Stunning Auckland wedding by Danelle Bohane

My goodness! Lighting doesn't come a lot more magical than this!! Danelle Bohane has captured just that - magic - in this winter wedding. Seriously that girl is a genius with the camera... she's going places I swear!!

After adding Luke to her facebook friends in error (thinking he was another Luke!) and discovering how cute he was, Nicola had to figure out a reason that she would need to meet with him, so after a bit of research she came up with a legitimate idea and basically the rest is history. Skip forward four years and Luke had come up with an elaborate plan for the proposal. A relaxing spa treatment was followed by Nicola being kidnapped by Luke's friends in disguise as masked hoodlums! This eventually led to a beach where Nicola followed signs to a beautifully decorated cove, complete with flowers, champagne and bunting strung up - that he'd impressively made himself. After the big question was asked, and she had excitedly said yes, all their friends and family popped out from nearby bushes to celebrate with them. After a ceremony in the city, Luke & Nicola headed out to Coatesville for their reception. Under the most perfect blue skies on a bitterly cold day this southern winter, they snuck into the forest for their photos just as the sun began to set.

We loved the idea of a whimsical winter wedding - low light, cool temperatures, and the raft of winter foods we could choose. And also, it meant I could have a long sleeved dress... I'd always wanted something classic with a difference and knew winter was the perfect season to work this dress I loved. 

We decided to keep the ceremony short & sweet and make the reception the best party we could possibly conjure. We worked out what was most important to us and that was the people. It was a communal celebration. Everyone had such a fun time, and we got to speak to people throughout the entire night, not stuck behind a bridal table.

Photographer | Danelle Bohane, Venue | St Michael’s Parish Remuera & Coatesville Settlers Hall, Florist | Urban Flowers, Dress | Design by bride, Dressmaker Bobby Lee Designs, Stationery | Luke Winslade (groom), Cake | Bite Sized Patisserie, Day of Coordinator |  Debs Stanton, Caterers |  The Difference, Furniture | Luke Winslade (groom), Hair & Makeup | Abigail & Caprice

Board#202: Bare Beauty

Welcome to a new shiny week people!! There is something about Monday that just makes you feel everything starts over fresh again isn't there? A bit like a clean slate every seven days. Gotta love that. I must say with the miserable rainy Sunday we had, I managed to get quite a bit done so this week I already feel a teeny bit ahead of the game! 

I've had this board sitting around for over 6 months now!! It was originally intended for a {MAG}rouge shoot but it never eventuated and I realised I haven't really posted a true wintery board this season, so thought I'd bring it out. Aren't the tones in this gorgeously romantic?

Photos from top left; Building in Snow | Camilla Engman, Couple | Rensche Mari, Astible Centrepiece | Jose Villa, Candelabra | All the Beautiful Things,  Placesetting | Braedon Flynn, Pink tumbler | Avery House,  Silver Cake stand | Rinne Allen, Bride in trees | Anna Page

Wintery Austrian wedding by Carmen & Ingo

Given that we are having quite the cold snap right now (3 degrees in the morning - that's pretty darn cold for Auckland, and esp with no heating in our houses!!) it seems very fitting that I feature this pretty wintery mountain wedding from Carmen & Ingo Photography*.

Sylvana is a creative soul and put a lot into styling the perfect day for her wedding to Hannes. Isn't this series of Hannes seeing her for the first time priceless? I love it! They were married in Tirol, in the heart of the Austrian Alps... an area that is one of my favourite in the world!! Sylvana shares more about the details of their day below...

The civil ceremony took place in a little old city in Tirol and all guests dressed up in dirndl and lederhosen. But, as you might know dirndl is not dirndl – fine silk, wool and cotton qualities for the dirndl, country typical stitching on the lederhosen as well as hand printed linen combined with traditional jewellery and accessories from the Salzkammergut, created a harmony look and feel.

As a civil ceremony alone was not festive enough for us and a classic religious ceremony did not suit our way of life, we wished to have a “free ceremony” which is not to common in religious Austria but is becoming more and more popular. We found the perfect person to marry us in Birgit Grafinger - from the first time we met. She created a very personal, charming speech with many laughs for us and our guests which was an unforgettable part of our day.

One more positive aspect from two days of celebrating was of course... two days, two outfits, two stories! The big white day was supposed to be simple, elegant, romantic, no clichés, no bling bling, down to earth, a little bit playful and relaxed with a touch of vintage. Therefore everything was handmade. Together with some perfect busy little helping hands we created, staged, knitted and sewed.

