Ria and Shiraj celebrated their love with a beautifully elegant two-day Asian wedding. It was held at the stunning Crows Hall, a gorgeous Grade II listed 16th century manor house in Suffolk. The first day of their festivities was nothing short of magical, filled with tradition, joy, and an incredible party. Their wedding was so good in fact that we have to blog it in two parts
Shiraj began the day with a grand entrance. He arrived for his Jaan in a sports car surrounded by his family. Smoke bombs, dancing and anticipation filled the air as they reached the picturesque venue, setting the tone for a day full of celebrations.
The colourful and joyful traditional wedding ceremony followed. It was a beautiful blend of the rich cultural heritage of both families. Ria and Shiraj exchanged vows amidst vibrant decorations and the blessings of their loved ones. It was a beautifully personal ceremony with both laughs and tears.
After the ceremony, everyone enjoyed a relaxed outdoor meal, taking in the beauty of Crows Hall‘s gardens. The laid back atmosphere allowed for mingling, relaxing and laughter, which was the absolutely perfection combination of things for this wonderful couple.
The evening then transitioned into an incredibly energetic sangeet. It ended up being a night filled with music, dance, and laughter. Ria and Shiraj’s friends and families showcased their dance moves, turning the event into a joyous celebration of love and unity.
We first met Ria and Shiraj when we shot their legal wedding last year and immediately fell in love with their playfulness and energy. Being part of their big wedding and sharing these precious moments with them and their amazing friends and families was incredible.
Crows Hall provided the perfect backdrop for this elegant Asian wedding, with its historical charm and breathtaking surroundings. Ria and Shiraj’s wedding showcased the beauty of love and the joy of celebrating it with loved ones.
We had the pleasure of working with an incredible team of wedding professionals for this memorable event. We cannot wait to collaborate with them all again in the future! Wedding planning and coordination by Dyana Dessar, floral design and arrangement by Dear Luna Florals, DJ services by DJ Irfaan, makeup artistry by MUA Meera, hair styling by Shrena Kara, marquee provided by Events Under Canvas, dresses by Ritika Mirchandani and Rimple and Harpreet Narula, and entertainment by the phenomenal Ambassador Band.
Karina and Jack got married at one of our fave local venues The Hackney, which has an awesome industrial urban vibe. It was such a joy to be a part of this intimate wedding celebration. We always love a good Hackney wedding!
The ceremony was held at the couple’s local church and was a beautifully personal ceremony. After some pics with their sweet pup, we all hopped in an old Routemaster and headed into London to continue the celebration.
We are probably biased as we really do love living in East London, so for us The Hackney has a really vibrant and awesome atmosphere, and is one of our top places to get married in Hackney. The venue is around the corner from the cool gasometers and canal which make the most excellent backdrop for some pictures. Also the Hackney Co is the perfect space for a smaller wedding if you want a space that has both a lot of history and an excellent warehouse feel. Karina and Jack had a drinks reception in the afternoon, and an intimate family dinner in the evening. Their relaxed and casual affair was the absolutely perfect way to celebrate.
Karina wore a classic white dress and Jack wore a dapper suit and they looked really great together! Taking them around Hackney for some pictures was so fun as these two babes have an incredible energy which was a joy to be around! Thank you so much for letting me be a part of your excellent day x
If you’re planning a wedding at The Hackney, get in touch!
Venue – https://www.thehackney.co/
Grooms’ suit – https://www.anthonyformalwear.co.uk/
Bride’s dress – https://www.monsoon.co.uk/
Hair and MUA – https://www.instagram.com/makeupbysianuk
DJ – https://ardj.co.uk/
Wedding donuts – https://oldspitalfieldsmarket.com/food-and-drink/dohhut
Toni and Chris embarked on their journey of love with a beautiful civil partnership ceremony at the historic Leeds Civic Hall. Surrounded by their closest friends and family, they exchanged vows and committed to a lifetime of love and companionship in the heart of the city. Toni and I met indirectly many years ago at the Roller Derby World Cup in Manchester. She was bench managing Team England, and I was playing on Team South Africa. We were absolutely annihilated by her team! Both Toni and Chris are derby people which meant I immediately knew they would be kindred souls. And they absolutely were.
I was beyond obsessed with Toni’s incredible sense of style! She rocked a stunning pair of green trousers and a top that dramatic dreams are made of. This really added a pop of colour and personality to the day’s festivities. Her fashion-forward choice perfectly complemented the vibrant atmosphere of the celebration, making her stand out in the best possible way. If there is one thing I adore about our couples its that they love to do things their way and have a bit of fun. This I think is evident in the fun and ridiculous 80s cheese friend pictures we did together.
Following the ceremony, Toni and Chris opted for a relaxed celebration, highlighting the joy and simplicity of their union. They headed to a nearby brewery, Springwell North Brewing Co. Here they hung out with all their favourite people and they toasted to new adventures with cold beers and indulged in delicious burgers. The laid-back atmosphere provided the perfect backdrop for laughter, conversation, and creating lasting memories with loved ones.
Toni and Chris’ civil partnership was a testament to the inclusivity and warmth of this iconic venue, where couples of all backgrounds come together to celebrate their love in a meaningful and personal way.
These babes wedding was one of those weddings that was just perfect in so many ways. When we met and had some drinks a few months back for their pre-wedding shoot, so I knew their wedding day was going to be absolutely amazing. Nestled in the heart of Hackney, their wedding was at MC Motors in Dalston. It was a fusion of indie charm and vintage elegance that will be super inspiring for any couples seeking a wedding as unique as their love.
MC Motors remains one of the most exceptional spaces for a wedding in Hackney! Tucked away in the heart of Dalston, so the venue is more than just a space—it’s a haven for creatives. It’s a sanctuary where wedding dreams take on a life of their own. As photographers, we couldn’t have asked for a more inspiring backdrop to capture the unique essence of Sam and Paul’s love story, and getting to do portraits of Sam in the same room Amy Winehouse’s last portraits were taken was quite surreal and incredible.
Sam and Paul filled their wedding with love, creativity, and teamwork. From the very beginning, these two awesome humans embarked on a DIY journey that led to the creation of their perfect wedding. With the invaluable help of their nearest and dearest, they created a wedding that was an honest reflection of their personalities. From handcrafted center pieces that echoed their indie aesthetic to Sam, mid wedding disappearing to prepare the food platters of all their favourite foods. Every detail was thoughtfully considered and lovingly assembled. Bearing witness to this collaborative energy was an absolute delight. Paul’s dear friend traveled all the way from Hawaii, to officiate their wedding. Dressed in a Vegas-style priest attire, he brought a sense of fun and personality to the ceremony. Everything was unique and personal, and when everyone spontaneously broke out into song during the cake cutting, the love in the air was tangible
Team : Venue: MC Motors Cake: LilyVanilli Dress: COAST Headdress: Hannahs Home Interiors Catering: Terry at Highbury Kitchen DJ: Wedding SmashersWhen we first chatted to Lisa and Gareth on Skype, and she mentioned she loved the bright vibrant colour of our work and wanted a vibrant and unique wedding – it was love at first sight! (Plus I am a sucker for girls with colourful hair! Lisa’s was turquoise at the time which for me was just a sign it was meant to be!) When we met them in Cape Town a few months later for their pre wedding shoot we were so taken with their incredible energy and intense fire for each other so we knew their wedding was going to be just incredible. By the end of our few hours with them we felt like old friends.
Their wedding took place on a sweltering December day and every part of it was just next level perfection. They got married at The Grand Exotic in Ballito. Lisa’s mind blowingly gorgeous dress was Chanelle Cindy Bridal. Hair and PHENOMENAL make up (ummm green bridal eye shadow YES PLEASE) by Britt and her team from Blend Hair and Make Up. And decor, I don’t even know where to begin with this as it is honestly the most colorful and unqiue wedding decor we have seen in our decade of shooting. It was done by our new faves M and B events.
Lisa and Gareth, you belters, thank you so much for letting us be a part of your most excellent day.
(Scroll all the way to the bottom if you want to check out their most excellent video)
Becky and Ben got married at Hackney Town Hall, which is one of our absolute fave wedding venues in East London with such a great urban vibe. It was such a fun wedding and even the weather played ball until quite late in the night, and went it came down hard – we went out to grab some pics in the rain!
The ceremony was an intimate affair with just Bex and Ben’s immediate family. During the ceremony there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. It was truly beautiful to be a part of.
The reception was at Martello Hall in Mare street which we went to after a detour for a quick post wedding pint to Pub on the Park in London Fields after their ceremony at Hackney Town Hall. Weddings at Hackney Town Hall are amazing, because the photo ops are really awesome and you’re able to get an excellent combo of chilled park vibes at nearby London Fields and awesome London urban vibes in the streets around it.
Hackney Town Hall has a really vibrant atmosphere, and is one of the coolest places to get married in East London. The venue offers an amazing atmosphere for a wedding – and there are loads of amazing places that are perfect for photos all around it. Also the staff and registrars there are by far some of the most lovely we have worked with!
The couple had a cheeky pint with their intimate entourage in the afternoon, and then we went across for their big celebration to Martello Hall in the evening after a little detour around London Fields for a few pics. Shooting in London Fields was super meaningful to Bex and Ben as its the park they come to all the time as they live just around the corner. Getting to make such meaningful pictures for them meant so much to me too! I just adore how this Hackney proud couple kept everything in the area! I love that Bex got ready at the Town Hall Hotel in Bethnal Green before getting chauffeured across in a Black Cab driven by one of Ben’s friends. And the pubs we went to for drinks and dinner are ones they frequent.
Becky wore 2 amazing dresses! A classic 1950’s inspired dress and birdcage veil for the day, and a beaded flapper style dress for the evening which she looked incredible in! Ben wore a three-piece suit adding to that vintage feel and they looked like they had just stepped out of a classic old movie.
The couple got in touch with me this year, and their enquiry really spoke to me as we live so near each other, and both just love the area we live in. They said they just wanted to party, and I loved that they were so relaxed the whole day. The entire day was done perfectly at their pace and in a way that just reflected them as a couple so well.
Hackney is such a vibrant area, with so many excellent options for both weddings and receptions. We honestly can’t think of a better area for couples who want something a bit more edgy and interesting to surround themselves with when they get married.
If you’re planning a wedding at Hackney Town Hall, get in touch!
Prep location – Town Hall Hotel – https://www.townhallhotel.com
Ceremony Venue – Hackney Town Hall – https://www.hackneyvenues.com/hackney-town-hall
Post Wedding Drinks – Pub on the Park – http://pubonthepark.com
Reception Venue – Martello Hall – https://www.martellohall.com
Wedding Band – 40z Groove – https://www.apostrophemusic.co.uk/talent-profile-10
Sarah and Jack got married at the always awesome Prince Albert Pub, Camden. It was a super fun Pub wedding, with so many personal touches everywhere, loads of cheery banter and tons of good food and drink.
The ceremony took place at Islington Town Hall, and was really emotional, which was lovely. The ceremony included several beautiful readings from friends and family. The way Sarah and Jack looked at each other as they entered the ceremony still has me emotional when I think about it. Their years of love for each other was so evident and so beautiful.
After the ceremony, we took a vintage bus with all their guests through the city to the reception at the Price Albert. Once we arrived at the pub everyone mingled, chatted and had an excellent time.
The reception was held the Prince Albert pub. Its no secret that we adore a pub wedding. The venue is perfect for weddings because as its in such a prime spot in Camden, and it’s got such an awesome vibe, especially in the evenings when the room is full of people having a great party.
From Sarah reading extracts from her teenage selfs diary about Jack which had all their guests in stitches, everything they did was intentional and focused around celebrating their love and having an excellent time!
Here are some photos of Sarah and Jack’s story.
Venue: Prince Albert Pub – https://www.princealbert.pub/
Coordination : Pub Wedding London – https://www.pubweddinglondon.com/
Dress – https://romseybridal.co.uk/
Suit – https://www.walkerslater.com/
Hair and Make Up – http://www.madeupbrides.com/
Band – https://www.entertainment-nation.co.uk/moonlight-mojo
Flowers – https://www.fleurbyottilie.com/
Maddie and Josh had their big wedding at The Barns at Lodge Farm. This has to be our absolute fave close to London Barn venue! These babes had the most incredible party to celebrate their “I do’s”.
The ceremony was was officiated by Maddie and Josh’s brother and sister. They got legally married the day before so could have a ceremony beautifully unique and tailored to them. Their siblings delivered a hilarious and emotional ceremony. It included the exchanging of bottles of wine which was just absolutely perfect and hilarious for these vino-philes. It was so much fun and you could see everyone really enjoyed their unconventional ceremony.
The reception was also at The Barns at Lodge Farm – I love this venue because not only are the staff bloody phenomenal -which they really are. But you get to feel like you’re miles from the city, but you’re still super close to a Tube station.
Maddie and Josh decided on food trucks instead of more traditional catering which was absolutely brilliant. They were blessed with the most exceptional weather so the food trucks paired with excellent live music gave the whole day such a great festival vibe. AND to be even more amazing, Maddie made their wedding cake! They finished off the evening with the kind of dance party to be proud of. Getting to know these babes and their amazing families over the course of the weekend, I would not have expected anything less from them!
If you’re planning a wedding at The Barns at Lodge Farm, get in touch!
Venue – https://lodgefarmnazeing.co.uk/
Hair and MUA – https://katemorrismua.com/
Food Truck – http://www.instagram.com/fan_thai_sticks_
Food Truck – http://www.instagram.com/ariaartisanpizza
Food Truck – https://www.instagram.com/smokeshedhoddesdon
Musician – https://www.instagram.com/joshrobinson.music
Band – https://www.instagram.com/thewhiteroomsband
Ella and Thiabult got married at Voewood, which is a country house in Norfolk with quirky as hell interiors. It was such a fun day and and even though it was ice cold, everyone was having the best time!
The ceremony was an intimate service under the watchful eye of the famous Voewood neon sign. During the ceremony the couples twin boys played a big part. It was such a personal service.
We loved shooting at this arty this venue because you can totally personalise it. Weddings at Voewood are amazing, because the decor is absolutely inspiring and quirky with tons of stunning options both inside and outside in the gorgeous gardens.
Voewood has a super creative and arty vibe, and is one of the quirkiest places to get married in Norfolk. The venue offers onsite bedrooms so guests don’t have to leave early – and there so many incredible backdrops that are perfect for photos.
Ella wore a boho dress and Thiabult wore a navy suit and they looked really perfect.
The couple got in touch with me years ago, and their enquiry was so personal. They said they just wanted to party, and I loved that they were so relaxed. COVID first delayed their wedding, and then their twins!But those two delays made sure that when they did finally get their wedding, it was perfect! These two beautiful people have the most incredible energy and it was such a joy to spend the day with them.
If you’re planning a wedding at Voewood, get in touch!
Venue – Voewood – https://www.voewood.com/unique-norfolk-wedding-venue
Flowers – Jipola Flowers – https://www.jipola.coml
Food – Andy Parle Catering – http://andyparle.co.uk
Cake – Dust with cocoa – https://www.dustwithcocoa.co.uk
Make Up – Amanda Steed – https://https://amandasteedmakeup.co.uk
Dress – Andrea Hawkes Bridal – https://www.andreahawkes.co.uk
Maddie and Josh got married at the gorgeous Old Marylebone Town Hall, London. When I first hopped on a call with them to chat about their two weddings (second one to be blogged soon!) we immediately hit it off! Not only had they lived in our hood (Bow), but we even had twinsie white cats. I immediately fell for their infectious high energy and passion for each other. When they suggested they wanted to climb the lion outside Old Marylebone Town Hall I was absolutely sold on them. I knew their weddings would be a joy to be a part of!
Their intimate ceremony took place at Old Marylebone Town Hall, and was really emotional. There is always something so precious and privileged to witness beautiful intimate moments, and theirs was no exception . After the ceremony, we had a confetti aisle, and then we got onto the business of climbing the lions. It was such a laugh, and for us there is just nothing better than people who don’t take things too seriously and want to have a bit of fun on their day. After that we did a little explore around some back streets before heading to the pub to meet up with their guests.
The reception was held at The Italian Greyhound pub. Its no secret pub receptions are our faves as they just lend themselves so well to flexibility and casual fun. After some good wine and some great (and once again) emotional speeches I headed off in preparation of their big wedding the following day.
Here is Maddie and Josh’s story in photos.
Ceremony: Old Marylebone Town Hall – https://www.adaytoremember.london/old-marylebone-town-hall
Reception Venue: The Italian Greyhound – https://www.theitaliangreyhound.co.uk/
MUA : Kate Morris – https://www.instagram.com/katemorrishairandmakeup
My phenomenal Second Shooter for the day – Lex Fleming – https://www.flemingphoto.co.uk/
On a beautiful day beside the Thames, Alex and Kevin said “I do” at the enchanting Linden House near Hammersmith. Their love story blossomed in the most unexpected of places – while out walking their adorable dogs. It was love at first bark, and from that moment on, they knew they were meant to be together.
Their wedding day was nothing short of magical, with the serene river serving as the perfect backdrop for their heartfelt vows. But what truly stole the show were their furry companions, who played an integral role in the festivities. From donning bow ties to walking down the aisle, their dogs brought an extra dose of love and laughter to the celebration.
As a London wedding photographer, there’s something truly special about capturing the joy of an intimate celebration. It’s not just about snapping photos; it’s about immortalizing the moments of pure happiness and genuine connection that make each wedding unique and special.
Alex and Kevin’s Linden House wedding was a dream to photograph. From the laughter-filled moments to the quiet, stolen glances, every frame was filled with love. And let’s not forget the four-legged guests of honour, who added an extra layer of fun and spontaneity to the day.
We are big believers that weddings should be as unique as the couples themselves. That’s why we specialise in capturing the magic of short-cover weddings and elopements, with a focus on authenticity and joy. Whether you’re exchanging vows in a grand ceremony or saying “I do” by the river, we’re here to capture every precious moment with passion and creativity.
Alex and Kevin’s Linden House wedding was a celebration of love, laughter, and furry companionship. It was an honour to spend a few hours with them and to be a small part of their special day.
Rachel and Iain got married at the her family’s farm in Hertfordshire. They are both outdoorsy people so this was the absolute perfect location for them. It was an absolutely magical Boho Farm wedding, with so many personal touches from an entry sung by Iain’s sisters, to loads of beautiful readings and a hand fasting. Family was central to their wedding in every part of their day. Rachel’s granny was a very important part of it all and it was so great having her on the dance floor in her wheelchair boogeying it up with the whole family. There was a lot of love and a lot of consideration for everyone they included in their day, which is such a testament to what excellent people they both are.
The ceremony took place under a flower arch, all set up in a field on Rachel’s family farm. It was an incredibly personal ceremony as it was officiated by Iain’s sister, and had so many meaningful moments.
After the ceremony, we had a confetti aisle outside in the gorgeous sun and some group photos around some tractors, as is family tradition. The weather at this Boho Farm wedding was fresh and sunny, it was a beautiful day.
The reception was held in a marquee. All the table settings were beautifully painted scenes of mountains they have climbed and areas they have hiked together. Lawn games, drinks in the sun and being surrounded by their favourite people made their wedding just absolutely perfect
I loved this beautiful farm wedding so much and it was an absolute delight to be a part of.
Here is Rachel and Iain’s story in photos.
Venue: Rachel’s family farm
Bride’s attire – https://www.davidsbridal.co.uk/stores/london-uk-e201en-0815
Groom’s attire – https://www.moss.co.uk/
Hair – https://www.instagram.com/bohoandbridal/
Food – https://www.hertshogroasts.co.uk/
Make Up – https://www.instagram.com/madeupbylynsey/
Band – https://www.bandsforhire.net/function-bands/item/219-the-get-down
Flowers – https://graceandthorn.com/
Cake – https://www.lolascupcakes.co.uk/
Amy and Rob got engaged at Bloodstock Festival so getting married in Camden absolutely seemed like the perfect spot! Couples whose stories involve music festivals speak to us on a deep level as we got together at a music festival! They got married at the awesome Prince Albert Pub, Camden which is one of our fave pubs to shoot at. In the morning, they got ready together along with their wedding party down the road from the pub. I cannot stress the benefit of getting ready close to your venue to cut out all the London travel stress! After a chilled morning together we all headed over to the Prince Albert for their wedding.
The ceremony took place at the Prince Albert Pub, and was a really emotional affair. After the ceremony, guests mingled in the bar, chilling, chatting and having fun. Amy Rob and I ventured out into Camden to get some couple pics. On our chats together pre wedding they mentioned they wanted pictures at one of our personal fave Camden Metal Bars, The Black Heart which OF COURSE we were keen for! Kitted out in their battle jackets we headed over and met with the most lovely reception from the staff and patrons there. The metal community is such a warm and welcoming one, and these interactions just prove it!
Their table names were their favourite bands which was such a lovely touch. I just love the fact that their wedding cakes were Colin the Caterpillars which is just such a fun twist on a wedding tradition!Their entire day was on full of so much love, kindness and community. It was an absolute joy to be a part of!
I loved this Camden metalhead wedding so much. If you’re getting married and looking for a wedding photographer, get in touch.
Here is Amy and Rob’s story in photos.
Venue: Prince Albert Pub – https://www.princealbert.pub/
Coordination : Pub Wedding London – https://www.pubweddinglondon.com/
Amy’s Dress – https://www.needleandthread.com/
Rob’s Suit – https://www.editsuits.com/
Hair and Make Up – https://www.hannahkenneyhairandmakeup.com/
These two absolute babes had a pre wedding shoot around the city. We could honestly not have been more delighted to shoot them and get to document their adventurous and big-energy love for each other. We love couples who are open to a bit of adventure during shoots. Especially when that means scaling rooftops and shooting well past the time that the light tells us we should.
Leigh’s insanely perfect wedding dress was by her (and my) old friends at McCarthy Wolff. Hair and makeup was by our fave, Wadene from Nixon Make Up and flowers by the uber talented Jane Wolff.
Jill and Paul decided to travel to London with a few of their favourite people for a weekend in the city which would include eloping! They got married at Old Marylebone Town Hall, which is one of the prettiest Town Halls in London and is always one of our faves to shoot at. It was such a fun wedding and it was sunny and hot the whole day which is pretty crazy for an October wedding!
The ceremony was a small elopement which was so incredibly emotional. There is always something extra special about being part of an intimate wedding or elopement. Getting to document such a special time is always so meaniingful.
After the “I do’s” and a shot with their friends, we were off to explore some of our fave London sites. Jill and Paul were keen for some shots around Baker Street station. They were super patient while I ran around grabbing pics of them all over the platforms. After that we headed down to Waterloo to check out the Leake Street Arches and then braved the crowds around Southbank. In the afternoon, we headed into Soho and met up with their friends. We hit some pubs and cocktail bars for the evening. The whole time I spent with them they made me feel like one of the gang. It was one of those times where it felt more like hanging out and shooting some friends than it did work.
If you’re planning an elopement at Old Marylebone Town Hall, get in touch!
Hair and MUA – http://www.instagram.com/londonmakeupartist.uk
Town Hall – https://www.adaytoremember.london/old-marylebone-town-hall
Cocktails – https://www.cahoots-london.com/
Zara and Adam tied the knot at the enchanting Windsor Guildhall, a venue steeped in history and elegance. Fun fact about Windsor Guildhall Weddings: this is the same venue graced by Sir Elton John and David Furnish for the UK’s first ever civil partnership! The atmosphere was intimate, with only their nearest humans in attendance. They had some bubbles post ceremony surrounded by centuries of royal portraiture in the ceremony room watching over them which was a big inspiration for some of their photos.
We travelled around Windsor getting some couple pictures in an open topped car. What was so fun is we were followed by some curious tourists wondering who exactly these royals were. We ventured to the picturesque Hinds Head in Bray for a relaxed Michelin star rated lunch. The pub’s cosy and moody ambiance provided the perfect backdrop for capturing candid moments of joy and love shared between Zara, Adam, and their guests.
Throughout the day, there was an abundance of laughter, heartfelt embraces, and spontaneous moments that truly encapsulated the essence of their love story. These two people share a beautiful energy and vibrance which was a joy to be around.
After the official wedding, the celebrations continued with a big party at Zara’s family home. The atmosphere was laid-back, with freshly made pizzas feeding everyone, and drinks to keep everyone’s spirits high. From heartfelt speeches to impromptu dance-offs, the festivities were nothing short of epic.
Zara and Adam’s wedding was a testament to the beauty of love in its purest form—intimate, joyous, and filled with endless moments of happiness. Thank you so much for letting us be a part of your incredible days. Your love was a joy to witness!
