DIVINE WEDDINGS NZ & INTERNATIONAL

Picture of the Week

Fleur the Flower — Thu, 05 May 2011 02:14:39 +0000

www.alpineimages.co.nz

Whilst the technical difficulties get worked out (large posts are out until then) here is a lovely clever picture from Alpine Images in Wanaka NZ. Shot entirely in camera – no photoshop.

A very fun and lovely artistic image. Brings a smile to my face.

Many Thanks: www.alpineimages.co.nz

Right Royal Inspiration

Fleur the Flower — Tue, 03 May 2011 01:15:14 +0000

The Bishop of London…

“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” So said St Catherine of Siena whose festival day it is today. Marriage is intended to be a way in which man and woman help each other to become what God meant each one to be, their deepest and truest selves.

Official Wedding Programme Cover - Front & Back

Many are full of fear for the future of the prospects of our world but the message of the celebrations in this country and far beyond its shores is the right one – this is a joyful day! It is good that people in every continent are able to share in these celebrations because this is, as every wedding day should be, a day of hope.

Photo used in official wedding programme.

In a sense every wedding is a royal wedding with the bride and the groom as king and queen of creation, making a new life together so that life can flow through them into the future. William and Catherine, you have chosen to be married in the sight of a generous God who so loved the world that he gave himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ. And in the Spirit of this generous God, husband and wife are to give themselves to each another.

A spiritual life grows as love finds its centre beyond ourselves. Faithful and committed relationships offer a door into the mystery of spiritual life in which we discover this; the more we give of self, the richer we become in soul; the more we go beyond ourselves in love, the more we become our true selves and our spiritual beauty is more fully revealed. In marriage we are seeking to bring one another into fuller life.

It is of course very hard to wean ourselves away from self-centredness. And people can dream of doing such a thing but the hope should be fulfilled it is necessary a solemn decision that, whatever the difficulties, we are committed to the way of generous love.

You have both made your decision today – “I will” – and by making this new relationship, you have aligned yourselves with what we believe is the way in which life is spiritually evolving, and which will lead to a creative future for the human race.

We stand looking forward to a century which is full of promise and full of peril. Human beings are confronting the question of how to use wisely a power that has been given to us through the discoveries of the last century. We shall not be converted to the promise of the future by more knowledge, but rather by an increase of loving wisdom and reverence, for life, for the earth and for one another.

Official Wedding Programme

Marriage should transform, as husband and wife make one another their work of art. It is possible to transform as long as we do not harbour ambitions to reform our partner. There must be no coercion if the Spirit is to flow; each must give the other space and freedom. Chaucer, the London poet, sums it up in a pithy phrase:

“Whan maistrie [mastery] comth, the God of Love anon,

Beteth his wynges, and farewell, he is gon.”

www.weddinge.net

As the reality of God has faded from so many lives in the West, there has been a corresponding inflation of expectations that personal relations alone will supply meaning and happiness in life. This is to load our partner with too great a burden. We are all incomplete: we all need the love which is secure, rather than oppressive, we need mutual forgiveness, to thrive.

As we move towards our partner in love, following the example of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is quickened within us and can increasingly fill our lives with light. This leads to a family life which offers the best conditions in which the next generation can practise and exchange those gifts which can overcome fear and division and incubate the coming world of the Spirit, whose fruits are love and joy and peace.

www.weddinge.net

I pray that all of us present and the many millions watching this ceremony and sharing in your joy today, will do everything in our power to support and uphold you in your new life. And I pray that God will bless you in the way of life that you have chosen, that way which is expressed in the prayer that you have composed together in preparation for this day:

God our Father, we thank you for our families; for the love that we share and for the joy of our marriage.

In the busyness of each day keep our eyes fixed on what is real and important in life and help us to be generous with our time and love and energy.

Strengthened by our union help us to serve and comfort those who suffer. We ask this in the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Calling all Wedding Photographers…………..How would you photograph Will and Kate?

