Every time I've had an email from a bride asking me to shoot their wedding at Oruawharo in Central Hawke's Bay, I've rushed to my diary in a fever of excitement and always been gutted to discover I'm already booked. When Kate got in touch almost 18 months ago, I was like a kid in a candy story to discover I was free as a bird on her date. When we met at the grand old homestead for High Tea and a planning session, my excitement levels blew out entirely...

A year ago, an excited bride-to-be contacted me about a Central Hawke's Bay wedding. There would be a farm that had been in the family for generations...an ancient swing bridge spanning a gully filled with native trees and a woodland dell where lilies grew head high and light motes played in the shade like Tinkerbell.