Venue: https://www.rbwm.gov.uk/home/leisure-and-culture/venues/windsor-guildhall/weddings-and-civil-ceremonies
Lunch: https://www.hindsheadbray.com/
Dress: https://lovebridal.co.uk/
Make Up: https://www.instagram.com/lauraloumakeup/
Cake: https://cutterandsquidge.com/
Band: https://liveandlovemusic.com/listing/the-sugars/
Flowers: https://www.instagram.com/floralika/
Food: https://www.littleredspizza.co.uk/
Maddy and Shez got married at Camden Town Hall, which is without a doubt one of our fave town halls in London with an awesome urban vibe. Its not secret that we absolutely adore intimate town hall weddings, and their day was no exception. Maddy and Shez both wore baby blue suits and looked absolutely epic together. Probably the only thing we love more than town hall weddings are brides in suits! Maddy absolutely killed it with her impeccable vibe
Their ceremony was an intimate affair they shared with just their immediate families. The officiants led them through a beautiful ceremony. Camden Town Hall is such a perfect spot for intimate weddings, and is one of the coolest areas to get married in London. The venue offers extreme closeness to some of the vibiest parts of London – and there are loads of amazing places that are perfect for photos.
After some hugs and kisses, we all hopped into cabs to head across for their lunch at The Wolseley. We always love an intimate lunch in their private dining room. Maddy and Shez braved the insanity of Mayfair to grab a few pictures on the street which were absolutely jammed with tourists. It was so awesome being a small part of their absolutely amazing day!
If you’re planning a wedding at Camden Town Hall, get in touch!
Betty and Sam got married at Betty’s Family Home, in West Wittering. It was an absolutely magical musical wedding, with a nod to all the things they love everywhere. They had a whole bunch of instruments for all their musical guests to pick up when they wanted to keep guests entertained.
The ceremony took place in Betty’s dad’s church, and was really sentimental and emotional. The ceremony included choirs, orchestras and surprise songs all the way through the ceremony. It was a romantic occasion, overflowing with love and music!
After the ceremony, they had a confetti aisle, which was so much fun as the couple had walked out to a surprise musical performance by all their guests. The weather at this musical wedding was fresh and sunny, it was a beautiful day.
The reception was held in Betty’s parents garden. Her family home was the perfect for their wedding because it held such sentimental importance to the couple.
For the reception, the couple had organised live music for their guests, and gave all their amazingly musical guests the chance to come up and play whenever they wanted to. Continuing on embracing the things you love for your wedding… Guests were then called for dinner, which was was the most excellent pie and mash from the amazing Pieminister – it was delicious. Betty and Sam who we met at Helen and Bede’s wedding, have that sorted of infectious, giggly, high energy love that slaps a grin on your face just being in its presence. What an absolute delight for me to get to document this beautiful love!
Here is Betty and Sam’s story in photos.
Wedding dress : Blackburn Bridal – https://www.blackburnbridal.co.uk/
Suit : The Moss Bros – https://www.moss.co.uk/
MUA : Jess Nurse – https://www.makeupmyweddingday.com/
Food : Dimblebee Catering – https://www.dimblebeecatering.co.uk/
Cake – http://www.dominicatdavidnorth.co.uk/
Flowers – https://www.instagram.com/flower_house_stamford/?hl=en-gb
Band – https://backstagebrass.com/
Carin and Warren got married at Kingfisher Bay, which is a resort on the magically wild K’gari Island with vast and epic views. As we had a destination beach wedding ourselves, their wedding really spoke to our hearts in a big way! We flew from London to the gorgeous Sunshine Coast in Australia and got a ferry to the majestically wild K’gari Island. How wild you say? They have dingoe fences as there are still wild dingoes all over the island! It was a beautiful day and the incredible emotion between Carin and Warren was an absolute joy to behold!
The ceremony was held at the edge of the sea in the coastal forest. From Carin’s dad’s hug and emotional embrace of Warren at the start of the ceremony, their entire wedding was deeply personal and emotional occasion. It was a real tear-jerker. Seeing such a deep but playful love was beautiful.
After taking these babes around for a few photos around the bay, they joined their guests for drinks and watched the picturesque sunset over the bay. The reception was at Kingfisher Bay in a quiet spot near the water’s edge. Kingfisher Bay was perfect for their intimate wedding, and having all their guests stay on after the wedding for a group holiday was such a great idea.
Carin and Warren, thank you for trusting us to fly halfway around the world to document your incredible love.
If you’re planning a wedding at Kingfisher Bay, definitely message us!
Dress – https://angelicbridal.com.au/
Suit – https://joeblack.com.au/
Hair and make up – http://www.instagram.com/lisakleinmua
Wedding Planner – https://www.facebook.com/nfweddings/
Florals – https://www.instagram.com/wildblooms_aus/?hl=en
Band – https://www.instagram.com/montanaliveentertainment/?hl=en
Venue – https://www.kingfisherbay.com/
Cake – https://www.facebook.com/artofsugarau/
Heather and Phil got married at the gorgeous Lewes Registry Office, and carried on their celebration in Brighton. It was a wonderful family wedding, with so much love and laughter everywhere. It was an absolute joy to spend a few hours with them and witness these two wonderful people and their families joining together.
The ceremony and was an intimate and emotional celebration of their love. The ceremony included beautiful readings from Phil’s daughters which was incredibly sweet. There is honestly nothing lovelier than when children are included in special ways in a parent’s wedding ceremony.
After the ceremony, we all moved outside into the gorgeous gardens that surround the registry office. The guests mingled in the garden, drank prosecco and chatted in the sun. The weather was warm and sunny and it honestly couldn’t have been more perfect.
The reception was held in Brighton at The Grand. Heather, Phil and I snuck off for some pictures around Brighton and along near the pier. The busy intensity of the Brighton seafront was a really fun contrast to the serene peace of the gardens we had just been in. Heather and Phil share a beautiful warmth and love with each other so it was an absolute delight to get to share some time with them and their very special families.
Ceremony: Lewes Registry Office – https://www.ceremoniesineastsussex.co.uk/venues/southover-grange
Reception Venue: The Grand Brighton – https://www.grandbrighton.co.uk/
Hair and Make Up – Melissa Sweeting – https://www.instagram.com/melissasweetingmakeup/?hl=en
Hayley and Liam got married at Islington Town Hall, and then a gorgeous New Year’s eve wedding at The Plough in Homerton. Its no secret we adore a pub wedding, and we couldn’t think of a more perfect spot for a unique wedding. Ending our year with this amazing wedding was certainly a highlight for us!
The ceremony was conducted by a friend under a handmade pompom flower arch. And as absolute colour lovers, this bright palette made us so happy! During the ceremony they read their own vows and had readings by special people that were equal parts beautifully emotional, and hilariously funny.
After their gorgeous ceremony, everyone piled outside into the freezing cold night for some sparklers, which is the best night time confetti alternative! We then did a few sneaky couple shots down the alleys of Homerton. After a delicious family style meal, everyone descended into the speak easy bar for some piñata and boogie. Hayley and Liam having their friend’s DJ and doing live sets was just the perfect way to bring in the new year!
New Year’e Eve weddings just have a special energy!
Cassie and Liam got married at the gorgeous Kingston Registry Office before moving to the awesome Glasshouse Pub to celebrate, London. On our pre wedding chat we bonded over our mutual pilgrimages to Download Festival. I knew that their wedding would be an absolute blast! Cassie got ready at a dear friend’s home and had the most beautiful dress reveal with her daughter. This was incredibly beautiful and emotional to witness.
The ceremony took place at Kingston Registry Office, which is such a lovely space for am intimate wedding. We travelled there in an old Land Rover, and if you know anything about us, you will know that we couldn’t think of a better mode of transport!
The reception was held The Glasshouse Pub. The venue is a great space for a wedding, and with the help of Pub Weddings London, and all Cassie’s DIY, it looked just magical! This amazing wedding featured two intense rain downpours which definitely added to the high energy of the day and we had to grab our moments to sneak out for a few couple shots just down the road.
I loved this Alternative pub wedding so much, a first dance to Stone Sour and some metal family portraits made the day just perfect!
Here is Cassie and Liam’s story in photos.
Ceremony: Kingston Registry Office – https://www.kingston.gov.uk/ceremonies-1/venues-kingston
Reception Venue: The Glasshouse Pub – https://www.glasshouse.pub/
Wedding Coordination – https://www.pubweddinglondon.com/
Cassie’s Dress – http://www.lovemedobrides.com
Liam’s Suit – http://www.mossbroshire.co.uk
Hair and Make Up – http://www.faiarcher.com
Charlotte and Dan got married at Strawberry Hill House, which is the quirkiest and most awesome venue. It’s Britain’s finest example of Georgian Gothic revival architecture and is an absolutely perfect venue for lovers of magic and fantasy. Charlotte had the most gorgeous cape attached to her dress which was just the perfect touch!
The ceremony was an intimate service in the gorgeous red-walled gallery. During the ceremony they read their own vows, had emotional readings. It was all over just absolutely delightful.
Strawberry Hill House is the most perfect spot for anyone wanting a gorgeously quirky Gothic revival venue as the backdrop for their wedding. The venue offers an incredibly beautiful and fantasy novel feeling backdrop – and there are loads of amazing places that are perfect for photos. It absolutely sung to my nerdy heart!
Charlotte and Dan have the most beautiful energy and we had the most fun together just being a bit silly and also just thoroughly enjoying their day! Thank you so much guys for letting us be a part of such an incredible day!
Venue – https://www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk/venue-hire/weddings/
Hair and MUA – https://www.lucystjohn.com/
Dress – https://www.cuttingedgebrides.com/
Shoes – https://www.irregularchoice.com/
Suit – https://www.slaters.co.uk/
Planner – https://www.bovingdons.co.uk/
Flowers – https://www.myrtleandsmith.co.uk/
Second Shooter – https://www.sophielakeweddings.co.uk/
Lauren and Alex got married at the gorgeous Morden Park in South West London. It was an awesome chic city wedding, with their immediate family. Followed the next day by a massive party with all their friends.
The ceremony took place Morden Hall, which overlooks the gorgeous gardens, and is hands down one of my fave registry offices for a Town Hall Wedding. They also have the loveliest registrars who make the whole experience extra special.
After the ceremony, we popped off for some bubbles and a change of outfit (I cannot get over Lauren’s STUNNING suit). Then headed across to the Wolseley in Mayfair in central London. Before going in for dinner, we did a few couple pics in the busy streets on Central London which was just so fun!
The reception was held the next day at The County Arms where they had a good old party with all their friends. Lauren and Alex made everything about their day personal and geared towards the things that mattered to them. From their intimate legal wedding and dinner in Mayfair, to their big celebration the next day with their friends and family. It was just perfect.
Ceremony – Morden Park House – https://www.merton.gov.uk/births-marriages-and-deaths/register-office
Dinner – The Wolseley – https://www.thewolseley.com
Reception – The County Arms – https://www.countyarms.co.uk
Make Up – Emma McGreevy – https://www.swlondonmakeup.co.uk
Hair- Catherine Bailey – http://www.catherinebaileymakeupartist.co.uk
Flowers – Brian Kirkby – https://www.briankirkbyflowers.co.uk
Dress – Enzoani – https://www.enzoani.com
Suit – The Moss Bros – https://www.moss.co.uk
Virginia and Aaron got married at The Tythe Barn, which is a gorgeous barn near Bath. It was the most beautiful wedding overflowing with love and lots of personal touches.
The ceremony was a beautifully personal one with songs by Jini’s bridesmaids and an incredibly touching and emotional ready from her grandad. They had a beautiful celebrant led ceremony and did a lovely handfasting to seal the deal. After their gorgeous ceremony, there were lawn games, ice cream and just a chilled Summer afternoon vibe. Virginia wore a vintage inspired dress and Aaron wore a dapper suit and they looked really perfect.
If you’re planning a wedding at The Tythe Barn, get in touch!
Dress – http://www.heritagebrides.co.uk/
Suit – https://www.charlestyrwhitt.com/
Hair – https://www.bridalhairinhampshire.co.uk/
Wedding Planner – https://www.daughterbloomweddings.com/
Florals – https://snowdropsstudio.co.uk/
Band – https://www.entertainment-nation.co.uk/groove-station#parentVerticalTab1
Venue – https://www.pristonmill.co.uk/the-tythe-barn/
Celebrant – https://mwcelebrant.co.uk/
It no secret that we absolutely adore simple, DIY weddings. We often only spend a couple hours with you on the day for some important pictures before you head off to celebrate in private. In fact, short cover weddings are coming to be some of our absolute best to shoot! Jenny and Pierre got married at the gorgeous Clissold House, in Stoke Newington. If you know Stoke Newington you know this stunning old country house that sits in the middle of Clissold Park. It was the loveliest morning with Jenny, Pierre and their closest family.
The ceremony was an intimate one with only their closes family in attendance. These always feel extra specials as they are always full of emotion. Clissold House is perfect for intimate weddings. It’s one of the loveliest places to get married in Stoke Newington ! Not least because lunch down the road on Church Street is the perfect way to end off an intimate wedding. Jenny wore a gorgeous rich orange dress which matched both her gorgeous hair and the colours of the park. And of course her gorgeous bump! It was such a delight to share this intimate wedding with these absolute babes.
If you’re planning a wedding at Clissold House, get in touch!
Rosie and Nick got married at Wandsworth Town Hall, which is hands down one of our faves in South West London. It was the most beautiful wedding and even the weather played ball!
The ceremony was an intimate affair with just their closest people in attendance. During the ceremony they read their own vows. It was really emotional and the beautiful tears flowed from everyone in attendance
The couple wanted to keep everything local – and sentimental, and went across to their local Wine Bar in the afternoon and celebrated with all their favourite people there in the evening. As they live around the corner, for their couple shoot we went around to some areas that have sentimental value to them. Including the church steps they love to have a coffee on and people watch. I absolutely love that we could get some pictures for them in places that hold such emotional value to them. We then headed back to the Wine Bar for some outstanding natural wines and some exceptional vegan cupcakes.
Rosie and Nick, your love is incredibly beautiful, it was such an honour and a delight to be witness to the beginning of this exciting new chapter for you x
Rosie’s dress – https://www.whistles.com/wedding/dresses/
Nick’s suit – https://www.bensherman.co.uk/clothing/suits
Rosie’s hair – https://harissalon.com/
Vegan Cupcakes – https://www.lilysloaf.com/shop
Reception venue – https://www.baraspen.co.uk/
Alice and Joe got married in the gorgeous village of Keyham where her folks live. They had a gorgeous boho Garden wedding, with so much colour everywhere and just the most beautiful boho festival marquee
The ceremony took place in the local, beautiful church.They had a reading from Terry Pratchett, which is always a win in our books. After the ceremony, they had a confetti aisle, while people from the village cheered them on from the road, which was so heartwarming. The weather at this a gorgeous boho Garden wedding was fresh and sunny, it was a beautiful day and could not have been more perfect.
The reception was held in a good family friend’s garden across the village. Their garden was the perfect spot for a relaxed afternoon reception, and it had the most lovely vibe. We were treated to the most yummy sunset light which we used as an excuse to slip away from the reception to get some magical golden light couple pictures. Thank you so much for letting us be a part of your absolutely perfect day guys xx
Thank you to my babe Leesha Williams for shooting with me x
Wedding dress : Blackburn Bridal – https://www.blackburnbridal.co.uk/
Suit : The Moss Bros – https://www.moss.co.uk/
MUA : Jess Nurse – https://www.makeupmyweddingday.com/
Food : Dimblebee Catering – https://www.dimblebeecatering.co.uk/
Cake – http://www.dominicatdavidnorth.co.uk/
Flowers – https://www.instagram.com/flower_house_stamford/?hl=en-gb
Band – https://backstagebrass.com/
Kym and Don got married at a gorgeous a wine farm in the heart of Tuscany. They were surrounded by all their best people who had travelled from all over the world to join them.
The ceremony took place in a woodland clearing. It was just the most perfect, shadey spot for a mid Summer wedding in Tuscany. The ceremony included a personal celebrant and the most beautiful vows. It was absolutely beautiful and full of so much love.
After the ceremony, guests mingled alongside the pool sipping some bubbles. While a sax played in the background and delectable Italian antipasti were hand around. It was the most perfect, sunny afternoon.
The reception was held under the nights sky with fairy lights illuminating the gorgeous surrounds. Lots of incredible Italian food, and even more amazing wine led to some emotional and hilarious speeches. After the meal was finished, the band started up to get the party started, and the dance floor was packed all evening.
Kym and Don’s relaxed, Summer Tuscan destination wedding was absolute perfection. As it was the first time many of their friends would be reunited from all over the world. So it was important for them to maximise the time they all got to spend together. Having shot a couple of their friend’s weddings before theirs, it was so awesome to get to hang out with this brilliant group of people again. Their wedding was an absolute jol (if you don’t know what this means, ask your nearest South African). It was so wonderful being a part of such a magical day!
Wedding Coordination and Planning by Weddings in Tuscany – https://www.weddingsintuscany.co.uk/
When Anna and Joe first got in touch with me about their wedding, I was so thrilled – we had met them at their Grace and Dan’s wedding we shot last year. They were planning a chilled wedding with an intimate ceremony and a lovely meal with friends and family for the reception. Anna and Joe are the most awesome people and I couldn’t wait to shoot their wedding! I started in the morning at Anna’s, where she and her girls were getting ready with their puppy in tow. It was super fun and high energy.
The wedding took place at St Albans Registry Office, and was an emotional ceremony. They had some beautiful readings, which brought pretty much everyone to tears. After the ceremony we snuck off for a few pics, and then the celebrations began.
The wedding reception took place at Berkhamstead Town Hall, which was decorated so so beautifully by Anna’s sister and mum. It was so wonderfully personalised and all the table names were based around places that Anna or Joe got a big injury. This may seem like a pretty unusual way to name tables – but considering they are both stunt performers – it was perfect.
Having met Anna and Joe at Grace and Dan’s wedding, it was such a delight to get to be with them in this exciting chapter of their lives.
Hair and Make Up – https://www.instagram.com/monaturnbull/?hl=en
DJ – https://www.instagram.com/signature.moments.events/?hl=en
Reception Venue – https://www.berkhamstedtownhall.co.uk/
Nicola and Yu-kuang got married at Lambeth Town Hall, which is the gorgeous town hall in the heart of Brixton with an urban vibe and phenomenal location. They booked us for our short Town Hall cover – which is perfect if you just want the important bits covered.
The ceremony was an intimate service in one of the Town Hall’s smaller venues which is just perfect for an intimate ceremony. During the ceremony they had a beautiful reading via Zoom which was such a lovely way to include loved ones who couldn’t be there.
Lambeth Town Hall has a really vibrant atmosphere, and is a great place to get married in the heart of Brixton. The venue lends itself so well for some great pics if the weather doesn’t play ball (you can see some here. The streets around the area are also great to get some fun city pics.
Nicola wore a stunning trouser suit and Yu-kuang wore a navy suit and they looked really perfect. I love that their sweet little baby got to share their day with them which just made the whole thing more lovely!
Not only is this one of the prettier Town Halls around, the staff are always so lovely and caring. Its a great and central spot just south of the river to get the legal bits done and get some fun pics before heading off to carry on celebrating your wedding!
When it comes to wedding inspiration, there’s nothing quite like a colourful and alternative celebration to get us excited. That’s why we were thrilled to be a part of Ruby and Shaun’s wedding. Their wedding took place in London and featured some of the most unique and creative elements we’ve seen in a while.
From the bright and bold colour scheme to the surprise appearance of Elvis himself. Their wedding was truly one-of-a-kind. We’re sharing some of our favourite moments from the day and highlighting the creative touches that made this celebration so memorable.
One of the standout features of Ruby and Shaun’s most excellent London wedding was the bright and bold colour scheme. The couple incorporated big Las Vegas vibes into their decor. This included neon signs, flamingos, giants hearts, disco balls and lots of gold. If you love all things bright and colourful like we do, you will love their DIY’ed to perfection decor.
As Ruby and Shaun are already legally married, it gave them some leeway to have fun and make this celebration exactly what they wanted it to be. They had a good friend to dress up as an Elvis impersonator had to be one of the highlight of the evening, and guests were delighted by his passionate performance.
Beyond the colour scheme and the Elvis performance, there were plenty of other unique touches that made this wedding stand out. Ruby and Shaun had a mid evening outfit change into the most glorious sequinned and pink outfits. Dinner was supplied by Forcella, an awesome pizza-making Land Rover. Endless costume props for their guests and an entire wedding chapel they built to house their guest book. There is literally nothing better than couples who want to inject some personality and fun into their weddings.
Ruby and Shaun’s colourful and alternative London wedding was a true standout. From the bold colour scheme to the surprise appearance of Elvis. This celebration was full of unique and creative touches that made it truly one-of-a-kind. We hope that these photos and ideas inspire other couples to think outside the box and create weddings that truly reflect their personalities and style.
White Dove Barns in Suffolk was the perfect spot for Robyn and Ravi’s multi-day, multi-cultural, multi-awesome wedding. From our first chat with these big adventurers, we got a sense that their wedding would be something beautifully unique. We have never been to a wedding that has both a ceilidh and Indian dancing in the space of an hour! But if there was one thing that seemed important to these babes was honouring both their cultures, their interests, and their loved ones. And their fusion Asian wedding was just this!
For day two of their Asian fusion wedding, Ravi’s Bharat had him arriving on a vintage red tractor which was pretty damn spectacular. Their ceremony was one of the most beautiful and unique we have had the opportunity to share. Officiated by and featuring many dear family members it focused on the key parts of their relationship and personalities. Its also definitely the first wedding we have seen which has had Welly wanging, fishing for rings and planting a tree.
For a couple who spent their honeymoon cycling through India – how bloody amazing is that?! their wedding was everything and more we could have imagined! Their sense of adventure, wander and general joy for life was an absolute delight to share in, and document. Be warned, this is a long post as its the only way we could do justice to their two day celebration!
Ruth and Ian’s gorgeous Christmas pub wedding in Camden ticked all the boxes of what makes a great pub wedding! Warmth, love, music and lots of good laughs! Their ceremony at the Prince Albert Pub was a deeply personal one. Watching Ruth walk down the aisle and see how just damn happy they both were brought a tear to my eye! With readings from two of my fave authors Neil Gaiman and Philip Pullman during their ceremony – you just know these are some high quality people! They were then serenaded by some dear friends. Honestly their absolute adoration for each other was a joy to witness. Having both the music and these readings in their ceremony was a beautiful way to include both their lives.
After their emotional ceremony, we braved the cold to do a little wander around Camden for some photos. Ruth and Ian live in, and love Camden so it was important that we captured some of that during our dusk exploration. A picture with the famous Camden sign was a must! It was such a delight to share in this special literary and musically charged day!
Ruth and Nick got married at the breathtakingly beautiful Peligoni Club on the island of Zakynthos. It was an awesome Greek Destination wedding, with views for days and a party vibe like no other!The ceremony took place overlooking the ocean just before sunset, and was probably one of the most picturesque spots for a wedding ceremony. The ceremony included a Greek and an English officiant who stood away from the couple in a beautifully unique ceremony lay out that allowed everyone to see the couple clearly. I definitely think this is hands down the best ceremony lay out I have seen!
After the ceremony, we snuck Ruth and Nick off for a few pictures while their guests snacked and drank with the gorgeous ocean view. There really is nothing like a Greek Destination wedding, but having it just after Summer has to be the best decision ever! You still have the intense beauty and warm weather, but without the scorching heat of mid Summer.
The reception was held in the beautifully canopied courtyard at the Peligoni Club and the couple and their guests partied till the sun came up to an epic DJ and Sax combo.
What made Ruth and Nick’s wedding so perfect (apart from everything!) was that they treated it as a holiday and party with friends which culminated in their wedding. This is actually exactly what we did for our own wedding and cannot recommend it enough! It helps create the perfect combo of relaxed vibes and high energy party!
Venue -The Peligoni Club – https://www.peligoni.com
Videographer – The Shank Tank – https://theshanktank.com
Dress – White Closet Bridal – https://whiteclosetbridal.co.uk
DJ Benny Blanco – https://www.instagram.com/bennyblancomusic/?hl=en
Sax – Leah – https://leahsax.com
Flowers – Fiorentinos Flowers – https://www.fiorentinosflowers.gr
Lauren and Jeff had the most amazing urban arty wedding at The Groucho Club in Soho. It was an awesome London wedding, with cool as hell city vibes. The ceremony took place in the Groucho Club. It was an awesome celebrant led ceremony, by one of our faves, Aggie the Celebrant.
After the ceremony, we had an awesome confetti tunnel in the streets of Soho, and we got some really fun photos of the couple exploring the streets of Soho, including in a nearby record store. And later when the sun set, in the streets of China Town. The weather at this London wedding was perfect, and it was a just an all round perfect day.
City weddings are honestly come of our absolute faves as they just have the most incredible vibe and energy! While doing the couple shoot in the streets of China town, people were constantly stopping and congratulating them which is honestly just the best vibe.
