Sea | You May French Kiss The Bride

Oct 2013

I don’t know if you remember the trash the dress with paint post I published here a few months ago? I told you it was part of a bigger project and that there was going to be more of this project to enjoy soon… well, here we are! To be honest, I initially contacted the photographer after seeing one of these shots (that are actually all super amazing), begging him to let me blog the whole thing. It turned out, it wasn’t available at that time, but I was able to get to know and blog other works of him in the meanwhile, and also discover the great person that’s behind the great photographer. Today is the day I can finally show you the full series of pictures I initially wanted to. If you’re interested, you can go have a look at the whole project here (and then like me, end up spending hours looking at all the photos that are up on his blog), but, you need to see this trash the dress with fire session here first, as even the photographer didn’t blog it yet! Photography by Don Barrington Photography, currently based in Australia and available worldwide. (Oh, and this goes without saying, but don’t do this at home, ok?)

•••

The word of the photographer.

I first met Stephanie through one of my good friends. The concept was simple, but took a bit of time. Not every bride knows how to fire spin, so first I needed to find a bride who could fire spin. Second I needed her to trash her dress as well. I was in luck. When I talked with Steph she had just married and wanted to trash her dress in some memorable way. When I told her my idea she could not wait to get started.

The shoot was broken up into two parts: water and fire. This was an accident. The first time we shot a squall of menacing clouds surrounded Newcastle and the waves bombarded the coastline, over and over. I captured a few amazingly big waves with Stephanie in front of them, but it was too wet to light her baton. We tried at another location, and she did manage to light one side, but just for a second. So we tried, again. A month later we were back to the same location, this time at night, with no wind or rain. It was perfect. She got her baton to light up, the mesmerizing spinning, spinning … the fire appeared like dragons, birds, swords, quickly transforming in shapes, forms, and spirits.

Aug 2013

Essie + Frank

Super Fun Dutch Windy Beach Wedding

There’s many things I love about weddings, but what touches me the most is to see people in love, and people having fun, because, that’s what it should be about, right? Essie and Frank had a simple beach wedding, but I love how much fun they seem to have had together. The wedding took place in the Netherlands, so that it’s not the typical turquoise water beach wedding; we can see there’s actually a lot of wind, which just gives a very special atmosphere! +1 for the 2 red balloons representing Essie’s missing sister and father! Photography by Jarg Woldhuis.

•••

The wedding took place May 31th, 2013 in Texel, The Netherlands; the location is called Beach-In Paal 21.

Our first date was five years ago at the dance event Sensation White in Amsterdam. Like it is in the name “Sensation White” the dress code was completely white! We liked that so much we decided to use the same dress code on our wedding five years later…

The island is very special to the both of us; we have great memories of some special moments on the island. On the wedding we had to miss Essie’s sister and father and in memory of them we added two red balloons to our 50 white “Just Married” balloons. We let the two red balloons go at the same time at the land wash followed by the 50 white ones; which was very spectacular because of the strong wind!

Name one thing you regret…

After a long and hard thought about what to regret regarding our wedding… we decided there was nothing to really regret! Sure… Essie wasn’t on the bus that picked up all the wedding guests including me, the groom… So she missed a great bus drive around the island in a red English double decker bus. But in return she got that great entrance without anyone (including me!) seeing her before that moment! That moment was very very special and awesome!

… And one thing you’re really happy about/ proud of.

The first “todo” on our wedding-preparation-list was to get Jarg Woldhuis as our photographer. And we are very very proud on his pictures of our wedding! BANG!

We’re very proud on Essie’s 80 year old mom and the fact that she attended the wedding from the beginning until the late end. She didn’t want to miss a thing, and she didn’t!!

We are very happy we could realize our dream to get married on the beach with all our loved ones around us.

Aug 2013

Patrycja + Joannis

Stylish Wedding by the Sea in Mexico

I have to say I rarely talk about the wedding dresses of the brides I feature. Not that I don’t like them (come on!!), it’s just that maybe there’s something else to focus on… I’ve learned to appreciate Jenny Packham dresses though, and the one Patrycja had on her wedding is one of the most fantastic I’ve ever seen. Really. And—as if it wouldn’t be enough—Joannis is one super elegant groom too, I just love his attire! Moreover, I am super happy to welcome another great photographer on the blog today, Fer Juaristi! So many reasons for you to check this out, right?

•••

The wedding took place at the hotel Viceroy Riviera Maya.

26 guests. 4 days. Tropical paradise. Laughter, conversation, hugs, food, drinks, dancing, serendipitous events and lack of informalities and pretensions. It was only natural that our wedding would have this vibe and take place somewhere away from where we lived, preferably surrounded by nature. We booked the venue without having ever been there, and never looked back.

IT RAINED ON YOUR WEDDING DAY??? YES! Bouts of rain. And it was great. When it’s a warm and beautiful tropical paradise you’re in, rain only serves to highlight the beauty in the sky, clouds and foliage. We didn’t mind at all. The colours were absolutely gorgeous, and the rain did happen to stop for our ceremony and pictures.

Name one thing you regret…

Nothing, although our speeches could have been better (my guests know what I mean :P).

… And one thing you’re happy about/ proud of.

I couldn’t have been more happier and grateful to see both sets of parents on vacation, enjoying themselves. My family immigrated to Canada without much, and my parents have lived their whole lives working very hard for my sister and I, and so it was so good to see them relax.