christian and loren - abergavenny, wales.
Non-traditional. Those are the weddings I love to photograph, and Christian and Lorens wedding was just that. The wedding didn’t take place in a church, but a self built tipi (incredibly crafted by Christian himself! Although he is an engineer, he deserves praise for this amazing structure!), and it was built in his mum and dad’s garden! The whole wedding day took place there and it was a stunning setting within the Welsh countryside.
The attention to detail was incredible and everything was crafted. It had a very personal touch with perhaps only the chairs that were outsourced.
It was a bit of a mission to get to. It was in Upper Llanover, just outside Abergavenny in South Wales. There were many winding single lane roads up steep hills to navigate before reaching a car park (which was a neighbours field). From there, a steep walk up another hill before reaching their parents house. It is extremely picturesque and made the journey well worth it.
On with the day, guests slowly arrived in their wonderful outfits. The theme was to dress in what you felt fabulous in. So, the range of colourful outfits were wonderful. It was a wonderfully sunny day, so everyone that arrived were in high spirits and smiling, which made my job as a wedding photographer very easy!
I couldn’t help to get a few photos of Christian and Lorens dog, an adorable rescue they adopted on their travels. If you have a dog at your wedding, I promise not to only photograph he or she, but I will give it love and attention too!
On to the ceremony, which again broke from tradition as the hymn was “Here comes the sun” by The Beatles. Christians friends Caz and Dave were the celebrants, and another friend Emma played the beautiful harp.
This wedding was all about friends and family. As so many of them were helping out with all the details of the wedding ceremony. Jenny made the Welsh cakes for the post ceremony. Grace made the cake. Beccy sculpted the giant silver cow (told you it was non-traditional!) and made the macarons. I can go on and on but my point is that this wedding wasn’t about hiring the best and professional out there, but more about family and friends helping out for the people that they love. It’s simply the type of wedding I love to be a guest at let alone photograph!
The ceremony was beautiful and full of tears, mostly by Loren, as she struggled to contain her emotions as she walked down the aisle. The couple exchanged vows and the rings were presented to them by their beautiful dog. It was really touching.
Remember I mentioned that Christian built this structure, well, it was a windy day, and during the ceremony, as they were exchanging wedding rings, a bit of wood fell onto a guest! Chrisitan and Loren looked back in horror but the guest was fine, thankfully! Now you may look at this moment as a disaster, but I look at these moments as the story of the wedding. Now, I am not saying I am glad the piece of wood fell on the guest, of course not. But it is these imperfect moments at weddings that create the story of the day! Weddings should be full of imperfect moments! Sure, preferably where nobody gets hurt! But my point is that if nothing memorable happens, your wedding will just be another, well, wedding. Don’t be afraid of those imperfect moments, just roll with it. Look at the hugs and laughs with the guests afterwards. These are the moments to remember.
Post ceremony, I had a bit of time alone with Christian and Loren to get those all important portrait shots. Being in the middle of the countryside, with hills and open space, it was great from a photographer’s point of view. The only downside was the very bright sunshine, which made things a challenge! From the off, they both said they were not the most comfortable when being photographed, but I thought they did really well and they both looked amazing.
Back to the tipi for food before the parents had a few words to say which was really touching and brought more tears from Loren. Next came the speeches from the best men which were hilarious. I struggled to keep my camera still as I tried to stop myself from giggling!
The party was now ready to begin and it was time for some line dancing! You really can’t beat a live band at the wedding. The energy from the music cannot be matched and to have a band that interacted with the guests so well is a bonus!
Finally, the night ended with some amazing fireworks!