Celebrant – the most amazing Aggie – https://www.aggiethecelebrant.com
Venue – The Grouch Club – https://www.thegrouchoclub.com
Video – The Shank Tank – theshanktank.com
Gina and Nick got married at the gorgeous Old Court House, in Kingston upon Thames. It was a super fun Autumn Town Hall wedding, with all their dearest people. Once the legal bits were done we all down headed to a Thameside pub and a magician and caricaturist kept guests entertained.
The ceremony took place at a beautiful town hall. Everyone was just so happy to see these babes married, which was so lovely to witness. The ceremony included Nick’s nan as the guest of honour, and it was so special seeing how important she was to their day. It was a moving occasion, full of so much love.
After the ceremony, everyone meandered down the Thames to the pub. We snuck in a few photos en route, which was so much fun, and we got some great pics in the magical Autumn light alongside the river. The weather at this Autumn Town Hall wedding was the perfect blend of chilly enough to want to cuddle, whilst still glorious and sunny, it was an absolute stunner of a day.
The reception was held in The Bishop pub. This venue is perfect for small weddings as its right on the Thames. So the views out were absolutely gorgeous, and it’s got such a cosy vibe, especially in the evenings when the golden sun is glowing over the river.
For the reception, the couple had organised a magician and caricaturist for their guests, and everyone had the best time!
Gina and Nick’s celebration was such a joy to be a part of. The way they centred Nick’s nan in the ceremony was so heart-warming to see. Their decision to have an informal reception at a gorgeous pub on the Thames was the most perfect end to a gorgeous day.
Venue -The Guildhall – https://www.kingston.gov.uk/ceremonies-1
Pub – The Bishop – https://www.thebishopkingston.co.uk
Decor- Array Wedding and Event – http://www.arrayweddingandeventhire.co.uk
Florist- Hannah Martin – https://hannahmartin.net
Cake- Whisked and Baked – https://www.instagram.com/whisked_and_baked2021/?hl=en
Magician – Jack Monroe – https://www.alivenetwork.com/bandpage.asp?bandname=Jake%20Monroe
Caricaturist – Mengistu – https://www.etimarts.com
Grace and Dan got married at the gorgeous their house, in their garden in St Albans. It was a brilliant Festival Backyard wedding, with all their dearest people. We first met Grace and Dan at a friend’s wedding we shot and remember so clearly how much fun they had on the dancefloor! With that in mind, we knew their tipi wedding was going to be tons of fun!
The ceremony took place in their back garden, which also happens to be a gorgeous meadow. The ceremony included a surprise celebrant/bridesmaid who officiated a gorgeous and personal ceremony. It was a romantic occasion, full of so much love which was such a delight for us to share in.
After the ceremony, Grace and Dan mingled with their guests in the garden while enjoying ice cream from a cute, retro ice cream van.
Their boho reception was held in a gorgeous tipi. It just felt so gorgeously homely and intimate having the wedding in the couple’s backyard, and it’s had such a happy vibe, especially in the evening when the candles and fairy lights were glowing.
Grace and Dan choosing to get married in their gorgeous garden, which was the most perfect decision for them. Grace was able to get ready at home, and with her adorable puppies. The balance of festival style tipi wedding and laid back garden wedding suited them perfectly. Their wedding was the perfect balance of casual chats and hangouts, and high energy and big laughs. I couldn’t think of a more perfect way for these two babes to celebrate their marriage!
Tipi- Tipis 4 hire – https://tipis4hire.com
Caterers – The Hungry Hog – https://www.hungryhogbbq.co.uk
Ice Cream Van – Elsies Ices – https://elsies-ices.co.uk
Band- Brightmoor Motown – https://www.entertainment-nation.co.uk/brightmoor-motown
MUA – Agnes Nowacka – https://www.agnesnowackabridal.com
Helen and Bede had the most magical, relaxed garden wedding at King Settle in Salisbury.
I just loved that Helen’s sister did her make up, and the whole morning spent with them was just full of laughter and happiness. The ceremony took place at the gorgeous old Monxton church, and was filled with love and family tradition, which was so lovely and emotional. The ceremony included music by some of their friends which added such a personal touch to the whole thing. After the ceremony everyone moved across to King Settle Stud. This was honestly the most perfect spot as it’s so cosy and relaxed, and it’s got such a gorgeous rustic vibe in the walled garden.
Helen and Bede’s entire day was just absolutely beautiful and such a wonderful reflection of their love. It was such a delight for us to get to share it with them.
Venue – King Settle Stud – https://www.kingsettlestud.co.uk
Catering – Bread and Butter Catering – https://www.instagram.com/breadandbuttercatering_est2016/?hl=en
Amy and Dave got married at the rustic Hall Farm Weddings, Norfolk. It was a crazy Festival wedding, with so much colour everywhere. They had a brass band that keep guests entertained and even got a midday dance party started! Amy and Dave’s wedding was so utterly perfectly them in every way.
The ceremony took place in a woodland clearing, and was decorated with hay bales and bunting, which really worked for the festival theme. The ceremony included their sweet angel puppy Jeff who walked them down the aisle, which is maybe the best couple entrance I’ve ever seen!
The reception was held in a gorgeous tipi on a picturesque field in the forest. Their entrance song was Rage Against the Machine which is a choice we honestly could not agree more with. After the meal was finished, the dancefloor was packed all evening. The live band kept the party going all night, and a glitter station made sure everyone looked festival ready. Having a wedding that serves you as a couple, and your interests is honestly the best guarantee you’re going to have the most amazing time, and Amy and Dave are absolute testament to this!
Hall Farm Weddings – https://hallfarm.com/weddings/
Emily Andrews Events – https://emilyandrewevents.co.uk
Das Brass – https://dasbrass.co.uk
Haylie Clarke Make Up – https://www.hayleyclarkemakeupartist.com
Lauren and Neil got married in what has to be our new favourite wedding trend. An intimate ceremony and lunch, followed by a big party later on. They had their ceremony at a family church, and then had the most gorgeous lunch at the Michelin Star rated Paris House with their closest people. They later had a big party at their local The White Hart.
The ceremony took place in a beautiful church, and was officiated by a dear family member, which was so lovely and personal. After the ceremony, we all travelled across to the gorgeous Paris House, which is the most exquisite house in the Deer Park, where they celebrated their marriage with a tasting menu. I got some beautiful photos as they enjoyed the afternoon. The weather at this vintage wedding was chilly and rainy, but that didn’t bother them at all.
One wedding celebration is never enough and their intimate wedding lunch was followed up with a fun, bigger celebration with all their friends at their local. We absolutely love that more couples are pairing an intimate wedding celebration with a bigger party. It’s hands down the best way to get the best of both kinds of weddings!
Wedding Venue – Paris House – https://www.parishouse.co.uk
Pub Reception – The White Hart – https://www.thewhitehartampthill.co.uk
Its no secret that we absolutely adore a Town Hall Wedding, and Woolwich Town Hall has to be one of our faves. Not only is the colour palette what Wes Anderson dreams are made of, they always have the most lovely officiants.
Roxy had the most gorgeous vintage style which just worked so perfectly here. They had a small, intimate wedding which was an absolute delight for me to be a part of. The couple of hours I got to spend with them and their special people was so incredibly special! After their emotional ceremony, we walked down to Woolwich Arsenal which is such a great place to get some pictures.
Thank you so much for letting me be a small part of your magical day you babes!
We shot Frances’ sister’s wedding, so when Frances and Harry first got in touch with us about their Cripps Barn wedding, we were super stoked! We love being invited back by friends and family of couples we shoot for their own days! They were planning a really fun barn wedding with an intimate ceremony and a fun night of party for the reception. Frances and Harry are the most fun, travel addicted people and we couldn’t wait to shoot their wedding!
The wedding took place at Cripps Barn, and was a gorgeous, emotional ceremony. They had some beautiful readings, and after the ceremony they walked down the aisle together, and were then showered with confetti had sipped prosecco in the gorgeous Autumn sun.
The wedding reception took place In the beautiful barn space, which they’d decorated with table names of all the amazing places they have travelled to together. As big travellers ourselves, we love nothing more than other couples who love to travel and incoporate it into their wedding.
It was a bright and sunny Autumn day which was glorious. While the guests played lawn games, the couple mingled and laughed with their friends. All the trees were showing off with the most exquisite red and orange colour palette. Our fave photos though are definitely those we took with their wedding party pelting them with lawn games. You know its a good day when no one can wipe the big smiles off their faces!
Venue – Cripps Barn – https://crippsandco.com/cripps-barn
MUA – Emily Tarrant – http://www.emilytarrantmakeup.com/
Hair- Annie Russell – https://www.honeystonehair.co.uk/
DJ – https://www.djdarrenjewell.com/
We have definitely seen an increase in people having a legal wedding and then a separate party wedding. And we are here for it in a big way! Hayley and Liam did their legal wedding at the lovely Islington Town Hall. Followed a few days later by their big party wedding on New Year’s Eve in Homerton. For their legal ceremony, they shared their day with their immediate family. After their incredibly emotional ceremony, we moved across to The Canonbury. We love a good pub wedding as they give you all the good things you want – great food and drink, but without all the excess frills of a wedding venue. Perfect if you want to keep it simple. As is abundantly clear, Hayley and Liam both have the most impeccable style. But probably our fave part of their day was their amazing wedding rings! Hands down the coolest we have ever seen!
We first met Miriam and Chris at Maria and Ewen’s magical forest wedding in Scotland. These are a phenomenal group of humans. When Miriam reached out to me to shoot their 3 part wedding I was delighted! After discovering our shared Hungarian roots (which she included in her wedding clothes by HAND EMBROIDERING it herself), and their Halloween wedding theme for their 2nd celebration – I just knew I was in for a treat. Miriam and Chris’ first ceremony which was officiated by a group of their friends. They performed readings, poems and group singalongs at their local in Brixton. It was the most happy experience to be witness to the absolute outpouring of love for these two babes. Their wedding party which was at the Singer Tavern. It was Halloween themed with full dress up and all their guests did it properly! With a horror parade, face painting and a flash mob from Miriam to Chris. We also managed to grab some sneaky late night street portraits in the streets on East London. Their final and legally binding wedding was at the gorgeous Lambeth Town Hall in Brixton. All three of their weddings were an absolute delight to be a part of. I left every one of them so greatful to get the opportunity to share these momentous occasions with such amazing people.
(This is a long one as its pretty much 3 weddings worth)
Katie and Simon had an awesome micro wedding ahead of their big wedding back in South Africa. They got married at one of my fave town halls, Woolwich Town Hall which looks like a Wes Anderson dream! We met up before their ceremony to grab some pictures down by Woolwich Arsenal. Before heading up to the Town Hall where we met up with their closest people to make their love official. Katie’s blue dress and singular sunflower – a nod to her South African roots was just the most beautiful complement in the brightly coloured town hall. Thank you so much for letting me be a part of your first wedding chapter guys!
I know I say this a lot… But we are honestly so lucky to shoot the amazing couples that we do. Sophie and Ste are no exception to this. In fact, I would maybe say that it would be nearly impossible to find kinder, more lovely, or more in love people than these two. I am going to try my best to not turn this post into me gushing about how amazing the two of them are, but I can’t make any promises! I mean to start, Sophie’s pink vintage wedding dress had me utterly weak at the knees!
Sophie and Ste are in the business of love and weddings too so from day one of chatting with them we knew their wedding would be the most magical reflection of them. It was all these things and more! Sophie and Ste have a beautiful love for their family and chosen family of friends – the depth of love around every corner was an absolute joy to witness. These babes were honestly one in a million and we were so honoured we got to share their day with them! And while a nasty bug on the day may have altered a lot of their plans – their grace and love could overcome everything.
Band: The Jelly Roll Jazz Band. Flowers: The Artisan Dried Flower Co. Decor: Crystal Beth. Katy Poirier Art. Cake: Sonia Chocolatinos. DJ : Paula Frost. Bride: Stylish Bride Accs.
Katherine and Jack got married at the breathtakingly beautiful Godwick Hall, Norfolk which is the perfect spot for a rustic barn wedding. It was an awesome day, with forest decor for days and a party vibe like no other!
The ceremony took place in the old barn, and was decorated with the most gorgeous rustic decor, which was lovely. The ceremony included two beautiful readings done by their grandparents which were deeply sentimental. It was a romantic occasion, full of so much love and beautiful tears.
After the ceremony, they had a confetti aisle, which was so much fun, and we got some really fun photos of the confetti moment. The weather on their day was a real mixed bag. We had the most glorious sun, but also the darkest and most menacing clouds that exploded into torrential rain showers, and then back to sun.
The reception was held in the main barn. The venue is really perfect for weddings because it’s so cosy and relaxed, and it’s got such an awesome old rustic vibe, especially in the evenings when the golden sun is glowing.
Katherine and Jack are just so ridiculously in love you could not wipe the smiles from their faces all day. Even with the insane rain that smashed us, the two of them could not have looked happier the whole time. Their love was honestly just so incredible to witness.
Venue -Godwick Hall – https://godwickhall.co.uk
Caterer – Little Piggy Catering – https://www.littlepiggycatering.co.uk
Decor- Array Wedding and Event – http://www.arrayweddingandeventhire.co.uk
Cake – by Milly – https://www.instagram.com/baked.bymilly/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D
Band – Shine On – https://www.shineonband.co.uk
Flowers – Lily Jayne Florist – https://www.lilyjayneflorist.co.uk
Maria and Ewen’s Scottish forest wedding was for lack of a better adjective, magical. These are some of the reasons why (definitely not an exhaustive list). Maria got ready at Ewen’s old childhood home and wore a veil passed down through multiple generations. They got married in Elgin, where friends sang and performed songs during their service. Their reception was on Ewen’s parent’s farm. They set up the most whimsical banquet in a small forested area drenched with sun as the sun slowly set. Ewen wrote and performed a crab musical as his speech and it was every bit as incredible as it sounds. There were Queen sing alongs. Cultural nods to both their heritages. Amazing vegetarian food. Bagpipes. A Babushka wedding cake cut with a sword. More singing and lots, and lots of dancing.
Maria and Ewen your wedding was nothing short of perfection and the most beautiful reflection of both the two of you, your family and phenomenal friends.
When Kel and Rich told us they were having a music festival themed wedding in a Medieval village in the South of France we were absolutely there for it! Their multi-day wedding celebrations took place at the gorgeous Castelnau des Fieumarcon and DAMN what an epic party it was! Instead of trying to sum up the amazingness, I will let Kelly’s wedding stats speak for themselves:
1 private village in South West France
154 Guests
70 litres of spirits
320 bottles of wine
200 bottles of prosecco
500 cans of pale ale
450 Litres of beer
25 kilos of pulled pork
Couple of angry taxi drivers
3 lost passports
21 missed flights
3 lost suitcases
Couple of broken down cars
1 destroyed wedding dress
Guys, we cannot thank you enough for sharing your awesome with us x
Francis and Gareth’s wedding was everything we love in a wedding – it was tailored around what they wanted, and what was important to them. In so many ways it reminded us of our own wedding, so it has a very special place in our heart. Add that to the fact that Francis and Gareth are two of the most awesome people we know, and it really was just pure magic!
They had their ceremony at the Islington Town Hall, where they walked in together – like we did too. We are all about walking into this new marriage together! On the way to their recpetion we walked the streets of their home Borough Hackney, exploring and just documenting them en route. They had their chilled, music centric reception at the awesome Cafe Oto in Dalston.
Kate and Dean did their “I do” take 2 at the gorgeous Chelsea Old Town Hall. With two dear friends as their witnesses and their two children. They got married in a gorgeous, intimate ceremony. Kate and Dean have that deep connection that time and shared life creates. Witnessing their depth of love and commitment to each other was an absolute joy. There is just something so great and life affirming about people sharing their wedding with their children! The fact that they surprised them with the wedding on a weekend in London is just even better! After sneaking these babes off for some pics, they had a “hell yeah we got married” lunch a the gorgeous The Ivy. Kate and Dean, thank you so much for letting us share this adventure with you. We just know the next adventure you have on the way is going to be incredible x
When I started chatting to Cayley and Carl, they told me having a friends wedding was super important to them. At a time when Covid was just starting to bugger off. Having friends around them was a priority though potentially tricky. They decided on having a first look at Wandsworth Common before their town hall wedding at Wandsworth Town Hall. But with a twist! All their friends came with to witness this super special moment before all venturing up to the Town Hall together. Cayley and Carl are one of those couples that just really freaking LOVE hanging out together and you can see how into each other they are from how much fun they have together – they are constantly laughing and just really relish being in each other’s company. They had an awesome Town Hall wedding with their besties before heading off for a week long break with all their favourite people in the Cotswolds. If that isn’t the wedding perfection of doing things your way, I don’t know what is x
Kris and Kam got married in a gorgeous, intimate wedding ceremony at my fave Woolwich Town Hall. Winter weddings are always so festive and romantic, and these two babes made the most of the cold weather with some some snuggles. Intimate weddings always have such a magical energy to them! After their ceremony we headed down to The Guard House in Woolwich. A perfect spot for a cosy pub celebration with all their special people. Thank you so much for letting me be a part of your celebration.
Jess and Murray’s gorgeous wedding took place at that weird time when restrictions were just starting to lift. In the lead up to their wedding there was so much uncertainty about things like guest numbers, would people have to wear masks all day, could there be a first dance? Yet despite everything that the world threw in their way to complicate their day, they approached it all with a chilled grace that was a delight to see.
They got married at the gorgeous Cripps & Co. venue the Stone Barn in the magical Cotswolds on the most perfect June day. These two share a such a vivacious energy for life and are just so into each other and constantly laughing and having fun. Getting to photograph their wedding, our first full day one since the terrible C-word started, was a wonderful reminder why getting to do what we do is just the best thing ever! Jess and Murray, you know we think you’re both the bees knees, thank you for letting us be a part of your wonderful day.
Elaine and Stephen are two bloody spectacular humans. We knew this pretty much from the moment we met them a couple years back to do their pre wedding shoot, and ended up in a small pub with them drinking the better part of an evening away and nearly missing our train home. They got married at the awesome Victorian Terrace Hotel du Vin on Glasgow’s West End. Weddings where you get ready, married and then party are always great as everyone is already in one spot and they always being pretty spectacular parties. Elaine and Stephen’s was no exception to this. Elaine’s dress/pants? were the things of dreams, and seeing her dad’s face as he saw her first time even made me shed a little tear. Their whole day was an absolute joy to be a part of for us x
Candi and Scherren are two amazing humans, and getting to share their incredible wedding with them was so unbelievably special. You just know when you combine a kick ass tattoo artist/roller derby player and a rugby playing/teacher extraordinaire its going to be pretty magical, and dammit it really was. From a pre-ceremony wardrobe change, and tequila as a welcome for all the guests, their wedding was just perfectly them. I’ve known Candi for quite a few years now and we played on the South African Roller Derby team together, so getting to witness someone so special marry the woman of her dreams was extra special for me. Guys, you are going to have the most amazing life together x
I have known Stormie pretty much my entire life – to the point that I can’t remember a single part of my life she hasn’t been a part of, and we have known Alex since pretty much when they got together over a decade ago – and only a little while after Andy and I got together. They are both amazingly talented artists, so when they asked us to shoot their wedding, we were beyond honoured, and when Stormie asked me to be a bridesmaid too, it was double special. We had no doubt that their wedding would be arty, hand made, and perfectly them as a couple, which is exactly what it was. Stormie’s amazing mustard dress (what-up non white wedding dresses!) was made by the phenomenally talented Brit and hair and make up by my other fave Britt. They got married at the super rustic The Hatchery, alongside the lagoon – the most perfect venue for the most perfect wedding. Stormer and Alex, heavens we love you guys! This marriage adventure is going to be the most epic one you embark on xx
Michelle and Nick had a gorgeous Autumny wedding. It was at one of my fave registry offices Morden Park House which is in the most gorgeous gardens. Michelle, Nick, and their not so secret little bun – shared their day with some of their closest people. Michelle and Nick had the most beautiful, playful energy with each other which was just so fun to be around. After their ceremony and a few sneaky pics in the lovely rainy gardens, they snuck off for a lovely hang out with friends and fancy dinner together. Probably the best thing about Town Hall weddings is how perfectly unique they can be! You can create a wedding around all the things you love, and starting this off with a registry office wedding and just adding on whatever your heart desires. Michelle and Nick, thank you so much for letting me spend a bit of time with you on your most magical day x
We first met the awesome Elaine and George when they were guests at another wedding we shot a year back and after spending ages that night chatting to Elaine, I was absolutely beyond delighted when her and George contacted us to shoot their multi-day music festival styled wedding – if you know anything about us, you know we LOVE music festivals. They had their WedFest at the epic Kangaroo Valley Bush Retreat in the valleys of the New South Wales highlands and had their ceremony in one of the most beautiful cave cathedrals we have ever seen! After getting the marrying bit done, they had a silent disco, followed the next day by morning yoga, a pool party, a sundowner cocktail party and wrapped things up with a bonfire. After the ceremony, we were even treated to one crazy dust storm which turned the skies orange. Their next level awesome decor was done by the amazing Hoorah Events, who really made something beautifully unique and in line with Elaine’s vision for the day – also can we just talk about how incredibly damn stylish these two are?! And just in case you think their WedFest could not be any more brilliant, they had their two furkids, the incredible Eric and Lola with them the whole time! The even joined everyone for the ceremony and on the dancefloor. Elaine and George, you two absolute gems of humans, we cannot thank you enough for letting us be a part of your WedFest and just being so welcoming to us. We had the best time with you and all your special people x
Jane and Dips are two beautiful souls who made the most magical intimate wedding for themselves at a time when there were all kinds of restrictions on indoor venues and numbers of guests. They had their ceremony under a a beautiful tree in Cannizaro Park. Dips and his groomsmen set it up for their ceremony before Jane arrived. At their ceremony they had their dearest, closest people and all their family on Zoom -the new normal way for people to attend weddings. Their ceremony included a ring warming and was so beautifully inclusive of all their loved ones. After their ceremony we moved across to Battersea Park where all the rest of their friends were there to picnic the afternoon away with them.
During lockdown, Jane created a new business for herself setting up luxury bespoke picnics for people; so a picnic – organized by her own company- was the perfect way for them to go for their wedding! The afternoon was a real pearler and getting to see so many happy faces celebrating their love was such a tonic after so long of limited wedding numbers. Their wedding was even more of a delight for us as Jane’s cousin Jade and her husband Paul, whose wedding we shot the week before were there, and the gorgeous Kaylee and Scott whose wedding we shot in Greece. Seeing our old couples always makes us so happy! Jane and Dips, you are a wonderful family, and we are so excited to see all your adventures in the future!
Jade and Paul were meant to have a big, beautiful wedding surrounded by friends and family. COVID had other plans. Despite their original plans not quite working out, they managed to have the most beautiful ceremony. Theirs was our first wedding of 2021 so I am not sure if thats why I was extra emotional. Watching them interact with their loved ones after their ceremony on Zoom just absolutely left me in a puddle of emotions.
But back to the good stuff! Jade and Paul got married at Wandsworth Town Hall with just her cousin Jane as witness. From the moment we met them at the Town Hall for their wedding they exuded the most beautiful energy! It radiated from them for the entire time we hung out with them. From their big smiles and happiness you would never have been able to tell this was anything other than their perfect wedding. Thank you also to the wonderful pub The Alma, who when they saw them just married babes, brought them out some complimentary champers to congratulate them! Guys, we cannot thank you enough for letting us share this day with you! Being witness to your marriage (in more than one way!), was such a delight and honour x
Its no secret that planning a wedding in the last year has been in a nightmare process for many. But sometimes, all the planets align. What should be a nightmare of red tape turns out to be a perfect day where everything works perfectly.
Aashna and Sukrit got married in a window between lockdowns last year and even with all the uncertainty of whether or not their wedding could even happen – everything worked out perfectly! They got married at our fave Islington Town Hall. After their ceremony with their witnesses and Zoom guests, we adventured through London to where their parents were staying to have a more personal celebration.
It was such a delight to share this date with you guys and so affirming that love can prevail! Particularly at a time when so much felt so uncertain x
Megan and Andrew got married in Knysna, a place very special to them both. They had their ceremony under a tree in their parent’s garden, with all their favourite humans. Their wedding was the most awesome combination of the things that were important to them. The contrast between the super elegance of Megan’s dress, to the compulsory sneakers dress code for all the guests just spoke so much of their energy and passion.
Their wedding happened to fall on the final of the Rugby World Cup – which had the potential to put a dampner on the day had the result not been what it was… Luckily a morning of passionate rugby watching while wedding prepping, and the Springboks win meant that their wedding, which already had the promise of being an insanely epic party, was even more of one!
You most special people, thank you so so much for letting us be a part of your day, for allowing us to be witness to the emotional parts of your day, and there to celebrate with you.
