I was really super chuffed that Kat from Rockn’Roll Bride featured Candice and Dave’s engagement shoot and wedding. Rockn’Roll Bride has just been named as the number one Wedding Blogsite in the UK so it really is a huge honor! Not surprising though with such super cool “subjects”. Love you Candice and Dave!
This is Part Two of my brother’s wedding. If you haven’t seen Part One skip over there immediately to fill yourself in by clicking here.
Zo and Shane are both beach people through and through. Shane is a sailor and a surfer, and Zo has been known to charge some meaty waves herself and has also done a number of ocean crossings with Shane. Their dream was to have a beach wedding and they were so excited when they found their ideal venue, the gorgeous Umtamvuna River Lodge near Port Edward. It’s all coconut trees and sandy beaches in this little piece of paradise.
Zo planned everything down to the tee, they were to get married on the beach, the theme was rustic with lots of green, she decided on wooden lanterns with pretty flower arrangements in them for the tables, she had lavender plants grown as a gifts for guests, her dress was made rather than bought …. she even had her shoes made. The one thing that Zo really feared was rain so she made sure she got married in April when the weather is suppose to be fabulous.
And then the unthinkable happened ….. about twenty minutes before she was to be rowed in a little boat to meet Shane at the alter on the beach …. the heavens opened. We all looked up and said ” it will pass, let’s wait it out”. But it didn’t pass …. it just belted down! Was Zo happy that it rained? Hell No. Was she happy to be marrying Shane? Hell Yes. The photos don’t lie! And you know what … rain makes for dramatic, interesting wedding photos.
Huge credit to Nicole the wedding coordinator from Umtamvuna who had to quickly move the whole service set up from the beach to the bar!
(P.S. thanks to my good friend Stuart Dods for giving me a heads up about the possibility of rain and to my Mom for finding the green umbrellas)
Casey and Duncan are both surfers and beach people so they decided on something a bit different for their wedding and headed inland to Insingizi Lodge for their nuptials. They then went on to honeymoon in the Maldives at Lohi Fushi Resort which made me pretty much green with envy. Their honeymoon spot has one of the most fun left breaking waves that I have ever seen or surfed and apparently the waves fired for the duration of their stay! If you click here you will see their “surfy engagement shoot”. Casey and Duncan’s wedding was up there with my favorites. They are one of the most relaxed couples that I have ever worked with which made my job less like work and more like fun. It threatened to rain but instead we got this magical light with pretty clouds. Oh it was all just lovely … I don’t have to say anymore than that …. just look at the pics and you will see.
I was very honored to be a featured photographer in a recent article the Get It magazine wrote on current wedding trends. I am sure you will recognise my pics.The article featured a number of people who are at the top of their game in the local wedding industry and asked each person to give wedding tips relating to their particular field. The other photographer featured is the super lovely and very talented Samantha Maber who also happens to be a good friend. Noreen Swartz from Timeless weddings was also included. Noreen and I have worked together a few times and I cannot recommend her enough as a wedding planner.
When Megs first told me that her wedding was going to be at Zulu Nyala Private Game Reserve in Northern Natal my interest was sparked. Then she mentioned that there’s an old film set as well as a tame giraffe in the reserve and I pretty much decided for her that I was going to be their wedding photographer. I really love the bush, there is something quite magical about Africa’s magestic landscapes, amazing animals, the big african skies and wide open spaces. I knew from the get go that this bush wedding was going to be a great opportunity for some really special pics.
There were so many highlights to this wedding but what I will remember the most is the giraffe (of course), Megan’s alarming habit of saying alarming in most conversations (ha ha …..it’s very endearing Meg’s!) and being quite moved by Meg and Pete’s close friendships and family ties. (Oh and how could I forget … this is where my poor assistant picked up tick bite fever … pack your bug spray for the bush folk!)
Thanks guys for picking me guys, and for allowing me to be a bit nuts and make some quirky pics with you as seen below!
This wedding is definitely THE most special of my 2011 weddings. I know i will be saying the same thing when the year is out, as this is the wedding of my brother Shane and his new wife and my new sister Zona.
Shane and I have been all over the world together, surfed some pretty hairy waves together, stayed in some of the most rancid accommodation ever together, drunk some crazy stuff together, pulled each other through some nasty sicknesses in strange places and experienced so much of this mad beautful world together. He is a sailor, a world traveler and a good man … he also “let me” fall in love with his good friend and my now boyfriend Stu.(thanks Dweeb). I love my brother more than I could ever say and I feel truly lucky to be his sister. As for my new sister in law, Zo, I couldn’t dream up a better girl for Shane. She is hot, beautiful on the inside, very bright and is so incredibly caring. Zo is a funky dresser and a friendly soul; she loves a good glass of red and best of all she surfs and whips Shane into shape. To say that this day was a true celebration of love and joy would be an understatement.
I took so many photos it is quite scary so at the risk of boring you all to tears I am going to divide the blog entries into a few parts. I haven’t finished editing the wedding, in fact I am only half way through but they are off on honeymoon today so I thought I would give them a leaving present. Thanks to my brother in law Tyrone Bradley for shooting some of the pics you see of the guys in the morning. Oh I nearly forgot, they got married at Umtumvuna Lodge on the South Coast near Port Edward. It is amazing. If you want a beach wedding you should get married there! Welcome to the morning of the wedding of my year!
I’m not really entirely sure what to call this shoot …. photographers seem to refer to maternity shoots these days as “belly shoots” or “preggy shoots”, I hate both terms, particularly the belly shoot idea. When I think of the word belly I think of the Scottish guy in Austin Powers and that is most definitely NOT attractive. Sunet and her tum don’t envoke the idea of a big squelchy belly to me (which is how I think of the term belly) ….. she is all glowey and happy and gorgeous! I therefore decided to photograph her in glowey, happy gorgeous light.
Just for the record I have known Grant since I was in highschool and Sunet is one of the girls from my book club which doesn’t involve books. Grant is the GM at the amazing 5 star hotel Hotel Izulu in Ballito known for it’s wonderful rooms, brilliant service and fantastic food and wine. Sunet is the GM of the gorgeous boutique hotel St James on Venice which is just divine (they do the most wonderful lunches and high teas). It was a pleasure to record this special time for good friends.
Here is a little peak at a shoot we did on Sunday. You may be mistaken for thinking that this shot was taken in Thailand or Bali or somewhere exotic (have I mentioned how much I love coconut trees before) If you thought as much you would be wrong as this pic was taken on the Natal South Coast at Umtamvuna River Lodge near Port Edward. In case you aren’t a friend or regular on my blog this is my brother Shane and his new wife (and my new sister) Zo. It rained on their wedding day …. so we did a take two on their creative shoot a couple of weeks later. Somehow I feel this photo really needs to be bigger. Well … the good news is that we are working hard at redesigning my site so one day … my pics will be bigger! Yaaay.
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