” place to photograph something. There was just options everywhere I turned.

And that was totally true of doing the detail shots too - Carrie took me up to the master bedroom, and it was just PERFECT. The sun streaming in. The cat on the floor, the gorgeous colour scheme… just everything was dreamy.

One thing I noticed, being new to wedding photography, is that it’s always a little overwhelming being in someone elses space and that can be kind of distracting. So far, I’ve looked back on all of my weddings and seen things or thought of things I missed at the time - but I know that with more practice, that will become second nature.

Anyway - back to the wedding - and the all important “detail” shots.

I always find that just randomly taking photos around the house and property and of the kids and animals, is a great way for people to get used to me being there. Some of the younger cousins were following me around, curious what I was doing and why I was there - but it gives them that time for you to get “boring” before the important parts of the day.

And when people relax because you’re not constantly pointing a lens at them from the moment you step through the door… when you DO turn the camera on them, they notice less.

And so the official preparations begin…

Ok - so Carrie is an excellent organiser and having done cheffing work, incredible at organising food too! So the food was sorted, laid out, labeled and ready for the “real” chefs to arrive later that day to pull it all together. So with the kitchen stuff done, it was officially time to start getting ready.

But just like the rest of the event, everything was laid back. So although these photos below show the “official” getting ready, there was downtime, chilling with a cold drink, touching base with their sweet little girl, and just cruising through.

I delivered a final gallery of 659 photos and although these are some of the highlights, I like to make sure I get a lot of little family moments too. Not every photo is the highlight reel. Often it’s just moments of them getting ready, the kids playing in the lounge, other family members hanging out waiting or sorting final details. And I also think - while I’m grateful my clients allow me to share their photos on my social sites for my own personal portfolio building - I also like to respect that there are a lot of “in between” moments that are just for the couple and their family. Which is why I never share a full gallery here on my blog.

Also, these wild flowers were just gorgeous!! Carrie got them from a local vendor - Whimsy Wild Flowers. “Spray free seasonal blooms” - so if you’re after some just beautiful flowers and you’re local to the Thames / Hauraki region - check them out.

The Ceremony

Before the ceremony I quickly changed cards - I knew I still had a couple of hundred on my existing card - but what if they ran out JUST as the celebrant said “you may now kiss the bride”???

So, I changed them. I did end up coming back and using up most of the second pair of cards - just over 3000 images all up over both sets of cards.

As we waited for everyone to come out to the front lawn, the Celibrant, Georgia, (a friend of Carrie’s which I thought was lovely!) told me about how her car broke down on the way from Auckland and how her hubby showed up and swapped cars with her so she could get down in time. AND her gorgeous blue dress wasn’t ruined, thankfully, from having to change a tyre! #herohubby So a big shout out to the unseen heroes of the day!!

The ceremony was set up in the front lawn under a HUGE tree. And although it wasn’t my favourite spot from a photography perspective because it caused a lot of dappled light on everyone (still not something I’m super great at photographing), it was almost fairy-tale like and a beautiful spot to be married.

The flower girls were cute, the sun was shining, the bride was basically just springtime herself, and the groom looked as though he thought he was the luckiest man ever.

After the Ceremony

After the ceremony, everyone grabbed a quick drink and took the chairs around to the reception area. A quick interlude before we all went back out the front for group photos (with me atop the pool ladder to get everyone in! lol). I always try to make fun of myself to get people relaxed and the suggestion of me falling off the ladder at least seemed to get a giggle from some of the kids. :)

Following that was food prep and relaxing - and it would be remiss of me if I didn’t include the food and the incredible “team” helping out behind the scenes, which I think deserve a shout out. One of Carrie’s best mates, Sophie (who also helped with final makeup touches and taking the cute flower girls down the isle); Amelia’s Mum (who made the most insane charteutery boards!); and funnily enough, and the “professional chefs” promised earlier proved to be the boys from Cafe Melbourne - both of which I went to Kindergarten with… I’m not kidding when I say that SO many people are connected in the weirdest ways in our small town!! lol.

Truthfully, I’m probably forgetting people, but it’s so neat to watch everyone come together to help out. And the food was AMAZING. Sophie made me put my camera down and get some and go and eat. <3 (Thanks Soph!)

Everything was incredible, but Pete’s eye fillet was by far my favourite of the night.

Golden Hour Shots

We were treated to two great musicians on the evening - Lee’s brother in law, Brendon Husband (who’s recently dropped an album I believe - so check out his Insta here), and Pete’s (yep, the chef) brother, Simon Donald. I haven’t checked the videos from the evening yet - but if they’re good - I promise to put up a snippet of them playing together. It was riveting.

In the midst of all of this, was discussions of getting the speeches done so the kids could go to bed and the adults could chill for the evening. So I didn’t think I should interrupt the flow for extra shots. Thankfully, Lee and Carrie found me and asked! So we climbed the fence into the paddock next to us (trying to avoid the cow and sheep you-know-what on the ground) and got a few fun shots.

Posing people is still not my strong suit, but we went for just snuggling and having kisses, twirling each other, and the good ol’ “walking towards the camera”. We tried dipping… but that just didn’t go as planned! lol. It was a lot of fun, though, and I’m pretty happy with some of the images we got from it - plus super grateful to have had the opportunity for that style of photos. When they work, they’re super cool.

Final Thoughts

Even though I was there from about 10:30 in the morning till 8pm - most of the day was super relaxed. And that’s a big nod to Carrie + Lee who created a stress free day, but also the huge amount of family + friends pitching in.

From my perspective, it’s given me more confidence to keep going forward with wedding photography while simultaneously being able to spot areas that I can definitely improve in! Having an extra set of cards would make me feel a little more relaxed - towards the end I was worrying that I might run out of shots… but thankfully, it was just the perfect amount.

I also did video on my other camera this time - so I’m looking forward to pulling that into a short video for them too - again - testing out my skills, so I’m never wanting to promise something I can’t deliver. But every experience is one step closer to becoming and better photographer and videographer.

As with my other two weddings - it was a joy and a blessing to be involved and I could absolutely see myself doing this as a full-time job. What a phenomenal job to have - to get paid to capture love in a time capsule.