Fleur the Flower — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 08:29:48 +0000

www.dailymail.co.uk AP Photo

I was thinking about who will photograph the Royal Wedding last night and the winner is: Hugo Burnand otherwise known as TopDog. Personally chosen by Kate and Wills. I wondered if he had been working out at the gym in the lead up to the event for all the long-distance running he will have to do. Then I started wondering about what they will do in their personal photo session (and how we won’t get to see those photos – we’ll just see the formal ones – and if they will do fun ones at all)…..then this got me thinking about what I would get them to do – how would I photograph their session and then this got me thinking what would other photographers do?????

What would I do? Well I am still thinking about it……….but to date I would……..

1. Get Kate to run down the Mall toward Buckingham Palace in her dress and then turn around slightly and look back laughing – with all the crowd waving their flags, the trees lining the Mall, the flags on the poles etc all out of focus as the backdrop.

2. Take one gigantic “family” shot – me on the balcony looking down at everyone with Kate and Wills at the front with family and the ENTIRE crowd piled up behind them. Hahaha this one cracks me up.

3. Put Kate and Will in the fountain out the front and let them go for it.

And yes I have too much time on my hands BUT……. FUN! p.s…When I was a child we had a comic called “PRINCESS” and it was Princess Diana comic. It came out each week and we had a whole draw full but somewhere along the line they obviously got chucked out it used to have Princess Diana’s picture on the front and always came with a free gift of bracelet or crown etc….Man it was KOOL. I have never seen it since – even online.

Obviously they have to have these kinds of official photos:

www.britishroyals.net

But hopefully also they get some fun and modern pictures like this VA VA VOOM wedding shot (I ABSOLUTELY ADORE THIS SHOT – IT IS INCREDIBLE – SO INTENSE, HOT, AND THE SEA LOOK UNBELIEVABLE) ah well, a girl can dream.

www.shandrophoto.com

So all you creative photographers out there……………..how would you photograph Kate and Will’s personal session? (p.s You don’t have to be a photographer to answer this – all ideas welcome!

Many Thanks: Shandro Photography www.shandrophoto.com

REAL WEDDING: Jennifer Loves David – A lovely intimate vintage DIY affair inclusive of aphid rose bouquet. Dunedin NZ.

Fleur the Flower — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 11:06:00 +0000

www.sineadjenkins.com

(NOTE: I AM HAVING A FEW TECHNICALL ISSUES AT PRESENT AND THIS POST WILL BE FIXED SHORTLY)

New Zealand is a nation of DIYers and so it’s no wonder that this extends into the arena of weddings. One thing that I love about the wedding of Jennifer and David is that they use what they have within their means. And it makes for a lovely feel – intimate, engaging and relaxed. Add in one very talented Dunedin-ite wedding photographer Sinead Jenkins whose work I admire for many reasons……she captures children beautifully, she favours black and white, she’s doco and portrait style and is a nice down to earth kinda gal!

And whala – one beautiful little vintage wedding!

Jennifer describes her lovely day….

www.sineadjenkins.com

David and I met at a student review show at University. I was volunteering backstage and he was acting on the stage. I’m not quite sure who actually made the first move, but I do tease him on occasion for not noticing me sooner (I totally had a crush from the get go!) but he insists he did, he just didn’t let me know about it – too shy or some thing…

www.sineadjenkins.com

We had our first proper date about a week after the show had finished and it just went from there. A few years later he asked me to move in with him, we got our little Mocha (a rescued RSPCA kitty) then on new years day of 2010 while we were in Central Otago, he asked me to marry him.

www.sineadjenkins.com

We didn’t really have a set style/theme. I do love vintage/old historic things though so it was always going to be pretty and vintage in some way – I think the dress also really set the tone of the whole affair. It was a mismatch of lots of things we liked, old and new.

www.sineadjenkins.com

We were also on a very small budget. We did the flowers ourselves, David designed the invites, we hand stamped the table name tags, baked the cakes and I did my own hair and make up. It was really nice doing everything ourselves as it meant the day was exactly how we wanted it - there would be no surprises when the cake or the flowers turned up (which makes for a very relaxed bride I think!).

