I cannot believe that exactly one year ago, we got ready to get married ourselves. After shooting weddings for well over a decade, tying the knot myself sure felt like a whole new experience to me. In hindsight I am surprised how many things did not go according to plan. I think wedding photographers might be the worst bride or groom, because they underestimate the day and think they already know it all. Haha. Did I already mention that I forgot my dress?
You see, the dress I wore for the ceremony was a true last minute buy only half a week before. But I had another dress for the big wedding and frankly the garden we wanted to shoot in after the ceremony simply called for a big gown. Hence, the forgotten dress. But I am getting ahead of myself.
Anthony and I had planned our wedding with three different ceremonies and wedding days within five months. Coming from weddings, I knew this was cracker short, but also, I wanted to get married before my wedding season would kick off, in order to have this one just for myself. This way we planned for spring weddings and I was of course thinking of the many gorgeous spring blooms we could have during April and May.
During the months leading up to our weddings Anthony proved to be the best wedding planner a girl could ask for. He did the main chunk of research and bookings, while I got to focus on style, photography and flowers. Knowing how important the photos would be to me he had found the cutest little castle to get married in. And I have to say our officiant was a true lucky find. Never have I seen a civil registrar putting so much effort into a speech before.
After the ceremony our wonderful photographer Anja and us dashed to the Castle Hundsiburg for our portrait session and the in-laws hurried home to get the dress.
Anja was my total dream photographer when it comes to fine art photography in Germany. Twelve years ago I had met her at a workshop and admired her work from afar. Her gentle and soft aesthetics are one of a kind and I was over the moon when we found out she was still available.
Castle Hundisburg being the secret gem it is, it usually is super quiet and deserted. However, this one mid-week morning the last reminders of a garden and pool fair where being dismantled and a crowd of builders, tractors and tents where adding to the picture. This was when the picture perfect wide angle castle shot was melting before our eyes. We decided to make the best of it, bantered loads and had the best photographer to keep the spirit high. Anja, I absolutely love how we were able to shoot around the busy mess and have so many absolutely gorgeous photos!!!
So very grateful for a beautiful day, with rain in the morning and sunshine after the ceremony, many unforeseens and lots of laughter. It was wonderful.
On the side of wedding fashion, I completely love that I was able to have photos in both styles. And because Anja adored the second dress so much we got quite carried away. So much so that we missed our lunch reservations. Gratefully they were super understanding and gave us the same table for dinner instead. Once we were back in town we therefore invaded a tiny Vietnamese place and had egg-drip sandwiches instead. It was perfect.
All photos from the most wonderful Anja Schneemann
Ceremony Location: Veltheimsburg
Shooting Location: Schloss Hundisburg
