Honestly, my heart leaps with joy each time I look through these images. I think they’re all the more special because I know the Bride and Groom as friends.

Through the camera I saw so much happiness, laughter, and fleeting glances of pure love and joy. It’s hard to find the right words to describe this perfect day, and so I hope that these images will do the talking for me.

And since the Bride and Groom have already seen their gallery of images, this sneak peek is an extra long one ;-)

The wedding ceremony took place at the fabulous Castle Duivenvoorde, a beautiful venue.

All the wedding guests gathered on the bridge, awaiting the Bride’s arrival.

Arriving on a beautiful white horse-drawn carriage, and met by the Groom, the Bride stepped down from the carriage and WOW! – her dress was amazing, she looked absolutely stunning!

Whilst the guests were being seated in the wedding hall, the Bride and Groom waited in a side room. I especially loved this fleeting moment between them.

Doesn’t the Bride look stunning? :-)

I love those loving looks the Groom gave his Bride :-)

And look at those beaming smiles as they exchanged rings!!

I also love this next image of the Bride’s Mother signing as a witness. Her smile speaks volumes, look how proud she is :-)

After the ceremony we took some formal group photographs in the castle grounds.

The fabulous Bride and Groom… :-)

The Bride, with her Mum and her Sister…

And I don’t remember what was so funny now, but l loved this out-take of the Groom’s family :-)

When all the guests had left, we also had a few special moments with just the Bride and Groom…

Yes, mostly kissing moments ;-)

*so happy for them*

And then it was time to head to De Knip, to meet all the guests for the Wedding Toast, Dinner and some dancing!

Unfortunately, due to timing, I wasn’t able to photograph the Wedding Toast and the cutting of the cake… Instead I was preparing a slideshow of the ceremony for the evening party! :-)

During the evening party, Irish dance group Kyra gave a great performance! One of the dances was improvised and without music – it was quite amazing to watch (and listen – I loved the ‘tap’ sound of their shoes as they danced)!

…and the Groom joined them for a quick Irish dance of his own ;-)

Late in the evening, the Bride and Groom took to the floor for their first dance…

And then everyone else joined in… :-)

Christa, you are a beautiful Bride, and Pete, a dashing Groom – or should I call you Mr Darcy ;) *a little inside joke for the wedding guests*.

It was truly an honour to photograph all of these very special moments. Thank you so much for allowing me to share your special day.

Wishing you both much love and happiness, always.

To Mr and Mrs. :-)

Proost! (Cheers!)

Best wishes,
~Natalie

If the answer is yes, definitely keep reading! :-)

Here’s another CRAVE Amsterdam photo session, this time for the Intelligentsia section! Introducing Erika, from BOTH Assistance & Support.

Erika is a good friend of mine, who I first met just over 2 years ago when I joined the WBII Business Breakthrough Team. I was delighted to hear that she would be featured in the CRAVE Amsterdam guidebook and that she had selected me as her photographer!

Erika has a creative spirit so when she approached me to set up the photo session she already had a great idea in mind for her photo in the book.

So, here it is…

I hope I met her expectations! I, for one, love the result! :-)

Blog readers… if your home office (or work office) is piled high with papers, a helping hand from Erika might be just what you need to whip your paperwork and administration into shape! As your personal ‘Virtual Assistant’, Erika can organise your office AND save you time. Stop by her website at www.bothassistanceandsupport.com for more information on her services.

Erika, I had so much fun that afternoon – thank you! I can’t wait to see your feature in the book! :-)

Best wishes,
~ Natalie

I’ve had so many photo sessions lately that I’m a little behind on blogging sneak peeks (in fact some may actually become post-peeks!) so watch out for several coming your way…

Just a few short weeks ago, on Father’s Day, I travelled to Ouderkerk aan de Amstel (a lovely little village near Amstelveen) to meet this wonderful family, including Grandma :-)

Just look at that adorable face, doesn’t he make you smile?! :-)

We had a fun afternoon together – drawing pictures of Hello Kitty, blowing bubbles, making a hideaway from umbrellas and blankets, we also did some hula hooping too! ;-)

For the family photos we headed for the bedroom; the light was just gorgeous, streaming in from two large windows.

Such a happy family, it was lovely to spend the afternoon with them.

Oh, and I loved Monty’s t-shirt – it says “Dad is my Hero” :-)

Megan had a mountain of energy, barely staying still for a nano-second. However, after a series of forward rolls I caught her eye for a brief moment…

Hope you enjoyed the sneak peek! There are more peeks coming soon so keep your eyes peeled! ;-)

Wishing you all a fabulous weekend!

