Uncategorized | Elize Mare Photography

Newborn {Mienke}

March 18, 2025

Capturing the Precious Moments: A Newborn Shoot for Baby Mienke

Welcoming a newborn into the world is a magical experience, full of new beginnings and endless possibilities. Each little one is unique, and there’s no better way to preserve those first few weeks than with a newborn photoshoot. I had the honor of capturing the sweet moments of baby Mienke, a name that holds such a warm and special meaning.

The exact meaning of Mienke is gentle and not widely known, it carries with it an aura of kindness, warmth, and charm—qualities that are already shining through in this precious little one.

During the shoot, we captured those tender moments of Mienke snuggled up in soft blankets, tiny hands curled into delicate fists, and little feet ready to take on the world. Each photo is a reminder of how fleeting these early moments are, and how important it is to hold onto them.

Newborn photoshoots are not just about preserving a memory; they’re about celebrating the beginning of a beautiful journey. And for baby Mienke, this is just the start of a wonderful adventure ahead, filled with love, laughter, and all the joys her name signifies.

Thank you for letting me be a part of such a beautiful moment in your family’s story. Here’s to the start of a lifetime of memories!

Engagement {Melisca & Tyron}

August 6, 2019

“The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.” – Eden Ahbez.

This is Melisca and Tyron with their engagement session on warm winter’s afternoon at the ‘farm in the City’, Irene Dairy Farm.

We just walked around, enjoyed the warm winter afternoon weather and captured some beautiful memories for them. These two are such a stunning couple, and they’ll be getting married in March 2020.

Enjoy some of my favorites from their session.

Wedding {Samantha & Stefan}

October 21, 2018

Rain is just Confetti from the Sky

So when you get booked for a wedding in the stunning Western Cape on a wine farm, you tend to get super excited. I mean… the views from just about every wine farm is amazingly beautiful. So when Samantha and Stefan booked me for their Wedding at Cape Point Vineyard in Noordhoek, I couldn’t contain my excitement and was looking forward to this destination wedding in one of my favorite provinces.

The day of their wedding arrived, and the good old Western Cape gave us her wettest and windiest temperament she most possibly could, but we managed to get some unforgettable memories of their day.

With their ceremony due to take place outside, their amazing Co-ordinator arranged for it to move inside, to keep guests all snug and warm during the predicted stormy weather.

Samantha for sure won’t forget the moment we were outside taking photo’s with the Land Rover she arranged for Stefan, and the wind came down over the mountain with such a force it felt as if the Land Rover were lifted and moved! This is going to be a story being told to the grand kids one day! For sure not the best weather for the couple session, but man! Definitely some memories made 🙂

These are just some of my favorites…

Service Providers
Venue: Cape Point Vineyard
Wedding Dress and Bridesmaids Dresses: Cindarella’s Closet
Hair & Make Up: Delaney Siebert Make Up Artist
Wedding Co-Ordinator: Nu Experiences
Cake: Chocswirl
Decor & Flowers: 4 Every Event
Landrover: Estian du Toit

eShoot {Roche & Nadia}

October 21, 2018

“A Love like ours happens only once in a lifetime…
and I have chosen you in every one of them”

I got to share in a little bit of Nadia & Roche’s love with their early morning engagement session at Sôkêng Wedding Venue, outside Groblersdal a few weeks ago. These two will be tying the knot at this very venue later in 2019, and I can’t wait to share in their magical wedding day.

Wedding {Cawood & Nadine}

November 20, 2017

“God knew my Heart needed you”

Have a look at this beautiful wedding at Shepstone Gardens where I was assistant photographer to Clareece Smit. Beautiful colors, light and a couple with love evident in every look to each other! One of my favorite images from this wedding is the tears in the Groom’s eyes with their vow exchange during the Ceremony.

eSession {Vivion & Nicola}

October 9, 2017

“A boy is meant to be taller than a girl… so he can hug her completely.
A girl is meant to be less taller than a boy…. so by the time he hugs her,
she can easily hear his heart that keeps beating for her” – Unknown

When I met these two, I knew I’d love their session – we planned the normal in the nature session and added a twist at the end with a geek-gagement session, just because they both love their comics and fantasy stories.