We met Nicola and James after we shot their goods friend’s elopement in Zanzibar. So we knew we were in for an awesome wedding from these two! After 3 postponements these babes were finally able to get married at Tewin Bury Farm in Hertfordshire. Eight hours before shooting their wedding I broke some toes. This was definitely not the best way to start a day of shooting. Luckily after managing to borrow some crutches, and eating all the pain killers before arriving, we finally got to shoot their amazing day! There is just something extra special about weddings that Covid postponed! Its like they are filled with extra love and celebration. Nicola I still cant thank you enough for looking after me so well and even bringing me ice for my foot on YOUR wedding day. You really are an absolute gem of a human! Thank you so much for letting us be a part of your wonderful day.
When Nadine and SP got hold of us to shoot their wedding in Namibia, it goes without saying we jumped at the chance! They had recently moved to Swakopmund and planned to get married in the nearby golden sand dunes. When we found out that these two awesome humans are actually photographers as well – it made us both even more stoked that they picked us, and also a bit nervous, as shooting other photographers while always an absolute honour, is always a bit intimidating too! Having spent time with them camping in the Spitzkoppe, we really felt like part of their intimate group of loved ones, which made documenting their day even more special. I want go on too much longer as I would rather let their beautiful love speak for itself. Thank you for choosing us guys! It really was an absolute honour x
When Katie and Colin told us they were going to be having a marquee wedding in her parent’s garden in Northamptonshire, we did not expect to arrive to find a forest paradise set up on the grounds of her family’s gorgeous manor house.
Their ceremony was held in the chapel of her old school Bilton Grange in nearby Rugby. We were treated to the most gorgeous Autumny palette that just gave everything the most whimsical feel. Their wedding was such an incredible celebration of their two wonderful families coming together, and it was such an honour for us to be a part of it.
This beautiful wedding took place at the gorgeous Woolwich Town Hall. It was shared with Clara and Rahul’s most special people. But most importantly – with their twins who were just about to make their arrival. Also can we talk about how this amazing woman is?! While carrying her babies, she had a full, beautiful wedding! She then caught the Thames Clipper to their reception in Greenwich. She breezed around on the couple shoot like she wasn’t currently ferrying two very special babes in her belly. It honestly she just blew me away with strength and incredible energy! I absolutely adore shooting pregnant brides. Its just so wonderful knowing their little one(s) are there in all the pictures and are such a special part of the wedding! Clara and Rahul, thank you so much for letting me be a part of your special day – those babies are lucky to have such awesome parents!
Katie and Colin said their official “I do” at Wandsworth Town Hall surrounded by their parents and siblings before heading off for some drinks and snacks to celebrate at The King’s Arms down the road.
It was so special for us to be a part of this, particularly as they only had their closest humans there to celebrate with them! Small, and intimate weddings are often the way to go! You just get to have all your closest most special people around you when you make the whole marrying thing official!
Sam and Paul grew up in the same small farming community of Cradock so have known each other for almost their whole lives. They went home to get married where it all started, on Sam’s family farm just outside of the small Karoo town. They have the most beautiful community who rallied around them to make their wedding just absolutely magical. Sam’s dad even purpose built a barn just for their big day which is pretty damn amazing! Now we have shot a lot of weddings in a lot of different weather conditions, but their day hands down was the windiest we have ever experienced, and although at some times during the day and night it felt like we may blow away, they took it in their stride and it just added to the beauty and energy of their day. Sam and Paul, we knew from the moment we started chatting over email and then over Skype that you are our kind of people, and the incredible love you have for each other was such a delight for us to be witness to! Thank you so much for letting us be a part of the magic x
Getting to witness two people committing their souls to each other, surrounded by those they love is an honour we never take for granted, but when you find yourselves as the sole witnesses to this declaration, it takes on a whole other layer of meaning and importance. We had the honour of bearing witness to Tulsi and Dan’s love for each other with only the powder white beach sand and turquoise blue sea as witness. They have loved each other for many years, and have a depth of bond that only comes with time and a deep connection. Guys, we cannot thank you enough for trusting us to find you a spot to say your vows and for letting us in to share this incredibly special time with you. And more importantly for trusting us to drive you all over Zanzibar in our AC-less and seemingly suspension-less hired 4×4, wade you into the water and getting you to wander through a village followed by a curious bunch of kids! What an adventure to start your forever with!
Kaylee and Scott got married on the best day of the year to get married, so when we initially got their enquiry, and saw that it was for this date, we knew they had to be pretty special people – and they really are the two biggest hearted people. They got married on the island of Rhodes (where Scott’s family can trace some ancestry which is pretty damn cool). They chose the beautiful, family run Ktima Lindos , which overlooks the the Mediterranean Sea, this stretch of which has to be some of the bluest we have ever seen for both their ceremony and reception. The wonderful thing we always find about destination weddings is how everyone gets so involved, and how as everyone has travelled there specifically for this adventure, there is always the most incredible energy in the air. We got to spend a couple days getting to know all their amazing friends and family, so by the time it got to wedding time, it felt like getting to share the day with a wonderful group of friends. Kaylee’s mom did all the flowers for the wedding, and they were just absolutely breathtaking. Everything about their day was just utterly perfect, from their sun drenched ceremony to their perfect fairy-light lit reception. Guys, it really is such an honour to share a wedding anniversary date with the two of you beautiful humans <3
Want to see a smoldering, passionate love? Michelle and Kelvin are your people. They have an intensity of love nurtured by a long distance relationship, and a passion for life that was a breath of fresh air to witness. They got married at the ever gorgeous Crystal Barn with the exquisite decor by The Wedding Company South Africa. Hair and Make Up was by the awesome Durban Make Up Artist, and Michelle’s banging dress was by the amazing Ulyana Aster. You beautiful humans, thank you for letting us in to be a part of your amazing, and emotional day, it was an absolute honour and delight for us! We know if you keep that incredible fire going, your love is going to be an incredible one x
I don’t even know where to begin with Ash and Rick and their amazing adventure we were lucky enough to share. They took their 18 favourite people on a once in a lifetime adventure into the Namibian desert which involved 4am flights, chartered planes and Land Cruisers deep into the heart of the Sossusvlei desert to Little Kulala. For 3 days we got to follow them around and document this adventure. All they wanted from us was no posey stuff, just all the real moments for them to remember. Luckily for us they agreed to do a few pics just the two of them with the insane Namibian sunset and barren landscape, it meant so much to us having these two intensely private people doing this with us. On the 2nd night, an old friend of Rick’s married them under the starry sky alongside a roaring fire and all their special people. I don’t think we have ever witnessed a more simple, unpretentious and perfect ceremony in all our lives. I honestly could not think of a more perfect way for them to have committed themselves to each other. I really need to refrain from writing a full essay here so before I start rambling with superlatives, here are some pics from their Namibian adventure.
I know I have said this every time we have shot an intimate wedding… but intimate, family orientated weddings have such a magic to them – there is something so special about being surrounded by only your absolute closest humans that brings such a calmness and privateness to a marriage. Rosie and Deane chose to get married at her parents home, in their garden surrounded by all their special people, and they both got ready in rooms in the home that were warm and familiar to them – surrounded by family members and the fluffy family members. Every part of their day was a community effort, from building her bouquet, setting up the garden and house, and even serving the homely platters of food. It was very clear to us that a lot of people love these two very much. Rosie wore the most exquisite boho dress from phenomenal designer Sadie Bosworth which was honestly beyond perfect for her. Her make up was done by the amazingly talented Pam McNeil. It was such an honour for us to share such an incredible day, and its always more of an honour when creatives trust you, and give you creative freedom to document their day.
Sarah and Oli got married this past December at the absolutely magnificent Pat Busch Mountain Reserve. They had an epic two day wedding surrounded by the most magical mountains, and their favourite humans. Honestly, we cannot recommend a multi day wedding enough! They really do maximise your hangout time with your people, and keep everything so relaxed.
Sarah and Oli had one of the most deeply personal ceremonies we have seen in a long time, married by her mom and his sister, they had all their dearest people take part in their ceremony and contribute to their marrying of each other. The whole thing just filled our hearts with such joy.
The actual wedding day was a long, slow one – with lots of eating, drinking, swimming, listening to music and just hanging out. Guys, thank you so much for letting us be witness to this incredible time x (This is a long post with lots of wedding goodness, so get comfy while you scroll through these two days of awesome).
Caylee and Kevin’s beautiful Netherwood wedding was our first of what promised to be a very full year of amazing couples and weddings. As we clearly know now, 2020 had other plans for all of us. One of the things I am most greatful for is that this amazing couple got to celebrate with all their special people before they made the big move to Canada. Caylee and Kevin had a wedding filled with all the things that matter most to them – their best people.
Its hard not to see their happiness overflowing. I feel like with the benefit of hindsight, it seems like everyone celebrated that much harder and love and connection was that much more meaningful. Thank you incredible people for letting us share this day with you. Its so exciting for me to stalk you on socials and see your amazing new life together x
Claudia and Will got married on a gorgeous Autumn day in the heart of the Cotswolds at Lapstone Barn near Chipping Campden. They met and fell in love in Australia, so this magical rainy day was an incredible contrast from where it all started for them. Claudia and Will couldn’t wipe the grins from their faces the whole day, which is honestly the best thing ever to see! They have the most amazing families who were just so warm and welcoming, and being a part of their day felt like we were around friends. Thank you so much for letting us be a part of your incredible day x
Flowers and decor were by Aquaflorist. Claudia’s stunning dress was by Morilee by Madeleine Gardner.
When we met Kate and Brett for coffee in Cape Town a couple months before their wedding, we blinked and had been chatting to them for hours, we immediately felt such a connection to these two. Their positivity and love for each other was immediately tangible which got us VERY excited to document their wedding! While the weather may have curtailed their plans for a forest ceremony, their wedding day was utterly perfect. Kate and Brett, you are two incredible humans, thank you so much for letting us be there to witness, and document your most magical day!
Their wedding was at our fave Crystal Barn, their decor was honestly some of the most inspired, and beautiful we have seen in years by the incredibly talented Carmen Floral Studio – we just LOVE working with her and seeing the magic she creates! The incredible Pam at Nixon made Kate look extra gorgeous, and her dress was by the supremely talented Chanelle Cindy.
Sylvie and Jack got married on one of the hottest and most perfect days of UK Summer 2018. They got married at the lush Tudor era Walled Garden in Cowdray which was the perfect venue for them to hang around with everyone they love in the most magnificent setting. We just loved how the whole pace of their day was relaxed and flowed easily so they could spend time just chilling with all their people – one thing that often gets lost in a fast paced wedding timeline. In the past, I have given brides maybe a hair grip or a snack I’ve had in my bag if they were hungry, but their wedding goes down as the first one where I have ever given the bride my bra! In the craziness of the day we couldn’t find her strapless bra, and wouldn’t you know it, its probably the only time I have ever worn one to a wedding, which was just so incredibly lucky! Sylvie and Jack have a beautiful connection, and getting to hang out with them all day and witness it was just too awesome!
Val and Shane, I won’t lie, writing a little intro for you two here is tough as I know I really shouldn’t write a whole essay, but damn I want to! From our first Skype with Val and Shane we had an immediate connection with them on so many levels. Not least of all because we both were getting married/got married the first place we ever travelled to as a couple, for us Mozambique and for them Aruba, and they love travelling and their furkids as much as we do. When we finally met them we hit it off straight away while we explored the interior of Aruba for their portrait session and then getting to hang out and get to know all their friends and family for the whole weekend was so incredibly special for us. They got married on the beach at the Divi Phoenix Resort and honestly, it couldn’t have been more perfect. Guys, thank you so much for including us in your magical wedding adventure!
Pips and G, what an absolute honour. We met these awesome humans at another wedding we shot a few year’s back, so we were beyond stoked when they reached out to us to shoot their wedding. They are the most chilled and in love couple, and have a deepness to their love that comes from years of building a solid relationship. They got married at the gorgeous purpose-built white light|the forum, and decor was by one of our fave evers, Fleur Dita, seriously her decor and flowers are out of this world! Pips was in a gorgeous White Lilly Atelier dress. Guys, you absolute gems, thank you for letting us be a part of such an exceptional day!
We met Sabine and Marek at Chris and Thea’s wedding in London and thought they were two of the nicest and most interesting people we had met in ages. So when they contacted us to shoot their wedding in Greece, we were beyond stoked to get to hang out with them again! Their wedding brought together people from pretty much all over the world, which is a testament to the two incredible people they are. They are so incredible in fact, that they even hosted an exhibition of Marek’s photography and Sabine’s jewellery in London only a few weeks before their wedding – when most people are still trying to get things organised for their wedding. The amazing Peggy from I Wish Chic Events helped them have a truly incredible day! Getting to share a few days with them and all their special people was a truly magical experience for us. From getting up with them at the crack of dawn to explore the island, and sharing an evening with traditional Greek music and dancing before their wedding, by the end of it we honestly felt like we had witnessed two beautiful old friends get married. You guys are amazing and we can’t thank you enough for letting us share this adventure with you!
Every now and then, just when we need it most, we are reminded why we love what we do. Every now and then, we meet a couple that share a love so extraordinary, so intense and deep, that you cant help but feel happier just being in their presence. Sara and Barend have one of these one in a million loves -the way they look at each other, even when they don’t know anyone is watching them was the most beautiful thing. These pilots met at flight school, and together have flown around the world together <insert bad joke about their love soaring to new heights…>. Everything about their day was like a soothing balm to the soul. Their wedding was family centred – and a coming together of their different backgrounds and you could constantly just feel the love their people have for their them. They got married and incredible Providence, HMUA was the incredibly talented Lisa Bailey, and Sara’s beyond gorgeous and perfectly-her dress was by the amazing Megan Bailey Atelier. DJ, lighting and all round awesome vibe by our good friend, Mr David Yapp.
Sometimes you get to witness two souls so beautifully entwined that you cant help but stand back in awe of their incredible connection – H and Wok have that in bucketfuls. From the moment we met them for lunch and a chat we felt so connected to them and saw straight away the beauty of the connection they share. Their wedding was a perfect celebration of this love, and the beautiful love their families and larger community share with them. What an honour and delight you guys, so much love for you x We were delighted to work with some of our fave industry buddies for this magical day at Shalwyn – Hair and MakeUp by our faves Juliet and Britt. H’s stunning dress by Chanelle Cindy, music by the legend David Yapp.
Being witness to Tiffany and Derrick’s wedding was such a special honour for us. They have the most beautiful hearts, and have such a deep love for each other. They had the most beautiful beach wedding at Canelands Beach Club, which is such an awesome space for intimate weddings. Their gorgeous tropical decor was by the lovely Cindy from Love Laugh. Tifffany’s gorgeous dress was by Werner Dey, and the always awesome to work with Lauren Smit was on makeup. Thank you so much for including us in your day guys, it was truly a delight for us!
After Skyping Lisa and Gareth we immediately knew their energy and general vibe for life was a lot like ours, so when we figure out we would be in Cape Town at the same time, we knew we had to meet up and do a little adventure session with them. Also, getting to hang with a fellow crazy hair colour lady is always a treat for me. In good old Cape Town style, the wind was pumping, which definitely made things way more fun for us. They really do have an incredibly beautiful and adventurous love, and we spent most of our time with them laughing and just having a great time. We were so stoked to get both some of the sneaky sunset light and the magical purple light over the city. Holy shit we cannot wait for their wedding later this year, its going to be epic!
When Lauren and Andrew decided to get married, they decided to go all out and make a big celebration bursting with personal and sentimental details! They got married at a church connected to their family history. Then coordinated and carted all their guests on ferries across the Knysna lagoon to the Featherbed private nature reserve. They partied the night away on a level like they knew they had to make up for all the partying 2020 would deprive us of – it also didn’t hurt that they had phenomenal taste in music and they and all their guests really brought the party!
Lauren and Andrew, your big hearts, love and attention to everyone around you made it such an honour and delight for us to witness your beautiful/chaotic love – thanks for walking with us all the way to the Knysna Heads to see the sundown on your wedding day. It was just too magical for words!
Dee and Emile are two incredibly special humans. When we first me with them and got to hang out with their fur kid gang (who totally stole our hearts), we could see both their warmth and energy for life, and their incredibly beautiful love for each other. They are also big animal lovers, and work together, just like we do, so we resonated with them instantly. Their wedding, which included their awesome dog kids, was a true show of love and affection for all the people they care about, and was as much about their community as it was about them. For us, it was an absolute joy, and honour to document their incredible day. Add to that unicorn donuts and a absolutely killer partytjie, you couldnt ask for more x Working with Andy’s beard crush The Shank Tank, as always was awesome, and Dee’s mindblowingly perfect dress was by our super talented friends McCarthy Wolff, make up by the amazing Volenti Laurentina, and decor by our faves Labola.
This is without a doubt the most delayed blogpost I have ever made. You see, Dayle and Dylan’s wedding was our last of 2019 (yes, you read that right in 2021…) I think I feared posting their wedding as I just wasn’t sure when we would get to shoot again. I greedily hung onto their amazing wedding like Gollum. Fearing we wouldn’t have more amazing, love filled days to share. And now as 2021 is filled with just as much uncertainty I realize sharing love is probably the best thing I can probably do.
So here I present to you Dayle and Dylan’s most incredible wedding at Pat Busch. In hindsight, the beautiful intensity almost foreshadowed a great loss we were all going to experience. They loved extra intensely and partied extra hard. Almost as if to compensate for the loss of interactions and socialising we would all come to feel so acutely in the following months. Their marriage was a deeply personal one. Their Chuppah held by their siblings and their blending of two backgrounds into one exquisite fusion of love. These two have the biggest hearts and share a passion for adventure and travel and we immediately felt so at home with them and their loved ones. Guys I am SO sorry this is so late to make its appearance. I think I am finally ready to share your love and your amazing day with the world. Because lets be honest, what we all need right now is a reminder of the light and beautiful side of this life.
Its so easy to get swept up into what a wedding is supposed to be, how its meant to look, who has to be there, even what you should eat – but I’m going to tell you a little secret… All it has to be is exactly what you want – marrying your person how you want. Matri and Nick did their wedding right – it was absolutely perfect for them! When we went for tea at these gems’ house they told us how what they really wanted from their wedding was their immediate family present and to eat two of their fave foods, pizza and donuts and then to have a wander around the city they love having some pictures. No one but their immediate family knew about the wedding, which I think made this elopement even more special. Matri’s dad married them, which added a whole extra dimension to the beautiful and personal nature of their ceremony, and we just love how they “rock/paper/scissored” to see who would do their vows first. They hung out with their closest people at Ciao Bella and we got to be a part of that which was so unbelievably special, after which we snuck them away for some pics in Durban city. Thank you so much you two incredible humans for allowing us the privilege of sharing something so beautiful and private with you, it was an absolute honour and joy for us.
If I am honest, I have put off blogging Jenna and Jeff’s wedding, as I had no idea how my few words and our pictures could ever do justice to their wedding extravaganza. So watch me try (and no doubt fail) to sum up one of the most incredible wedding experiences we have been witness to in a long time…
The wedding, pre-wedding Cave party and all festivities took place at Prynnsberg Estate, one of the most bizarre and endearing old worlde estates – in the middle of nowheresville, the Free State. When you meet Jenna and Jeff, and get the feel for the incredible hosts they are and that putting on anything less than an epic experiences for all the people they love to celebrate them finally getting around to saying “I do” just wouldn’t be them at all. Hair and MU was done by our faves Laura and Wadene from Nixon Make Up. Jenna wore her gran’s dress for their ceremony which was an amazingly sentimental touch – she also wanted to recreate a pic of her gran cutting her wedding cake – with a sword – which shows just how epic multiple generations of this family are.
Their ceremony was at the on sight chapel, and after a lot of bubbles and sword-cut cake, everyone meandered back to a slow, multi-course family style meal under the trees by the Manor House. For days the forecast had predicted torrential downpours for the whole day, but somehow – it held. After sneaking them off for a few pics (and an unfit change into some Elven Queen vibes) it was time for wedding celebration part 2 – a jazzy cocktail party under a canopy of fairylights. It was at this point that we began to hear the threatening rumble of the long awaited storm, which finally hit, HARD and suddenly towards midnight. Rain does something electric to the energy of a wedding, and watching everyone grab all the DJ and band gear and head to the house for party round 3 was incredible – were we the normal “knock off at 9pm” photographers, we would have missed it all! Watching everyone soaked to the bone, carry on the party inside the crumbling mansion – everyone sprawled across the rooms and just having the best time was awesome!
Jenna and Jeff, your wedding was so perfectly the two of you! You pulled off the most incredible multi-day celebration of your bold, and adventurous love and it really was so awesome for us to get the chance to hang out with you and share it with all of the fascinating people you call your friends and family. If your future is half as epic as your wedfest, its going to be a damn good one!
Its not every morning that you get shouted at by a security guard for trespassing… but the morning we shot Sara and Barend we got lucky. We arrived at our location to find it locked which was a major bummer as we wanted some sunrise rooftop shots, luckily for us though these two pilots were up for a little bit of climbing and exploring. The sense of adventure they showed and openness for a bit of fun, says a lot about them as a couple. Our morning with them was full of really good conversation, lots of laughing, and lots of them absolutely owning this whole being in love business. We absolutely cannot wait for their wedding, though with any luck we wont break too many rules this time around…
Paula and Greg are the kind of people you can’t help but love! Not only are the two of them overflowing with the most incredible energy, but so are all their friend and family who helped them put together one incredible wedding in the garden Paula grew up in in Blantyre. Having cut our wedding teeth in the KZN Midlands, rain on a wedding day is something we are quite accustomed to, but the rain on the day of Paula and Greg’s wedding was some other monsoon force! While most people would sink into a pity party if this happened, these two, embraced it – gave the raining skies the middle finger, and made it their own. Wet weddings are always electric, and theirs was no exception to this, and like any good Rhodents, their reception was so good, they broke their dance floor, literally! Paula and Greg, you two amazing humans, thank you for letting us share your magical day x
When we began chatting to Nadine and SP about shooting their wedding, they mentioned that in the days before their wedding that would be camping with some of their friends and family in the Namibian desert in the Spitzkoppe, and asked if we would be keen to come with. I mean, obviously that was a no brainer for us as we do love a good camp! It was so great to hang out with them and their people before the wedding and get to know them all a bit. The other major advantage of staying at an epic location like this, was getting to shoot them both at sunrise and sunset! Nadine and SP are also amazing photographers so they were all for our crazy light chasing – so we grabbed a Windhoek beer (cuz really, what else would you drink in Namibia?) and explored our insanely beautiful surroundings. e
Nat and Gary are two of the most awesome people we have met. They are both so full of life and love that they are an absolute joy to be around and our whole day with them was full of energy and non stop laughs. Nat must be one of the biggest hearted women I have ever met, getting to be a part of her morning getting ready with all her people was such a privilege. They got married in the chapel in their village of Skelbrooke where they live, and had their reception at the gorgeous Whitley Hall Hotel which was a chilled garden affair with pints on the lawn, custom gelato, a Punch and Judy show for the kids and just all round relaxed day. A perfect wedding day, with an amazing party, that was absolutely just perfect for the two of them.
There’s just something so magical about small, intimate weddings. Lauren and Simon chose to get married with only their closest family at a beautiful beach house in Ballito. Lauren got ready with her mom and sisters, and even though she had ended up in hospital the night before the wedding with food poisoning, you would never be able to tell looking at her gorgeous beaming smile, which she wore the entire day. After an emotional ceremony and drinks and canapes with their people, we snuck them down to the beach for a few sunset pics before they went back to join everyone for an intimate dinner. Getting to share in something as private as a wedding for us is always such an honour and privilege, but even moreso when the wedding is such a small one with only a handful of specially selected people. We cannot thank you guys enough for letting us in to witness the beginning of this adventure.
Cecil and Marc prepared us for the amazingness of their music festival wedding in a forest when we met them in their hood Bronte Beach for their portrait session – they had us hooked at silent disco… So we went in with big expectations for their wedding and heavens did it far exceed anything we could ever have imagined! We spent the weekend at the majestically beautiful Weddings in the Wilde in Fitzroy Falls with them and their friends and family from all over the world – Marc is Scottish and Celia English and they live in Sydney – so there really were people from everywhere. They got married in a little log cabin in the forest and as the Summer sun sets late in Australia, they had a long and chilled hangout with all their important people and then moved across to probably the most magical outdoors reception we have ever seen, put together by the phenomenal Jerin from Bohemian Blooms. From signature Irn Bru and Prosecco cocktails (maybe the best Scottish/English cocktail ever) to friend Dj’ing till the early hours of the morning, everything about their wedding was just chilled, personal and bloody awesome! Cecil and Marc you guys are freaking brilliant and we cant wait for that catch up drink next time we are in Sydney x
I don’t even know where to start about Val and Shane and the awesomeness of their love and the simple amazingness of these two human beings. They decided to get married in Aruba where they went on their first holiday as a couple (but more on that in their wedding post…) so for their portrait session, we all thought it would be super cool to do something different in vibe to their beach wedding, so we decided to head away from the turquoise , picture perfect beaches and explore the desert interior of Aruba. We thought the Casibari rock formation would be a cool spot. Somehow, between the four of us we managed to nearly get lost on an island 30km long and 8km wide – luckily through getting directions in our collectively horrific Spanish, and with only one cactus casualty we got to our spot just as the sun was setting which made for some pretty epic stuff!