We were very lucky that the municipality of Achenkirch gave us the possibility to hold our “free ceremony” in their small charming Annakircherl, set in a magnificent natural scene which contributed to a cheerful unique atmosphere.

The question of the right photographer wasn’t really a question. The way Carmen and Ingo capture emotional moments in their shots, their feeling for the right light, scenery and their sensibility for all the tiny details, enchanted and convinced us from the very first beginning and were just confirmed when we met them in Munich.

We used one of our favorite flowers – the tulip – a spring flower and symbol for love and affection, therefore quite suitable for a wedding in April. Like a red ribbon the tulip has been integrated into paper work like invitations, tags, namecards, brides bouquet, even the lace on the bride's dress included tulips. Combined with filled roses (love, happiness, youthful freshness) and camomilla blossom.

The big question was if our wedding should take place in Hannes home country, the beautiful Salzkammergut where we love to spend our weekends or in Hannes new home country Tirol. Lakes and Mountains were the criteria for nature and sport-loving Hannes. Relaxed, comfortable but romantic. So what could be better than the Seealm at the beautiful stunning Achensee.

We gave our guests cosy pashmina scarves (it was only about 5degrees) in theme-matching rosétones to reflect the missing flowers and colours after a hard snowy winter at Achensee.

Dancing shoes for tired and sore feets.

*Carmen & Ingo are one of my fabulous sponsors

Stunning Shoot from Belathee

I have what is honestly one of the loveliest shoots I've ever seen for you this morning. This stunning wintery citrus shoot is from the lovely ladies from Belathée with beautiful floral arrangements by McKenzie Powell. McKenzie wanted to create something clean, fresh and polished and the end result is simply perfection! I'm so in love with the incredible white floral arrangments with their pops of citrus!

Photography | Belathée, Concept, floral design, styling | McKenzie Powell Designs, Venue | Pravda Events in Seattle, Model | Renee Russell of SMG, Hair, makeup | Megan Stanavitch, Gown | Vera Wang from Marcella’s La Boutique, Crystal hair clip | Jennifer Behr, Letterpress menus | Swash Press, Cake | Tallant House, Sideboard table | Vintage Ambiance, Air plants | Air Plant Supply Co., Table linens | Choice Linens, Crystal stemware | AA Party Rentals, Gold flatware | borrowed from The Invisible Hostess

Inspiration Board: Acorns & Aspen

I'm cheating a little bit this morning and reposting a board I did last year for a guest post on Valley & Co but haven't even shared it on here. It's a holiday here today (sorry for those of you not lucky enough to have Easter Monday off... and it's also Anzac Day but because it falls on Easter Monday we miss out on that day off too unfairly!)... so I'm taking it easy!! This board was designed around a winter invitation suite I did, using a somewhat unusual palette for winter of blue with a warm orange... I think it gives off such a lovely warm winter glow and whilst it's certainly still quite mild at the moment, has me hankering for a cozy afternoon rugged up next to an open fire (I'm sure there will be plenty of that to come soon enough though!).

Photos from top left; Aspen invitation | Ruby & Willow, Wooden Ring holder | Becky Young, Barn Image | unknown, Cake Toppers | Smitten Photography

2nd row; Lemon Tarts by T&H Photo, Acorns | Honey & Jamon, Bride | Fiona Andersen, Birch Escort Card Display | Thayer Allyson Gowdy, Bride in Fur Coat | FS Photography, Blue Shoes | Susan Stripling

3rd row; Bride & Groom | Fiona Andersen, Aspen invitation | Ruby & Willow, Tablesetting | Millie Holloman

Vintage Winter Wedding Shoot - Husky and all!

Where do I start with today's feature... so many beautiful details!! The vintage ice skates, the pinecone and cookie mobiles, the cape and well... a husky!! Isn't he beautiful... what a great addition! When I saw this on Loreta's blog it had me dreaming of winter (for a split second as our winter looks nothing like this!!) Loreta tells us a little about the shoot which took place in Lithuania after the couple's ceremony...
Milda & Zilvinas wanted a photoshoot themed as a forest fairy tale. They were also very concrete about the color palette - from cream to chocolate. So we sat down and discussed the details. Somehow we managed to find the Husky for the shoot which was the hardest thing. We wanted real winter but it was only about zero degrees so it was very hard to find a good location and when we found the snow  it was extremely fragile. 

Be sure to head over to Loreta's blog or facebook page to see more of her gorgeous work!