Joy Joy Joy. Thats the one thing that comes to my mind when I think of Frances and Graham. Besides good lighting, there is nothing more exciting for me to shoot than happy people!
Frances and Graham tied the knot on Nooitgedacht Estate in Stellenbosch on the 16th of January 2010. The day was a feast of greens and whites and the reception’s decor had the feeling of a European courtyard. Above each table hanged a cluster of ivy and fairy lights, lighting up each table.
Anna and her family live just up the street from me. One afternoon I met them up in the vineyards for a family shoot. Anna was very shy at first, but as all little one’s they just need to gain some confidence and see you are interested in them. Soon she started smiling and making all sorts of jokes. Some fun shots of her and her family…
Lately elope weddings seem to very popular and with 2010 soccer world cup coming up, I’m sure this trend will just increase in popularity! But who can blame anyone who chooses Cape Town as a backdrop for one of the most important decisions in your life!
My second wedding for this year was Frances and Paul’s wedding at the exquisite Vrede en Lust estate in Franschhoek. The wedding was co-ordinated by Hannes from Wedding Concepts and to say the least he did a super fine job! The details and the table settings was nothing but perfect! All the flowers and decor was done by my friends over at Leipzig. One of South Africa’s finest floral companies!
Helena & Henri have been traveling the world and currently they are living in Tokyo, Japan. Helena and I went to school together and ever since I’ve been keeping tack of her life on Facebook (seriously how did we do it without Facebook??) One day I received an email from Helena that said she wanted to book me for her wedding. I knew this was one I couldn’t miss! She is seriously the most relaxed bride I’ve ever seen! She was chilling in the lounge, getting her hair done. Her mom showed me the dress and here Henri popped out around the corner. I was a bit confused. Wasn’t the groom suppose not to the the bride before the ceremony. Nope, these two weren’t going for ANY traditions.
This weekend was quite unusual. I attended a wedding, but as a guest! I didn’t shoot a wedding on Saturday. I collected my dad from the airport (my parents are now both back permanently! yeh!) and then I enjoyed a real home cooked meal for Sunday lunch! Wow, unusual, but great!
Nikki and I studied Graphic design together, thereafter we (nikki, iaan and myself) opened a business called Creative Lounge, which specialized in many different aspects of Graphic Design. Nikki was the head of the wedding stationary department and Iaan was the head of the web design, I on the other hand was so busy with my photography that I hardly had time to do anything else. Soon Nikki started to persue her photography career and she was an instant success!
The great thing about weddings is that it’s such a personal thing. Every little detail is planned according to what you love and it’s something every girl dreams of. On the other side it also takes a lot of planning and speaking to many brides I’ve realized how daunting the idea of organizing a wedding is for people. Luckily most people know someone that has gotten married before and lucky for the wedding service providers this is where all the word of mouth advertising comes in :) I truly believe in WOM (word of mouth) as it’s the strongest and most direct advertising/promotion your business will ever receive. Liesl and Greg are one of the couples that found me via a previous friend/bride I photographed the previous year. So this is just a little shout out to my friend Antjie (UK) for the referral!
Cari and Lawrence live in Johannesburg, but decided on the Stellenbosch winelands for their wedding. Cari and I have been chatting over the phone about their day and I realized once again what a big story it is to organize your wedding from another city :) Not to mention another country! Cari is such a honey and she phoned me yesterday just to say thank you for sharing in their big day and making them feel relaxed in front of the camera! What a great compliment. People like Cari & Lawrence really make my job worth while!
Henry Chen, Iaan and I drove into Jacobsbay the afternoon of the 18th of December. It was a windy but sunny day and the skies were super blue. It’s something I absolutely love about the west coast. Blue skies! In the little town were white washed houses scattered everywhere, overlooking the ocean. In the distance [...]