Carli and Karel came back to South Africa to share their wedding with all the people that are important to them. They got married at Wingrove Valley, an awesome little venue 15 minutes from Pietermaritzburg. Most of the morning the rain threatened, and about 20 minutes before their ceremony it bucketed down. Amazingly though, it cleared up mid way through their ceremony, and left us with the most amazing and dramatic light. Thank you so much for letting us share you magical day with you, it was such a delight for us to be a part of your incredible day x
We hit it off from our first Skype with Lashara and Woody, and we were just so taken with their energy and stoke for life and climbing – one of the main reasons they chose to get married in the Rocklands in the Cederberg. They wanted a chilled day, surrounded by their favourite people, celebrating under the open skies, encircled by the mountains they so love to explore. Their day was as colourful as they are and it was such an honour and delight for us to be a part of it all! Guys, we freaking love you to! We cant wait for more climbing adventures with you, and more beer and veggie burgers <3
For both of us, Cuba has always been high on the list of places we have wanted to go. When we got the chance to travel to the Caribbean for work, we knew that we just had to try and spend some time in Cuba while we were there. Apologies in advance if this becomes somewhat of an essay, but there is just far too much to say about this fascinating place… Most people seem to think of Che Guevara, Mojitos, old cars and the Buena Vista Social Club when Cuba is mentioned – and all this is totally spot on so we won’t need to go into that side of things here. Cuba is currently in a very interesting place – somewhere between old fashioned socialism/still heavily embargoed by the US and opening up to the world now that Fidel Castro has passed away. We knew we didn’t want to stay in a government run hotels (which they all are, and was where most Americans and other rich Europeans who relished in the power of their currencies stayed), the only time we dared to venture into them was to use their internet – wifi and even mobile phones are VERY new developments in Cuba. Since Raul Castro took over, and Cubans have gradually been allowed to explore private enterprise, Casa Particulares have sprung up all over the place – these are rooms in local Cuban’s houses that they rent out to tourists as way of making some money, and provide an incredible opportunity for tourists to see how real Cubans live. Our first Casa Particulare was in the heart of the less touristy part of old Havana with an amazing family (and kitty). Most people here are poor, very poor – in a kind of way you only can be by decades of hardship. They have very little and live in very small homes yet have the biggest and most generous hearts. Private lives are lived out on the street, and the sense of community here is unlike anywhere we have ever been. People, live, eat, dance and sing on the street and everywhere is full of the most electric creative energy. There is art everywhere and music emanating from houses around every corner. People salsa in the street, alongside those selling bread and fixing their cars. This is a collection of some snapshots from our wanderings around the streets.
Jess and Hilton you bloody beauties! The week before their wedding we sat down to a brunch with these two, and ended up spending a better part of the day just chatting with them. They must be two of the most charming and energy filled people we have had the joy to hang out with, and as we know weddings are always a reflection of the amazing people having them – we knew their wedding was going to be awesome fun. They got married at the magical forest at Haycroft Farm, and their wedding was full of big laughs, big emotions and a big ass party. Watching Hilton watch Jess come down the aisle, and seeing his absolute joy at seeing his woman in her exquisite dress approach him, was something I wont easily forget. Jess moved to the UK a couple days after their wedding, with Hilton following a couple months later, so their reception doubled as a massive going away party for them so had that extra dimension. We cannot wait to hang out with you guys when we are in London again, your love and passion for each other is guaranteed to make this adventure an awesome one x
Jen and Adam were our last wedding adventure of the year, and what an incredible one it was. We knew right from their first email to us which mentioned the words family farm, Land Rover, pet bunny and cat, environmentally conscious, that these two humans were not only right up our own alley, but their wedding would without a doubt be too. Jen and Adam are so in love, like incredible love bubble of love, love and getting to witness this love just filled us with the most happiness possible. Their wedding was on Jen’s family’s farm and was a team effort to pull together an incredible day in an area that a year before, was complete bush veld. Its hard not to see the intense love amongst this group of people, their closeness as families and as friend groups. Add to this a fully vegetarian wedding and a rocking punk rock dance floor. Their day could honestly not have been more perfect.
Domenique and Tyrone – adventurers and animal lovers, two of things closest to our own hearts, which in turn brought these two very close to our hearts as well. Dom and Ty got married at Bellwood in their magical forest.Dom was an absolute Autumn goddess draped in flowers by the insanely talented Carolyn from Adore. They had their hearts set on a forest wedding surrounded by giant trees and the smell of pine needles, but the weather forecast was for rain, rain and a bit more rain. I honestly have no idea who these guys bribed or what spells they cast, but the rain held out the entire day till late at night when the heavens opened and it rained, hard. Dom and Ty have an incredibly deep love, one that saw Dom moving half way around the world to Australia and then Hong Kong to be with Ty – and one that gave us one of the most emotionally intense first looks we have ever had the honour to witness. The way Ty looks at Dom, and the way that when they are together rest of the world seems to dissipate around them, is such a testament to the amazing life they are going to have together.
Anerike and Neil live in Botswana, but travelled down to Cape Town to share a magical wedding weekend with all of their favourite people. Anerike must be one of the most beautifully souled people we have ever met, and all her photos just radiate the love she has for Neil so beautifully – it was such an honour for us to be witness to this magical day. Anerike is also a massively talented photographer, which for us was the ultimate compliment! We love it when we get to shoot other photographers, but I would be lying if I didnt say that it also made us nervous to live up to her eye x
Their ceremony was held in the beautiful forest at Winery Road Forest. Flowers and decor were by the phenomenally talented Creative Nook – Anerike’s bouquet was so exquisite and unique, it even brought her to tears. Hair and makeup was by the exceptional Madeleine Professional.
These two beautiful souls had the most incredible day. We love a good Winter wedding, as not only are you pretty much guaranteed no rain – perfect for an outdoor forest ceremony like they had – but its also a good excuse to get all snuggly during your couple shoot, which these two babes needed no encouraging to do as they have the most awesome connection – their love for each other is absolutely effortless. Kirsty’s excitement to see James in the lead up to their ceremony was the sweetest to witness, and their deeply emotional ceremony had me tearing up while trying to pretend I’m just a hardened wedding-er immune to beautiful love. Who am I kidding? I’m a soppy mess at most ceremonies, and at theirs I was crying along with most of their guests.
Kerry and Shane came back from London to get married surrounded by all their favourite humans at the gorgeous Red Ivory in Hartebeespoort. The morning started out wet with a grumpy sky, with the heavens opening up hard just before the ceremony. Amazingly, the rest of the day was clear and beautiful, and we were treated to the most spectacular African Summer light. Guys, thank you so much for letting us document your most beautiful day, it was such a delight for us to share this incredible adventure with you!
Its not every day that you get to shoot the wedding of a paediatric orthopaedic surgeon (honestly could Mari BE any more badass?!), but we were so lucky to get to witness Mari and Seb’s incredible wedding! They met at a ballroom dancing class, so dance was always going to be a special part of their wedding. Their friends and family flew in from all over the world to be a part of their special day which took place over a weekend at the picturesque Old Mac Daddy in Elgin, which honestly has to be one of the quirkiest venues we have ever shot at! The weather didnt play along quite as we would have liked, and their ceremony had to be moved indoors last minute, BUT that did mean we were treated to some insanely magical sunset light for their couple shoot! Mari and Seb, you beautiful humans, thank you so much for letting us be a part of your incredible weekend x
Kelly and Tim got married on a beautiful wet, and misty Thursday in the magical Bellwood Forest surrounded by their community. Their whole wedding reflected their farming community roots (Tim’s family farm is next door to the venue). These two have incredibly massive hearts and a joy and energy for life, each other, and travelling that was such a treat to witness. Even though the weather was less than perfect for an outdoor forest wedding, you wouldn’t say that it worried them for even a second based on the big grins they wore the entire day! Guys, thank you so much for letting us be witness to your amazing union!
Gemma and Leighton had a small, and intimate wedding at beautiful Phinda surrounded by all their favourite humans. There was the threat of rain the entire day, and when you’re planning an outdoor ceremony in the bush, this is far from ideal. Luckily the weather held the entire day and even treated us to an extra special sunset, the kind you really can only get in the African bush in Winter. It was such an honour to share in this intimate day of theirs and to document the beautiful, and gentle love that they share with each other.
When we first met Donna and Darren before they even booked us, we were immediately captivated by their energy as a couple. When we shot them for their pre wedding portrait session, their love and chemistry hit us hard. So when we finally got to shooting their wedding, we did not doubt for a second that it would be full of passion and energy, and that it was. Donna always wanted a forest ceremony, and as luck would have it, the morning of their wedding was plagued with intense and threatening storm clouds. Somehow, the rain held till the exact moment they walked back down the aisle – if that isn’t an insanely good sign I don’t know what is. To make it even more magical, the weather cleared for about half an hour, just long enough for us to get few pics with the deep, angry sky. They got married at our absolutely fave spot, Crystal Barn – Kate and Gabi really are two amazing wedding fairy god-mothers to have on your side. Guys, you are two amazing humans, the love and connection you share was an absolute joy to behold, and we just know you are going to have the best life together x
Cayleigh and Craig, you most special of humans! How do I even start to describe what has to be from every angle a most perfect day? These two families are deeply entwined, they have a history. Craig’s brother is married to Cayleigh’s sister and that was the start of everything. And when you have two families this connected, through both joy and heart ache, you know the feelings that run throughout the day are going to be immense. Add to this the fact that Craig’s other brother is married to one of the best women in the wedding industry, the power woman behind Labola, decor wise, every part of their Netherwood wedding was perfection. Throw in a Hanrie Lues Bespoke gown, and stationary by Bash Paperie, and music by our fave, David Yapp, and video by Andy’s man crush The Shank Tank– you honestly couldn’t ask for better! Except there was something better… When we first chatted to Cayleigh, she told me all she really wanted for her wedding, was a pic with the Netherwood cows, who in our experience are notoriously shy, so we didn’t pin much hope on making this happen for her. BUT as we drove back from the couple shoot, with the sun well setting – like fate- the cows were all around and SO keen for some pictures! We are so stoked we manage to get you guys with the cows, and just even more stoked that we got to share this magical day with you awesome people x
We have such a big couple crush on these amazing people and their incredible friends. Their wedding was full of amazing attention to detail, and their decor was full of the most amazing puns we have seen in ages. On top of this, Ivana’s mama made her dress and her amazing bridesmaids handmaid all their flower-crowns and bouquets! The two of them together are just the most fun to be around. Big grins didn’t leave their faces (or ours) the entire day. Ivana and Matty, you guys rock and we just know your life together is going to be epic!
One of our favourite things to do when we travel is to explore the local art scene and street art is always high up on our list. Cuba absolutely blew us away with all of its arts. Cubans seem to be naturally creative and it seems that visual art, dancing and music seep out of every Cuban pore. Every road has little gems hidden around, musicians fill every bar and street corner, and people dance – in the street, in their houses, everywhere! The heart and soul of Cuba seems to be one overflowing with art, and that was just an absolute delight to behold!
We got the chance to hang out and shoot Carley and Dave while we were recently in Bali. They were even happy to get up waaaay before the sun and head over in Bali’s insane humidity to the black volcanic beaches of Canggu. We were treated to what has to be one of the most spectacular sunrises we have ever seen, and it really did feel like Bali was showing off with the most insane array of colours we saw in the sky, which, had I not been there to witness myself, would honestly believe to be fake. Carley is an amazingly talented Canadian photographer and her and Dave have the same insatiable travel bug we do – and they have visited over 40 countries already which is pretty damn amazing! Thanks for being so awesome guys! Hope these pics bring back some memories of warmth while you freeze your asses off now back in Canada!
Claire and Adam had a beautiful wedding with all their friends and family at the beautiful Jex Estate on the KZN North Coast. These are two amazing humans who share a beautiful love. Their first look was one of the most emotional we have witnessed in a long time, and their reception has to be one of the most off the hook, with the appearance of maybe one of the most amazing ties we have ever seen on a wedding guest!
When my old friend and phenomenal lifestyle and wedding photographer, Lana Pratt asked if we would be interested in doing a Workshop with her while we were in Perth earlier this year, and we jumped at the opportunity. When Two Worlds Collide was one part conceptual, one part practical workshop where we shared not only our philosophy around shooting but a whole bunch of practical bits that have literally taken us years of trial and error to figure out ourselves. We ended off the day with a live shoot with the most amazing real couple, Lauren and Boris who were beyond chilled having about 1o cameras in their faces, and didn’t even flinch when we took them into a tiger snake infested swamp – I’m going to pretend we weren’t shitting ourselves about the whole snake thing, us South Africans are no match for the seriousness of Ozzie wildlife! We are so privileged to have met and shared with such an amazing group of Perth photographers, and getting to shoot Lauren and Boris’ beautiful love was an incredible cherry on top!
Michelle and Calvin had a magical, Autumn wedding at Brahman Hills and one of the most emotional first touches we have ever seen! (Its kinda like a first look, but this was just a little touch – where they passed across gifts and letters to each other, including an amazing scrapbook Michelle had made of their lives together). Their entire day was a beautiful reflection of they are, and it was just so special to be a part of it!
Kendyl was a bridesmaid at a wedding we shot two years back, and pretty much the first thing they did when her and Grant got engaged was book us, which must hands down be the best compliment we could ever ask for. We knew they were a perfect couple match with us when we started chatting with them and about their adventures. They were about to head off to South America including Bolivia and Peru – 2 of our favourite adventure countries, and we were about to head off to Cuba where they had just been and loved. So needless to say there was some hard couple-crushing happening. They were our first wedding after our intense round the world in 3 month trip and I couldn’t think of a more perfect couple for our first wedding back in SA. They came back to SA from London to get married around all of their special people at the gorgeous The Glades, and their whole day really was absolutely, perfectly, them.
We met up with Celia and Marc near their home at Bronte Beach for a little drinky and to chat about their upcoming wedding (which sounds like its going to be freaking off the hook!), and for a little wander around their hood and fave beach area. It was so excellent getting to hang out with these two pre wedding after all our email chats, and even cooler getting to explore some of Sydney’s excellent beaches with them. We cannot wait to share their wedding adventure with them next year!
Spending time in the Okavango Delta with Aimee, Ross and their amazing army of friends and family is something that we will cherish for a long time. We got up super early one of the mornings we were there with them to go and explore some of the Delta. This place is one close to their hearts and it was truly amazing getting to experience it through their eyes. At the end of the shoot, Ross attempted to paddle Aims around in a Mokoro, (the traditional boat of the Delta which takes incredible core strength and balance to paddle), and needless to say, they both nearly became croc and hippo play toys… Cant wait to blog their wedding soon, as this place (and people) really are magic!
Beatrice and Valdemar have a beautiful and gentle love that is hard to miss, they got married in London and their wedding was everything a city wedding ought to be. Vivienne Westwood dress to die for, their ceremony was in England’s oldest Catholic Church St Etheldreda’s, and they had their reception at the fantastic Polish Club in South Kensington, Ognisko. They met on a hike a few years back, and since then, have been adventuring all over the world together. Valdemar is Brazilian and Beatrice if Portuguese/Greek, so you just know with this mix of cultures that their reception was incredible, and to hear so many different languages being spoken in one place gave everything such an energetic vibe. Beatrice and Valdemar have a beautiful and gentle love for each other that came across effortlessly in their pictures, just documenting these two in their love was such an incredible way to spend a say. This is the first of our UK weddings this year, and this beautiful Spring one really did set the bar high!
Amanda and Ben have a powerful and infectious kind of love. Being in their company even for a little while makes it so easy to see their passion both for life and each other. They got married at the stunning Burswood on Swan which over looks the Perth Skyline – which was probably the most epic backdrop we have seen for a dancefloor. Guys thank you so much for letting us be a part of such an incredible day!
We first met Tanielle and Jamie when they came down to Durban for their portrait session with us, and straight away we just loved their energy and vibrance with each other. They are the kind of people that are just so easy to hang around with and chat hours away with. We knew their wedding at the Oyster Box would be absolutely epic, and with the welcome gift for their guests being a tequila shot, we weren’t wrong. We love how they made their adorable daughter Mackenzie a central part of the day, and watching Jamie tear up as both his girls came down the aisle was such a special moment for us to witness. Guys, you are awesome, thank you so much for letting us be a part of your kick ass day x
Maryann and Angus are adventurers, they have traveled all over the world together, and from our own experience, this pretty much means they are perfect for each other! They share a deep and intense love that was an absolute delight to witness. During their ceremony, the mother of all monster hail storms tore through the area, and we were lucky that it let up just briefly for us to go and explore the area a bit with them. You two beautiful humans, thank you so much for letting us be a part of the beginning of this exciting new adventure xx
When we first met Kate and Graham at the epic World’s End pub in Camden Town for their couple shoot, we knew pretty much immediately that these two would become friends, so sharing their wedding was this awesome combo of documenting what was truly an epic wedding, and the chance to see two phenomenal people tie the knot. Their story of a charming British guy who waited for his hot South African girl who he met on a night out in Durban, honestly sounds like something out of a cheesey Romance Novel… They put so much love and detail into every aspect of their wedding, which was truly a delight for both our aesthetic eyes and hearts. These are two incredible people both inside and out, they have such a warm and energetic love for each other that telling the story of their day was absolutely effortless and a complete delight for us. Cant wait for more drinks and hang outs when we are in London again guys, enjoy the epic adventure that marriage is!
We met Elaine and Stephen for drinks at the very cool Inn Deep pub alongside the River Kelvin, and then took them for a wander around Kelvingrove Park where we could hear the opening band for the Pixies playing (Pixies were playing that night in the park and we were hoping to have them as the soundtrack for our couple shoot). So not only did we get some cool background music, we also got one spectacular sunset – and people say Glasgow is always overcast and rainy! Elaine and Stephen are two bloody awesome people, and after our shoot we went for a couple of pints (and whiskeys) and ended up having such a brilliant evening with them, we only just managed to catch the last train of the night back to Edinburgh! Guys, we cannot wait for your wedding next year, its going to be amazing!
Susie and Wes got married at the awesome vintage fair ground Marleybrook House. I couldn’t think of a more perfect venue for these two amazing people to tie the knot and party with all their favourite people! Music was a big part of their day and they had 2 amazing bands play and Wes surprised Susie with the most amazing song he had written for her, which just made us fall even more in love with this amazing couple (I was already crushing on Suse in her elegant as hell slip dress and Some Enchanted flower crown). Their beautiful outdoors ceremony was interrupted midway by the most massive monsoon style rain, but amazingly both them and their guests just rocked it and if anything, it made their day more of an adventure! Suse and Wes, you guys are just too amazing for words, and your beautiful love for each other was such a delight to share. Thank you so much for letting us be a part of your adventure!
Emma and Hudson met in Dubai, fell in love, and the rest is history. They chose to get married in Cape Town at the stunning Grande Provence in Franschhoek. Their wedding was a small and intimate one and was such a beautiful testament to these two beautiful humans. Em and Hud, you guys have an energy and magic that is awesome to be around. We know your next adventure is going to be just as epic .
The Greek islands in Summer are face meltingly hot, and often full of people. While Paros is less touristy than other islands, it is still insanely hot so we got Sabine and Marek out of bed at 4.30am to head down to the picturesque fishing village of Naousa to explore and get some pre-wedding pics of them. While Andy and I were still trying to get our brains to function that early in the morning, Sabine and Marek were already full of the most beautiful and powerful energy, which in turn caused lots of us grinning behind our cameras as their beautiful chemistry and love rubbed off on us. As the sun got higher, and the weather hotter (at about 7am), we headed to another picturesque Greek beach, Kolymbithres, where we got to swim and get some more shots of these two and their big love for each other.
I know this is the time of year everyone always posts their “Best Of” pics, so I thought it would be fitting to post all the awful pics we take of each other, I then realized I forgot to post ours from last year too, so this is a nice blend. A nice blend of us lying on the floor, testing locations for couple shoots, Andy’s constipated stance, my resting derp face, failed double exposures, Andy eating an oyster for the first time, photo evidence of Andy getting bilharzia in the Okavango delta, badly timed light testing and all the other goodies we get up to shooting weddings. And a massive shout out to all the couples who put their trust in us and let us share these adventures with them!
From the moment we Skyped with Amy and Doug, we knew straight away that they were a couple after our own hearts! Not only did they love dogs and Harry Potter, BUT they also love a good party and love the same music as us! (When we heard their entrance song was Coheed and Cambria’s Welcome Home, we were in sold!) Their wedding was as awesome as they are. Not set seating plan, lots of amazing food and a rocking party. Amy and Doug, you guys are freaking awesome! Thank you so much for letting us share your incredible day!
When you mix one part Ecuador, one part Greece, and put those two parts in the Renaissance heart of Italy, you get absolute magic. Daniela and George have that kind of love story that crosses continents and spending time with them in their new home of Florence was the best! Exploring the city with them, and sharing a couple of bottles of Chianti with them certainly helped us also fall in love with this magical city! We met them for their shoot at the Uffizi before the sun came up, the only way to guarantee we wouldn’t be swarmed by waves of tourists as Italy in August is stinking hot and packed to the brim with people wanting to see all the amazingness the Florence has to offer. But instead of the sunrise over the Ponta Vecchio we expected, we were treated to the most insane and massive thunderstorm
A couple years ago, on a holiday around Hermanus, we fell in love with the are around De Kelders, so when Christen and Peter asked if we would join them there a couple days before their wedding for some beach adventures with their closest people, we were super game! We even managed to sneak them away for some misty pictures in our favourite spot in this part of the world!
Betty and Dave are the spectacular photographers behind the Glasgow based Tub of Jelly. We have long been instagram friends and stalkers, so we were beyond stoked that we could meet up with them while we were in Scotland. They took us around to some pretty epic sites (have we mentioned that Scotland is maybe the most beautiful place in the whole world?!), and we got to shoot a few piccies of them along the way. Guys, thank you so much for making the time to hang out and play knowledgeable tour guide, we had such a great time with you and hopefully we can meet up again over an Irn Bru next time we are over your side again x
I don’t really know what it is, but Jewish weddings have an intense energy and level of emotion beautiful and unique to them. Gill and Ryan’s was no exception to this, and both Andy and I the whole day found ourselves energised from all the positive emotion flowing around. Gill wore the most perfect pink dress made by my old friend Rozanne of Rozanne & Pushkin. Gill and Ryan share a beautiful and intense connection and getting to share this journey with them was a delight and an honour.
Domi and Brett are two of the most kind hearted and amazing people we have had the pleasure to get to know. After shooting their breathtaking wedding in January, we were delighted to get the chance to hang out with these awesome people, their piggies Dart and Bijou, and their soon to be here little boy Roan. Spending the day with them at their beautiful home, just hanging out and chatting with them, and again being able to document the beautiful love they have for each other was so great. Cant flipping wait to meet Roan! If he’s half as awesome (and as gorgeous) as his folks are, this is going to be one spectacular little dude.
Ross is a South African guy who moved to London, and Hayley is an English girl who moved from the small town of Shrewsbury, also to London. Shortly after her move to the big city, Hayley was dragged to an agency party by one of her friends where she would have the chance to meet some important people in the industry, and some of the other models. A certain South African happened to be at that same party. While nothing really happened right away, not long after this initial encounter, Hayley “bumped” into this same South African guy at another party, but this time, he had planned this meeting having been smitten with her at first sight. Ten years later, after an engagement in Australia, they got married. Their wedding was at the gorgeous country inn the Mytton and Mermaid which sits alongside the picturesque River Severn, it was a perfect English Summer’s day and everything about their day was just incredible. Ross and Hayley are two of the most awesomely relaxed and fun people we have had the pleasure to shoot and their pictures really reflect the beautiful love and energy that they have.
Despite getting married only six weeks after they got engaged, Megan and Jonny somehow managed to pull off one of the most beautiful and personal weddings we have had the honour of sharing. Their story is a beautiful one of a shared love for each other that they were both only brave enough to admit after years of friendship. Getting to spend this time with them, their large group of close friends and dear family from all over the world was a beautiful way for us to start our shooting year. Despite how ridiculously stylish these two are naturally, you could really tell how much effort was put into every small detail of their brunch wedding which made it an arty but deeply personal occasion. In addition to doing some pics with them around Ciao Bella on the Point, after the wedding we returned to the place where Jonny, with the help of his sister and sister-in-law, proposed to Megan. It was such a delight to document their deep and beautiful love back at the place where their marriage began.
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Holly and Chris had a small wedding surrounded by all the people they love. They embraced the awesome Autumn colours and weather and had a beautiful wedding that really reflected them as a couple. Chris proposed while summiting one of the highest peaks in the world, and you just know if that is how a marriage adventure starts, that its going to be a good one!
