I will always look back on this week with so much love. For those who don’t know me or haven’t read my blog before, I got married this week. In Provence! It has been amazing. Words cannot describe, and I fear one photo a day definitely won’t describe either. I have for a change, put my camera away for the majority of the time and enjoyed the wonderful moments without seeing them through a viewfinder. I know I wont regret doing this because thousands of photos were taken on my behalf. I can’t wait to see them all.
I did manage to take at least one photo a day however… And here they are (accompanied by a bit of a diary I’m afraid… just so I don’t forget what happened!)
Tuesday 30th April 2013 – We drove the final leg of our journey through France on Tuesday last week – knowing that we had some jobs to do as soon as we arrived. This is Janine, she is an English woman living in France and she has helped us organise so many details for our wedding. I took this photo of her at a vineyard near Pernes-les-Fontaines… Janine was helping us choose our wedding wine! (not such a bad job to begin with!) She also sourced freshly baked bread, macaroons, a mountain of cheese, a marquee, champagne and many more things! We couldn’t have done it all without her and I will always be grateful to her for this.
Wednesday 1st May – Our family and friends began to arrive in the area on this day and the excitement about the whole wedding thing really started to kick in. In the morning, I baked a few cakes before relaxing in the afternoon and enjoying the company of my sister in law, step mum in law and a couple of friends. This is a photo of Katy – a friend I met this year through Tracy (I featured in a previous post) A few bottles of the wedding rose was consumed in the sunshine!
Thursday 2nd May – This was the day that the stress of setting up the wedding kicked in. I went over to Isle-sur-la-Sorgue with my Mum and two friends, Helen and Caroline. We were on a mission to pick up the champagne and go to the flower wholesalers to choose what flowers to have for the bouquets and table arrangements. It all went a bit wrong when the car started leaking fuel over the engine (very dangerous apparently!) and we ended up stranded in a french garage with twelve boxes of champagne and wilting flowers (luckily with Janine who sorted it all out!) Anyway, the hairdresser that Janine booked for me wanted to do a trial on my hair before the big day so she came and whisked me away. This is Linda (I think) she didn’t speak any English so we had fun trying to communicate how my hair would look on the day! I also found it interesting taking a few photos of her – she must have wondered why I wanted to but I couldn’t really explain in French.
Friday 3rd May – So much work! Our family and friends really showed us a lot of love in all of their efforts on this day. It felt like it wasn’t possible to get it all done – but they managed it. And they put up with me being quite stressy and bossy! Thank you so much everyone – you know who you are. It was also my sister’s birthday and I want to say sorry for hijacking this Han. In the evening, after we had set everything up we went out for a meal to meet up with any wedding guests in the area. This is a photo of my friend Tucker who I hadn’t seen for around four years. He had just flown in from Minnesota and his baggage had been lost en route. It was so lovely to see him.
Saturday 4th May 2013 – Everyone always says that your wedding day will be a blur because it all happens so quick. They’re not wrong! But we made sure we enjoyed every moment. It was just so perfect in every way and I have so much to feel grateful for. I only took a couple of photos on this day and this is one of them… For me it is the one that sums up my mood at the time. The sun was getting low in the late afternoon sky. We had finished eating our incredible wedding meal and had just snuck off for a few moments alone together. Our shadows caught my eye and so I took a quick photo – not a work of art in many people’s eyes but definitely a memory I will keep forever. Another moment where I should of had my camera – When we were standing at the front of the ceremony congregation – having just made our entrance. I couldn’t believe how overwhelming it was to see so many people who we love looking at us – lots of smiles – lots of tears. I wish I had taken a photo of that. As the sun was setting, my love and several other talented individuals treated us all to a set of performances. That for me – made the day. We partied hard that evening and I remember being in the middle of the dance floor with my love and looking up at the amazing stars – feeling just so blessed.
THE BEST DAY EVER!
Sunday 5th May 2013 – I don’t know what most people do on the day after their wedding but for us – we decided to invite everyone back to help us finish the wine and the food! It was so lovely to extend our day to another day of celebration – this time in a much less formal way. I honestly can’t remember the last time I laughed so much. My stomach was aching the next day! In case I forget this memory – I must always remember Jane saying “naughty Harvey” Too long a story to explain – sorry guys. So, this photo of the day was off my two friends (you may have seen on this website photos I took of their wedding in Canada) This is Sarah (aka Hobo) and Carol. We were having a lot of fun being very silly this day. Hobo is actually quite scared of heights so well done for doing this not once, but three times!
Monday 6th May – The big tidy up! The marquee people came to take away the tent – rubbish was taken to the skips – bottles to the recycling – Thank you again for everyone’s help. I took this photo of Don just before everyone left us for the day. I love the light here in Provence, I don’t ever want to leave. It was suddenly very quiet once everyone was gone. We enjoyed an afternoon alone by the pool and I made french onion soup for supper. Domestic bliss. :)
That’s it for this week. We have a couple of days left before our return to reality… I’m going to enjoy every second. :) Thanks for reading
It was the best day of my life… Captured so beautifully by you Alexa… What a talent! Thank you thank you so much!
Xx
Wow, her dress is just amazing and that rainbow shot is awesome.
The day was so perfectly planned that Holly even managed to organize a rainbow!! She IS good ;-) The rainbow shot is amazing Alexa, as are all photos, too many favourites to share!
Beautiful work Alexa, you’ve captured it perfectly!!
wow!! Hollys dress is STUNNING!! Gorgeous images Alexa :)
Thank you Alexa for photoghraphing Holly and Jonathan’s wedding so perfectly ….you had a hard task as you had already excelled yourself with my daughter Roxy’s wedding to Dominic . Two very different weddings but you captured them both so well.
Thank you xx