Anna and James–Married

James first met Anna when she came into his gym on a mission for smaller thighs.  Being a personal trainer, James put together a program for her, and Anna got straight into it.  James found this pretty lady intriguing and didn’t mind the idea of having a chat sometime.  Anna was only interested in her pursuit for perfect thighs at the gym and so James kept his distance.  Fast forward some time and the pair met again at a mutual friend’s party.  This time James got his chat, and slowly a friendship began to form.

Good things take time, they say, and here we are ten years later wholeheartedly celebrating James and Anna’s wedding.  Old St Mary’s Convent put on a spectacular show of fantastic weather, perfect grass and shade and a stunning backdrop.  Friends and family came from all over the world to watch this amazing wedding, and we were super stoked to be able to photograph it for them!

It doesn’t take much for Anna to look pretty.  In fact, even with a roller or two still stuck in her hair she manages to look like this.

We’ve been training Emily up for a few years now, and I love watching what she comes up with at each wedding.  I LOVE her details shots in front of these lights!

I also love when flower girls are so keen to have their picture taken that they totally photobomb the details.

Caroline Campion is not only a fantastic wedding dress designer, she’s also a good friend of Anna’s.  This puts us in the unique position of having someone beautifully overqualified to iron the wedding dress.  I think I speak for all non-ironing people worldwide, ironing a wedding dress on the wedding day is possibly one of the scariest situations you can find yourself in!  Not for Caroline, though, she handled it without breaking a sweat!

Fantastic floral arrangements by Sarah Beech, created 100% from local flowers.

 

Anna has to be one of the most spectacularly beautiful brides!  Lucky James indeed!

Meanwhile Paul is with James and the boys at the Convent who are working hard at getting themselves looking respectable for the wedding.

Well, a little bit of a run around first never hurt anyone, right?

While this may seem like a prayer circle at first glance, it’s actually a surprise sock giving session.  Thanks to Pipe, all of the boys had super cool aqua and pink socks to wear to the wedding.

James; cool as the proverbial cucumber.

And so the boys head out to greet the guests and await the arrival of Anna and the girls.

And here they come!

I love the Convent for many reasons, not the least of which is the epic trees able to shade 100+ people without any hassle whatsoever!

I could listen to Sarah Brown sing alllllllll day.  And then some.

This would be one shot where I wish I was a videographer.  Instead you’ll just have to believe me when I tell you Anna was SO happy to see James that she was holding his hands and swinging them back and forth and just grinning and grinning.  It was almost like no one else existed.

Married!

It’s no secret that I love veils.  But sometimes they behave like a naughty toddler.

Anna and James had planned the afternoon for the guests.  There were games and food and drinks and sunshine.  And an ice cream truck.  They added time in the day to just stay and chill with their loved ones.  This was even more important to them than going away for photos.

When we did sneak away for photos, we didn’t go far, and we didn’t take long.  But we did have fun!

Beautiful girls!

Some dance moves photograph well, and others, well, perhaps not so much…

At this point James thought that all of the boys were posing just like he was.  Surprise James!

Back with all the guests now, and I find myself attracted to the cute babies like a moth to a flame…

Veils are also a good net if you’re wanting to pick up leaves and twigs quickly.

Once the guests were settled into Marlborough Vintners Hotel, Anna and James made their grand entrance.

I want to claim this shot as my own, as it’s possibly one of my favourite ones of the entire day.  However, I’m pretty sure Paul took it.  Not that we’re competitive at all.  ahem.

James’ sister Tracey was put in charge of creating the wedding cake.  Having never made a wedding cake before, she was understandably nervous.  But Tracey has a fantastic sense of humour, and not letting an opportunity like this pass her by, she thought she’d mess with James and Anna a little before the day.  She bought a cheap, plastic, somewhat nasty looking cake topper and sent pictures of it to James and Anna claiming she had found the perfect topper for their cake, and for only $3!  “That’s totally fine, just do what you like”, was the response she got, proving that Anna is possibly the most chilled and sweet bride ever.  It wasn’t until Anna and James actually saw the beautiful cake (complete with non-naff cake topper) that they realised she was having them on all along.  Well played Tracey.  Well played indeed! 

As is our tradition at summer weddings, when we get to stay at the reception, we LOVE to take our couples out to make the most of that last glimmer of daylight!

If you’re ever looking for a good laugh at your wedding reception, you can’t go wrong with the Shoe Game!  The couple sit back to back and are asked a series of questions pertaining to their relationship.  They then answer the questions by holding up the appropriate shoe.  For example; “Who is the better cook?”  or “Who spends more time looking in the mirror?”

James’ Maori heritage played a significant part in the wedding day, so I don’t think it was a surprise to anyone when the groomsmen got up to perform this Haka. 

Hakas are loud, passionate and somewhat thunderous.  This one was no exception.  However, when it was over you could hear a pin drop.  The entire room was at a standstill.  It was a pretty epic ending to a pretty epic set of speeches. 

Anna and James, thank you for including us in your day.  Thank you for loving each other so intensely, and making our job that much easier.  Thanks to your families for making us feel welcome and part of the celebrations.  We wish you every good thing, and much happiness together for many, many years to come.