Caroline and Riaz are French and Irish/South African and met while both working in London, this meant for them they would have special people joining them from all parts of the world. Their awesome wedding day was organized by our amazing friends from Oh Happy Day, and their wedding had an awesome Africa feel at Insingizi. Nixon makeup made sure that Caro was absolute perfection when she married her person. Getting to watch their families cross language barriers to share this special day with two such amazing and warm hearted humans was honestly such an incredible experience x
Nat and Stu planned the most perfect black tie wedding, set under the big old trees at Camp Orchards with a beautiful outdoor ceremony and reception area. But then it rained, hard, and was the coldest day we have seen so far this year. While this would probably but a bit of a damper on most people’s day, these two awesome humans took it so in their stride they didn’t even seem to notice the weather. This says so much about these two amazing souls that they were so wrapped up in their love bubble, that nothing could get them down. Nat and Stu, you are two truly wonderful people and it was such an honour to share this adventure with you! Thank you for trusting us to document your first step of your amazing life ahead!
Vicky and Dylan are two truly phenomenal people and their deeply personal wedding was such a reflection of this. It was so awesome getting to share their amazing first day of their marriage adventure with them (and anyone who plays Pearl Jam while cutting their cake immediately go up a million points in our estimation). You guys have such a beautiful love and it was beyond awesome hanging out and laughing with you guys. We just know your married life is going to be amazing!
Kate and Graham are one of those electric couples you can’t help liking, their energy and vibrance is very obvious almost immediately on meeting them. Graham met Kate while he was working in South Africa, keen for a bit of adventure he moved to Durban for work where he met the incredible to Kate, needless to say, he fell head over heals for the gorgeous South African, and the two of them now live in London. We are shooting their wedding next year and were delighted to have the chance to meet up with them while we were in London. We met up with Kate and Graham at one of our favourite London pubs, The Worlds End in Camden, and after a couple of drinks and good hour or two of chatting about bands, life and adventure, they felt more like old friends than clients. We decided to explore the area a bit and pretty much followed them around Camden Town and then were off to South Bank for some more exploration and picture taking. I know photographers always say they can’t wait to shoot a couple’s wedding, but with these guys, it couldn’t be more true!
While we were in Europe this year for some weddings, we decided to spend a few days in Budapest, a place I had not been back to for nearly 20 years. Being half Hungarian it was very important for me to go back, and to show it to Andy. While planning our little trip, I stumbled onto the 7 day Sziget Festival – a music and art festival with an insane lineup of bands. So the day after we landed in Hungary, we took our day passes to experience one of Europe’s biggest and most impressive festivals. It was just a short train ride out of Budapest to the Sziget island that hosts the festival. We went primarily to watch Sum 41, Bloc Party, and an epic Dutch hardcore band called John Coffey we had recently discovered. With over half a million people attending this festival we knew it was going to be a pretty intense experience. We have been to quite a few music festivals in our time, but Sziget was hands down the most well organised and awe-inspiring one we have ever experienced. With our full day there, we didn’t even manage to cover 2/3rds of the festival ground. These pictures don’t even do it a fraction of the justice it deserves, but suffice to say, we are already trying to figure out how to go to it again, and this time brave camping with half a million other people!
Chris and Thea are beautiful friends of ours. Chris and Andy have been friends since they were squeeky voiced little boys who lived down the road from each other growing up. We met the stunning Thea when the two of them came to spend time with us for our own wedding in Mozambique. When Chris and Thea (who now live in Australia) told us about their wedding in London (where they met and used to live), we pretty much booked our flights immediately! When they then asked us if we would be keen to shoot their wedding we were absolutely flattered coming from two people as arty and creative as they are! It was an amazing two week experience getting to hang out with them and our other UK dwelling friends. Their wedding was in North London at Lauderdale House which was built in the 1580’s. Planning a wedding across continents was no easy feat, but they managed to pull off an aesthetically beautiful and personal day. It was so special being not only a guest but a part of this wedding. We love you guys.
Kaapschehoop is a picturesque ex-mining village in the Mpumalanga low veld. We were last here nine years ago for a friend’s wedding – before being involved in wedding work was even a glimmer of an idea. We remember this place fondly as an arty little village full of wild horses, ducks, chickens and magical mist. When we found ourselves with a morning to spare before our flight out of Nelspruit after a wedding, we jumped at the chance to go back to this gem. Exploring this beautiful little town was the perfect end to a crazy double wedding weekend for us. With blue skys and dramatic clouds for days, I really hope we get a chance to shoot a wedding here one day! (just putting it out to the universe…)
Andy with our trusty little rental outside the house we stayed in last time we were here.
Wild horses!
Andy is hands down my favourite subject to photograph, so apologies in advance for all the pics of my amazing and dorky person.
For Westerners planning a trip to Myanmar, it typically consists of the Yangon, Bagan and Inle Lake trinity which can be seen in 10 days comfortably. We wanted to make the most of our 28 day visa, and decided after extensive research, that Mrauk U was a place we had to make a plan to get to. Mrauk U is in the Rakhine State, which up until a few years ago was completely closed to foreign tourists. Even now, you are not allowed to make the *relatively* short 18 hours bus trip from Bagan if you are not Burmese. What this meant for us was a flight in a small plane (NOT our favourite way of travelling after a traumatic incident in Bolivia) that would make multiple stops before arriving at Sittwe, from where we would take an 8 hour boat upstream to arrive in Mrauk U close to midnight.
Mrauk U is still largely off the tourist circuit which meant during our whole time there, we never saw more than 4 other travellers (the same ones, the whole time, and I’m sure by the end of it that German couple thought we were following them) and hordes of local university students driving around in old busses blaring 90s techno music around some of the sites, which was kind of a weird contrast to the peace you feel in a close to 500 year old Buddhist temple. While Bagan may win all the prizes for quantity of temples, Mrauk U must then surely win for the quality. Despite arriving well into the middle of the night, we were up as soon as we got enough sleep to be moderately functional and headed off with our awesome driver who despite his lack of English skills and our even worse failings with speaking Burmese, managed to get us around with a big grin of beetel-stained teeth to the widely spread temples in Mrauk U. In Myanmar we found each Buddhist temple had to have something that the others didn’t, meaning we went to the temple with the oldest buddha, one with the biggest reclining buddha, one carved out of the biggest single piece of marble and even one touched by Buddha himself (to name but a few…)! So when we arrived at the temple of the 90 000 buddhas, we thought nothing could impress us, but boy were we wrong…
One of the things that sets Mrauk U apart from Bagan is that while in Bagan the military government forcibly removed the people living around the old temples and pagodas, in Mrauk U people still live and farm around them, as they have since the time they were originally built.
The temple of the 90 000 buddhas (Koe-Thaung) was originally mistaken by the British for a fort due its imposing look. But this is apparently because of the hectic winds they have here and this design helps it withstand the elements (but not the nasty earthquakes that hit this area in the 1970s). Ironically, the temple of 90 000 buddhas was built by the son of the guy who built the temple of the 80 000 buddhas on the other side of town, in an attempt to one up his dad I imagine.
So we may have not counted all the buddhas carved into the walls or the statues that fill every nook and crevice, but I can totally believe that there are 90 000 buddhas around here!
“Refurbishing” some of the damaged buddhas.
Across the hill was another temple, this one badly eroded by time and lack of care. This one did have a spectacular Buddha who seemed to grow out of the hillside (he would have originally have been in the temple that lay in ruins around him). We managed to find ourselves with two young “tour guides” who showed us around what now seems to be little more than their playground. They attempted to beat Andy up with their Kung-Fu moves which was pretty hilarious to watch, unfortunately the only picture I have of this looks as though Andrew is trying to fly kick a kid, which is generally frowned upon…
With the Temple of the 90 000 Buddhas in the background, Andy fights off two *vicious* Kung-Fu masters, who had even nailed the appropriate sound effects.
Tour guide and Kung-Fu master.
After a very early morning wake up to take a hot air balloon ride over the temples of Bagan, and a long drive to Mandalay, we were pretty pooped. As we chilled in our downtown hotel room, we began to hear some strange, almost dischordant music and karaoke style singing drift in through our windows. At the time we figured it was just one of the quirks of the new city we were in. The sun was setting, and we set out to try and track down a vegetarian restaurant for a Christmas Eve dinner. Our trusty Lonely Planet guide book had described a great one in an old colonial manor house in the heart of the city, but we got lost trying to find it.
A few years before, after a disastrous incident in Cusco where we left both our cameras at our hostel as we were just “popping out” to get a quick meal after we got back from the Inca Trail (ironically, also on Christmas Eve), we stumbled onto a massive Christmas festival with nothing but my iPhone to document it with. After that, we ALWAYS take at least one camera with us wherever we go – which on this night in Mandalay was a good call.
Getting lost in a city based on a grid plan is quite an accomplishment, but its the best thing that could have happened as we stumbled into the middle of what we would later find out to be a Pagoda Festival.
We discovered some roads closed to traffic around the local Buddhist temple which was brightly lit and covered in offerings and was surrounded by pop up food stalls, a stage with singers (and puppets!), a carousel, other fun fair rides, and a large crowd around a game being played that we found out was called “Cane Ball” and resembled “one bounce”. Once making our way through this large crowd we found ourselves enthralled my some insane acrobatics by these teams of players who bounced the ball between them while a group of old men played a cacophony on various instruments, the pace of which the players had to play to. We were enthralled by this for way longer than we expected and eventually ventured out and sampled all of the street foods we could, our quest for the restaurant long since forgotten.
This thin, crispy pancake looking thing was filled with coriander, chickpeas, tomato and chilli and is something that even months later we would kill to eat again!
Street food in Myanmar is a big deal, even when there is not a Pagoda Festival to accompany it. The Burmese have a culture of taking their meals in public, communal environments, and many people eat on the street instead of cooking at home.
These balls of doughey deliciousness is another one of those snacks we wish we could eat again! We ate them all over Myanmar from a variety of street vendors, but none were as good as those from this incredibly friendly lady, who with the help of lots of smiles and sign language between the two of us, I managed to get the veggie friendly spicy balls of amazingness.
I’m not kidding these pancake things were heavenly, we went back TWICE to get more they were so good…
From the already remote town of Mrauk U in the Rakhine State of Myanmar, an area the military government does not encourage Western tourists to travel to, we took a boat upriver to visit the remote Chin Villages where old women still bear the scars of the facial tattoos forced upon them in childhood to make them less appealing to any men invading the area. We had mixed feelings initially about venturing to these villages as we are generally not big fans of people as tourism commodities. The thought of seeing these old women paraded out for the greedy cameras of rich European tourists was not appealing to us. After a bit of digging though, and discovering that these old women deliberately “show off” their faces for tourists as a way of making money to support their extended families who live in some of the poorest areas of Myanmar, we felt moderately better about going out to see them.
The journey to these villages involves a nearly hour drive out of Mrauk U on potholed dirt roads in a suspension-less 4×4, before getting into a small boat powered by what sounds like a lawn mower motor for a further 2-3 hour trip upstream. This all sounds like part of the adventure, which it indeed is; unless, like Andy you are struck down with a nasty virus. Andy has bad luck when it comes to getting sick on our trips, he’s had Strep throat in Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia, and really bad altitude sickness in Bolivia, so with this trip we were pretty much waiting for whatever may befall him this time. On our trips, Andy is seldom without a camera in his hand, taking breathtaking pics of stuff I often don’t even notice, so when he didn’t pick up a camera for this entire portion of the trip, I KNEW that he wasn’t just down with man flu, but with something more serious. But to his credit, like a freaking rock-star, he still made this trip out with me up river despite the near constant urge to vomit and god knows what else.
The only access the people who live in this region have to the “outside world” is along the mass of river systems that snake through the region. You really get a feeling of seeing a place almost frozen in time as people here continue to live on the river in the same way they have for generations.
The first village we stopped at was at a picturesque bend in the river. It was a place that looks like an idyllic spot to live in, and in many ways it must be, but we were also confronted by the crippling poverty and isolation of the area. Amazingly though, everyone we met was almost excessively warm, welcoming and wanted to chat to us.
As we made our way up the steep powder soft sand to the village, we were met by an excited group of women all well over 70. They took us by the arms and led us around their village, showing us their facial tattoos and their massive bamboo plugs they have in their ears – they thought is was hilarious and laughed with their betel-stained teeth at me when I showed them my own (comparably small) plugs, and I seemed to form an instant connection with them after that. These women weave cloth as a way of bringing income to their extended families as they sell these exquisite fabrics to the people who come to see them. This makes the interactions with them a mutually beneficial exchange between tourist and woman and in our mind makes this a far more acceptable exchange. Getting to see how these incredible people live and getting a glimpse into their everyday lives was a truly incredible experience.
When we decided to go to Myanmar and particularly Bagan, we knew that the one thing we would definitely be “splurging” on was a hot air balloon ride (2 tickets cost the same as what we pay a month for our mortgage). From our research, these tend to fill up months in advance so we prebooked our tickets with the incredible Balloons over Bagan. We were picked up by a Second World War era bus before the sun had even considered rising and found ourselves surrounded by wealthy, older Americans and Europeans to who the over $3oo price ticket per person was no big deal. After arriving at the launch site and receiving our safety brief (this whole process was *thankfully* far more organized and official than we had expected), we climbed into our wicker basket and set off to see the sites. The sunrise over the Bagan was truly a spectacular experience! Watching the sun appear over the Irrawaddy river and above the temples was honestly a sight we will not soon forget. Despite my excessive fear of heights, I was so overawed by what we are seeing that I forgot I needed to be scared. After our surprisingly smooth landing and our posh croissants and Moet (which I still have no idea where they got them from in rural Burma), we headed back on our suspension-less wooden busses to our hostel from where we headed off to Mandalay. And all this before 9am!
The Irrawaddy river, temples and sunrise. All in all, a good morning view…
Almost as cool as flying over the pagodas, was flying over the nearby village and watching the mist clear as the sun rose over people already working in their fields.
And to end, a couple of bad cellphone pics as we forgot to take any pics of ourselves with our real camera as we were too distracted shooting the scenery. And if there are no pics of us, where we even there?! ;)
One of our favourite ways to get a “feel” for a place is definitely to go and check out the local market. This is probably the best way to people watch and buy some amazing fresh produce at the same time. Nyaung U is the town closest to the temples of Bagan so there are often little clustered swarms of tourists buzzing around on their bus tours. By venturing deep into the heart of the market we were able to avoid all of the package tour pensioners and got a chance to really see people interact with each other in the same way they do every day. We also met some phenomenal people keen to chat to us and practice their English, and we even met one really awesome old lady who while puffing on a monster cigar, instructed us to take a photo of her and eventually nodded in approval when we got a pic of her that she liked. We saw some amazing produce from orange bamboo shoots, to pieces of thanaka wood people grind up and put on their faces as sunscreen and even some really disturbing looking dry eels.
The dried eels smelled as good as they looked…
These as far as we could gesticulate with the seller are tobacco leaves that the Betel is wrapped in and is part of the thing that stains people’s teeth a maroon colour.
Some beautiful homemade art.
This spectacular cigar smoking lady was such an awesome character! She called us over and posed for us with her cigar and gave us a big toothy grin when we managed to get a cool shot of her. The friendliness of the people in Myanmar really is second to none (despite what we said about both Ethiopia and Nepal having the friendliest people).
It really was so great just hanging out watching people go about their normal lives. This woman was inspecting some flowers for her house in amongst buying her other groceries.
That hanging basket covered in a white sheet actually contains a baby. We saw these awesome homemade bouncy cradles all over Myanmar so that moms can carry on with their day to day jobs while bouncing their babies next to them.
Some ingredients below from the AMAZING Myanmar speciality, Tea Lea salad which is made with fermented tea leaves, raw garlic, chilli, peanuts and a whole bunch of other delicious things.
We are pretty dorky most of the time and often pretty silly too. Here are a few behind the scenes shots of our 2015 shenanigans while scouting locations for couple shoots, during actual shoots and some selfies with some of the phenomenal couples we shot this year. 2015 has been a real goodie for us, and 2016 is already shaping up to be pretty amazing. Thank you so much for all the people who let us share the start of their adventures this year and to all the new friends we made along the way.
New Orleans had more suprises in store for us over the next few days. We followed every guide book’s suggestion and went to Cafe du Monde for their breakfast of beignets (SUPER sugary donuty things) and strong syrupy chicory coffee. While we hate following guide books religiously, we definitely agree this is something you HAVE to do! Once we were sufficiently high on sugar we went to explore the French Market and did a walking tour of the French Quarter by ourselves. The energy of the city obviously began to rub off on us as before days end, I had a new tattoo, Andy had consumed a number of hand grenades and we saw the most fantastic drag show.
Cafe du Monde has been around since 1862 and is open 24 hours a day!
The beignets are covered in a thick layer of icing sugar which is nearly impossible not to spill all over yourself as you bite into the hot, freshly fried donut.
Strangely, Joan of Arc lives in the park by the French Market.
New Orleans is know for its Cajun amd Creolo cuisine and had some pretty weird snacks including alligator sausage(which was NOT up our vegan alley)!
From the French Market we went on a little walking tour of the city admiring and taking (lots) of photos of the beautiful houses and apartments.
Our tour had the soundtrack of a big brass band that was playing in the nearby Jackson Square.
Vampires. ghouls and haunted apartments are all part of the charm of the French Quarter.
The steamboat Natchez is now a (really expensive) tourist boat but was once the only way passenger traveled up and down the Mississippi! This and the streetcar that still runs in town gives a wonderful glimpse into how the city once ran.
Its not an exaggeration that EVERY bar or restaurant you walk past has a band playing. Not just lame covers by mediocre musicians, but really great music that threatens to lure you into every bar you walk past. Which I guess is the idea…
I have longed wish that I had got a little commemorative tattoo in every country I have visited but I have never had the chance as we are always too busy. This time around, and with the need and desire to commemorate not only this trip but my Roller Derby World Cup experience, myself and my friend Ash got these neat skulls with a Fleur de Lis top hat and our derby numbers in them. While we were getting them done, there was another camera crew at the shop filming an episode for some show call the Fat and the Furious. So if you ever watch that show, who knows, you may spot us in the background!
Andy, Mark and Teri hitting some Hand Grenades while they waited for us to get our tats done and getting themselves all excited for the drag show we were going to later that night.
Our pile of dollar bills to give to the performers who were sometimes shockingly beautiful. While the guys were intially hesitant, they really got into the spirit of it and by the end both Andy and Mark were loving the drag queens! But really, how could you not?! look at them…
Always ones to squeeze as much into a 24 hour period as possible, particularly when we have limited time to explore a place as cool as New Orleans we were up on our last full day in New Orleans just after the sun. We had been lucky enough to have some really warm weather considering we were there in the middle of winter, but that early in the morning it really was icey! After shovelling a quick (veg) Po’Boy into our faces, we set off on a tour which was very uncharacteristic of us – on a bus with a bunch of retired Americans. Usually we like to arrive at a place and find a guide if we want one, but to make our lives easier with our limited time, we booked and went on an arranged cemetery tour. The St Louis cemeteries were one place I HAD to visit while in New Orleans so I could imagine where Louis and Lestat used to prowl (I am an unashamed book nerd and Anne Rice fan). The cemeteries were really awesome to see as because New Orleans was built on reclaimed land, all the tombs are above ground, or they sink and when there are floods, bodies were known to wash up and “revisit” people. After hanging around some really cool and creepy tombs (including the tomb of the decidedly un-dead Nicholas Cage) we spent some more time absorbing the New Orleans atmosphere, listening to some great bands busking in the street before heading off on another (I am embarrassed to admit) package tour to the Bayou and to see some ‘gators. Surrounded by some “interesting” know it all New Yorkers and kids running around like little drunk people and a boat driver/tour guide who made the same joke about feeding us to the alligators every 5 minutes(I’m not even joking) we explored the beautiful swamps that surround the city. While our time in this incredible city was way shorter than we would have liked, it was really great to get a bit of time to explore slightly less Americany side to America.
Early morning street busker.
As New Orleans is built on land reclaimed, some of the tombs are slowly sinking below ground level.
The grave of the famous French pirate and Freemason, Dominique You. He helped fend off the British during the war of 1815 at the Battle of New Orleans. He was pardoned for his pirating ways after this.
Old and new lie side by side. A nearly two hundred year old cemetery and a chance to win 60 million dollars in the lottery…
The famous “Voodoo Queen” Marie Laveau is believed to be buried in this cemetery.
This pyramid eyesore adorned with kisses will be the one day resting place of the actor Nicholas Cage.
In between the elegantly crumbling townhouses, musicians play IN virtually every road you walk past. Traffic and cars are of secondary importance to the street perfomers, which is pretty great!
After a quick coffee break , we headed for the Bayou with our friend Mark.
The Swamps were really breathtaking and peaceful, until the fighter jets started flying over every 5 odd minutes with eardrum breaking noise. In between the moments of bleeding ears though, the swamp was truly magical.
The unfortunate baby ‘gator that was handed around with its mouth taped shut. While it didn’t do much to warm the heart of the animal lovers in us, they really are incredible little(big) creatures.
A ‘gator head, one of literally hundreds we saw everywhere. This guys was quite a biggie before he had his head cut off for tourists to play with.
In the 7 years we have been together leading up to the wedding we have been to various parts of Mozambique about 8 times so all along we have known we have wanted to get married in Mozambique. To make things easier for our guests brave enough to make the trip up, we settled on the gorgeous Tartaruga Maritima in Southern Mozambique. Everyone seems to think destination weddings are hellishly expensive, and while maybe the travel can be, our actual wedding was kept on a VERY tight budget!
Andy and I were both very hands on and we crafted and made pretty much ALL our decor! I hand sewed the bunting, my gran, mom, Andy’s mom and I knitted all the placemats. (which I have now sewn into a big blanket) We collected all the jars (we are recycling nuts though so that wasn’t hard), and we really tried to make all our other decor be meaningful to us as a couple. We had little Landy toys (in case you hadn’t noticed, we are a bit Land Rover obssessed) We used our collection of old cameras we have accumulated over the years and put photos of us over the years in the jars. We also had little jars of speckled eggs, our favourite naughty treat! I also have an amazing crafting sister in law (and brides-lady) who crocheted tons of flowers we used all over the place. As taking flowers over the border was a bit of a problem, we vied for beautiful dried lavender which was super easy to transport in boxes! We had amazing day of co-ordinators the Love Bucket, they are amazing and also organise Mozam weddings! I would highly recommend a day of co-ordinator, they made things far less stressful! People seem to think these days that weddings on average cost R80-100 000, but ours came up to the princely sum of R30 000. So it is totally doable having a rocking wedding on a budget :) (see after the pics for more ways we cut costs but not awesomeness)
Okay, so enough nattering, here are more pics!
tin mugs inspired by Stace and Wes’ wedding :)
We also wanted our reception to be as inclusive as possible so we arranged our tables in a horse shoe shape
We had a ring monkey instead of a ring pillow
We walked down the aisle together led by both set of parents. This way, we were entering into our marriage together!
First dance to Biffy Clyro
As the music got a bit heavier and rockier, so too did the mood! Gotta love a crowd surfing husband!
Our reception became the most rocking dance party all with a little help from our itunes and a PA system. We made our own playlists to have parent friendly hits from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, some Classic rock, radio hits, and as the night progressed, the music turned heavier and darker to resemble Andy and my’s fave heavy rock! That way everyone got some takkie squeaking time without paying a DJ :)
A good friend did our make up and I did my and the brides-ladies hair. All the dresses were bought on sale and accessorised from Mr P. which also saved big time! My dress was ordered from a vintage US website as was Andy’s waistcoat, everything else was picked up at local shops.
The groomsmen’s shoes and the blankets at the ceremony were from PEP, paper lanterns and fairy lights (which we put up ourselves) were bought from a wholesaler, and we set up our own photo booth. We bought all the booze from a bottle store which saved a bunch and made a big punch, which people seemed to spike more and more the whole night! There are lots of fun ways to save for your wedding! Its the most fun thing to do with your partner leading up to your big day!
Hope you enjoyed the pics :)
Shoo wee! I dont even know where to start with this post! Writing about our own wedding seems so much harder than writing about all the wonderful weddings we shoot! (Be warned, this post will have lots more writing than normal as lots of people have asked lots of questions about our wedding) Lets start off with our most asked question, “who is shooting your wedding?”. We knew from the get go that we didnt want super traditional or super posed pics, we really wanted someone who would bring something unique to shooting our wedding, like we try to do for the couples whose weddings we shoot. That is why we didnt hire a wedding photographer, we hired Tyrone Bradley, an event, motoring and people photographer working with Red Bull and itswhatiminto. Tyrone was so awesome and we learnt so much from him and we really could not have asked for a more incredible guy! He even stayed and jammed with us till the end of the reception!
