Wedding in the vineyards
"The Getting ready"
Relatively early in 2022, I was approached by an incredibly wonderful bridal couple to be their wedding photographer. After a pleasant initial meeting where we got to know each other and clarified all questions regarding: „How much does wedding coverage cost? How many hours do you find sensible? What time is best for a bridal couple shooting?“, the booking followed. The wedding was scheduled for 01.10.2022 and was actually fully timed out. There was pretty much continuous programme from morning till evening, so I started bright and early in the morning with one of my absolute favourite parts of wedding photography, the getting ready.
So I set off in the morning to shoot the groom, along with the best man and also his best friend. The excitement was naturally high, the weather unfortunately left much to be desired and it was really dull and extremely cloudy. So while we were really struggling with the light during the groom's getting ready, more and more clouds gathered, and rain began to set in.
After the groom's getting ready was finished, I packed all my things together and drove to the wedding venue. At the winery Neuweier Castle Upon arrival, the bride, along with her mother and bridesmaid, was already waiting for me. Initially, my focus was on the detail shots of the bridal bouquet, wedding rings, perfume, shoes, and jewellery. This gave the bride some time to put on her first wedding dress. Yes, you read that correctly, her first wedding dress. The couple had their civil ceremony first, after which they would head straight back to the venue for their humanist ceremony. During the bride's getting ready, the sky cleared up a little, and we had really good light in the relatively dark castle room, allowing us to capture some wonderful pictures there too.
"FIRST LOOK"
After the two getting ready sessions, we headed into the courtyard of the winery, as the couple had prepared little vows they wanted to read to each other during a first look shoot. I'm telling you, that was so bloody emotional!
Unfortunately, we had some damn bad luck with the weather at the first look and it started pouring down... well, a first bridal couple shoot in the rain... I actually had a premonition and, as always, had my transparent umbrella with me, so while I'm standing in the rain, my bridal couple stays dry and still gets damn cool pictures. See for yourselves...
Immediately after a really emotional first look, it was time to get down to business. The couple still had their wedding vows, which were really only meant for them and not for the guests or anyone else. We looked for somewhere to stand and found an old wooden gate in the castle courtyard, with the groom on one side and the bride on the other. They held hands throughout while first the bride and then the groom recited their vows. I'm telling you, the whole thing was so emotional, it was really difficult for me to take pictures without shedding a tear or two myself. Throughout the vows our weather god got angrier and angrier and it just poured...I was really glad for my camera cover that I had ordered just before, so at least my „baby“ stayed dry.
Registry Office
After heavy rain and a really wet photographer, everyone went to the registry office, where a short but beautiful wedding ceremony took place. After the civil ceremony, the bride and groom were surprised by work colleagues and a number of children - our bride is a nursery school teacher. The exit and the first congratulations were a celebration and triggered some really deep emotions here and there. The weather still left a lot to be desired and I was soooo afraid that the planned „sunset shoot“ in the evening would fall through...BUT, we still had a few hours to go.
And by the way... can we talk again about this INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL bridal bouquet???
THE HANDFASTING CEREMONY
After the first „official“ part of this really exciting day, we headed back towards Neuweier Castle. A lot had already happened here, the wedding hall was decorated and ready to receive the bride and groom and of course their guests, the terrace for the free wedding ceremony was decorated and set up, as you can see, things were slowly but surely getting serious. The free wedding ceremony on this day was performed by none other than my wife with Words to the heart, musically, the celebrant ceremony was accompanied by Isabell Greber. So, you can tell, all, and I mean *all*, the emotional guns have been brought out here!
Well then, what can I say, it finally began. And it was cool, it was exciting, it was emotional, it was simply beautiful, perfect… but… but also really damn windy and cold! The bride, in particular, really had to fight. But she held on incredibly bravely, and the two of them had an unbelievably beautiful wedding ceremony, and despite the cold, an unbelievably warm one. It all started with a „ring warming“...??? You don't know it, no problem: „it's a symbolic act, so that every guest can quietly pass on their best wishes to the bridal couple through the rings.“
In fact, at the beginning, the rings were threaded onto an endlessly long string and passed through all the guest rows. Each guest could then clasp the pair of rings very tightly with their own hands and thus wish the bridal couple nothing but the best. But enough explanation and writing, pictures say more than a thousand words!
The Newlywed Shoot
Following the humanist ceremony, there was the champagne reception and the wedding cake... yum! It was also getting later and later, and I kept stealing glances at the sky, sending a little prayer each and every time that we would actually be able to do our bridal couple shoot at sunset. After the champagne reception came the group photos, a part of the wedding reportage that always costs me a lot of energy. The bridal couple wants great and beautiful pictures, but some guests have to be dragged out of their shells to smile – but I've always managed it well so far, and I've still got plenty of crazy ideas up my sleeve for the future.
I'm now going to make a small time jump...but it's worth it. Well then, the time had come. The highlight of my wedding reportage that day, the bride and groom shooting. And folks, what can I say, my silent and small prayers were answered and we really had unbelievably FANTASTIC light on the vineyards. I'd already been to the location a few days before to find a spot for the shoot, and it turned out to be PERFECT. By the way, here are a few „picture reasons“ why you might want to go out again with your wedding photographer at sunset and do a sunset shoot:
So, what can I say, that was it, a wedding in the vineyards of Baden-Baden. 12 hours of wedding photography ended in unbelievably great and beautiful light. In 12 hours, we created enchanting, real, lively, funny, and emotional wedding pictures.
I keep saying it, this job is bloody amazing! I love it.
Thank you for your trust, thank you for your attention.
So? When can we see each other in front of my camera?
Your photographer for all moments,
Steven