Best wishes,
~ Natalie

Summer has arrived and I have a fabulously summery sneak peek for you, and an extended sneak peek at that. Earlier this month I spent a wonderful morning at Kijkduin Beach with the M. Family. Their 4 children were adorable, playing in the sand, building sandcastles with their parents and splashing in the sea together :-)

We barely had sand between our toes when the three youngest ran across the beach with their bag of goodies, so sweet to watch them :-)

We had a lot of fun, though there was the odd grumpy moment too, but even those moments made me smile. In the photo above, E. had decided he didn’t want to be in the family portrait; he left us to sit with his back to everyone whilst quietly tossing sand in the air… his grumpiness didn’t last very long though, and he soon joined the others and was having fun jumping the waves *splish splash* :-)

There is so much love in this family, it was wonderful to watch them play together.

They’re a beautiful family :-)

We also took a moment to photograph the children individually. Here’s P. the eldest..

and the youngest, twins A. and K. – they were so sweet, holding onto my hand and walking with me across the sand :-)

E.’s eyes really sparkled, a total cutie!

Of course, we needed a beautiful photo of Mum and Dad too :-)

That’s all for now ;-) hope you enjoyed the sneak peek!

Best wishes,
~Natalie

“What is Moise?” I hear you ask… it’s a fabulously stylish clothing store in Haarlem, and yes, you will definitely want to go and visit!

When I walked in the door, the ambience was so welcoming, so inviting… Just a couple of metres in front of the doorway was a gorgeous little sofa adorned with beautifully decorated cushions. And then as I glanced around to my right, there were rails of beautiful clothing and accessories; and the decor was just fabulous – you’ll see what I mean a little later!

First of all, let me introduce Monique, the owner of Moise..

Isn’t she beautiful? :-) truly a delight to have her in front of my camera!

Monique’s enthusiasm and zest for life was infectious! :-) It was wonderful to hear her story behind Moise, which is a fairly new store.

They stock beautifully stylish clothing, shoes and bags…

BUT LOOK!! Can you imagine my excitement when I saw this beautiful wardrobe? and the bird cage? I just LOVED all the details!

There’s natural window light by the changing area too because they have a cute little garden area at the back of the store!

And this gorgeous silver tea set.. details details details – LOVE!

Moise is mainly a clothing store with brands such as HOPE, HUMANOID and Isabel Marant. However, they also sell jewelry – the Betsy & Iya range of jewelry is BEAUTIFUL! They have a nice selection of beauty products from Malin & Goetz too.

I’m trying hard not to give too much away in these images, you really need to take a trip to Haarlem and visit Moise for yourself! And what better excuse is a SALE! Yes… I noticed on Twitter that their sale has started. What better excuse do you need? :-)

I’ll quickly wrap up this post (so that I don’t delay your trip to Haarlem by too long! ;)) with a photo of two little birds, sitting in a cabinet of beautiful jewels..

Ladies, it was absolutely wonderful to meet you all, and fun too! Monique, I wish you all the very best and can’t wait to see your feature in the CRAVE Amsterdam Guidebook!

See you soon!

It was raining in The Hague and as I packed my camera gear into the car I quietly whispered “please, please, stop raining, pleeeeeeeease!” – after days of blue skies and sunshine, I couldn’t believe it was raining! But, it seemed the weather gods were listening.. by the time I arrived in Leidschendam the rain had all but stopped.

It was a beautiful love story, one that travelled the Atlantic ocean; Charlotte and Remco first met 11 years ago, and in 2006 Charlotte moved to the Netherlands, for love. :-)

Unbeknown to Charlotte, I was in on a secret! Remco’s parents were surprising her with a special bridal car, a classic American car! It was a fabulous surprise, here’s a teaser – can you guess the car?

Before the ceremony we first went to visit Remco’s Oma at her care home, her face absolutely lit up when she saw Remco and Charlotte step out of the car. Her smile made my heart skip a beat, she was bursting with pride and happiness!

After a short while we travelled on to the Oude Gemeentehuis Leidschendam-Voorburg for the wedding ceremony. It was a beautiful and touching service.

Just a few moments before the guests came over to congratulate Charlotte and Remco on their marriage, I witnessed this beautiful moment… checking out the rings ;-)

With the guests waiting below, Charlotte and Remco stepped out onto the balcony..

I’m so happy for them both – Congratulations Charlotte and Remco!! :-)

The next stop was Kasteel Duivenvoorde for a creative bridal session. And now you see the car..! ;-)

It was a lot of fun to walk around the castle grounds and spend some time for some beautiful bridal portraits.

