Mary and I headed out to Grabouw on a cooking summer's day for Chris and Simonne's wedding, which was held at Chris' family fruit farm, Eikenhof. The location was amazing and Chris and Sim are some of the most relaxed and down-to-earth people I've worked with, it was truly a pleasure to be at their wedding. Simonne wrote the nicest email the next day and since I'm told I don't do enough blowing of my own trumpet, thought I'd start to do so!

"Hi Jules
I just wanted to thank you so much for being there at our wedding.  We really feel we found a winner when we got you! It makes such a difference having someone there who is relaxed and professional, especially when you are with us for a lot of the day.  I absolutely loved having you there and feel I had known you for years.  We couldn’t have been happier or rave about you enough. We will definitely be recommending you to our friends.Also, please thank Mary – she was an absolute star and you two work really well together."

Anyway, once again, hard to narrow down!   

Tanya and John live in the Kalahari and came especially to Cape Town for their beautifully small and intimate wedding at Blaauklippen in Stellenbosch. It was a gorgeous day which ended in a stunning dinner arrangement, perfectly organised by their friend, Jadri. A few shots from their day: 

Marlinda and Guillaume had their engagement a few weeks ago but I haven't had time to update my blog with all the work I've been doing. Marlinda is one of those people who get so excited about photos and has been consistently stalking my site to see if there are any more of her photos online... to no avail! I love it when people get enthusiastic about their images and I told her I'd put at least one online for her to see. I hope this keeps you going for a little while longer until all the photos from your wedding are ready!

Here are just a few from their engagement session on Blouberg beach: 

So much for the 'trying to cut down on the number of images that I post' thing! Anna and Fabian's wedding at Vrede en Lust was organised to perfection by Wedding Concepts in Cape Town. A good-looking couple, great guests, a stunning venue, SO many cool details... all on a cracker of a day in Franschoek.. it was hard to narrow down!

It's first time I've shot a wedding on New Year's eve and atlhough I'm not 18 anymore and not really into the whole 'humdinger of a party vibe (usually a 'braai' with a few close friends is what goes down!), was feeling a bit loserish at having to work. It was actually the best way to spend the evening...being part of a bunch of people loving the dance floor, laughing, drinking Champagne and smoking cuban cigars was really fun!

Anyway, here's  'just a few':

 

December's been one big hectic whirlwind and I have to admit that I was wondering why I had agreed to go up to Joburg for a wedding with so much happening in Cape Town. A whole load of emails had been sent between Cape Town and Dubai, where Nicole and Guiseppe live... but I hadn't had the opportunity to meet these guys until about 30 minutes before the ceremony during a frenzy of last minute activity.

The internet is a phenomenal communication tool, but there is always an element of surprise when actually meeting someone who you can only associate with an email address. So I was blown away when it turned out that Nicole looked like this: 

Aside from being gorgeous, they were a dream couple to shoot, completely relaxed, fun and didn't bat an eyelid getting next to a rusty container or going traipsing through the bushveld. And...when I asked what they wanted, they replied : 'anything different' - a photographer's dream to hear those words!

What a stunning African/Italian evening - Thank you for flying me up for the ocassion! Here are just a few more:

Marlinda and Guillaume are such a lovely and relaxed couple and their wedding day was just the same. They had a small and intimate mid-morning ceremony under the oak trees at Morgenhof in Stellenbosch followed by lunch. Because the ceremony was going to finish at midday with harsh sunlight, they decided to see each other before their ceremony at her parent's farm near to Stellenbosch to take a few photos of them together. I'm trying to cut down on the number of images I post online so here are a few from their day: 

 

Wow, it's been a crazy few weeks - trips up to Joburg, Christmas, family coming to stay in Cape Town, and a whole lot of shooting at some very cool weddings... so I'm a bit behind on the blogging front!

