About Photo Stories Photography

About Palmerston North Wedding Photographer

Behind Wedding Story is wedding photographer Venessa Smart

I love LOVE. I love being a wedding photographer. I’m a hopeless romantic. It’s such a great pleasure to witness two people in love joining their lives together. Your wedding is a day to celebrate your unique love story as you begin your journey as husband and wife. It would be an honour to photograph this special day and capture memories that you will treasure forever. I know how much your wedding means to you, which is why I put my heart and soul into your photographs to ensure you have a beautiful wedding story to share with generations to come.

About me personally

My hubby and I decided to leave South Africa end of 2006 and start a new life here in New Zealand. You’ve probably heard of all sorts of stories why South African’s emigrate, some of those were ours too, but the main reason for us was to give our daughter the best chance in life and in education. She was about 15 months old when we arrived here.

Since then we were blessed with a beautiful boy. We also became official Kiwis recently – Yes, we got our citizenship. The four of us are very fortunate to call New Zealand our homeland now. We know the right way to eat Tim Tams and are huge Doctor Who fans. Please don’t ask about the rugby though.

About me professionally

I’m a self-confessed digital geek. I love everything digital. I’ve been taking photographs using digital for over a decade (I was one of the first in my area that perused digital in South Africa)

I also love online technology and the power it gives you to stay connected with people around the world. Photography isn’t my only profession. I can build websites, run social media campaigns and all sorts relating to the internet. I love it all. It gives me tremendous pleasure in helping small businesses.

My passion is photography. I especially love photographing people. What great pleasure that this leads to photographing weddings. It’s a great way to combine something you feel passionate about with people celebrating. It’s epic!

Among all my qualifications, I’ve completed a diploma in Photography a decade ago. Things have changed so much since then, but I never stop learning and researching the latest trends (however no fads) that will benefit my client’s wedding story.

I’ve lost count, but I’ve photographed over 300 weddings in the last 15 odd years. I’m well experienced and qualified to handle any wedding situation in terms of light, size and demand. I know what works and make things happen for my clients within reasonable expectations.

The name Wedding Story

About a year after we arrived in New Zealand I was burning to get back into wedding photography. I was a little torn between using my own name or a generic name that can work if my kids want to take over the business in the future. Looking at how I do weddings, this Wedding Story name kept coming back. I loved it. It’s perfect and describes exactly what I do.

Why hire me as your wedding photographer?

Photographing people is my passion and my speciality. I’m talking about real people – people of every shape, size, colour and age. Your photographs will be works of art that celebrate your individuality. I’ll make sure your poses show you at your best, and more importantly, I’ll make you feel at ease so that your unique beauty can shine through.

I am dedicated to connecting with people and telling their stories through photographs. I believe that stories worth telling can be found everywhere, from big events to simple moments shared with family and friends. My aim as a wedding photographer is to capture these memories and create a photo story that you will treasure. I take my job of capturing beautiful and perfect wedding photographs for you very seriously. Using light, shadow and emotion, we are creating wordless poems that will tell your story for generations to come.