Their wedding is going to be one for the books, and I can’t wait to capture their special moments on their wedding day!

Wedding {Lee-Ann & Douglas}

June 12, 2017

“Love me and the world is mine.” – David Reed

In March this year I had the privilege to second shoot this beautiful wedding with Lilly Leigh Photography at Lavandou Wedding Venue – these are a few of my favorites, and I must just mentioned I absolutely LOVED their first dance! These two are so much in love, and it shows in every image we captured.

Photographer: Lilly Leigh Photography
Second Shooter: Elize Maré Photography
Venue: Lavandou Wedding and Events Venue
Hair & Make-Up: Make up by Candice
Wedding Dress: Bridal Warehouse
Bridesmaids dresses: Forever New
Groom Suit: Wedding and Suit International Bedfordview
Videographer: The Wedding Videographer

Wedding {Lizelle en Gerhart}

May 22, 2017

“In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours. In all the world, there is no love for you like mine.” – Maya Angelou

Uilie (Gerhart) en Lizelle het vir die eerste keer 21 jaar terug ontmoet – toe Gerhart saam met Lizelle se sussie gewerk het.

Na die ontmoeting, en na Lizelle haar matriek voltooi het, het sy oorsee gaan werk, en in die Kaap voor sy teruggekeer het na Pretoria – waar Uil nog al die tyd gebly het.

In hierdie tydperk het hulle nie kontak gehad nie, en het vir die tweede keer weer ontmoet een aand toe hulle toevallig by dieselfde plek gekuier het …. Lizelle vertel so:

“Ek en vriendinne het een aand bietjie uitgegaan. Uilie (Gerhart) wat nie baie lief is vir dans nie was toevallig daardie aand ook uit gewees om ‘n vriend van hom daar te kry vir Besigheid.
Soos dit maar is, het ons girls maar ons eie drink goedjies gekry en by die kroeg het ek die man langs my sien staan en ek het so opgekyk (Uilie is langer as ek – hahaha) en gevra maar is jou naam nie Uil nie. Wel Uilie spot nog tot vandag toe sy naam sal Koos gewees het as ek hom gevra het! Hy het my die aand gaan aflaai, in ou DAISY (F100).
Ek het natuurlik nie gedink hy sal my weer bel nie, maar soos hulle sê – the rest is history :):):). Vandag na 15 jaar saam is ons getroud.”

‘n Mooi liefdesverhaal ne! 🙂

In Desember 2016 het Uil vir Lizelle gevra om sy vrou te word, en op 22 April 2017 het die twee hul sprokiestroue gehad by Vintage Yard buite Parys langs die Vaal rivier en ek was daar om al die mooi en al die herinneringe vir hul vas te vang. En natuurlik was Daysie (die F100) ook daar – sy is mos deel van hierdie liefdesverhaal.

Hul troue was absoluut pragtig en gevul met emosie en soms ‘n paar trane – selfs ek moes ‘n paar keer diep asemhaal!

Die ‘vintage’ tema van hul troue het perfek by die paartjie gepas, en ook die venue – en ek kon letterlik nie ophou foto’s neem nie!

Lizelle & Uilie…. dankie – baie dankie dat ek so bevoorreg was om deel te kon wees van jul troue!
Hier is solank ‘n voorsmakie – geniet dit!

Liefde
Elize

Service Providers:
Photographer: Elize Mare Photography
Venue: Vintage Yard Wedding Venue – www.vintage-yard.com
Make up & Hair: Lezandre Gerber
Trou Rok: Ciska Barnard Couture : www.facebook.com/CiskaBarnardCouture
Ringe: Esther Boshoff – Beaudell Designs : beaudell.co.za
Trou Koek: Corni du Plessis
Trou Kaartjies: Ilse Pretorius – Pikant Creative Design : www.pikant.co.za

Maboneng Engagement shoot {Dietrich & Marquerite}

April 11, 2017

“He is more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” – unknown

These two will be saying their “I do’s ” later this year, and I can not wait to capture their beautiful wedding after their stunning engagement shoot we had.

