Maria & Christiaan

I thought Nicola and Steven’s wedding was the last wedding for my season, and then 2 weeks ago I received a very hearfelt email from Christiaan, saying that he’s getting married at the end of the month, and would love me to be his wedding photographer. Christiaan explained that due to immigration and legal technicalities they eventually got their papers to get married and they weren’t waiting any longer. Everything about Christiaan’s email touched my heart and I just knew I had to meet them and hear their story.

A great love story across oceans and obstacles. Maria is from Slovakia, Christiaan from South Africa but living in the United States. They came close to getting married in Slovakia but also due to legalities, this didn’t happen.

Eventually after years of following each other around the world they literally tied the knot in Worcester. I count myself blessed to have been part of such a perfect and beautiful day. There were so many moments. My favourite were in the United Congregational church, when Christiaan was watching Maria walk down the aisle. I could actually see him think :”this is actually happening” I loved the wedding song and when their parents prayed over them, such special soft moments. The rest of the day I got to watch Maria and Christiaan interact with each other and their love was obvious, playful and intimate.

They had their reception at Christiaan’s family home where he grew up on the  Lorraine Wine Estate in Rawsonville and with such a perfect setting and such a beautiful couple I could of carried on photographing them all day. Unfortuntaly the sunset and it all came to an end for me but the festivities carried on for them, as I am sure it will continue for the rest of their lives together, wherever in the world they may land up.

When Maria told me she was from Slovakia, I realised I knew absolutely nothing about her country. So when I got home I googled.

Here are some facts in case you are as ignorant as I was. 1) Slovakia has the world’s highest number of castles and chateaux per capita 2) more than 6000 caves and 1300 mineral springs 3) Bratislava, the only capital in the world bordering 2 countries 4) its the geographical midpoint of Europe 5) They speak Slovak 6) Travelling by train is free 7) their country’s population is the equivalent of Cape Town’s population

I would just like to wish both of you a lifetime of adventures together, and I look forward to watching you guys grow together.