My brother Shane and his beautiful wife Zo, are people of the sea. They love the sound of the ocean, the thrill of a wave, the feel of sand between their toes and the ebb and flow of the tides. In a few weeks time they will be having a little mermaid and we are so excited for her arrival!
Everyone who photographs weddings has a crazy wedding story ….
I always thought that my most ridiculous wedding story was the time I sat in horse poo whilst doing a few groom portraits right before the speeches were about to start. I was sitting in the grass shooting away and when I stood up my assistant gave me a look that indicated that something was very very wrong. She had a reason for the horrified expression – My butt was covered in brown manure! Not cool. What was even more uncool was the fact that I didn’t have another pair of pants to change into and it looked as if I had had an accident in my trousers. There was nothing I could do. I just had to laugh and keep on shooting!
There have a been more incadents but this latest one really has to take the cake!
While photographing Emma and Murrays wedding at Netherwood I stood a bit too close to a candle and my hair actually caught alight! One of the videographers managed to get a clip of it just as it caught alight. Unfortunately he didn’t get all of the smoke as I had hopped out of the wayl!!!! In that situation the only thing you can do once the flames have been patted out is to once again …… laugh and keep on shooting. It was funny. It was certainly a wedding I will never forget that is for sure and my hair did actually need a trim! (although I have to say that it hasn’t been quite the same since then!!)
Thanks so much to Mark Thompson from Beyond Measure productions for freezing that moment in time …. (I think …!) Mark is a dream to work with if you are in the market for a videographer!
Em and Murray got married at Netherwood in the Natal midlands and she was definitely one of the most chilled brides I have had the pleasure to work with. Alot went wrong in the build up to their nuptials, but Em seemed to just smile through it all! The day before the wedding the sky went black and angry clouds stormed up a scene that looked as if it were out of the apocolypse . The marque which had been set up outisde the chapel to seat all the extra guests blew away. As Em arrived in the chapel my hair caught alight (no I am not kidding .. it actually flamed and smoked) There were many glitches along the way but in the end ……. there were only happy hearts and lots of laughter.
Em and Murray met whilst studying at Stellenbosch University many years ago. It’s no secret that the Stellies folk know how to have a good party so I predicted a bit of mayhem!! Then I was told that all of the groomsmen have nicknames like Panty, Bus and Veg, and this just reaffirmed my hunch that their wedding could potentially compete for Reception bash of 2012! I wasn’t wrong! For Emma and Murray it was important that I catch all the real moments and particularly the fun reception times. They weren’t into a 2 hour creative shoot or millions of portraits … they were into having fun and having that spirit captured in an honest way.
Thanks so much for picking me …. it was a joy to work with you guys and your wonderful familes!!
PS The decor at this wedding was off the hook ….. they had actual trees growing through each table! Mrs Walker you rock!!
Dale grew up on a dairy farm far away from the big city …. Roxy on the other hand spent most of her life living in the heart of big cities!
Roxy loves shoes, shopping and manicures, and Dale loves the great outdoors, rock climbing and insects. The one thing they do have in common is that they both love a good adventure. They love their families, they love traveling, the love romance, they love God and they love each other. They also love a good project …..
And boy did they set themselves up with a good project when they decided to get married on the Hutton Family Farm in Creighton. With a whole heap of help from family and friends they converted an old sheep barn into a chapel and an old calf barn into the reception hall. Roxy, has a wonderful sense of style and is an avid blogger so it follows that she had a very clear vision of how everything should be. She dreamt up a pastel tangerine colour theme, vintage plates, handmade tables and a cappuccino bar … stormy downpours however weren’t on the agenda!
The day before the wedding the heavens came down …… it pelted down …. it was that crazy kind of rain where you can’t see your hand in front of your face. But when everyone woke up to their special day the sun peeked through the clouds and eventually painted the sky blue. And everything was perfect ….
Roxy and Dale thanks so much for picking me … it was wonderful to jump into your land. We really enjoyed our time with you deep in the countryside!
PS You can visit Roxy’s blog here
Susan and Marcus live in Botswana and came down to Durban with their best friends and family to have a destination wedding at the grand old Oyster Box Hotel in Umhlanga.
When I asked them about what they expected from me as a wedding photographer they said “Capture all the moments of the day as it unfolds, if the kids are crying shoot it, if it pours with rain shoot it, if the bride runs late shoot it” …. “We aren’t interested in loads of pictures of the bride posing whilst wrapped around a wall, we aren’t interested in pictures of shoes and of decor … we want real images, the action shots, the honest moments”.
And so I attempted to jump into the heart of their wedding and photograph its soul. Here are the real moments …. here is their real wedding!
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