Then I want to share some very exciting news :) For the first time ever we filmed my workshop! Thank you to the fabulous team of Ryan de Wit of Unicorn Wedding Films for the gorgeous movie! You can view the movie at the bottom of the post. Enjoy!

The amazing vendors:

Behind the scenes photographer: Gerhard Nel Photography
Photolocation: Landgoed Te Werve
Organisation: Anouschka Rokebrand and Jo-Anne van der Lelij
Styling: a collaboration between Jo-Anne, Nancy and Brigitte
Ceremoniemeesters van der Lelij: Jo-Anne van der Lelij
Hair and Make-up: Cynthia Heydra for Hey Beauty
Flowers: Pink9Design, Nancy & Edwin
Weddingdress and shoes: Victors Wedding Design
Stationery (by Envelopments): MarryWise, Brigitte Mes
Cake, cupcakes: My Sweet Appetite, Marieke de Korte
Outfit groom: Roka
Videography: Unicorn Wedding Films, Ryan de Wit

Christine Meintjes Photo Workshop -THE MOVIE- from Ryan de Wit on Vimeo.

One of the places we visited, while in Europe, was Den Haag, Holland, where I hosted a two day workshop with some fabulous wedding photographers. The two day workshop started with my story, telling some bits and pieces of where I come from & what I’ve learned in the past 5 years, as well as talking through some business topics, such as marking, planning & workflow. The first day is always an exciting one, as it ends with a beautiful styled shoot. One of my favourite things in the world! A room filled with pretty things!

This time the workshop styling was put together by some of the best service providers in the Dutch industry! The workshop was inspired by Anouschka Rokebrand contacting me, asking whether I would come and share about photography, while in Holland. I was excited straight away! After some Skype meetings, Anouschka & Jo-Anne from Wedspiration, contacted some service providers to help out with the styling. I put together a very yellow moodboard, which it totally not me :) But something I’ve always wanted to try out and I forwarded it to the girls. The styling on the day was a collaboration of a great team (see all credits below) and some fabulous yellow joy! Thank you to everyone that made this dream come true! I absolutely fell in love with this shoot and you guys made it all possible!

A special thanks to Anouschka & Ray for all your organizing and Ray for taking time out to help behind the scenes!  Jo-Anne van der Lelij, Birgitte & Nancy for the gorgoues styling. Thank you to Gerhard Nell for being such an inspiration and for all the behind the scene photos in this post. Thank you to Marieke for the yummy cake. Thank you to Birgitte for her stylish stationary. Thank you to Victor for making the fabulous wedding dresses. Thank you to Cynthia for the make-up and hair. Thank you to Ryan & his team for the fantastic video (coming with the next post) that will always recall all the fun times we had at the workshop! You guys did such a great job!

Then, without all the photographers, there would be no workshop! Thank you for each one of you for attending and listening to what I had to share. Thank you for inspiring me and making me and iaan feel at home! You guys were simply awesome! xox

p.s My photo shoot photos coming next :)

The amazing vendors:

Behind the scenes photographer: Gerhard Nel Photography
Photolocation: Landgoed Te Werve
Organisation: Anouschka Rokebrand and Jo-Anne van der Lelij
Styling: a collaboration between Jo-Anne, Nancy and Brigitte
Ceremoniemeesters van der Lelij: Jo-Anne van der Lelij
Hair and Make-up: Cynthia Heydra for Hey Beauty
Flowers: Pink9Design, Nancy & Edwin
Weddingdress and shoes: Victors Wedding Design
Stationery (by Envelopments): MarryWise, Brigitte Mes
Cake, cupcakes: My Sweet Appetite, Marieke de Korte
Outfit groom: Roka
Videography: Unicorn Wedding Films, Ryan de Wit

Along my journey, I have learned to use my camera in a way that makes me feel confident and in control. I’ve also made some stupid mistakes and unfortunately wasted money on unnecessary things. In this journey, I took some detours and here and there, I discovered short cuts. In my business, I’ve created some processes that help me run a smoother operation :) and I try to improve them all the time.

A few years ago, I had some enquiries from photographers to help them with their photography and businesses, and so my first workshop was born. In my workshops, I have the privilege to share these stories & business tips, that help and hopefully inspire other photographers :)

When I did my first workshop two years ago, I imagined the workshop to be something like of a group of photographers sitting around a kitchen table, sipping on some coffee and tea. They would talk about photography and their businesses (the two topics that really inspire me), sharing what they know and learning from each other. This intimate, friendly environment is the kind of environment I try to create at a workshop.

When iaan and I planned our trip to Europe this summer, we thought it would be a great opportunity to do a few workshops. But planning these kind of things all the way from South Africa, is not a joke! Lucky for me, I had a great team behind the scenes of each of the workshops. The guys and girls that were involved, were totally amazing! Thank you to every single one that helped out (see the credits for more detail. Den Haag, Holland workshop will follow next week :)

For the Munich workshop, I firstly want to thank Doreen Winking for being so willing to help me with all the organizing and styling. Thank you for being such an awesome person and for setting aside time to do this, even though you are in the middle of your wedding season! You have always been willing to help me and I’m so grateful!

A big ‘thank you’ also to Carmen from Caringo for all the behind the scene photography! I know you guys are REALLY, REALLY busy and have so much editing to do, but for those days you chose to help me. I really appreciate it!

