From the recent teaser post about this wedding, you’ll remember that I mentioned it was the most emotional wedding I’ve ever had the privilege of photographing. What an amazing wedding this was and to be on hand photographing was just the best thing ever.

We photographed this wedding at the Tala Game Reserve in South Africa (near Durban/Pietermaritzburg) in late April. Whilst everyone got ready at Paperbark, the wedding ceremony was at Acacia - a beautiful reception venue overlooking the watering hole.

Their full online gallery is available to friends and family. Please get in touch to ask for details or ask Brian and Lesley for the password. In the meantime, here’s a few of our favourites. Please feel free to leave messages or comments.

Next up is the bridal party portraits..

After their gorgeous wedding ceremony overlooking the watering hole at Tala Game Reserve, we had a game drive to capture a few romantic images of Brian and Lesley as well as a few of them just having fun with the bridal party. I know this was definitely a highlight of the day for the two of them.. and it was a really special moment which exceeded even their best expectations. This big guy was so inquisitive and just kept coming closer and closer to come and have a good look-see.. Add to that the quietness of the bush at sunset (apart from a few excited and amazed whispers!) and you had the makings of some truly spectacular memories..

On to the evening reception..

One ash cloud.. no flights from the UK and most of Europe actually.. 80 hours of travelling.. driving from London to Lisbon and eventually arriving with barely a day to spare.. but the wedding went ahead, although unfortunatly Brian’s parents along with most of the Irish family couldn’t get a flight out to SA in time.. instead his aunt read a message from his parents to him and well, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house after that..

Wow, I’ve so loved this wedding and sharing it with you.. feel free to leave comments if you like.

Brian and Les, thank you so much for sharing your very special day with us. Wishing you an amazing future together, may it always be full of happy adventures. Can’t wait to celebrate with you in Ireland! xx

Brian and Lesley were married at Tala Game Reserve in Natal, South Africa on Friday.

We were lucky and had flown out a week earlier to spend time with our friends and family in SA so had no trouble getting to the location, but many of the other guests, especially the groom’s Irish family (including his parents!) had their flights cancelled because of the volcanic ash.. On Tuesday we were all still holding thumbs that the wedding was going to go ahead as “the Lisbon crew”, including the groom were driving from London to Lisbon to get a flight out.. way too many euros and 80 hours of travelling later they arrived safely and all was set for the wedding to go ahead. It was a rollercoaster of a day.. it turned out to be one of the most emotional weddings I have ever had the privilege of photographing and I can’t wait to share more images.. here’s a favourite in the meantime..

Drum roll please! Introducing.. my husband.. yes I’m officially now Mrs vdB!

As our family and friends are spread around the world, Mark and I escaped with a few of them to a place that holds some of my earliest memories of international travel (not my own experiences, but those of my parents travelling when I was still in junior school and I can remember them returning with tales of wonderful adventures and experiences outside of South Africa.. perhaps it’s where my lust for travel was conceived!) And so Mark and I combined our passion for exciting and gorgeous international destinations and thought it appropriate to tie the knot on the beach at La Pirogue. It really was an amazing couple of weeks.. Our wedding day was truly special and yes I’d heard it a hundred times or more and even said it to a few of my own brides over the years, but time on the day just really seemed to fly by in the blink of an eye! Before we knew it we were dancing barefoot on the beach under African skies..

If you ever get the chance, stay at this wonderful resort, nothing is too much trouble, you’ll be treated like royalty.. and everyone will remember you for years to come!

Here’s one of our favourite images from our creative shoot taken by the  talented David and Christine Weeks.

Please feel free to get in contact if you have any questions about destination weddings or are planning to get married in Mauritius (particularly at La Pirogue or its sister resort, Sugar Beach). We’d be delighted to help with advice. And of course, we’d love to photograph your wedding where ever it may be held around the globe!

Our next international wedding will be at Tala Game Reserve, near Durban in South Africa in April 2010. I’m so excited, and I just can’t wait! Please get in touch if you’d like to us to photograph your wedding, engagement portraits or have some fun with a creative shoot on the beach or a location of your choice. See you in SA soon!