Any man who can write a blues song for his bride, together with a flapping frog dance, is either totally bonkers or a total keeper.  In this case, I think it is quite obviously the latter.

So today, I am going to rock your little socks off with our first wedding of the season; that of the super-cool couple, James and Tenielle. The story of a 6 and a 10 that fell hopelessly in love ,-).

What I loved most of all about their wedding day, apart from the awesome gang of family and friends that surrounded Tenielle and James, was how expressive and emotional they both are.

It has been a while since I posted one of my own weddings, so I am a little giddy at selecting,  {insert warning} so this post is likely to be prolonged. Perhaps a little too long, but, that's what you get when your bride, Tenielle, is a blond look-alike of Audrey Hepburn. (Don't you think?)

And drumroll, finally a few of my favorite frames from the day.

As always, these and a few more images are on my Facebook page. To the FB novices;  you need to "Like" Andrea Carlyle Photography in order to leave comments.


















How cute is the fortune cookie dressed in the tux!







I played around in Photoshop and created a new B&W conversion that I would like to call my Vintage Hepburn.





The garter (and cheese sandwich) bearer.

All three boys slept over at "uncle's" house, last night.

This morning, as I sipped my coffee and switched on my PC, I realised that the house was silent, so eerily hushed that I can actually hear my keyboard "tik tik", as I type this post....it is a strange feeling.

A silence that I thought I could savour, as I have a hundred and three things I thought I would do, once I finally had this moment of quiet, but, now that I have it, I long for the noise and chaos.

Strange.

Just yesterday morning, I was a tad irritated that I could not even go to the loo without a "Mama {insert demand}" and now that I have several uninterrupted hours, I am stumped with what to do.

I am ready to embrace the noise.

3....2...1...Blast off!

Oliver's birthday is in July, which is not only a little too cold for an outdoor party, but, it also happens to be during the school holidays, meaning that most of his friends are away. We have, over the years, held his "proper" party towards the end of August.

So, this weekend, 22 astronauts graduated from Oliver's lunar space shuttle programme. The extra-terrestrial mission included hunting for cosmic moon rocks and a spacecraft missile launch.  Rookies were then asked to eliminate an alien and participate in a deep-space experiment (Pepsi and Mentos) and finally to construct a shuttle of their own.

We had a blast!

A touch of vintage and a hint of classic.   Then, added to this, you suffuse a mixture of mojos and Hollywood glam in the heart of an urban city and, hey presto, this was the backdrop to Sarika's and Nico's gorgeous wedding day.  I realise, that nothing in life is really perfect, but honestly, this wedding was very close.

It is going to be a short post from my side as Dror has, more than eloquently, described this beautiful wedding on his blog.

Just a quick one before I post the images.  

I was a little inspired by the fact that Sarika "rocked that Marilyn vibe", so before I processed their photos for the blog, I tinkered with Photoshop in an attempt to create a timeless B&W action that would match the same old starlit, glitzy Hollywood feel.

Thank you Sarika & Nico - it was awesome!

....and Thank.You.Dror.




























Oh, and before I forget, those that prefer FB to blogs here is the FB post.

I am so overjoyed that spring is finally on its way; partly because the warmer weather's on the horizon and partly, if not mostly, because of all the beautiful blossoming trees, which, to me, is simply the epitome of new beginnings.

Last year, in a moment of ingenuity,  I decided not to shoot weddings in the months of July and August,  so that I would have the time to rejuvenate, catch up, tackle a few DIY projects at home and just do all the things that are usually neglected during the busy summer months.

Well, I almost managed to stick to my non-wedding agenda, but, the problem was when July and August actually arrived..... I sooooo yearned for the hustle and bustle of shooting a wedding, so much for rejuvenation ....mmmmm.


So, I circulated some emails to a few photographers, in an attempt to second shoot at couple of weddings just to get away from my everyday mundane.


One of those assignments was that of Jason's and Belle's, which I really have to thank Stella for allowing me to be her back-up lens.

Jason's and Belle's big day had so many distinctive and exceptional elements; such as Jason's walk/shimmy down the aisle, the couple's first dance, which happened to be The Swing and then the pocket watch that Belle sent through to Jason just before the nuptial formalities.

There was a wonderfully authentic and romantic feel to this wedding, which I am battling to put into words, so, without any further delay, I'll let you peek at some more of my favourite photographs instead.











Jason, just before Belle walked down the aisle, with Belle's mom.