It really was worth it getting up SO early on Sunday morning, to be on the Nelson Mandela bridge with sunrise after which we headed off to a very quiet Maboneng precinct for the rest of their session.

eShoot {Nadia & Barry}

March 21, 2017

“Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone – we find it with another.” -Thomas Merton

Nadia and Barry met during one vacation on a KZN beach.. a holiday romance that turned into real love and one that will last a lifetime. They also got engaged on a beach, so it was only fitting that their eShoot was to be done on a beach.

But, living in Gauteng the beach is just a little bit too far so we opted for a little ‘beach’ just outside of Gauteng in Hartebeespoortdam, die Vette Mossel.

Service Providers:

Make up: Salome – Pink Hotness Beauty Boutique
Venue: De Vette Mossel, Hartebeespoortdam

Wedding {Chris & Juanita}

October 25, 2016

“Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” Wuthering Heights

Juanita & Chris has known each other in what feels like forever! Having met each other through her older brother – whose wedding I captured just over three months ago (if you missed that, have a look here ) – these two were soulmates from the start, meant for each other. I can’t even remember the amount of years they have known each other! So while the family was waiting, and waiting,….. and waiting for the Big Wedding Day, Juanita had it all planned out already, this girl knew exactly what she wanted event before they got engaged.

They got engaged under her favorite tree on her parents’ Game Farm, and she also knew that this is the farm where she would want to get married on. With the date for the wedding decided – 24 September 2016 – a lot was still to happen as the farm was not fit to host a wedding. Plans were made, lay-outs were done, and the planning went over into action and a dream started to come true. I’ll share a bit of the Venue Development with you in this post before I share some of their Wedding Day images. A LOT of work has gone into the venue, and on the day of Juanita & Chris’ Wedding final touches were being done. On behalf of the owners, Kobus & Tania, a BIG thank you to everyone involved and who helped in making this dream a reality, and finishing it on time – no matter how big or small your roll were, You are appreciated!

While planning and building at the new venue went underway, we had a super stunning time with their Engagement shoot at a protea farm – as this girl is a Protea girl! Their eShoot images were stunning and I was already looking forward to their Wedding 🙂

Let’s move on to the Wedding Day… it was a sunny and hot spring day in Limpopo – a beautiful day for a wedding!

ir pre-wedding photo’s. I decided to do their photo’s earlier than normal, and through jokes and laughter they got dressed and we finished sooner than they expected. Remember, guys don’t like photo’s, so to get them to dress up for a photo shoot is like pulling a thorn from a toddlers foot. Afterwards, or so I hear, they were all too happy that it didn’t take too long, and that I was done with them, so they could swim and relax before getting dressed (again) for the Wedding.

The Bride and her Bridesmaids got dressed in one of the houses at Leselo Lodge – stunning space with awesome light flowing into the house. Once I got to them, after capturing the details at Sôkêng of the hall and Chapel, I started with the detail shots, hair and make-up and moved on to capturing the beauties all made up and dressed.

Off to the Ceremony, and open-air Chapel on the game farm where everybody was waiting for the Bride to arrive.
When she came walking down the dirt road to meet her Dad at the Chapel all eyes where on her, and I could see tears on a few faces (mine included) … Juaniata you were SUCH a beautiful Bride!
I loved how you and Chris connected through the Ceremony, the way you looked at each other and the laughter – you are a stunning couple!
Photo magnets of each person/couple attending the wedding was used at Table Seating – loved the one you chose for us. And what could be more fitting to cut the first piece of wedding cake than with one of the tools used in the building of the venue!

But wait, let me stop now and just share some images…. Enjoy!

First up… a small look into the develoment of Sôkêng Wedding Venue: