Carly and Greg had such a chilled out wedding  on a VERY hot day at Jonkershuis Restaurant at Groot Constantia. I have to say that it's the first time that I've had a groom phone me on my way home from his wedding to thank me for taking photos and to apologise for mentioning me in his speech. Um, Carly, where did you take him for training? And where do you find more of his type? For all of my single friends that is. You guys are adorable together and it was a pleasure to witness your awesome day!

I was so stoked that Greg and Carly wanted to go somewhere a bit grungy for their engagement shoot - my favourite! So we headed off to the docks near to the Waterfront and got some really cool shots...I AM being strict with myself and limiting the number I post but here are a few...

Portia was working behind the bar at the Walkabout in London when she noticed Anthon and thought he was more than just a little bit cute. Word has it that he asked her out for coffee and they've been head over heels since then.

Their Swedish-South African wedding at Vrede en Lust was such a chilled out and relaxed event, organised by Wedding Concepts . Anthon and Portia just completely relaxed and went with the flow of the day and it was an absolute pleasure to photograph you guys! Here's a few images for you to look at while you're in Thailand!

Calin and Riaan live in Calgary in Canada and booked me from over there so the first time I got to meet them was a few days before the wedding. My approach to weddings is to go with the flow and see what happens, so I usually ask my clients if there is anything in particular that is very important to them to make sure that everything is captured. I love it when the response is 'Just do your thing!'- pretty much what these guys said to me at that meeting.

Their wedding at Lanzerac was stunning and organised to perfection by Karla of Absolute Weddings. Thanks for being so chilled out and just letting me 'do my thing!'. Hope you guys are having a wonderful honeymoon in New Zealand.

Clare and Greg exchanged vows during a beautiful ceremony at the  Bishops' Brooke Chapel and then headed to the Mount Nelson Hotel for a very rocking party. It's Monday morning, I'm fairly sleep deprived and the caffiene is yet to kick in... plus I have about 1 zillion images to work through. So no big ramblings about anything, just a few images from their wedding. Which WAS awesome by the way!

So, here we go, the second instalment of Shahra and Razaaq's Wedding. This was my first Muslim wedding and it was really great to not really know what to expect and to go with the flow of the events of the day. They had their Nikah on the lawns at L' Avenir in Stellenbosch with the men and women sitting separately, followed by a huge reception. I've already gone on about how fabulous they are so here are some images:

When I told Karen and Bruce that I was dying to do a wedding shoot in a township, they thought it was a brilliant idea. Since they arrived in Cape Town a few days before their wedding, they decided to swap an engagement session for a 'Trash the Dress' Shoot, which is a fairly recent trend where you have a shoot in your wedding gear after your actual wedding.

I don't really like this phrase - it conjures up visions of a bride rolling in the mud with a 'sexy look' or savagely shredding silk or jumping through a ring of flames (too much caffiene or not enough sleep?). I think it sounds tacky - perhaps it should be called something much cooler such as a 'Post-Wedding-Couple-Shoot'.....not. I did think of a few alternatives but nothing really stuck... Relive the robe, Dress Deja vu or F*** the Frock? I know a lot of photographers read this blog... perhaps some of you guys have a better idea? We can start our own South African trend :-)

In any case, I regress. So I don't like the term but I do love the idea. Basically you do a shoot in your dress where we have time to be creative and get cool shots at a different location, but without the pressure of a wedding day and without you worrying about your dress getting dirty. I know my wedding dress is still sitting in my best friend's cupboard in Joburg waiting to be dry cleaned, 5 years later. It probably doesn't fit anymore and if I have a daughter one day I'm pretty sure she won't wear it to her wedding. So you may as well get the most use out of it now!

Back to Karen and Bruce's session though. Karen completely got the ball rolling and hired a guide and guard to accompany us to Imizamo Yethu in Hout Bay as I wasn't too keen to head with my gear unaccompanied to a township. We had a great morning cruising around the streets and shebeens much to the locals amusement and got some awesome images! I also snuck in a few other images on the way which you can view on my portrait site.

