Chilling with the Saffas

Last summer we were at McKenzie Meadows Golf Club for an intimate affair - the weather gave us a fuller experience - with a hot summer sun beating down one second to a glorious shower of rain the next. We think it added to the overall event - giving it a more four-dimensional feel. Our afternoon consisted of capturing photos of the bridal party and escaping thunderstorms in our golf carts - driving past hopeful young golfers crouching under trees for shelter. If that's not an eventful Saturday, what is?

Our Bride and Groom for this past Saturday were so laid back - and organized at the same time (our Bride had all her items for detail shots gathered neatly in a box upon our arrival)!  Makeup was also being applied in an incredibly bright area, flooding with natural light - it made our job so effortless! The bouquets were put together that morning - which kept the flowers oh-so-fresh and perfect for photographs - we also got some great candid shots of the bridesmaids putting them together - which we LOVE!

After finishing up at the Bride’s house - we zipped over to capture the Groom and his tribe getting ready and boy, were we in for a surprise! We met up with the Groom and his groomslady - and Cassy’s keen ear recognized her passionate South African accent, which immediately broke the ice, as ex-pat camaraderie reaches its peak in the Saffa community. Everyone seemed to be quite excited to be chilling with the locals - except for poor Nidhin, who couldn't understand a thing! On top of that, It turned out that our Groom’s family had roots in Scotland, and they proudly decided to boast their regalia. They were also kind enough to teach us a bit about Scottish formal and casual wear and the different designs of kilts that belong to different families. Needless to say, we were thrilled to find out we were shooting such a colourful affair.

Our Bride and Groom opted for a First Look - a chance to privately react to a glimpse of their S.O. cleaned up before the ceremony. They wrote down their vows with pen and paper (instead of a screen) and read it back to back - can you say, “ROMANTIC??” We thought this was SUCH a great idea as there's so much going on when the actual ceremony starts that it can be hard to hear your spouse's vows over the never-ending self-conscious thoughts in your head. This was indeed an amazing chance for them to truly absorb their written promises to each other privately.

PSA -- if you or your fiance is a crier - HAVE A FIRST LOOK.

As previously mentioned, the weather was up and down and up and … well, you know where we’re going with this. It was beautiful though - and if we can encourage our future Brides and Grooms in any way - it would be to say, "cloudy skies add such a beautiful, dramatic dimension to your photos - so go ahead and eat out of the pot, girl!" (Saffas will be familiar with this age-old wedding adage).

Speaking of bridal photos - we got to ride golf carts! How cute? Cassy almost had a panic attack, thinking she was going to capsize, and Nidhin was a passenger for once. She survived and he relished every bit of it!

We were also fortunate to have a marshal from McKenzie Meadows Golf Club tour us around the area, showing us some of the best spots to take photos - what a time saver! It was also beneficial as our marshal kept tabs on any golf players we needed to make way for. Super helpful if you know how tunnel-visioned photographers can get!

We loved all the little details our B&G incorporated into their big day - from handmade soap to activity booklets for the kids and lawn games for everyone, you could tell our B&G had the guests' best interests in mind.

The speeches were our favourite kind - short, sweet and tear-jerking! Or were our B&G just teary people? Either way, we were able to capture tons of emotion - a photographer's dream! The night ended off with some song and dance, smoke machines and fireworks - ya know - the uzhe.

Who are we kidding - this wedding was one for the books!

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