Love, Rain & Dancing Grandmas — Noa & Carlos's Samoan Wedding at Settler's Manor | Auckland Wedding Photographer - YM Photography

Settler's Manor, Kumeu, Auckland | Autumn 2026

I've photographed weddings on golden Auckland afternoons. I've photographed weddings in bright summer sun with not a cloud in sight. But Noa and Carlos's wedding? That was something else entirely.

Torrential rain. All day. A storm had been rolling through Auckland all week, and it had absolutely no plans to stop for a wedding. And honestly? It gave us one of the most vivid, joyful, colourful wedding days I've ever had the privilege of being part of.

How We Got Here

I actually first met Noa through an engagement shoot. She found me on Instagram, reached out, and we went and created something beautiful together — that was the session where I got to play their song and watch them completely forget I was there. After the shoot, Noa pulled me aside and said they were still on the hunt for a wedding photographer. They'd loved the experience. A few weeks later, they booked me for the wedding.

That's one of my favourite things about this work. Sometimes a session becomes the beginning of a longer relationship. Getting to carry their story from engagement to wedding day felt like a full circle moment.

They booked about two to three months out — with the Diamond Package — and from the first conversation, I knew this was going to be a day.

A Samoan Wedding in Full Colour

If you've never been to a Samoan wedding, let me try to describe it to you. The colour. The sound. The energy. From the bridesmaids to the groomsmen to the flower girls and ring bearer — everyone was dressed in bold, saturated colour. Bright oranges and reds. The groomsmen wore striking red necklaces. The flower girls were in orange dresses that practically glowed.

And underneath all of that? Love. So much love. About 100 guests who weren't there to sit quietly — they were there to celebrate.

Settler's Manor in Kumeu provided the backdrop, a beautiful venue out in Auckland's west that I was genuinely excited to shoot. Except, of course, by the time the ceremony started at 1:30pm, every outdoor plan had been washed away by the rain. The whole wedding moved indoors — and that's where things got creative.

Making the Rain Work For Us

Here's something I've learned: the best photographers aren't the ones who only shine when conditions are perfect. They're the ones who find the shot no matter what.

Indoor wedding photography in low, warm-toned light is genuinely challenging. The room had an orange cast from the lighting, which doesn't naturally flatter skin tones or colours. I ran flash the entire day — something I don't always do — and spent extra time in post-production pulling out the richness of those colours. The editing on this wedding was some of the most involved work I've done, and I'm so proud of how it came out.

For the bridal party portraits, we couldn't step outside. So we worked with the reception space itself — we rearranged chairs, played with the layout, used the architecture of the room as our backdrop. What could have felt like a limitation ended up producing some of my favourite portraits from the day. Sometimes constraints push you to be more creative than perfect conditions ever would.

I arrived at Settler's Manor at 12:45pm and we finished around 5:30–6pm. Canon R6 Mark III with a 24–105mm f/2.8 lens throughout — that focal range gave me everything I needed to move between wide environmental shots of the space and tight portraits of faces and details.

The Story Behind the Love

Noa shared this with me before the wedding and I haven't been able to forget it:

He used to wait for her at the front gate every morning at work — too shy to say a word. If he didn't see her come in, he'd take his break late just to catch a glimpse of her at reception. He never even looked up.

Carlos and Noa met at Farmers department store. He was quietly waiting. She was always running late. And somehow, eventually, the waiting paid off.

On the wedding day, Carlos was still a little reserved — but by the time the dancing started, he was completely himself. Giving everything. That shift from quiet to joyful over the course of a wedding day is one of the most beautiful things to document.

The Moments That Stopped Time

I could talk about the colour. The dancing. The chaos and laughter of huge extended families all wanting to get on the floor at once.

But the moment I keep coming back to is Noa and her grandmother.

When Noa's grandmother walked her down the aisle, the room went quiet in a different way. This wasn't ceremony-quiet. This was the kind of stillness that only comes when something deeply sacred is happening. The bond between them was visible — not just in the way they held each other, but in the way everyone around them held their breath.

Later in the reception, Noa danced with her grandmother. Just the two of them, in the middle of all that colour and noise and celebration. I don't have words for what that looked like through a lens. I just kept shooting.

When They Saw the Photos

Ecstatic. Couldn't thank me enough. That's what Noa said.

And that right there — that reaction — is why I do this. Not just on the beautiful golden days, but on the rainy ones too. The stormy days and the difficult lighting and the improvised plans. Because the love doesn't change based on the weather. And it's my job to make sure the photos don't either.

Planning a Wedding Out West? Let's Talk

Settler's Manor in Kumeu is a stunning venue, and if you're planning a wedding out in West Auckland, I would love to be your photographer. I'm based in West Auckland myself, so it genuinely feels like home territory.

I specialise in documentary-style wedding photography — real people, real emotion, the in-between moments as much as the big ones. I work with all kinds of weddings: intimate, large, multicultural, traditional, outside the box. Whatever your day looks like, I want to capture it honestly and beautifully.