Kasteel Duivenvoorde is a stunning location!

We went inside too..

Absolutely LOVE the silhouette!

Before we knew it, the creative session came to an end and we drove the short distance to Eiland van Ome Nick where the guests were gathered for the wedding toast and the cutting of the cake.

..and the beautiful bridal cake tasted just as good as it looked! yum!

Many congratulations to Charlotte and Remco!! It was a perfect day, thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of it. I absolutely loved working with you both and can’t wait to share all your images with you! Wishing you both much happiness! :-)

Have you ever visited a website, and then unexpectedly lost yourself online for.. well, a long time?! That’s exactly what happened to me when I visited www.flavourites.nl

Flavourites (de leukste webshops!) will be featured in the upcoming CRAVEguide (a unique and stylish guidebook for Amsterdam living) and as a member of the CRAVE Amsterdam photography team I received the request to photograph Flavourites for the book. But when the request arrived in my mailbox, I completely lost track of time browsing their website and discovering all kinds of treats!

Not only is Flavourites.nl a beautifully designed website, but it’s also a portal to a fabulous collection of webshops. You’ll find a webshop for almost anything you can think of, and there are more webshops being added all the time.

Introducing Marije and Natascha, the owners of this fabulous initiative.. :-)

Their office was full of inspiration, as well as Flavourites candy ;-) mmm!

I really loved these brightly coloured decorative birds, sitting in a white wooden tree. Do you see the Flavourites candy on the red one?

If it’s time to refresh your wardrobe, there’s a fantastic collection of fashion shops for men, women and children. Perhaps you’re looking for the perfect gift for him, or her, or your friend’s newborn baby, or something special to decorate your home or garden. You are sure to find something perfect, go take a look for yourself: www.flavourites.nl

Many thanks to Marije and Natascha for their wonderful hospitality – it was great meeting them and exciting to hear all about their future plans. Can’t wait for Flavourites LIVE! – blog readers, mark your calendar for 19-21 November 2010 – the virtual world of shopping is coming LIVE to Amsterdam!

Did you see the teaser on the Tigs Creations Facebook Page yesterday? Here’s the official sneak peek!

For most of our session this sweet baby boy quietly watched the world go by, though we did eventually manage to capture some beautiful sleeping images too, he was such a sweetheart.

Ohhhh, totally gorgeous isn’t he?

His big brother was a cutie too!

Look at those little peepers, doesn’t he make your heart smile :-)

Hope you enjoyed the sneak peek!

Have a great week everyone, thanks for stopping by :-)

Oh wow! Vinita and I enjoyed a fabulous evening with the winners of our Helping Hearts for Haiti romantic photo session. With beautiful Spring weather we spent the evening walking through the couple’s favourite streets in The Hague whilst listening to anecdotes of their lives together.

Love was definitely in the air…

The Hague provides some wonderful backdrops for portrait sessions. Love the architecture in this particular street!

We had so many favourite images from this session, it was almost impossible to choose just a small few for the sneak peek… here’s a couple more…

And the perfect end to a romantic photo session… mmm bubbles! :-)

Thank you so much for a wonderful session, and of course, for helping us help the victims of Haiti’s earthquake.

Don’t forget to check Vinita’s blog for a sneak peek of her images!!! ;-)

I am so excited to share this sneak peek…

Earlier this week I met with writer and author, Carolyn Vines, who’s well on the way to finishing her first book, a memoir entitled ‘black and (A)broad: doing it in Holland‘ and I couldn’t be more excited for her as she nears the finish line.

Carolyn not only asked me to take her PR portraits but three days before her portrait session she asked for portraits that “scream ‘inspiration’”. Now, that really made me think long and hard at how I was to achieve this seemingly momentous task. I always aim to capture the personality of my subjects in their portraits, but a portrait that immediately makes the viewer feel inspired is so much more than that, at least I felt it was. I was ready for the challenge and all of those three days my brain was buzzing with ideas! I’ll have more of those kind of challenges please! ;-)

Carolyn, you really are SO beautiful. I loved having you in front of my camera! :-)

A quick change of outfit to finish off the session…

Carolyn, thank you for a wonderful portrait session. I really enjoyed our time together and can’t wait to see your book in print. Wishing you all the best as you near the finishing post!

Are you feeling inspired? Are you curious to learn more about Carolyn and her book? Visit her award winning blog at www.blackandabroad.com

Hope you enjoyed the sneak peek…

Till next time!