www.sineadjenkins.com

We bought a few flowers at cost from Hinton’s fruit and vegetables (the owner was really lovely and ordered them especially for us) and we supplemented those flowers with some from Davids fathers garden and his aunts (who came over to help with the flower arranging which I was very grateful for – arranging flowers actually takes a bit of time!). I did my own bouquet and as I walked down the aisle, there were still aphids crawling on a few of the roses. An extra special touch I guess

www.sineadjenkins.comwww.sineadjenkins.comwww.sineadjenkins.comI also didn't have any brides maids - the wedding itself was very small, we had only invited very close friends and family (but we had drinks later for everyone else!) so if I had one brides maid, I'd have to have two and three and before you know it, most of the guests at the wedding would be brides maids!www.sineadjenkins.comwww.sineadjenkins.com

www.sineadjenkins.com

www.sineadjenkins.comwww.sineadjenkins.com

Again, we kept the ceremony very simple. It was held at Glenfalloch Gardens, Dunedin. Our celebrant was lovely and though it went slightly faster than the rehearsal had the day before (which I guess happens, the whole day goes so quickly), it was very meaningful and heartfelt. As my sister and David’s brother signed the witness forms, we had a band playing a beautiful version of Leonard Cohen’s song Hallelujah. And then we were married!

www.sineadjenkins.com

The whole wedding we kept very simple, this really made the day so much less stressful and you can actually enjoy it. At the end of the day, it is such a big event in a persons life and you want to be able to look back on it with fond memories of actually enjoying the day rather than being stressed about it.

www.sineadjenkins.com

I was originally always going to make my own wedding dress – I really enjoy sewing and creating things but as fate would have it, I ended up buying the perfect 50′s wedding dress. We moved to Sydney in February 2010, found a place to live and up the road there just happened to be a vintage shop. While exploring our new neighbourhood, I went into the shop not really expecting much (vintage is too expensive to buy here in Sydney, hence why I sew alot) and there it was. I knew it was my dress as soon as I saw it but I was determined not to buy it until I had found a job – I didn’t even try it on (I knew I would buy it straight away if I had).

www.sineadjenkins.comwww.sineadjenkins.com

Two weeks went by and my job hunting was unsuccessful and looking dissapointingly gloomy. I thought about that dress every day for those two weeks when all of a sudden I gave up and told my husband to be that I had to go back to that shop immediately and get the dress. I marched back in, and felt my stomach drop, I couldn’t see the dress!!

www.sineadjenkins.com

I finally found it hiding at the very back of the rack, looking perfect and pretty. I grabbed it and held it close (there were other girls in the shop browsing, my instincts took over!) took it into the dressing room, tried it on and it fit like a glove. The dress needed a few minor repairs – I took off a bow at the back that was not original to the dress, carefully hand sewed the zip back in place where it was coming apart and fixed a tiny hole in the lace.

www.sineadjenkins.comwww.sineadjenkins.com

www.sineadjenkins.com

Wishing you both lots of happiness in your marriage and fun great times together!

www.sineadjenkins.com

Many Thanks: Sinead Jenkins www.sineadjenkins.com

Picture of the Week

Fleur the Flower — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 07:34:02 +0000

www.whitesmokestudio.com

Such a great moment.

Many Thanks: Michal Warda www.whitesmokestudio.com

MY FAV: Best Wedding Photographers in the World…Introducing Manuel Meszarovits – France.

Fleur the Flower — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 04:00:44 +0000

www.meszarovits.com

This is one of my favourite spots because it reflects my personal taste most succinctly. I am a lover of images that hold power. Images that have an intensity to them make my heart sing. I choose photographers for this spot that reflect my personal vision of what I think to be great wedding photography.

www.meszarovits.com

Manuel Meszarovits is a favourite of mine because he is self-taught. I love that. In the world of wedding photography it is easy to get carried away in equating technical mastery with the only form of brilliance. I love Manuel’s images because of his style, his ability to pierce into human nature and the timeless quality he retains.

www.meszarovits.com

I always feel transported into another time and culture when I look at Manuel’s work. I always get a wonderful feeling and often a smile comes to my face with his images.

