Gitte & David: Somewhere in the Bush

This is what I knew beforehand. Gitte is breathtakingly gorgeous. David is a handsome guy – quiet, strong and you can see he loves Gitte for her beauty within.  He treats her so softly, and it is the sweetest thing to see. They explained to me how they saw their special day.. somewhere close to Hermanus, the setting was going to be on a clearing in between woods.. just somewhere they drove past one day, on a farm. The mood was going to be informal – chairs/blankets/rose petals scattered around the ceremony site. Elegance, the beauty of Cape Town surrounding a deep emotional and spiritual joining of two people. I KNEW this was going to be special.

..and then THIS is what happened… I woke up at 06h00 on Gitte and David’s wedding day, stared out of my windows at the raindrops falling, the dark grey clouds, not a hint of sunshine in sight and felt it could not be true! I got ready and whilst driving to Hermanus I turned to Shane (my wonderful, gorgeous boyfriend and second shooter of the day) and said “I know its raining, but I also know that it will not affect this wedding”. It was a quite a big statement, since the whole idea behind this wedding, was it being in raw nature. There would be no protection from the weather – and if it rained.. it would be mean, the wedding, the guests.. everything would be soaked.

I arrived at the house where Gitte and her mom, sister and friends were getting ready and Gitte told me she’s not worried. She just knew as well.

So.. the day started and as per usual, I asked where to find the wedding dress to start taking pics of the details – and Gitte’s mom pointed to a black bag on the bed. With raised eyes I asked really? In that bag? yes.. really Retha.  And so it came to light that this wedding dress was made from a Second World War parachute - and I literally could not wait to see this creation. Talking about “this dress”.. many people have heard about this dress.. Gitte and David were not only people waiting to see their pics. Even my mother could not wait to see “the dress”. I am still blown away with what was created - and not only because Gitte’s mother made this dress herself, the detail and care she took with it.. but my word, the history itself, the delicate fabric which hooked and got torn on everything – ahhhhh no words can really describe how in love I fell with this dress. And this is what a wedding dress is all about I think… this dress has a story of its own, and this is the kind of dress no one would be able to sell or destroy in the years to come. This is Gitte’s wedding dress.. and I would imagine one day far away her daughter’s wedding dress as well.

I digress… still it was raining.. and getting into our cars, driving to the ceremony site, I actually felt calm – why? Because I know exactly what I was expecting.. and yes it DID become a reality. There, in between the grey dark clouds that was dripping constant rain, was a clearing in the sky. Beautiful blue skies directly above the ceremony site which meant the wedding of Gitte and David was perfect in the end.. as perfect as I have ever seen. Beautiful, amazing, spiritual and mind altering stunning.

On a personal note, I sometimes feel a deep spiritual, moving and emotional connection with certain events in my day to day life, and this was certainly one of them.  It happend to be that I was spending this day with you, Gitte and Dawid, but something tells me that the message behind it would have been lost on me if it was not your wedding specifically.  So thank you... for choosing me to be there with you & for letting me share what I believe was a small little miracle.
I am going to make my photo comments in Afrikaans... since this was a beautiful Afrikaans wedding...

Gitte, jy is en sal altyd asemrowend mooi wees..

Ek is so! bly julle het ingestem vir 'n klein formele shoot... dankie dankie dankie - die omringende skoonheid sou huil indien ons dit nie deel gemaak het van julle herhinneringe nie

Die rok.. die datum... en Moeder se hande wat dit gemaak het

Gitte se ma het haar eie ontwerp gedra... en weereens kan ek net se, ek het grootgeword met 'n Ma wat al my rokke ontwerp en gemaak het.. ek weet presies hoe spesiaal dit is vir Gitte

'n Baie teer oomblik

Gitte en haar sussie het eenderse armbande gedra, wat gemaak is van Ouma se perel halssnoer.. weereens, dis die kleinste details wat die meeste beteken

En details van die ligging

David - emosioneel, wat Gitte groet by haar Pa wat ook die diens gely het