Maryke and Charles booked me from London without having met me so it was great to discover what an awesome couple they are. They got married in a town close to Durbanville called Philedelphia that I never even knew existed, on what must have been the hottest day of 2007. Despite the heat, they were still up for stopping at some of the farm fields in the area to take some shots. There are many more photos from the wedding including cows and lots of 'langarm' going down, but here are just some of my favourites:

Charles and Maryke booked me from London so the first time I met with them was to do their engagement shoot and to check out their wedding venues a few days before their big day. They are a gorgeous couple and despite their protests of being 'camera shy', were so great to photograph.

 I went up to Joburg last week especially for Justine and Justin's wedding - everytime I'm up there it seems to be bucketing down with rain. What a dream wedding to shoot - a radiantly gorgeous couple who love the camera and who are completely besotted with each other. Justine was ready with plenty of time to spare so I had loads of time to get some awesome bridal portraits, which was a change from the usual mad pre-ceremony rush. Their Jewish ceremony was followed by one HUGE party... these guys know how to get down on the dance floor!

I struggled to narrow down the pics so there are quite a few...

After a very long year of doing the long-distance thing between Cape Town and Adelaide, Nadia and Andrew exchanged vows underneath a big oak tree at Little Stream in Constantia. The balmy summer evening was perfect for their picnic-style reception that was held on rolling meadow-esque lawns.

Nadia is my sister-in-law and as well as being a hotshot opthamologist, she's one of the biggest free-spirited kids I know...you guys are so complete together and it's awesome to be part of your family and to see you two married at last! 

It was such a pleasure to be at Sid and Shayna's wedding and to witness the way that they're so relaxed, natural and divine with each other and to everyone around them.  From being there right at the start with Shayna at the hairdresser to the festive reception was so great, I felt more like I was hanging out than working. One of the amazing things about Jewish weddings is the way that they get down on the dance floor... I think that all couples should enter the reception room with a horah equivalent, what a great vibe and celebration!

I'd never been to the Mount Nelson and expected a typical hotel - it's actually more like a little village with some really great colonial details, so we spent a bit of time cruising around the little nooks and crannies (even to the washing area at the back, thanks Sid for being so up for anything!).   

Lisl was the most uncomplicated, relaxed, yet efficient bride I have ever met. She showered, had her nails, hair and make-up done and got dressed in under 30 minutes. Every time I lifted the camera to take a shot she had moved somewhere else she was so fast!

Her and Don really just wanted to party and spend as much time as possible with their guests, so they decided to have their photos done before the ceremony. The whole wedding was very relaxed and so much fun and the whole crowd was clearly there to have a good time. You can't go too wrong with a wedding at Kirstenbosch either.. what a stunning location to get married.

Thanks guys for being so chilled out and to Don for eventually forgiving me for the Speedo comment!
Hope you have an amazing time in Zanzibar!

When I first met Lisl, she told me how her and Don really hated their photos being taken. A little while into their shoot, I remarked at how confident Don was (as it's usually guys that hate photos) and it came out that Don used to be a Speedo model! 

It's been a crazy few weeks, travelling up to Joburg a few times, moving home and acquiring two gorgeously crazy lab puppies... so I'm a bit behind on blogging! Apologies to anyone who's waiting for their shoots to come online!

Shayna and Sid had their engagement shoot at the Waterfront... I love shooting there as there is always somewhere different to go and so many different colours, textures, nooks and crannies. Plus there are so many tourists lurking around with cameras just as big as mine so I don't feel like I have a huge 'target' mugging sign pasted on me! 

Anyway, these two just seem so at ease with themselves and with each other and despite the semi-Arctic wind blowing, Shayna managed to look comfortable in her gorgeous strappy dress. The light was just beautiful too, late afternoon light is my favourite. Here are just a few from the shoot: 

I met Shannon and Jason at Llundudno a few weeks back while they were out from Australia manically sorting out details for their wedding next March in Franschoek. Besides almost being blown off  into the sea below, we had a great shoot clambering around the rocks above the beach. A few from the shoot: