I really enjoyed photographing the wedding of Francisca and Henk. They make such a wonderful couple and their unique fun-loving, friendly personalities and great sense of humour really stood out for me on their special day. They made everybody on the team feel welcome and even thanked everybody who helped making their big day special, after the wedding.
I met the couple on the day of the shoot and immediately clicked with them. It helped that they knew exactly what they wanted. Usually I would have a meeting with the couple upfront to determine their needs. However, it wasn’t possible. Fortunately Francisca and Henk were very sure of their needs – all they wanted was to have fun with each other and their friends all day long and we had to capture them having fun. In turn we had loads of fun while doing the shoot too. The venue was such an amazing venue which made the shoot even more fun.
The location was incredibly unique. ‘UILENES’ is situated on a small holding outside ‘Gansbaai’, Western Cape. There were donkeys, an old farmhouse, hordes of amazing green trees, loads of shade (good for photography) and a beautiful landscape.
The reception was outside in the open air under a canopy which blended perfectly with the natural garden setting.
I really enjoyed everything about the wedding shoot but I have to say the uniqueness of the venue in terms of its setting amidst magnificent lush green trees and the variety of special features and background options made capturing their special day quite special for me as a photographer too. Nothing about the venue was ordinary
or boring. The time of day was just perfect because that meant the light was just perfect too.
I always try to assess as soon as possible, if the bride and groom are comfortable in front of the camera. However, Francisca and Henk were naturals and took to the camera without a hitch. Being as fun-loving as they are, they were up for anything making it very easy for me to do my best. They really co-operated extremely well. And to top it all, the time of day was just perfect because that meant the light was just perfect too!
I normally have a ‘shot’ list in my mind when starting the photography shoot. However, the bride and groom were up for anything. Apart from the happy couple, I wanted to capture the unusually beautiful ‘UILENES’ wedding venue, the stunning scenery and the amazing quaint little church. Their poses were natural and the couple was keen to do whatever I suggested. And so did their fun loving entourage and guests.
I have to say, the iconic photo of the entire wedding for me as a wedding photographer, was the photo I took while the bride was getting ready - of the bride and her bridesmaids sitting on a couch, all with dark sunglasses on having loads of fun and lots of laughter! The bride really enjoyed that moment and she also loved that photo the most.
Francisca and Henk make an amazing couple. The bride and groom dedicated a beautiful loving speech to one another which showed off their true love. That was a heartfelt moment.
The day after the wedding they even sent us (and the entire team who made their big day such a huge success) a special video message thanking everybody, telling us how much fun they had and how they appreciated us being there and how well we all worked together. It was really unexpected and made us all realise how much they appreciated our hard work AND how much they enjoyed it.
