Best of Safari/ Bush Weddings

Best of Safari/ Bush Weddings

There is something so magical about the African Bush! The haunting sounds of a Burchell’s Coucal, a Hyena calling at night, the crackle of a fire place or the stomp of an Elephant all seem to bring me right into the present moment. A few days in the bush can often feel like a total reboot or a long holiday. It’s a place to get back in touch with nature and back in touch with ourselves! Spotting a lion or even just a dung beetle can make one feel like an adventurer and bring out our inner David Attenbourgh. Needless to say I love going on safari and have been lucky enough to visit game lodges like Ulusaba (owned by Richard Branson), Madikwe Lodge, Thanda, Phinda, Swala and Kuro Nomad but I also love the simplicity of South Africa’s Government parks like Mpila in Umfolozi where you can make your own braai at the end of a long game drive and look out at the stars.

Getting married in the bush sure is a romantic place to say your I do’s and South Africa offers so many incredible venues to get married safari style. If you decide to go for a bush wedding I would advise on getting a wedding planner and a photographer who understand the logistics of bush weddings. Often ceremonies are held outdoors and this means that special organisational skills and ground work will be needed as wild animals are dangerous! This means you can’t get out of your vehicle or leave the camp without a trained guide which makes organising decor, transporting guests, providing drinks, snacks and sound without electricity etc can be tricksy to organise. It’s also important to remember that wild animals are very often scared of humans and will run away as soon as you open a car door so don’t have unrealistic expectations of having pictures of you and your babe patting a giraffe or worse a leopard – those pictures are usually taken in animal parks with tame animals!! On the flip side a safari style wedding will give you and your guests a wild experience that will remain in your heart forever.

Here are a few of my favourite photos of safari style bush weddings I have photographed in South Africa, Zambia and Tanzania over the years. I have added a list of suppliers I recommend near the end.

If you are getting married in the bush let’s start a conversation by sending me an email! I would love to make your safari style wedding dreams come true! Click here to get in touch

Wedding Planners in KZN

Adore Weddings and Events
Oh Happy Day
Serene Brides

Wedding Planners in Gauteng
Splendid Weddings

Amazing Bush Venues!

Phinda
Thanda
Madikwe Safari Lodge
Nambithi Hills

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Best of Hartford House

Best of Hartford House

If you know me you will know that I absolutely love horses so any wedding venue that offers a bit of equine therapy makes me very happy! Hartford House is one of my top wedding venues in South Africa because of its horses but also because of its excellence. This prestigious boutique hotel sits snuggly on a horse stud farm just a few clicks from Mooi River in the Natal Midlands in South Africa. The natural beauty of this farm is truly something to behold and offers the visitor emerald rolling hills to walk in during the summer, beautiful gardens to inspire and delight in the spring, golden trees in the Autumn and a roaring fire place in the winter. They are known for their gastronomic food experiences and have thrilled patrons with delicious feasts for many years. What has always struck me about this particular hotel is their ability to make every guest feel special and at home. It’s a fancy hotel and yet it’s totally unpretentious. It’s the type of place where you can lie around by the pool with a book or go for a jog around the farm, you can eat till you pop or jump on a horse and have a gallop around the track.

As a wedding venue it is most definitely one of KZN’s best. Besides the wonderful food, luxurious rooms, 5 star service and beautiful gardens it offers some of the most gorgeous photo opportunities around. I absolutely love shooting there and if you are a bride or groom to be, I can assure you this is a wonderful option if you love the outdoors with a bit of fancy thrown in!

Here are a few pictures I have taken at various weddings at Hartford House over the years. Unfortunately some of my Hartford clients didn’t want any of their pics put online but there are enough here for you to get the idea of the wonderful celebrations I have had the pleasure of photographing at this venue over the years.

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Best of Weddings 2018

Best of Weddings 2018

2018 …..

What was that?

Seriously though, what just happened?

This year has gone by at the speed of light in a giant rollercoaster. One minute I was on the top of a mountain in Lesotho on New Years eve writing my goals for the year and the next they were playing Bony M in the shops and now here I am doing my annual Best of Wedding Photography post.

