This wedding… or rather ‘wedstival’ as it was affectionately referred to… was a truly special highlight in my career as a wedding photographer. Hannah is a friend and fellow photographer, and an amazing one at that. Case in point: she once rode a horse through Mongolia and shot the whole thing on film (wow)! And Jez… what a dude. This guy just exudes the fonz factor. To say Jen and I were excited to be chosen as their wedding photographers is quite the understatement. Although they live in Newcastle, they decided to get married on Hannah’s family farm just outside of Bathurst, NSW. This was going to be a homecoming to remember.
Allow me to set the scene… the three day ‘wedstival’ began on the Friday, when loved ones from Newcastle, the Hunter Valley, Sydney and beyond descended on the property. In true festival style, guests camped under the shade of tall gumtrees enjoying each other’s company as the weekend’s festivities kicked off. The backdrop for the campsite and wedding ceremony were sweeping panoramic views of inland New South Wales, a wedding photographer’s dream location.
I’ve never experienced a more relaxed pre-wedding atmosphere. With wedding preparations underway, we wandered around photographing the wedding guests at their campsites and scouted for post ceremony location spots.
As the wedding ceremony drew closer, thunderstorms threatened to spoil the fun but luckily stopped just before the ceremony…. and what a ceremony it was! An artist friend had built perhaps the coolest arbor I’ve ever seen (and I’ve shot almost 350 weddings!). Without descending into Mills and Boon talk, the love and affection was on another level. I have to say that under the snowy gums as they were saying their wedding vows I got a tear. Crazy, beautiful stuff.
I could go on and talk of the retired racehorses galloping up to us mid location shoot, or perhaps mention the ridiculously yummy home-cooked food but I’ll let the photos tell the story instead. To the couple wedding photography dreams are made of, thanks Hannah and Jez for letting me be part of something I’ll never forget.