When it came to our own wedding pics, 2 things were important to us, having our photos in Ponta D’Ouro (about a 40 minute round trip from the wedding venue in Ponta Malongane) and to not be away from our friends and family for too long after the ceremony. The best option then was to do our pics the day before and boy are we glad we did! There was no rushing, no guilt about missing out on our reception, and best of all it created so much excitement for the day before the wedding as well! We did first look pics where our parents led us to each other. It was so good to include them and honestly, I would highly recommend this to any couple interested!
Cusco was our last stop in Peru and we left it til last so that we would be there over Christmas, which we had heard is phenomenal. We arrived in Cusco late on Christmas Eve straight from Macchu Picchu and got into town as soon as we could. Quite uncharacteristically, we left our cameras in our room. We thought (for once) it may be nice to just experience events without our cameras, I only kinda think we were right. We eventually found our way into central Cusco around midnight and were met with a carnival atmosphere unlike anything we had experienced! Markets were set up all over the place, people were letting off crackers and fireworks everywhere and others were carrying baskets with little “Made in China” baby jesus dolls to get blessed during the church service. Religion is something that fascinates us so we spent some of our evening at the Catholic Midnight Mass in the main church on the Plaze de Armas before returning to the very traditional festivities taking place outside.
Luckily for us, Christmas Day in Cusco is as much as a party and we were lucky enough to see the street parades of people dressed in their traditional clothing which was definitely a highlight for me. After this we spent 3 days exploring this beautiful Incan capital.
We then flew back to Santa Cruz in Bolivia (not before being harassed at the Bolivian border AGAIN). Santa Cruz was unlike any Bolivian city we had visited as it was very cosmopolitan, and dare I say it, advanced. As it is right on the edge of the rain forest and the altitude is low, the climate is hot and humid, much like the weather in Durban. People were a lot more relaxed and casual here compared to in the other parts of Bolivia we had visited.
This posts starts with the pictures of the Christmas Day parade through the Plaza de Armas.
The Church of la Compañía de Jesus. The main church in the square. What makes the Cusco Plaza famous is that it is supposedly the only Plaza in the world with 2 churches on it. 
San Blas is the arty suburb just up the hill from central Cusco, it is a truly beautiful and quirky part of time we ended up spending a lot of time in. It is also nice and quiet as many of the roads are too narrow for cars. 
View of Cusco from the San Blas suburb. 
Some of the finest examples of Incan walls can still be found in Cusco. A lot of the walls were unfortunately destroyed by the good old Spanish, but there are places where pieces of the walls are still visible. 
Ancient walls and modern glass juxtaposed. This wall pretty much sums Cusco up, steeped in history yet modern and functional. 
The ruins of Saksaywaman, the original 11th C Incan city now located on the outskirts of Cusco. The city was destroyed by the Spanish when they conquered Cusco.
Choclo con Queso, or corn and cheese was probably the most delicious road side food we found. The cheese is home made, creamy and almost squeaky in texture. 
On our last night in Cusco we saw a couple shoot for a wedding in the Plaza de Armas. It was such a lovely reminder of the universality of love <3 
We left cold and rainy Cusco and landed in hot and humid Santa Cruz. Bolivia is a pretty mountainous country so we were pretty surprised at how flat and open Santa Cruz was. Santa Cruz was so different from the other parts of Bolivia we saw. It was far more laid back and there was a fantastic leisurely feel to it. We hung out at the centre of town eating ice-cream and hanging out in the park with the locals. It has such a tropical feel to it its hard to believe it is not near the coast as we felt like we were on the Durban promenade in the height of February heat! It was awesome just hanging out and watching how the locals enjoy their Christmas holidays.
We stayed in a gorgeous and quirky Boutique Hotel in Santa Cruz called Casa Patio as we wanted to spoil ourselves to an awesome arty home. This place was really awesome and a nice change from the hostels we had been staying at.
When we first decided South America was our next destination, the first thing we decided we had to do was visit Macchu Picchu. The rest of the trip we constructed around it.We wanted to experience as many diverse things as possible and as we wouldnt have time to do the full 5 day Inca trail, we decided to do the abridged version which is 2 days and follows the last 2 days of the longer Inca trail condensed into 1 day. We went by train from Ollantaytambo to Km 104 which is on the track to Aguas Calientes, the town at the end of the train line in the Sacred Valley. This was another part of our trip we did with a guide as travellers are not allowed on the Inca Trail without a guide. Our guide Marcelino was so much fun to trek with! For him it was an easy walk but for us(mostly me), at some points it got pretty steep and pretty exhausting! We were lucky that our first day started out overcast with the occasional spittle of rain as it helped keep us cool. We travelled “tourist” class on the train which was fun (despite the fact we were horribly tired- as you can tell looking at the below pic)
The views from the train were absolutely breathtaking! The train track is between a sheer mountain edge and the Urubamba river which has been known to wash away the train track when in flood.
Our first Incan ruins of the day. Believed to be a trading post or “toll” road entry point.
Andy in full hobo gear including Spar packet over is camera to keep it from getting wet.
On parts of the trail the stairs are quite rough and rustic which can be a bit tricky when its wet.
The Sacred Valley is on the edge of the Amazon so we often found ourselves walking through thick jungle like bush.
Our second ruins which took about 4/5 hours to get to.
Up these stairs is the Intipunku, the view point from which you can see Macchu Picchu.
The snake like eye sore behind us is the road which leads up the mountain from Aguas Calientes to Macchu Piccu. It is disgustingly expensive to travel by, but is definitely the easiest way!
The sun came out just as we started making our way down to Macchu Picchu which is so lucky as apparently the weather is either beautiful and clear or terrible and misty. We were lucky enough to experience both as we spent two days exploring Macchu Picchu.
One of Macchu Picchu’s resident Llamas having a little snack.
The necessary tourist shot. :)
Our awesome guide Marcelino and us.
When we arrived at Macchu Picchu the next morning it had been transformed into a misty wonderland which was just magical to see! As many tourists come to Macchu Picchu on a half day tour, this is the only way many people saw it. This is one of the main reasons that when we travel to somewhere as incredible as Macchu Picchu we like to have a couple days there to fully be able to take it in, with all its varying weather conditions. Misty Macchu Picchu had such an eery beauty to it and we feel so lucky to have seen it in both the ways the Incas who lived there would have experienced it!
This amazing looking hole with water in it was used to examine the stars so people knew the best time to plant and harvest their crops.
The stonework was mindlowing!Its hard to believe these rocks were all cut and put together as the workmanship is so fine.
The Incas were pretty short judging from the height of their doorways and passages.
We decided to climb Wayna Picchu, the conical mountain you always see in the background of the eponymous Macchu Picchu shot. It was hectically steep, with places where you had to pull yourself up on all fours. Only a certain number of people are allowed up a day and we made sure we booked our permits months in advance to make sure we would have the opportunity to climb up.
To get towards the top you have to climb through a pretty narrow cave which is NOT advised for the claustrophobic!
The mist initially obstructed our view of Macchu Picchu, which is the main point of the walk up, but we were really lucky to have it clear up for like 5 minutes so we could see the view below.
The stairs down were hella steep and wet, which made for a slow trip down!
The few tourists you see dotted on top here is a minute fraction of the hoardes that were pretty much EVERYWHERE, ALL the time! We waited for ages often to get shots of the cool architecture without clumps of Americans and Japanese everywhere!
Wayna Picchu, we climbed to the top of this bad boy :)
Archaeologists and workers are contantly repairing Macchu Picchu.
As we were leaving, we came across this cute and fluffy Llama which we took lots of pictures of and harrassed for cuddles. (They are way fluffier than they look, your hand just sinks up to your wrist in Llama fur)
The Sacred Valley was our first port of call in Peru. From the research we did it seems many people fly through the Sacred Valley on their way to Macchu Picchu. We decided to base ourselves in the Incan town of Ollantaytambo and used it as our base to explore the Sacred Valley. The Sacred Valley was not only exquisitely beautiful with the bulging Urubamba river flowing through the green mountainous countryside but is also steeped in both Incan and colonial history. Our hostel was in an old Incan ruin and from our balcony we had views of the impressive Incan ruins that tourists flock to by the busful every day which were the location of last Incan stand against the blood thirsty Spanish. The town was remarkable and we spent ages just wandering around it looking at the impressive canal systems and gigantic Incan rock walls.
Peru and Bolivia were both filled with some of the cutest dogs we have ever seen! This little guy particularly caught Andy’s attention.
The centuries old canals built by the Incans and still flow with water.
Most houses have these two bulls on top of them. These were originally llamas but were changed to bulls and became Catholic symbols after the Spanish invaded. They are supposed to guard the house and protect it from the “evil eye”.
We left exploring the city’s ruins till late afternoon when many of the dozens of tourist busses which pour in on the hour every hour had left so although it was getting a bit dark, we largely had the ruins to ourselves which was great for all our photos as hoardes of American and Japenese tourists generally ruin pics for us ;)
The insane Incan brickwork has still not been replicated even with the use of modern technology. Some rocks are fused so perfectly that you caneven slip a piece of paper between the seams!
View of Ollantaytambo town from the ruins. This was definitely one of our favourite towns we stayed in on our trip. 
The salt pans of Maras in the Sacred Valley was somewhere we were dying to see! From all the pics we had seen it was a surreal white landscape where farmers had been harvesting salt for centuries. What we didnt realise was during the rainy season(which is when we were there), the sheer white salt pans go orange with the mud that flows down in the rain from the surrounding hills. Despite not having the white terraces we had pictured, they were still something remarkable to see in real life and had their own orangey beauty to them! 
Andy sampling the salty spring water from which the salt is harvested. In case you were wondering, yup, it was pretty damn salty! 
The Incan ruins of Moray were probably some of the most unusual and spectacular that we had seen! The purpose of this butternut shaped series of terraces is believed to have been and agricultural experiment. The largest of the depressions is about 30 m deep. Apparently the depth and orientation of these terraces with respect to wind and sun creates a temperature difference of as much as 15 °C between the top and bottom. This large temperature difference was possibly used by the Inca to study the effects of different climatic conditions on crops. Truly amazing stuff!
Andy will kill me for putting up this photographic evidence of this hat that he quickly whipped off whenever I aimed my camera in his direction! 
Potato flowers. 
After de-stressing in La Paz for a couple of days we decided to cross over to Peru via Puno. We decided not to go to Copacabana which had originally been on our itinerary as from what we heard it was super touristy whereas Puno was less so. From all our reading Puno got terrible reviews, but to be honest, we thought the little town was pretty awesome! Getting to Peru involved getting a bus to Copacabana, stopping halfway to get our bus (and all our belongings) ferried across on a flimsy wooden ferry. Thankfully people arent allowed on these particulare ferries anymore as a while back one sank with all the tourists on the bus! The scenery, like on every other leg of our Bolivia trip was really exceptional! The scenery just outside of La Paz is mountainous and snowy, which considering it was Summer shows how high up we were. Travelling through rural farmland is one of our favourite things to do and Bolivia certainly didn’t disappoint!
The area around Lake Titicaca (insert numerous lame jokes about the name) was truly superb! The roads were often cut into the sides of sheer cliffs with nothing below but the enormous lake which seemed to change colour as we drove around the Peninsula.
Our first bus was pretty luxurious as far as busses in Bolivia go. You can just catch a glimpse behind us of the Japanese girls who befriended us because our Spanish was so good (this only shows how terrible their’s was ;) ) it was really cool seeing how many solo Japanese girl travellers there were around Bolivia and Peru.
The ferry across the lake, which at some points is more like a sea as it is flipping gigantic!
After switching buses at Copacabana for one filled with exceptionally smelly Europeans and getting held up at the Boliva-Peru border for missing paperwork (this was our second but not our last run in with Bolivia’s border control) we finally arrived in Puno. As Puno was the midpoint of our trip we decided to book ourselves into a nice shmancy hotel with view of the Plaza de Armas and a nice big bath and bed.
The difference crossing from Bolivia into Peru was tangible. Not only is Peru a more “developed” country with a much better infrastructure, but the people are far friendlier and more welcoming than their Bolivian neighbours. I think we both fell in love with Peru when we got to Puno.
Continuing our “luxury” spree we went by Tourist bus to Cusco via a number of really cool towns and sites along the way. Our bus had tea, coffee, a toilet and even an English speaking guide! I know this may not sound super fancy, but for us it sure was! Our first stop was the small town of Alcra Pukara which had a really awesome little museum of Pre-Incan artifacts and Vicunas (the cousin of the Llama and Alpaca)
We spent some time at the Incan site Raqchi. It was originally a control point for people travelling to Cusco and was believed to hold troops. This was our first proper taste of Incan ruins and it certainly whet our appetites, even in the sporadically pouring rain!
Andahuaylillas is supposed to house the South American equivalent of the Sistine Chapel. Infuriatingly though you are not allowed to shoot inside it even without flash so there are massive gaps in our documentation here. I was going mad not being able to document all the amazing interior artwork. The artwork on the facade does at least give an idea of the style and level of design. (Sistine Chapel it may not be, but it was damn impressive for being stuck out in the middle of the Andes!)
Yuuuup, those are animal carcasses and heads just casually chilling in the back of someones car. I assume they got the car washed before transporting people? We decided not to stay in Cusco when we arrived as we wanted to save it for the end location of our trip. We instead hired a taxi and headed into the Sacred Valley to Ollantaytambo where we would hang out before getting on the Inca Trail. 
La Paz was meant to be just a stopover on our way up to Peru, but after our traumatic flight experience we decided to stay there a couple days. We are so glad we did as La Paz turned out to be a very cool and quirky city! La Paz is in a giant crater and as the city has grown, it has grown up the sides of the crater as well which gives it a very full and busy feel. Driving into La Paz from the airport which is on the El Alto (the top of the canyon) it almost felt like you were spiralling round a drain as the height drop is significant. La Paz was established by the Spanish in 1548 so there is a lot of Spanish architecture and the city has this amazing duality of Colonial style buildings surrounded by very Bolivian customs (like the witches market). The city sits at over 3600m (which makes it the highest capital city in the world) but after the over 4 and 5000m altitude we had just been at it really didnt seem that high at all! (more…)
We were woken and bundled into our car by 4.30 am and the reason for this was to see the spectacular sunrise over the Salar. There had been a bit of rain over night but not enough to prevent our trip thankfully, but juuuust enough to put a thin layer of water arounfd the edge of the Salar which created some sensational reflections. We saw the moon set and the sun rise at the same time on either side of the Salar!
Isla Incahuasi is in the middle of the Salar. Incahuasi has gigantic cacti growing all over it and there are unusual and fragile coral-like structures and deposits that often consist of fossils and algae. The place is the top of the remains of an ancient volcano, which was submerged when the area was part of a giant prehistoric lake, roughly 40,000 years ago. From the top of the island there are amazing views of the surrounding Salar.
If you google the Salar the thing you are most likely to come across are tourists doing rididulous perspective pictures, which we duly joined in on. (The perspective pics are courtesy of our wonderful friend Maaaaaark (check out his inspiring travel blog: www.tunafish.es).
Andy’s salt rash.
“Eyes” of the Salar are little watery holes scattered around the area that have the most fascinating square pieces of salt, or salt crystals. Ira got her hands salty digging some up for us.
“Harvesting” salt. 
And just like that we were out of the Salar and back in the ‘real’ world. Our last stop was the train cemetery, which, as its name suggests is a lot of abandoned trains. If you start your trip in Uyuni it is the first site you go to and must be quite a sight, after everything we had seen the last 4 days it didnt seem quite as spectaular but was still quite fun to bugger around on.
We bade farewell to our dear Markles, who was heading down to Chile, and we boarded a plane to La Paz… this would prove to be the most terrifying experience of our lives… It was an 18 seater propella plane with a bench seat in the backrow and no toilet. There was no hostess and the cockpit had no door. I am not a big fan of small planes at the best of times so I just tried to read through our 45 minute flight while our pilot played on his Blackberry (yes, really).
Eveything was going fine until about half way through our flight (in which the pilots navigate by sight) we flew into a monstrous black storm that began throwing our plane around like a kite in a strong wind! Rain loudly pelted the roof of the plane that was only centremetres from our heads, all this reaffirming the fact that we were in a tin can hurtling through the sky! The pilots both gripped their steering wheels(?) while the controls flashed and screeched with warnings and hazards. Andy and I clung to each other across the aisle strapped into our flimsy seats bolted to the floor with what looked like a number 13 spanner. I think we really both did think we were going to die. Somehow, nearly two hours later our heroic pilots managed to get us safely onto the ground in La Paz. As our jelly legs led us off the plane Andy thanked the pilots who both laughed nervously at his obvious relief to be alive. He then then staggered down the plane’s steps and promptly kissed the runway. The last pic is of us much shaken making our way down into La Paz.
Day 3 of our desert trip dawned with Andy thankfully feeling a bit more human, which meant Mark and I could stop referring to him as “grandpa”. As our Hospedaje (homestay with locals) had been right by Laguna Colorada, we started our day off there. It was pretty overcast and damn cold with the wind howling most of the time as we left the protection of our Land Cruiser to go and explore each of the new places we arrived.
It was really only on day 3 that we started seeing many other ‘turistas’. Having started our tour from Tupiza meant we had missed the locust-like masses of Land Cruisers that head out from Uyuni, all at the same time and all arriving at the same places. Luckily we mostly only crossed paths with them but it was only then that you realise how popular these trips into the desert really are. Day 4 is generally the highlight for most people… and im sure when you see those pics you will understand why.
We crossed the Desierto de Siloli where we saw the famour “rock tree” which also looks like something out of a Dali painting. Dotted along this part of the desert are random clumps of rock that look haphazardly scattered around.
Another awesomely bright Laguna with yet more flamingos, this lot were super chilled and didnt flinch when we came near them.
These incredible fossilised sandunes are where we stopped for a beautifully scenic lunch.
As this entire desert was once under water, despite now being at over 4000m above sea level, there were incredible fields of fossilised coral.
This was one of many little mini tornados we saw as we drove through the open plains to get to our final destination. We hadnt expected to see anything like this, and to be honest, while this picture does not do them justice, they were an unexpected highlight for us.
These bizarre looking mirages were our first glimpse of the Salar. As the Salar is pancake flat and snow white from the metres deep salt reserves, it creates some seriously bizarre optical illusions. But more on that in the day 4 pics.
Overlooking the edge of the Salar were the Cueva del Diablo (Devil’s Cave) and Cueva Galaxia (Galaxy Cave). These rock formations were created when the Thunupa volcano came into contact with the water (the salt flats were still a sea) about 225 million years ago. They actually resemble bones dangling from the walls and ceiling, forming strange figures. Cueva del Diablo is a sacred burial ground surrounded by many myths. It has a chullpar, or cemetery, with human remains.
This rain storm threatened and followed us around most of the afternoon. While normally rain is no big deal, a big storm can flood the Salar preventing any trips out onto it, which we did NOT want to happen to us the following day!
On our last night we stayed in a hostal constructed entirely of salt at the very edge of the Salar. Tables, chairs, bed bases you name it!
Yup, it was salty…
This was maybe the most amazing soup we have ever had! And yes, it did have chips floating in it ;) We were really impressed with the food on our trip. Our cook Ira (who is mad. Like, properly mad) whipped up some really awesome vegetarian food often in some really difficult situations. The food we ate on this trip was probably the best we had in Bolivia!
Day Four
We were woken and bundled into our car by 4.30 am and the reason for this was to see the spectacular sunrise over the Salar. There had been a bit of rain over night but not enough to prevent our trip thankfully, but juuuust enough to put a thin layer of water arounfd the edge of the Salar which created some sensational reflections. We saw the moon set and the sun rise at the same time on either side of the Salar!
Isla Incahuasi is in the middle of the Salar. Incahuasi has gigantic cacti growing all over it and there are unusual and fragile coral-like structures and deposits that often consist of fossils and algae. The place is the top of the remains of an ancient volcano, which was submerged when the area was part of a giant prehistoric lake, roughly 40,000 years ago. From the top of the island there are amazing views of the surrounding Salar. If you google the Salar the thing you are most likely to come across are tourists doing rididulous perspective pictures, which we duly joined in on. (The perspective pics are courtesy of our wonderful friend Maaaaaark (check out his inspiring travel blog: www.tunafish.es). Andy’s salt rash. “Eyes” of the Salar are little watery holes scattered around the area that have the most fascinating square pieces of salt, or salt crystals. Ira got her hands salty digging some up for us. “Harvesting” salt. And just like that we were out of the Salar and back in the ‘real’ world. Our last stop was the train cemetery, which, as its name suggests is a lot of abandoned trains. If you start your trip in Uyuni it is the first site you go to and must be quite a sight, after everything we had seen the last 4 days it didnt seem quite as spectaular but was still quite fun to bugger around on. We bade farewell to our dear Markles, who was heading down to Chile, and we boarded a plane to La Paz… this would prove to be the most terrifying experience of our lives… It was an 18 seater propella plane with a bench seat in the backrow and no toilet. There was no hostess and the cockpit had no door. I am not a big fan of small planes at the best of times so I just tried to read through our 45 minute flight while our pilot played on his Blackberry (yes, really).
Eveything was going fine until about half way through our flight (in which the pilots navigate by sight) we flew into a monstrous black storm that began throwing our plane around like a kite in a strong wind! Rain loudly pelted the roof of the plane that was only centremetres from our heads, all this reaffirming the fact that we were in a tin can hurtling through the sky! The pilots both gripped their steering wheels(?) while the controls flashed and screeched with warnings and hazards. Andy and I clung to each other across the aisle strapped into our flimsy seats bolted to the floor with what looked like a number 13 spanner. I think we really both did think we were going to die. Somehow, nearly two hours later our heroic pilots managed to get us safely onto the ground in La Paz. As our jelly legs led us off the plane Andy thanked the pilots who both laughed nervously at his obvious relief to be alive. He then then staggered down the plane’s steps and promptly kissed the runway. The last pic is of us much shaken making our way down into La Paz.
Andy:
This day started with a hangover.
The previous night I was excited to be in Bolivia, to see our old friend Mark, and because I had lost our passports and then found them again… left on the back seat of a taxi. That won’t happen again, I assure you. So while I nursed a pounding head, Szerdi and Mark (hereafter known as Sparky) organised our 4 day trip through the Bolivian deserts and mountains. Sparky had already spent the last 6 months travelling through South America, and it seemed had also become fluent in Spanish. So we ditched our English speaking guide and opted for the cheaper Spanish speaking guide option. This was great, because Sparky got to practice his Spanish, and even though he was doing a stella job of translating for us, we managed to pick up a lot as we progressed through the trip. Our guide also happened to look like Chino Marino from Deftones, which was also nice.
So we grabbed some bags of Coca leaves to chew for altitude sickness and settled into the jeep, which was to be our dusty and bumpy steed for the next few days.
We chose to start this trip from Tupiza because the first day has some amazing scenery that is often missed by the visitors on the main circuit of the famous Salar and desert tour who start at the depressing little town of Uyuni. The hills in this area all have a brown and purple colour, and are broken by spine-like peaks and deep craters, giving it a moonscape feel. (The shadows from the clouds kind of ruin the effect in the photos, but you get the idea.) From here we travelled through some small and remote mining towns. Despite being the poorest country in South America, Bolivia is surprising rich in minerals. All day we travelled along the bumpy roads, getting higher and higher in altitude. Tupiza sits at 2990 metres above sea level, and it’s already hard to breath there, but as we went higher the harder it was to breath and the more coca leaves we chewed.
You’ll notice snow-capped peaks. Bear in mind we were in the southern hemisphere nearish the equator, in the height of summer. Just to give you an idea of how high we actually were. Late that afternoon we reached a surreal, colonial stone ghost town, abandoned after a devastating spread of leprosy… or so one theory goes. The other is that the slave driving Spanish miners couldn’t handle the high altitude and the bitterly cold winters, so fled to a town lower down. That night we made it to our accommodation in howling winds. We got warmly dressed without showering, it was too cold to shower, and had some dinner. I was feeling exceptionally cocky about my immunity to altitude sickness since we were now sitting at almost 4500 metres without any symptoms… and my hangover had dissipated.
Then the vomiting started.
I pretty much spent that entire night puking into a little rubbish bin.
The next morning I couldn’t even put my own shoes on, and Szerdi and Sparky help pack and load my bags. I oozed into the back seat of the Jeep and that’s pretty much where I spent the rest of the day, while the other guys enjoyed the sights. That day of the trip is shrouded in a sickly haze for me, so Szerdi will have to take over from here…
Szerdi:
With Andy being a bit arrogant about his seeming immunity to the altitude, to be woken up in the middle of the night with him shouting into the rubbish bin was a bit of a damper on the trip. The second day of the trip turned out to be my favourite despite my husband seeming on the verge of death most of the day. It got so bad by lunchtime that while Mark and I ate our delicious lunch prepared by our crazy cackling cook Ira, Andy slept in the car. We seriously considered cancelling the trip and heading to the lower altitude of Chile which lay an hours drive South as altitude sickness can at times result in serious complications and by that stage we were over 5000m above sea level and only going higher. Luckily for us Andy managed to pull himself towards himself and we continued on the trip that would prove to be one of our main highlights of our time in South America.