2018 saw some great thing happen work wise

• I ran 3 creative photographic workshops for a really great bunch of photographers Gosh I do love teaching and inspiring others

• We shot weddings all over South Africa and also Tanzania for beautiful souls who all inspired me to no end So grateful for the clients I attract

• We shot a record number of portraits this year Met so many interesting people and animals along the way in all sorts of interesting places

• I took a mini sabbatical and went down to Rhodes University to do a self created artists residency and processed my first roll of film in over a decade! Thanks Dyan McGarry, you are one of my most favorite humans in the universe.

• My new website and branding was finally re-launched Thanks Dylan McGarry for illustration, Tyrone Bradley for branding, Chanelle Segerius Bruce for coaching and Chantal from one day webs for coding and a serious amount of patience

• I spoke at the Foto Plus Africa Photography Expo in Johannesburg. Still have fomo from not being able to stay for the whole event

• I won two Fearless awards which is so hard to do these days as they literally get thousands and thousands of entries from all over the world. So chuffed about this as it had been a while!

• One of my pics was included in Bored Panda’s Top Wedding Photos of 2018. What an honor

• I had photos published in the Huffington Post and the Rangefinder magazine amongst other. Shooow thanks to my clients for giving me the opportunity to create shots that interest the world enough to publish them

• I was placed on Nicholas Purcils 2018 Top Wedding Photographers in the World List WOW didn’t’ see that coming!

• I was invited to speak at the Fearless Wedding Photography Conference in Germany in 2019 STILL CANT BELIVE IT!

It was also the year that our beloved dog called Panther Bear dropped dead out of the blue and I went into a depression afterwards which is rather surprising for someone who previously didn’t like dogs. Just as I was getting over that, a number of other personal bombs landed in my lap. It’s been a challenging year, but I feel that there has been a lot of growth and lessons that have been learnt, I have also experienced a lot of love and for that I am truly grateful.

So what have I learnt this year?

You never know what is around the corner so be grateful for everything you have now, Be present, Meditate every day, Love your people, Time is precious, The mind does not always serve us so be careful of getting caught up in the head, Things are not always as they seem, Good friends and family are to be cherished and Gardening makes me happy.

Thank you so much to all the clients who have entrusted me with their precious memories. I am so grateful for you all! Thanks to all the service providers who I work alongside who make my life easier by creating your own magic. Thanks to Lizzy for training up Charne. We miss you! Thanks to Charne for all your dedication and hard work. You survived your first year!!!! Welldone! Thanks to my friends and family that have supported me, put up with me and celebrated with me. Lastly thanks to the man in my life Riaan for giving guidance when needed, for making fires, for hanging pictures, for helping pack and unpack and for being there for me. I so appreciate you all.

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Top 100 Wedding photographers in the world – 2018

Top 100 Wedding photographers in the world – 2018

I decided to seriously consider myself a wedding photographer in 2010. I had shot weddings before but certainly didn’t consider myself to be a specialist in the field. I was mostly working as an artist and fumbling around before that. When I realized that weddings could offer me the potential to be shoot in a creative and also documentary style whilst watching people I decided to study the best in the world and really look at the way the top international guys approached things. The other day I found out that I have been included in @nicholaspurcellstudio @schoolofweddingphotography Top 100 weddings photographers in the world of 2018 list. What an honor to be listed with some of these talented movers and shakers and receive this big accolade. This wasn’t a competition or something I paid for. I have no idea how they even found me but it’s certainly a welcomed acknowledgement of all the hard work and care I have put into my clients over the past 8 years. Thank you for the inclusion! But mostly thanks to all the people who have trusted my vision. Xxx

 

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Fearless Award

Fearless Award

It’s becoming incredibly hard to win a  Fearless Awards these days as they get thousands of entries from all over the globe and the competition is unbelievably tough. I was delighted to find out that this image from Emma and Cher’s intimate Oyster Box Hotel wedding cracked an award in Collection 43. It was also published in the Huffington Post which is rather lovely! I remember when I first found out about Fearless photographers and looked through all the mind blowing imagery, I never dreamed that I would be good enough to win an award and yet here I am with quite a few under my belt. I still can’t quite believe it!

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