Tatum - Recently refurbished historic wedding venue Wellington - Libby and Pani

Libby and Pani - high school sweethearts, cat parents (my kind of people), homeowners and now... husband and wife! 💍 Getting to know these two was such an honour in the lead up to their day and we are so grateful to have captured both photos and video for them!!

This was our my first time at Tatum since it was recently renovated, the accommodation is really nice and there were plenty of great spots. Their video is by my husband Karl, photos by me!
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Photos: @jaymee_photography
Video: @traveller.video
Second photographer: @jessdewsnap
Dress: @bridal_studio @alenahume_nz
Venue: @tatumevents1912
Flowers: @jane.flowergirl
Hair: @taylormadehair_ @duo_styling
Makeup: @makeupbyhayz_
DJ: @dj_swervos

Boomrock wedding elopement Wellington

An intimate wedding celebration at one of our favourite venues Boomrock Lodge Wellington. Jenna and Aaron kept their day intentional, making the most of the important things - being with family, spending time with the people they love, while enjoying incredible food and the amazing view seen from Boomrock.

Sarah and William's Boomrock Wedding! It's all in the smaller details (cat lovers you'll like this one)!

When Sarah and Will first emailed me about their wedding plans they mentioned they had a cat named Sandwich, I knew they were my kind of people 😻

I loved everything about their intimate wedding with 30 guests at Boomrock. It was possibly the most relaxed wedding I’ve been to! They started with getting ready together at their home in Karori which was so sweet having their ‘first look’ in the comfort of their own home. We did most of their portraits before the ceremony so they could put all their attention into hanging out with guests for the rest of the day.

To get to Boomrock guests will usually travel via bus from the city which takes about 30 minutes. It’s exciting for anyone who has never been here, I imagine guests may think … ‘There is no way this bus can drive down this narrow road and up this crazy hill’. You go from city to very rural within a few minutes, it’s an incredible place! On this day the weather was so clear out at Boomrock that we could not only see the South Island but at sunset we could see Mount Taranaki in the distance (I grew up in this area so that was cool seeing it for the first time in a while).

An extra special mention to the smaller details from their day that I’m obsessed with. Sandwich appeared on their wedding invites, dinner menus and wedding cake made by our favourite @stilettostudiocakes. I also really loved how Sarah and William walked down the aisle to their ceremony together.

Venue: @boomrocklodge
Celebrant: Sam McDonald
Hair/makeup: @alana__muha
Florals: @melissajane_flowers
Suit: @barkersclothing
Dress: @wendymakinbridal
Tailor: @sues.repairs

Candid wedding photos and portraits of guests - Why I use a second photographer and examples of their photography

Second photographer included in Collections 3 & 4

Two of my wedding packages include having a second photographer with us for part of your day! This is a cost I take care of as part of our service and is provided as part of your package. My second photographer will take photos on the day and I do the rest from organising their start/finish time, editing the photos and handling delivery. Having a second photographer is great for weddings with 60+ guests. It means we can capture more of your guests and unique moments that you maybe didn’t see happen on the day (so often we hear back from clients with feedback that they love seeing the photos that took part during times when their attention was on other things). While I’m capturing the important parts and formalities, my second photographer is in the background capturing extra candid moments and is available to take photos of your guests. We will often do the rounds asking if guests would like a photo taken during cocktail hour (if we aren’t needed elsewhere) but we also encourage guests to ask us for any group photos they would like.

Photo opportunities that we love for candid moments

We love capturing the moments right after your ceremony when guests come up to congratulate you (it’s an exciting moment and guests start to forget we are there as they are more focused on you). I even suggest that couples add 5-10 minutes into their timeline after the ceremony for this part so we can capture some candid hugs and chats.

We also love weddings that provide games or entertainment during cocktail hour, if games are started at the right time one of us can capture this (keep in mind sometimes games can happen at the same time as the formal portraits with the wedding party/bridesmaids/groomsmen, where both photographers are likely away focusing on this). Some couples will allow extra time before or after their wedding portraits so they can join part of the cocktail hour. This allows us to capture some moments of you with your guests before the reception starts! I can provide suggestions and guidance on a timeline for this (my goal is not to keep couples away from guests for too long, we want you to be catching up with your favourite people).

A couple of things to note from our side of things!