Day One:
View from a speeding, bumpy car…
Much to my(Szerdi) delight, there were Llama’s everywhere (Llama is pronounced “Yumma” in Spanish) and these Yumma’s were documented a LOT! I even managed to infect Andy with my Llama obsession.
One thing to be said for the Bolivian desert is the Lagunas are of the most mind blowing colours and are usually situated below a mountain topping over 6000m above sea level! In the next fours days we saw white, turquiose, green and red lagunas which all looked like they had been coloured by an over-imaginative Photoshop student.
Day Two
I only realised how seriously sick Andy was when he didnt get out the car to come and see the “Casa de Llamas”. Mark and I spent ages hanging out and photographing these ridiculous animals while Andy sat awkwardly outside the car not wanting to try and make Spanish small talk with our driver and cook.
Have I mentioned that I love Llamas and our time at “Casa de Llama” confirmed to me that one day I WILL have a pet Llama!
This was our first sighting of the desert’s famous flamingos that fill all the non toxic lagunas. Perhaps one of the most mind blowing parts of this entire trip was the ridiculously bright and vibrant colours everywhere.
The hot springs of Chalviri, Laguna Polkes was one of the highlights for me of the desert trip and one I had been looking forward to most. The scenery around here was so vibrant and so beautiful you honestly feel like you have stepped into a dream. It is ten minutes from the area known as the Dali desert and you really can almost imagine these landscapes being created from the mind of someone like Salvador Dali.
Andy even managed to get out the car at this point and take a picture of me and Mark bathing in the 30 degrees celsius hot springs.
His enthusiasm and strength didnt last long though and when I eventually got out of the springs I found him here:
The beautiful turquoise Laguna Verde is full of arsenic which explains why there is not plant or animal life around it. Apparently NASA takes their astronauts up the mountain behind Laguna Verde to help prepare them for trips to the moon. What you cant really tell from the pictures is how freezing cold and windy it was here and we were there in the height of Summer.
Sol de Manana was another highlight for the trip for me made even better by the fact Andy started feeling human enough to not only get out the car but even take a couple of pictures. These geysers and boiling mud holes were amazing to witness. Despite the driving wind we could still hear the distinct sound of the geysers or fumaroles forcing their steam out from the centre of the earth which sounded quite a bit like a steam train.
Sleeping beauties… 
Our last stop of the day was the crazy terracotta coloured Laguna Colorada which was also full of the pinkest flamingoes.
South America is the continent neither Andy or I have been to. We want to see as much of the world as humanly possible so we decided to make our next adventure to Bolivia and Southern Peru. After 2 days of flying we finally landed in our first port of call, Bolivia. In most of our travels one of things that has stood our for us is the overwhelming friendliness of the people we have encountered. Bolivia was a bit of a surprise in this regard as overall we found people to be unfriendly to foreigners and mistrustful. Despite this, Bolivia has left an imprint on both our souls. Before we left we did a bit of a Spanish course (dumbly) assuming that people in tourism and hostels would speak a bit of English, not so much. This was probably actually a blessing in disguise though as our conversational Spanish was forced to take a steep learning curve from the time we arrived. Starting with arriving in Santa Cruz and the Interpol agent thinking our passports were fake, we were forced to learn Spanish quickly! (more…)
This June we celebrated our first wedding anniversary and our eighth year together. We were also planning to say goodbye to our trusty travel buddy and our old friend, our Land Rover Wimpy Hightop as to fulfill our Africa roadtripping dreams we needed a guy who was a little less thirsty than old Wimps. We decided to return to the scene of our wedding for our first anniversary so we travelled up to our beloved Mozambique. We decided that instead of giving each other anniversary presents we would instead spend the money on buying stationary supplies for the orphanage around the corner from where we got married. We also made use of the wedding box Andy had made for us and we had sealed up at our ceremony. (We put in a bottle of our fave wine, dark chocolate and our wedding vows to read on our first anniversary and would then replace it every year with new wine, chocolate and vows to each other). Be warned, there are a fair few “selfies” in here but as its documenting our wedding anniversary I aint gonna apologise ;) Here are a few snaps from our trip.
Andy with the wine box he lovingly made for our wedding one year ago. This is the first time we opened it since our wedding day. While we drank the amazing Chocolate Block wine we read the vows we had made to each other and wrote new ones to put back into the box.
Anyone who knows anything about Land Rovers will tell you part of the fun of having a Landy travel buddy is the spontaneous and unexpected places it can make you see (when you break down in random places…) Luckily Andy has been fixing Wimpy for years so when we broke a brake line it wasnt the end of the world. We managed to jimmy it to travel home on a single wheel’s brake. Who said Landy’s dont make life more adventurous?!
Turns out putting a nail in the bust brake line bypasses it and enables you to carry on with your trip :)
The chaos of Addis behind us, and we headed north west, where things got rural quickly…
Ram-bo…
Egg on injera, buna and a mountain view for breakfast. Injera is a kind of pancake made with sour dough. Ethiopians eat every single meal with injera, and I think I could too.
One of the many emergency road side churches. Similar to Islam, the orthodox Christian in Ethiopia pray 7 times a day, so these kinds of mini-chapels are everywhere.
Crossing the Nile, only a few kilometers from the source. It’s hard to believe this fairly insignificant looking river becomes one of the largest in the world further downstream!
Buna flows tar thick in Ethiopia and it’s always freshly roasted, ground and filtered the same way it was over 1000 years ago.
For Christians the Lion of Judah represents Jesus, but for Rastas it represents Emperor Haile Selassie. If I hadn’t known any better I would have thought this was a little Rasta cup of weed tea!
Hundreds of smiling faces can be extremely intimidating…
Dust!
The first stone bridge built in Ethiopia in 1626. During the rainy season the Nile can cover the bridge completely!
The Blue Nile Falls is nothing spectacular during winter, but in summer it spans up to 400m wide!
The falls are known as Tis Abay in Amharic, which means “Smokey Waters”. I’m getting a small taster in the shot below, and trying to avoid getting my camera wet.
This tiny island in the middle of Lake Tana, and the peninsula behind it, have just 2 of the more than 20 ancient monasteries, all inhabited by robed priests and covered in amazing mural paintings.
Below is one of the priests we met in the Ura Kidane Mehret monestary on the Zeghe peninsula. Many of these priests move to the island monestaries when they’re young and stay there for the rest of their lives. They never leave and their familes are not allowed to know which of the thousands of monasteries around the country they’ve been sent to.
An 800 year old bible, written in the ancient language of Ge’ez and filled with illustrations and paintings.
People crossing the lake on a papyrus boat.
We left for the Simien Mountains the next morning not really knowing what to expect. The scenery as always, was beautiful and dramatic with many high mountain passes and numerous windy roads
About 100km north of Gonder we hit the dramatic Simien Mountains, one of the biggest ranges in Africa. more than 12 of the peaks are above 4000m! The altitude can take it out of you, and a short walk can turn you into a heavy-breathing-chunder-machine…. Luckily we only experienced mild symptoms.
I want a Gelada baboon! They look like they just climbed out of a bad 80s music video with their flowing David Lee Roth (Van Halen) hair doos. They have these amazing weathered faces and a freakishly inteligent look in their eyes.
These guys graze on wild tyme in herds of up to 400 baboons! They are so chilled and not even in the slightest bit concerned about us hanging around and grazing with them. We spent about 2 hours just sitting amoungst the herd, watching and listening. This was probably one of the most awesome new years eves we have ever had!
Haile Gabre Selassie is an Ehtiopian long distance running legend! He’s smashed world records, won Olympic gold medals and still lives in home town of Addis Ababa.
Leaving behind the amazing Gelada baboons we set off for the ancient and mysterious town of Axum which claims to be the resting place of the Ark of the Covenant .
Our 6 hour scenic drive through the countryside from the Simien mountains to Axum ended up taking us close to 14 hours and included not one, but FIVE flat tyres, road works where entire cliffs were literally collapsed before our eyes and so much dust that by the time we arrived in Axum our hair was as white as a pensioners!
This was the start of the ancient stellae which are estimated to date back nearly three thousand years. Unlike other world heritage sites which are protected and where access is limited, we found people farming and grazing their animals between these ancient monuments.
These rocky piles are believed to be the remnants of the palace of the mythical queen of Sheba. Whether or not she truly existed, the people who ruled this part of the world some 2500 years ago were so powerful that they controlled Yemen, Saudi Arabia and parts of Egypt and Sudan.
Trust Andy to climb up onto a 2500 year old building….
All the houses here are completely made out of rock and as this is a desert region, the familiar sight of donkeys was replaced by the awkward lumbering of camels. It was VERY strange to see camels casually wandering down the streets!
Above are the remnants of the church of St Mary, believed to be the original resting place of the Ark of the Covenant before it was destroyed by a band of marauding Jews under the rule of a warrior queen, Queen Yodit.
And below is the rather unimpressive modern concrete church where the Ark now lives. No one is allowed to approach the church other than the monks who guard it. The Ark is supposed to have supernatural powers that can cause people other than its guardian to spontaneously combust!
The remains of the coronation area where are all the Kings and Emperors of Ethiopia were crowned, except the last emperor, Hailie Selassie as he had the pesky issue following him around of having murdered his predecessor….
Only men are allowed to enter the ‘new’ church of St Mary so while Andy and our guide went exploring in it I had to sit outside and do some people watching and make sure my dangerous ladyness didnt affect the church in anyway.
One of about ten unexplored tombs in this area and while some of them are partially open and excavated, there remain many which have NEVER been explored by Archaeologists!
This particular stellae field is the largest and contains more than 75 stellae of various sizes including three enormous ones that are intricately carved, the largest of which lies broken in pieces. The erection of some of the bigger stellae is attributed to the use of the Ark of the covenant…
Semha was an amazing 10 year old girl we met during our time in Axum. One of the things that impressed us most in Ethiopia was the high level of education the kids receive there, their exceptional general knowledge and how everyone is bi, if not trilingual! Semha took us around a bit and we learnt that despite her mom being a street vendor, she has great ambitions of becoming a doctor. We exchanged email addresses with her and bought her an Amharic-Tigraian-English dictionary.
Exploring some of the partially uncovered tombs that are dotted around the city.
The next morning we left on the first part of our trip to Lalibela which took us North to the Eritrean border o the town of Mekele. En route we stopped at the largely unvisited by tourists spot to the burial place of the wife of the Prophet Mohammed, to Mekele, one of the towns closest to the Eritrean border where up until recently planes have periodically dropped bombs on the inhabitants. We also get our first taste of a rock-hewn church, Wukro Chirkos.
Heading East to Adigrat there was so much evidence of the war which has plagued the people and the area between Ethiopia and Eritrea.
One of the most unexpected places we stumbled onto was a mosque containing the graves of some 12 people believed to have travelled to Ethiopia from Saudi Arabia after the death of the Prophet Mohammed. One of the graves is said to belong to his wife. We were very lucky to be able to see the graves up close, a privilege which had we been in Saudi Arabia would have been reserved only for Muslims.
I am startng to get a complex about the number of photos Andy takes of me standing near cows, I wonder if he is trying to tell me something??? ;)
A short walk from the town of Wukro we saw our first (of many) rock hewn churches. Wukro Chirkos is situated on a hill and is carved entirely from a SINGLE piece of rock and is about 1500 years old.
Words cannot describe the feeling of being inside this giant monolith carved so expertly at a time when Europe was in the Dark Ages. There is a stillness and monumental sense of history when one enters a church such as this, we were so blown away by its epicness, but had no idea what awaited us in Lalibela ( still to come in Part 4)
Some of the many ‘templar’ crosses dotted across churches in this region. The presence of these crosses has led many to believe that the Knights Templar played a part in the construction of many of these rock-hewn churches.
Gratuitous Landy shot :)
The road from Makele to Woldia. The final stretch before we make our way to the rock hewn churches of Lalibela.
We passed through some of the areas worst affected by the famine. The dry river beds serve only as a cattle highway.
On the Ethiopian Christmas eve we made our way in the pitch black of night to Bet Emmanuel, the largest of the rock hewn churches at Lalibela. We were witness to one of the most amazing spectacles of religion we have ever seen. The service consisted of dense rows of priests slowly chanting and swaying side to side accompanied by a slow tribal beating of the drum. We thought this was incredible, especially surrounded by hundreds of pilgrims, but this was nothing in comparison to when the drummers picked up the pace and beat and we experienced rows of priests competing in what looked like some kind of dance-off. This was accompanied by the ululating of the crowd, clapping and cheering. The energy was incredible and just as it reached its climax, the drumming would suddenly stop and the priests immediately returned to a seated position while a sacred relic was brought around or more slow chanting began.
Both Christmas eve and Christmas are filled with these amazing dancing priests and this was by far one of our highlights of our trip. What was also mind blowing, is these church services have not changed in the last 800 odd years! Meaning the service we witnessed would proabably have looked the same as it had the first year the rock-hewn churches were built!
We were still on a high from our experiences at the Christmas Eve celebrations and from exploring the churches so when it became dark on the actual night of Christmas we were filled with suspense of what the night would hold as we had been told that the Christams celebration was truly spectacular.
The Christmas celebration is held at Bet Maryam the most exquistily decorated church. We again made our way through the mass of people, clambering up rock faces and navigating our way to Bet Maryam through the maze of 10m sheer dropoffs in the darkness. Around us people were lighting their ways with traditional candles, and some even with the light from their cellphones.
The sea of white robed figures lay on every surface imaginable in order to get as close as possible to the Christmas service which started at 10pm and ended when the sun rose. We have never in our lives seen so many people so densely congregated in one place and it created an excited festival atmosphere and created a warmth that was quite surprising in the chilled winter’s night air. People everywhere were chanting, praying, reading their bibles and even just sleeping in this holiest of environments.
Of all the places we have visited in our travels and of all the places we intend still to go to, Ethiopia, and Lalibela in particular will defintely be the place we have to return to one day. One trip was simply not enough.
We have been to Saudi twice in the last four years which has been an amazing opportunity seeing as foreigners are often not allowed into the country. We only got visas into the country as my parents have lived their for around a decade. Saudi is also a country not high up on many people’s lists of places to see, but we were totally blown away by it in many ways!
Saudi is a conservative Muslim country and knowing that going in we were treated to quite a cultural experience. I had to wear an abaya which was surprisingly comfortable and gave me the ability to go out in my pj’s with no one knowing which was actually great (my inner sloth loved it!). Andy and I couldnt hold hands as PDA in any form is strongly frowned upon and men and women are separated socially on many occasions. Despite all the negative press Saudi gets (some of it rightfully so – let women there drive dammit!) the country was an incredible experience in more ways than i can express without writing a thesis which would put everyone to sleep.
Photos are from our 2008 and 2012 trip…
We stayed in and around Jeddah, not far from the holy city of Mecca and we spent a good couple of days on both trips exploring the old city ‘Al Balad’ that dates back roughly 2500 years.
You may see the streets are nearly completely empty in many of these pictures and that is because during prayer time (approximately 5 times a day) the streets completely empty, shops close (sometimes with you still in them), and work grinds to a halt. This was great for us as it allowed us a freedom to shoot away without distraction of huge crowds. Once prayer time is finished, life carries on as normal.
Jeddah is on the West Coast of Saudi and is across the Red Sea from Egypt, Sudan and Eritrea. The key word here is RED SEA and while we were in Jeddah we went for a good couple of dives both off the coast and further out in the ocean. This is by far the BEST diving either of us has expereinced with winter sea water being about 28 degrees, calm, flat sea and more coral and sealife than one can imagine!
These pics are all from our most recent trip in 2012 when we got the opporunity to fly to the Southern most province of Saudi, Jizan which shares a border with Yemen and explore the incredible coral archipelago known as Farasan Island. Flying domestically in Saudi was, interesting, seats arent booked and chunks of families can sit wherever they like as long as a single woman dont sit next to men they dont know. The ferry to the main island is run for free by the King and here too men and women are kept completely separate and have different boarding areas. While Jeddah is very cosmpolitan in comparison to other provinces in Saudi, in Jizan I felt it necessary to wear a head scarf over my head (something not necessary in Jeddah) and was quite unnerved by the amount of unashamed staring my mom and I got from the locals. Despite this, it was an amazing trip both from an historical perspective and a sea adventuring one!
I had some hanger issues… ( And thats me in my abaya!)
We stayed in permanent tents on the waters edge which was amazing.
The island, like the rest of Saudi has a huge stray cat problem, and being the animal lovers we are, we were followed around my some of the more outgoing kitties.
This is the one time some frustration set in, NO ONE on the island spoke English that was better than our Arabic so trying to find out about the historical sites we were visiting involved a great deal of gestures, very broken Arabic and much confusion which resulted in only the most basic information about the awesome places we were visiting.
I (think) this is a partially original partially reconstructed site of a settlement dating back a thousandish years.
The entrance to the area once owned by the Ottoman Empire till the First World War.
This is a fort last occupied by the Germans in the 1930’s?! but the site and fortification is much older.
As the islands are all made of choral, there is very little plant life and fewer crops that can be grown. As a result, fishing is the main source of income on the island. We took a fishing boat out into the archipelago for some awesome Red Sea snorkelling.
The water is SO salty in the Red Sea. If you dont rinse off immediately you get caked in a layer of salt! We didnt bring our underwater housing on this trip as we didnt have enough space so all the underwater pictures are rather underwhelming and all taken through the coral spotter.
All the pictures taken on this trip were with a Canon 30D and standard kit 17-85.mm f4 lens and a Sony point and shoot…
From Pokhara we went into the jungle of Chitwan where we stayed on an island in the middle of monsoon season with no running water or electricity and while the beers were warm, leeches kept finding their way onto us and there was two hours or power a night thanks to a generator, it was probably the most incredible part of our trip, not least because we got engaged after an amazing elephant back safari.
After a flat tyre in the middle of nowhere on the way to the airport, and a nerve wracking flight in a small plane, we arrived in the beautiful Pokhara. Pokhara is home to the amazing Annapurna mountains and Phewa Lake. We spent some time at a home visit on the rural outskirts of the town and spent an amazing day exploring the lake and picturesque mountains in the area.
From Kathmandu we began our travels into the mountains. On our way into the Himalayas we visited the beautiful medieval towns of Patan and Bhaktapur and arrived in Nagarkot from where we woke up to our first breathtaking views of the Himalayas and Mount Everest.
From Swayumnunath we headed into the city to Durbar Square and to Boudnath, the world’s biggest buddhist Stupa.
Jeddah is on the West Coast of Saudi and is across the Red Sea from Egypt, Sudan and Eritrea. The key word here is RED SEA and while we were in Jeddah we went for a good couple of dives both off the coast and further out in the ocean. This is by far the BEST diving either of us has expereinced with winter sea water being about 28 degrees, calm, flat sea and more coral and sealife than one can imagine!
When most people picture the Middle East they picture barren desert and there is a lot of this too. We were lucky enough to travel to Wahba Crater, a two day drive from Jeddah which was the site of an isanely huge crater and to get there, we camped in amongst a dried lava bed.
Andy IN the crater.
This guy wanted a pic with Andy as blonde haired blue eyed people arent a common sight in the more rural areas.
No trip to a desert is complete without some camel watching…
And camel milk drinking (not for the lactose intolerant or easily grossed out)
Petrol was 38c a litre so most people drive huge American cars that chew fuel.
Nepal was Andy and my second overseas trip together and we love the idea of travelling to places where we have no idea about the language culture and society and can therefore immerse ourselves in a unique travelling experience (unique to us and the the 1000’s of other people who travel there!) We decided to go to Nepal as we had both wanted to go to Tibet and when we were researching our trip found out how incredible Nepal was, and we were sold!
Nepal is truly the most incredible sensory overload! Being in the middle of the Himalaya mountains, the scenery is awe-inspiring and the mixture of Buddhism and Hinduism which coexist perfectly, leads to some fantastic photo opportunities!
This is a trip which we will both cherish forever, not least because its where Andy popped the question. Needless to say, we both left a piece of our hearts in this welcoming and breathtaking country.
These pictures document some of our time in Kathmandu. After nearly 24 hours of no sleep we arrived in the crazy, humid, smelly and loud city and had our senses completely overwhelmed in the best possible way! Almost from our taxi trip to the time we arrived in the centre of Kathmandu, we had both already lost a piece of ourselves to Nepal.
Momos (steamed dumpling with a spicy dipping sauce) are maybe one of the best foods on the face of the planet…
Swayumbhunath, also known as the Monkey Temple sits on a hill overlooking the city of Kathmandu. Again, the rich colours, smells and warmth made our exploration of the temple complex seem quite surreal and bizarre as we adapted to our vibrant new surroundings.
*disclaimer* lots of ‘holiday’ style pics follow and less documentary travel photos….
Here are some pics from our honeymoon through the Elephant Reserve in Mozamabique to Ponta Torres and Inhaca Island and a few on the way back at the big cat sanctuary in Hluhluwe. This post has taken me a year and a half to put up but better late than never I guess…
We drove through the Elephant Reserve the morning after our wedding with admittedly fairly sore heads! It was just us and our trusty Landy and not another car or person in sight for 6 of the 8 hour drive! When we finally arrived after what felt like about 100 hours of driving on powderey soft beach sand the entire way we found ourselves in an island like paradise with not another tourist in sight! It was quite surreal being the only touristes around but it was also really cool! One perk of going to a Summery Beachy place in winter I guess :)
So this page will be dedicated to Andy and I tying the knot!
In case you are wandering where the big straw came from, be warned, super cheese ahead! My surname translated means ‘big’ and Andy’s surname, Stent is a tube or straw like thing (okay, usually used in surgical procedures but I’ll leave that part out) hence, the name big straw! :)
Our Engagement
Andy and I didn’t do the conventional things when it came to getting all engaged. See we picked out the ring together at Churchill House, an incredible antique shop in the same road as my childhood home about 6 months before he actually proposed. That way, I got the ring I wanted so less pressure on Andy, and he could still surprise me and propose whenever he wanted!
Our 2010 centred around our trip to Nepal in September which we had been planning for ages and I suspected that this might be when he was going to pop the ol’ question, but knowing me, and knowing when I might expect it – like the first time we saw the Himalayas in Nagarkot or when we were at Fewa lake looking at the highest Buddhist Stupa- he left me hanging to point that I thought he wasn’t going to do it! But he picked the most perfect time. The last few days of our trip were spent at Jungle Island Resort, the most incredible rustic jungle paradise filled with elephant back safaris, jungle trekking, tiger tracking and bathing with elephants and this was the place he decided to do it and to be honest, it was better than any of the other places I had expected it! Go Andy!
Our E Party
The one thing Andy and I were unequivocal about was the fact that we wanted our wedding to be small and simple but the excitement which followed our engagement led to us maybe going a little over board.
I became obsessed with the awesomeness that is In Good Company and from their inspirational site, our hay bale picnic with 1920’s jazz and Pimms engagement was spawned! The day we had the E party was fortunately one of the two not raining days Durban had in December (so someone up there must clearly sanction our union). Instead of traditional bunting which is super cool and I love, we kinda made our own but instead of colourful triangles, we hung up photos from the six years we have been together so it doubled as decoration and a trip down memory lane! We had jugs of Pimms with mint, strawberries and blackberries with lemonade which was the perfect drink to accompany the balmy summer day. We had lots of yummy sarms and dips courtesy of our moms. All this with chilled jazz (thanks lil’ sis Stent) made it the most sublime afternoon! Yay for love and getting married! What a great excuse for a Summer party with friends and family! Now to plan the wedding…..
Planning to tie the big straw knot
We threw around a LOT of ideas about how and where we wanted our wedding, but for some reason, I couldn’t get the uber excitement that all other brides seem to have when planning their wedding. And then I found it! Inspiration hit in the form of A Practical Wedding and Offbeat Bride, these 2 sites made me realise it was ok to have our wedding according to our own terms, and whaddaya know? I started getting suuuuper excited! After much deliberation, Andy and I decided that perhaps our best wedding possible was the one we always spoke about but never really imagine happening for real. About 3 years ago, while on holiday in Mozambique we chatted about how cool it would be to get married on the beach with a chilled fish braai afterwards with everyone just drinking local 2M beer and relaxing- that was when the idea of getting married was still waaaaay in the future. The more we though about it, the more we realised that is exactly what we WANT! Plus then we also get to SCUBA in one of the best dive spots in the world! we <3 to SCUBA!
We have decided to have a long engagement to the dismay of some people. But it’s the most practical for us, in between us both having full time jobs, trying to run ‘knot just pictures’ and Andy and Habit To working on their album and training for the Comrades Marathon we didn’t want the added stress of hurrying a wedding plan. So we have decided on June 2012 in Ponto D’Ouro in Mozambique (June is also our dating anniversary and winter, which is what we wanted from a photography point of view, winter afternoon light is what we want for our own wedding pics and will look killer)