Ingo, thank you for organizing the venue and allowing Carmen to come and shoot the behind the scenes for me :) Thank you to Julia Hörl for the very creative and pretty flowers! (and especially for getting those pink Peonies just for me! You know how much I love them!!)

Thank you to Barbara Gerdes for organizing the models, the clothing from Mitgift Bridal Lounge, as well as doing the hair and makeup.

I also want to thank Elsje’s team (all the way in South Africa!) for making the gorgeous stationary and paper cut outs! Every single one of you are amazing!

Then, there would be no workshop, if it wasn’t for the photographers that attended. Thank you to each one of you! It was great to meet you guys! You guys taught me so much about the German wedding industry. Each one of you taught me something and I can’t wait to see your dreams become a reality! Thank you for enriching my life.

xoxo

ps. please note the behind the scene photos were taken by Carmen from Caringo :), only the styling and model photos are mine :)

After the wedding ceremony at the Hilton hotel‘s gorgeous cathedral, all the guest were shuttled back to Cap Rocat, to enjoy drinks on the terrace. The pre-drinks were followed by a turquoise inspired dinner party down in the courtyard. In short, it was just PERFECT!

A big thank you to Claire Morgan for inviting me to second shoot this wedding with her! It was such a privilege! Check out Claire’s awesome pics here.

Wedding Co-ordinator: Jeanette -Renee Conrad & Julia Wittmann
Wedding Stationary: Tanja Putz
Wedding Flowers: Florelie-Palma
Ceremony: Hilton, Mallorca
Wedding Video: Konrad Licht

All the guest were asked to wear white for the party, which of course made it a dream to photograph. Summi & Tassilo welcomed all their guests as they arrived, while everyone enjoyed cocktails and snacks.

Jeannette- Renee Conrad from Prime Moments wedding co-ordination also organized some fabulous gifts for the  guests, which they could enjoy during their stay on Mallorca. The girls received Pashmina’s, sun hats, as well as a survival kit, including suntan lotion and all the men received a hat too.

A big thank you to Claire Morgan for inviting me to second shoot this wedding with her! It was such a privilege! Check out Claire’s awesome pics here.

Wedding Co-ordinator: Jeanette -Renee Conrad & Julia Wittmann
Wedding Stationary: Tanja Putz
Wedding Video: Konrad Licht

Early the morning met with all the other service providers, to discuss the flow of Summi & Tassilo’s wedding day. Jeanette from Prime Moment Wedding Co-ordination did all the organizing and all three days were filmed by ORF, an Austrian national tv station.

After the meeting we went for a little drive to see more of Mallorca. The island is filled with small towns with the most gorgeous architecture. After the site-seeing we headed back to the hotel to prepare for our first shoot. The pre-wedding party at Puro Beach. (see the next post for the pictures)

We had the best three days in Palma City!  Despite the fact that we don’t speak Spanish and almost missed our flight back, I loved it so much!! Palma is a really great place! The sun was shining all the time and we had ice-cream and mojito’s every day, which made me really happy! The city has the most beautiful cathedral and some cute shops. The first day in the city, we took a trip on the red bus to get a sense of direction and then we just walked through the streets, taking some pictures and popping into a few stores.

My favourite part of the trip was the amazing paella we had at a very local seafood restaurant, called CalaNova. It was such a great experience! When we’re traveling I’ve realized the best thing you can do is ask the locals where to go, not the tourist office :)

This morning iaan and I just went for a jog towards the Munich Olympic stadium. The park is gorgeous and huge, with some spectacular architecture! Here are some iphone pics :)

(this is just an image, see the video below)

The funny start to the show was just a bit of the craziness we had to deal with yesterday evening! Iaan and I went to Munich city the afternoon and made sure we’re back in time to do the whole set-up for the KIKI TV show before we started broadcasting live at 8pm. But after we started setting up, we realized that we packed the wrong cable for the video camera! Ingo had to run to a bus, drive 20 min and pick up the right cable. He came home totally out of breath, while at that stage I was sitting in the corner with a very sore finger! Ok, I know this sound stupid, but I tried to close their blinds and a little metal hook cought my finger. :( As iaan would say..sad panda!

But at the end, all went well! We had a great show with lots of live viewers and it was fun! We ended the night with a glass of wine and a lovely barbecue (braai) on their balcony and we felt right at home!

ps. for those of you who are not familiar with KIKI or the KIKI tv show, KIKI is a place where we share with photographers. We basically share & learn together. It’s a place where anyone is welcome, whether you’re an amateur, beginner or pro! We also have awesome Facebook groups in loads of different areas in South Africa, as well as internationally. The groups serve as forums, where people get to know each other, help each other and support one another. If you’d like to join the groups, just click on your area HERE and ask to join the group on the top right corner.

And if you’ve missed out on KIKI TV, you can watch the older shows on the KIKI TV link. During our trip the shows will be at different times, so make sure you follow us on Twitter and Facebook to get all the up to date info! On the trip we will have some awesome guests, like Carmen & Ingo from Caringo…so don’t miss out!

pss. Remember if you watch live, you can ask questions during the show :)

KIKI TV Episode 15 from KIKI on Vimeo.