www.meszarovits.com

The thing I love about wedding photojournalism is it is not all about ‘pretty’ by that I mean you get more of a sense about “Life” from the images. I love all types of photography (fashion, glamour etc) but this style holds a special place for me because of it’s raw-ness, things aren’t all perfect, all beautiful or all glamourous yet ironically the images turn out to be just that!

www.meszarovits.com

These are the kind of weddings that are destined for international magazines and exhibitions. I find his work Elegant. And I love it. I love that he represents such a diverse range of cultures.You just have to look at the images here to see what I mean. FABULOUS!!!!! Manuel is also an incredible Humanitarian Photographer and please do go to his site to see further. I put his pictures on my wall. Now sit back and enjoy…….MY FAV!

www.meszarovits.com

www.meszarovits.comwww.meszarovits.comwww.meszarovits.com

www.meszarovits.comwww.meszarovits.com

www.meszarovits.com

And now for the most adorable children wedding shot ever……

www.meszarovits.com

And now for the most hilarous couple shot ever……my kind of relationship! I can just hear them going “BAH HA HA HAHA HA AHAA HAA HA” all the way down the aisle.

www.meszarovits.com

Many Thanks: Manuel Meszarovits www.meszarovits.com

Darling, Oh I say, How frightfully charming…..a Knitted Royal Wedding.

Fleur the Flower — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 09:53:14 +0000

I confess, I Love a good Royal Wedding. I love the sense of occasion, the pagentry, seeing Prince Will all grown up and the anticipation of what Kate will wear. Which is why my friends and I will be playing Ladies and High Tea-ing it for the Royal Nuptials. I think it’s my “British genes” upbringing even though I’m a Kiwi.

(oops Charles got loped off there) Now for all the serious knitters out there………….here’s a challenge…..my knitting skills consist of basic jersey making and scarves so this is beyond me…………… but still hilarous and fabulous!!

The designs are by Fiona Goble and each takes around 5 hours to make if you know what you are doing. All carefully researched and the only guess work is Kate’s wedding gown.

They’re all here…………..the happy couple…

The Archbishop….

The Queen…..

Her Royal Corgies…..which are apparently the hardest to knit

Prince Harry………….who is the easiest to knit.

And there are Charles and Camilla too. One big Happy Royal Family…..

Images Via: www.dailymail.co.uk

SNEAK PEEK: Jennifer Loves David – Intimate Vintage Affair – South Island New Zealand

Fleur the Flower — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 00:35:40 +0000

www.sineadjenkins.com

I love this picture!! When I am fully recovered we will all be feasting our eyes on this lovely low-budget vintage affair…..:-)

www.sineadjenkins.com

Many Thanks: Sinead Jenkins www.sineadjenkins.com

Pop Art your wedding photos….

Fleur the Flower — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 23:25:07 +0000

www.cult.net.nz

I thought this was a cool idea…..you drag your wedding photo album out from under your bed, dust it off, pick one of your favourite pics and pop it up!!! In memory of Pop Artist like Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein you can have an awesome Pop Art portait to hang above your bed…..(except don’t put it above your bed if you live in Christchurch or Wellington).

Here are some examples of what others have done….. Let the fun times begin.

www.cult.net.nz

Many Thanks: www.cult.net.nz

A Heart-Warming Thank You to all my Worldwide Viewers………blows a kiss to you all…1665 Viewers and 100,787 Hits.

Fleur the Flower — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 02:05:23 +0000

www.imagewizard.biz

It still blows me away when I see how far-reaching this little blog goes……I figured last months stats would hardly be worth looking at because the blog was off air for a substantial amount of the time…..but I was wrong. I look at the stats mostly to see which countries enjoy this blog……so A BIG HEART WARMING THANK YOU TO ALL MY WORLD-WIDE VIEWERS……….from Cyprus, Argentina, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand along with all my other loyal followers in New Zealand, Japan, Australia, United States, Sweden, Great Britain, South Africa, Germany……..China, Canada, Malaysia, Europe, Poland, Phillipines, Russia……………..Israel, France, Indonesia, Spain and Saudi Arabia.

And to all those not mentioned here………….THANK YOU I love to hear from you!

www.craigrichardsonphotography.co.uk

Many Thanks: