Every wedding is special for me to shoot but when I already have a personal connection to the bride, the buzz and energy is just that little bit higher for me.

Sometimes the stars align and I find myself working with a couple who think and feel about weddings so much like I do that the buzz, for me, almost has echoes of being a bride all over again. I felt that way when I first met Christel and Dan and they told me that not only were they to be ‘Mr. & Mrs. Eva’, but that they were getting hitched at the same location as me and loved the style and feel from my own ceremony so much that they’d used a photo from it for their invitations.

Weddings are all about turning long-held dreams into reality, but for Neil and Jenny, their wedding turned to a nightmare before it even began. Having paid their venue in full, it went into receivership, taking with them thousands of dollars worth of hard-earned savings. It seemed like a saddest end to what should have been a fairytale story for this couple, until the Napier wedding industry pulled together to help give them the dream they had saved so hard for…

The first thing I ask a couple when they are considering working with us on their wedding day is ‘what elements are most important for you?’ This helps me understand who they are as a couple and how Andrew and I can work with them to create bespoke photography that reflects all their priorities. Every couple is different but the ones we enjoy working with the most talk about a sense of celebration and a focus on friends and family ahead of styling and colour schemes.

These days thanks to the beautiful but relatively new tradition of getting hitched in the great outdoors, we don’t get to document many church weddings. That made Natalia and Andy’s day a real treat for us, as there is a sense of ceremony, history and spiritual significance that comes from exchanging vows in a church. With a cathedral-length veil, morning suits and a long row of little attendants to lead the way, the ceremony almost had the feel of a royal wedding…and who doesn’t like a bit of that?!

It is hard to imagine anywhere with more beautiful views of New Zealand’s ruggedly beautiful coastline than The Farm at Cape Kidnappers. But the exclusive nature of the luxury lodge has meant I haven’t been able to share images from a real wedding shot there before. So I’m really excited that Rob and Angela so generously have let me do so, but also that their tiny wedding was perfect in every way - not just beautiful to look at, but emotionally quite special to be part of.

What sort of bride are you? It's probably the biggest question to consider after 'will you marry me' and for classic bride, Amy, planning her perfect wedding to Ryan was easy after answering that second big question.

When you're in the business of being front and centre at dozens of big white weddings every year, how do you decide to exchange your own vows? For Taupo celebrant Samantha Johnston, the answer was simple; very differently. With only eight guests (plus me tagging along in lucky 9th place), Sam and Brad eloped to exclusive New Zealand hunting lodge, Poronui, tucked away in the crisply beautiful Taharua Valley.

One of the most wonderful things about being a wedding photographer is seeing how an event with so many common elements can be interpreted so differently by individuals who bring their own story and aesthetic to their day. Michael and Saasha were a fantastic couple to work with because with their wedding, as with their love for each other, they knew right from the start what they wanted.

Ashlin and Elyse got hitched in Hawke's Bay at a lovely, laid-back little winery called Crab Farm, just on the edge of the coastal settlement of Bay View, near Napier. The wedding they wanted was 'chic boho' with a chilled and relaxed vibe. "That's why we chose Crab Farm, because it ticked all those boxes'.

Hawke's Bay weddings pose a bit of a conundrum: coast or country? There is so much of both that it can often be hard to decide, so Nikky and Sam found a little off-the-beaten-track place where they could combine both. Clifton Cafe is authentically Kiwi. From the red corrugated iron through to the simple number-8 fencing wire separating the paddock from the wide expanse of the South Pacific Ocean. Under a home-made floral arch in front of their friends and family, this is Nikky and Sam's love story. We hope you enjoy it!

A picture is said to tell a thousand words, and in so many ways I find this to be true when photographing people in love. But I still believe in the power of words to put love in context, generate emotion and record history in the same ways we do with our cameras. Douglas' speech after he married his childhood sweetheart, Sophia, was so honestly written that I asked if he would let me share it with you. This is their love story, told by our images...and his words...