Wedding Gloria and Wayne
When I was asked to photograph the wedding of Gloria and Wayne I was excited! What I didn't know is that it would be such an amazing and awesome experience, even better than I had expected! And that was because Gloria and Wayne's wedding was full of surprises.
When we had our pre-wedding meeting to discuss all the details of the wedding, we'd already talked for two hours when Wayne suddenly said: "Oh, and by the way, the whole ceremony will be in Chinese." 'What?!' was the first thing that I was thinking. 'How the heck will I be able to photograph the ceremony if I cannot rely on the cues I receive normally, so that I'll know what will happen when?' I thought. In the time before their wedding I tried to picture how I would be able to do this. All I knew was that I had to be extra sharp to visual cues. We tried to come up with some sort of sign system. One of the guests would sit in the back and would use his hands to let me know what would be happening when. On the moment itself, I didn't even look to the back. My focus was on Gloria and Wayne, their faces, their expressions, their parents and the other guests. To this day I still don't know a word of what they said during the ceremony. I don't know what the groom said to his bride at the alter during the vows, nor what the bride said to her groom. All I know is that it must have been very beautiful, since all the guests were crying and became very quiet. It was a respectful silence. I could see people were listening with the highest attention, as if they never wanted to miss a word the bride and groom were saying to each other. There were also bursts of laughter, breaking the silence of attentive listening. The ceremony was very intimate, with lovely hymns sung in Chinese and English. There was even a Chinese string instrument, which gave a beautiful blend of modern and traditional sounds to the songs. What I really loved was that Gloria and Wayne bowed for their parents during the ceremony. A sign of great respect, thankfulness, appreciation and love towards their parents on their wedding day.
After the beautiful ceremony, there was a moment for taking pictures with the guests, always a moment to act silly with your family and friends! We were able to capture some pretty cool and spontaneous pictures! After that we had diner and the loveshoot with Gloria and Wayne. We made pictures behind the venue in a pear orchard, pretty unique! We also made a few pictures in front of the venue, where they had the most beautiful trees and light to make pictures! We even caught a little bit of sunshine. After the shoot it was time to party! Gloria and Wayne played the shoe game, which was hilarious! Gloria and Wayne opened the dance floor with their opening dance. The party could begin! Right before it was time to go home, heavy rain and gale winds poured down. Luckily it didn't last long, and everyone could go home.
To conclude the blog I can say that I had a really fun day! The couple looked stunning, beamed and radiated happiness, the guests had a fun time and also looked amazing, the emotional moments caused us to tear up a little bit, but there was also lots and lots of laughter and joy! I also learned that most of the family and friends flew over from China! Pretty amazing!
It felt like a true honour to capture this wedding and I love how the pictures came out! I wish you all the best Gloria and Wayne! Lots of luck and happiness and blessings together!
