It was the first wedding in Germany for me and our Mongooses.TV studio. Before I was in this country of beer Sausages and Rammstein several times, but more in private visits. That time we came to Metzingen (it was in April) to create something special.
Actually it was rather a Russia wedding, more than German, because among the guests invited the bigger part were Russians, but constantly living and working in Europe. By the way there are about 5 million people who live in this country, but originally come from post-soviet countries. Thus it was a very interesting mixture of cultures and traditions. For me as as wedding photographer it was exciting to picture that event.
Bride’s morning
As any marriage, the big day of Tatiana and Adreas started with preparations. Bride’s morning brings lots of precious moment, when people are occupied with certain tasks and don’t pay attention at photographers.
Big day morning in German style doesn’t really differs from Czech or Italian wedding. The bride is a bit nerves about the makeup and the dress. In order to capture both bride’s and groom’s morning my colleague wedding photographer Viktor Zdvizhkov went to Andreas place in Bad Urach, neighbouring town and I stayed with Tatiana and her family.
German church ceremony
We usually spend much time with brides on planning of the event and shooting via Skype and already at the place I’m used to study the venues of the ceremony and party to know the light compositions and other conditions of the place. It helps me to feel the atmosphere and to be ready to the event.
Any traditional wedding in Germany is closely linked with the church ceremony. Andreas and Tatiana also had this part in the program of their big day. Therefore after arrival together with Mongooses.TV team and brides we followed the rout of the following day. There were 5 of us in the team: 2 photographers, 2 videographers and 1 assistant. Therefore it was necessary that everyone knows the location and the place to film from. Usually use certain signs while working in order to stay as invisible as possible, especially during solemn wedding ceremonies in Churches.
I have been in various destination weddings in different countries, but I must say that the ceremony in German church amazed me greatly. The atmosphere was very emotional. The priest read the Bible and prayed for the happiness of the brides. But what was striking, that between the speeches of the priest relatives and friends could also speak to Andreas and Tatiana and together they sang songs. It was a very home-like ceremony with the closest people present.
First family photo shooting
When the official part of the event was over, the brides received their first family congratulations, we went an a little trip to another country. It was Lichtenstein. An a little castle on the rocks with picturesque views. Andreas and Tatjana added some fun and drive to this calm place. We managed to capture great moments of true love. Though we really had big fun with the newlyweds, there were one big reason for us to finish this local party to come back to guests and join then in traditional wedding party with music and dancing in the restaurant.
Reception and tradition big day dinner
After a chilly April wedding trip to mountains we had a very warm welcome from the guests already willing to let the party started. Traditionally mariage in Germany are held in big halls, because the number of gusts can come to 250-300 people. In that event there were about 200 people.
Many of them prepared surprises and very funny and touching speeches. My colleague, professional wedding videographer Alexander Znaharchuk, said that it was his first event with such talkative guests.
The first person to speak was groom’s mother. She said very sincere words and could not help crying. That was a very emotional moment and everyone were touched and happy for the couple.
At that event a very important guest was noticed. His suite and manners surprised all people invited. Let me introduce little mister in gorgeous dinner jacket. This is one of the closest friends of Andreas, whose worries could be compared to the mother’.
With every our we saw how much the people gathered at the big day party love the brides. Smiles, tears, surprises and presents were numerous. For me and my assistant it was pretty a good challenge to capture all the precious moments of the event. In total we gave to brides more than 2000 processed unique pictures.
That was a perfect start of the season 2012 for me as a wedding photographer in Germany and Europe. Thank you Andreas and Tatiana for your warm reception and great emotions the whole our team got. You inspired us, we love you!
In case you are looking for a professional photographer in Germany, you may check my availability and if the date is open, we can discuss you wedding ceremony.
Sincerely, Artur
