I LOVE weddings. I love love and I can’t think of a nicer way to spend my life than sharing in the joy of other people’s magical special days. That’s one of the reasons that I became a marriage celebrant all those years ago and why I love photographing weddings. The joy of being involved in a couple’s wedding is magnified when it is a couple that you know. With that being said, there are only so many hours in a day and something has to give, so in January 2019 I made a decision to ‘retire’ from being a celebrant and just be involved with weddings from a photography focus.
Then in February 2019, at an event my husband and I were hosting, Daniel came up to me and excitedly said to me that he really wanted me to officate at his and Rachel’s wedding. Luckily I hadn’t actually turned in my celebrant feather pen! My initial response was ‘oh my goodness, I didn’t know you were engaged, congratulations’ to which he responded ‘oh we aren’t yet but we know we want to get married on the 14th May 2020 so we want to book you in now so we have you before you get booked by someone else.’ I’m not sure, I could be wrong, but I generally think it’s customary to make sure the bride will be there before you worry about the celebrant’s availability…. A couple of months later Daniel did actually propose and luckily Rachel said an emphatic yes!
Fast forward to 2020
On Valentine’s Day 2020 Rachel posted on social media ‘Happy Valentine’s Day, today marks 3 months until I marry my best friend’. The count down was on.
And then Covid happened!
A month later and Western Australia was under social gathering restrictions. Weddings would be limited to only 10 people including the bride, groom and celebrant. A few weeks after that and weddings were limited to only 5 – the bride, groom, celebrant and two witnesses, the legal minimum for a wedding to take place. However personal training could have up to 10 people for outdoor sessions. I did think that I would be out there doing their wedding and running a Zumba session at the same time so we could have up to 10 people there. Sadly that loophole closed and social gatherings were limited to only 2 but luckily weddings could have 5 still.
Covid Options
I spoke with Daniel and Rachel often letting them know that I was more than happy to reschedule but that I knew that the date was significant and important and offering the option we could go ahead now and have a re-run later in the year or next year when the restrictions have lifted. My heart broke for them to have to choose only 2 people to attend!
Some prayers were answered and our 2 person limit was lifted to 10. Many will know that I’m a big sap and cry much and often so I am sure it will come as no surprise that I cried at how happy both Daniel and Rachel were to be able to have their mum’s attend and see them get married! (I cried again on the wedding day when Daniel’s mum said ‘I’m just so very happy we were able to be here to see them get married.’ She thought she would miss it!)
While their mums could come, 10 people isn’t many. Rachel’s family from Wales had not been able to come due to boarders closing and the rest of their family and friends wouldn’t be able to make it either. I offered to use Zoom to livestream the wedding for those who couldn’t make it and my husband would come and organise all of that if they wanted it and they said yes. I hadn’t actually mentioned my generous offer of my husband’s assistance to my husband who didn’t actually know how to use Zoom. Luckily he is a quick study! (Doubly lucky zoom is pretty easy!)
No room at the inn for a photographer!
The wedding was going ahead but only 10 people could be there. There was no room in the 10 for a photographer to attend. My heart broke. You can’t get married and not have any photos. I know that Daniel and Rachel are going to do it again later in the year but THIS is special. THIS day is the official day that they became husband and wife and the only photos can not be mobile phone selfies.
I spoke with Daniel and Rachel and obvioulsy I would not be able to photograph their wedding as it is very difficult to officiate and run around getting the photos. I had a solution, my husband Mike was roped in to photograph the ceremony while running the Zoom.
He had a wedding photography 101 intesive. This is what will happen, these are the shots that you NEED to get, you need to move between here and here and that will mean you can get those shots. After it was all done I don’t think he will be joining me to shoot a wedding again. In his words ‘please don’t ever ask me to do that again! I enjoy taking photos but wow, the pressure! This is someone’s wedding day. I was keenly aware that if I stuffed it up then there is no reshoot!’ Welcome to my world darling 🙂
This was not the wedding that Daniel and Rachel planned but despite it being a very different experience it was beautiful. It was calm, relaxed, elegant and simple. Daniel and Rachel each had three guests join them at City of Bayswater Riverside Garden’s to celebrate their starting their life as husband and wife!
Ceremony photos
Zoom wedding
This was the first time I had offered a Zoom wedding or even ever livestreamed a wedding and it was wonderful to be able to beam the ceremony into the living rooms of loved ones around the world. It was also one of the most emotional moments of the whole day!
At the end of any wedding ceremony I invite the guests to offer their congratulations. So after the family and friends at the ceremony had said their congratulations I invited Daniel and Rachel to say hello to their Zoom wedding guests. The emotions hit Rachel as she saw how many people had joined to watch them make their commitment to each other.
Tears, there were so many tears. (I had just taken a big sip of water as Rachel started to cry and that was me done. I actually thought I might drown. I needed to sob but I had a mouthful of water and knew if I did I would drown but I needed to sob so had no ability to swallow or breathe.) Judging by this reaction, I’d say the Zoom wedding was a success!
Reception
The reception was one of the most chilled receptions I’ve been to. The party moved from one gazebo over the water for the ceremony to another on the grass for the reception. A couple of platters, some glasses of bubbles and some cupcakes.
There was also a moment where, at the end when Daniel’s mum had left and had tagged in the matron of honours partner, instead of throwing the bouquet Rachel tossed it to her matron of honour as the only unmarried woman there and her partner jumped the railing of the gazebo we were in good natured panic!
We were limited to how many people could attend the ceremony but we were not limited to how many dogs which was a good thing as there must have been at least a dozen come and offer their congratulations to the bride!
Photos
As I said, we couldn’t let the day pass without getting some photos to celebrate.
Congratulations
Congratulations Daniel and Rachel. It was an absolute pleasure to be a part of your very unique wedding. I look forward to officiating again when the restrictions lift and we can have the party to celebrate! Also, thank you for reminding me that while I love photographing weddings, I also love officiating and I’m not quite ready to retire from that yet!
If you are planning your special day and think that I could help celebrate with you, or you are planning a Zoom Wedding and don’t know where to start get in touch. I’d love to chat with you!