After shooting Shahra and Razaaq's engagement session a while back, I was super-excited to shoot their wedding. Not only because they're a totally gorgeous couple with a whole heap of energy... but also because it was my first time to shoot a Muslim wedding.  I've been so snowed under that I've only made my way through the first part of the wedding so this entry is from the first part of their day. I think there will definitely have to be a part 2 to this wedding if I get the time but I know that they were really excited to get a glimpse of some pics... so at least something to look at for now!

I'm a bit nervous to post pictures as I think it really is near impossible to take bad photographs of them - no special angles needed for Shahra who is just plain stunning. Her dress straps were literally sewn on her shoulders before the wedding so we didn't actually have time for many 'posed shots'. Anyway, here are a 'few' of my favourites so far... which I have managed to keep down to 10! 

16 December is apparently the most popular day to get married in South Africa. It's the day that I got married 5 years ago. I always try and turn work down on this day but somehow we always end up celebrating our anniversary a week later. Word has it that I'm bribable by chocolate but that's not really true. Wine, however, is a different story.

Anyway, it's also the day that Karen and Bruce got married at the beautiful Lanzerac Estate in Stellenbosch. As usual, a truly amazing wedding with a very cool couple. Karen is an anaesthetist in the UK and let me tell you, I would so trust her with my life on the operating table. She had every detail organised to perfection. I'm really clueless when it comes to sports so I had no idea that Bruce used to be the goalkeeper for the Liverpool 'footie' team a little while back... luckily he didn't get his renowned 'wobbly legs' at the altar :-)

My resolution to keep the number of pictures down has kind of gone out the window with this wedding. I can't decide so this one will be a bumper blog entry! Stay tuned, by the way, for an amazing township bridal shoot that I did with these guys a few days ago.

Just as Ruth was about to walk down the aisle of St George's Cathedral in Franschhoek, the electricity went out - true Africa style. No accompanying organ for the wedding March or scheduled hymns and no air con on a very hot summer's day in the winelands. No one seemed too bothered by this though, least of all the bride, who walked down the aisle with her dad in simple silence.

There were so many more beautiful aspects to this wedding.. .the reception at Tokara in Stellenbosch was absolutely stunning (definitely one of the most beautiful venues I've worked at so far), the bride and groom were completely mesmerised with each other, and the whole affair had such a lovely and relaxed vibe - but what struck me the most by the end of the day was how great the whole family was. Everyone seemed to adore each other and have so much fun together. Definite warm fuzzy feeling stuff.

Anyway there's a lot more I could say but it's Monday and I'm still waiting for caffiene to kick in. I'm sure it's the images you guys are really interested in anyway so here you go: 

How much excitement can one person contain? I LOVE the energy in this shot.

It's been a while since I've blogged - lots of weddings to shoot and people to meet, all amidst a crazy festive season. I've already shot Doug and Ruth's amazing wedding which I'll be blogging about shortly - but for now are a few shots from a super-cool, super-windy engagement session that I did with them a few days before their wedding. It really was so windy that we could barely walk and my camera was being blown about madly, never mind Ruth's bright funky dress - but as always I think that negative elements in the weather can make for some great shots like the one below that wouldn't come about under 'perfect' circumstances (if such a thing exists in Cape Town!). 

Anyhoo, a few shots for today: 

When I met Rob for the first time a few weeks ago he told me that he realised that he was in love with Amber when he saw a photograph of her - he was looking through an album when he saw a particular photo of Amber and it suddenly struck him that he was in love with this woman.

They had a small wedding with friends and family from Cape Town and the USA at Clouds Estate in Stellenbosch, with every detail perfectly organised by Aleit .Thanks to you two for trekking around with me on what must have been the hottest day of the year so far. I hope these images will remind you of the amazing love you have for each other. Many more to come, but just a few for now!

I had to laugh when I got an email from Marika saying that she was at 'the lovely Maldives in a private hut, enjoying the hell out of her honeymoon!'  Heinrich organised the trip as a surprise which is pretty darn - dare I say - AWESOME!

It was apparently also his 30th birthday yesterday  so she asked if I would post one or 2 photographs that included him - so here you go, a few images including the lovely groom himself... a little bit belated for your 30th. I think spending your birthday in a private hut in the Maldives with the love of your life is not too shabby indeed. Hope you guys enjoy the hell out of the rest of your time in paradise! Happy Birthday Heinrich!