Candid moments are not staged and can sometimes only happen in the right environments, they are never guaranteed to always happen like in these particular examples. Things like weather and a strict timeline can mean there may be less opportunity for us to capture photos of your guests. On the day of a wedding, we may need to prioritise taking certain photos over these candid opportunities. We also respect guests’ boundaries if they do not want their photos taken or if we feel the moment doesn’t feel right we will focus on other parts of the wedding day instead (we will photograph where we feel comfortable or welcomed).

My second photographer is with us for up to 4 hours on a wedding day and this is usually to help cover preparations, the ceremony and after the ceremony, they will often finish before the reception starts. During the reception, I will cover this part of the day on my own and will continue to capture weddings in both a portrait and candid style (and guests can still grab me for a photo when possible)!

These photos are credited to the amazing Jess Dewsnap who has worked with me for many weddings! She runs her own business as well so may not be available at every event, however, I work closely with other local photographers.

A second photographer can also be added to Collection 1 or 2 for an additional fee. * All of the information in this blog post is correct and up to date as of May 2024. Packages and services may change over time.

Wellington Begonia House - Intimate wedding ceremonies for couples

In this world where we are presented with trends online and all the ‘must haves’ ‘must dos’ it can be extremely overwhelming for couples to plan a wedding. When couples come to me with ideas for a smaller wedding or elopement-style ceremony I’m all in.

Here in this blog, I’m showing highlights from a recent intimate wedding that I felt so honoured to photograph. This was a 2-hour package and we went to 2 different locations in Wellington, did a first look and portraits before their ceremony, plus a bunch of family photos afterwards at their reception venue.

Plan to have your wedding in a way that aligns with your ideas, your vision, your lifestyle and in your own timeframe. You don't always need to have the full day captured, let’s customise it to suit. These smaller weddings have just as much of an impact on me as my 10-hour bookings.

Begonia House at the Wellington Gardens was the perfect first-look location for Brooke and William! When we arrived it was raining so being undercover in this stunning building with its impressive plants meant we could still capture the special moments before their ceremony. Just as we started to finish here the rain stopped for us to get some photos quickly outside. We then made our way to the Canape Room for their intimate ceremony.

Big thank you to Brooke and William for asking me to capture their special day! And to the Begonia house for having us (just a little note for anyone interested, if you want photos at this location it requires permission and a small fee for use of the space).

How to choose the right wedding package for your day?

When it comes to booking a photography package everyone’s wedding day will look slightly different, so it’s important that your photographer can customise to your needs.

POPULAR WEDDING PACKAGES

For weddings with over 60 guests I start with providing a PDF that has my 3 most popular package options: 3 hours, 6 hours and 10 hours. This is a good starting point for clients to figure out if they want the full day or half day covered. I also give a guideline for the parts of the day that would fit within those hours, which looks like this.

3 hours:
Ceremony
Candid photos of guests
Family photos
Bridal shoot

6 hours:
Preparations
Ceremony
Candid photos of guests & Family photos
Bridal shoot 
Entrance to the reception
Reception details
(Couples can pick preparations or 2 hours of the reception instead)

10 hours (max):
Preparations
Ceremony
Candid photos of guests & Family photos
Bridal shoot 
Full reception coverage & First dance

FULL DAY VS. HALF DAY

Most couples will book the full day/10 hour package but I won’t ever try and sell you this package if it’s not what you need. If you’re really clever with your timeline you can actually fit a lot into the 6 hour option. If preparations aren’t as important to you then you could have only 1 hour of getting ready photos, or even opt out of these all together, that way you can have more of your reception covered. A great way to get your first dance into your 6 hour package is to have your reception entrance which leads straight into the first dance, this is a really unique way to get your guests excited for the evening.

The 10 hour option is really good if you don’t want to be following a strict timeline on the day and if there is travel to multiple locations. I cap this package a 10 hours because it starts to be a long day for everyone.

CUSTOMISE YOUR PACKAGE

If the options you’ve been given don’t quite fit your timeline then find out if a custom package is an option! 6 hours might not be enough, 10 hours could be too much, maybe 8 hours would be perfect!

ELOPE INSTEAD!

If the idea of a full-day wedding sounds like too much and you’ve started considering what it would feel like to just elope instead, then it’s probably a perfect option for you! Elopements always end up being just as special as a full wedding day, they bring so many good memories and I absolutely love photographing them!

GETTING STARTED WITH YOUR TIMELINE

Knowing what package to go for does require having a draft timeline of the day which can feel really daunting if you don’t know where to start. Have a read of my blog post which runs you through some ideas here! I’ll give clients plenty of time to make the decision on which package, you can always book me in by paying the deposit and we can decide on the amount of coverage at a later date.