I am sooooo excited to post this wedding – one of Zarazoo’s best of the past year! Andre and his assistant Anneli did a super amazing job with every aspect – from the preps to the coverage of the evening reception. And I must add to this that we had quite a looker of a bride as well

Furthermore Caroline and Ben chose (in our opinion) one of the most amazing venues in the UK, in Leeds Castle, to host their very stylish and elegant wedding. A few interesting facts about Leeds Castle:

• The first and only place in the UK with black swans. (picture further down)
• Owned by the notorious Henry the 8th, Leeds Castle served as residence for his wife Anne Boleyn.
• Leeds Castle is situated in Kent (and not Leeds)

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Photos by

Anneli Marinovich

ZaraZoo spends 2 months of every year in the UK, shooting weddings in London and the rest of Europe. We will be in the UK again next year June, July and August, so if you like our style of photography and would like to enquire about our availability, then email us on info@zara-zoo.com.

On Friday I posted the ceremony and photo session shots of Didi & Herman’s wedding in Thailand.   The reception and formal dinner was held at the very stylish Acqua Restaurant, just a short TUK TUK ride away.  I want to thank Didi & Herman again for the wonderful opportunity to shoot this destination wedding!

See Part 1 of this wedding (Ceremony)

Photography by Stefan Steenkamp

Even though we were literally half way around the world, the decor and final touches came nothing short of a top wedding in South Africa.    All the stationery, decor and wine was brought in from South Africa…. Why? …. Because frankly, we have the best wine and stationery designers!  Even the music was pre-mixed by Cape DJ’s and put on CD!

And the food…. Wow…. Out of this world!! – 5 Courses of totally divine, mouth watering Italian cuisine!

Lets stop a moment and look at the shot above…. notice anything unusual?  Takes minute to work out….

Some of the guys had their sandals custom made for the wedding – snake skin and all – some sort of python leather I think.   Apart from shoes, most guys (including the groom) also had their suits and shirts tailored for the big do – To get a suit made to measure in Thailand cost almost half of what we would pay for the same thing here in SA.  If you ever go over to Thailand, this is a must do!

Wedding Coordinator:  Absolute Weddings

Make-up:  Karla Oettler

Stationery:  Visual Voice Design (Dieter Klapporth)

See Part 1 of this wedding (Ceremony)

See Didi & Herman’s E-session done at Blouberg.

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It’s not every couple that gets on a plane with 30 of their closest friends and fly all the way to Thailand to get married.  Well, that’s exactly what Didi & Herman did!  But it was not quite as easy as that.  With the help of Karla from Absolute weddings, they planned this awesome wedding at two of the most exclusive spots on the exotic island of Phuket.

There were so many great shots that I’ll do two posts about this wedding.

Part 1 – Preps, ceremony & couple shoot @ Kalim beach.

Part 2 – Reception @ Aqua (to follow this coming monday)

See Didi & Herman’s E-session done at Blouberg.

Photography by Stefan Steenkamp

What a great idea to have your wedding and holiday in one.   Niki and myself spent nearly a week with the couple and other guests in Patong (on Phuket island) before the wedding.  We bonded and partied and by the time the wedding came, it was as if we were one big family.  All kudos to Didi & Herman for a great time!

The preps were done at their hotel in Patong. Didi’s dress was made by her own bridal gown company, Didi Couture; her shoes from Errol Arendz.  Herman got his suit specifically tailored in Phuket.   The bride and groom’s attire was pure white, while guests were asked to go totally black.

Kalim beach was the setting for the ceremony and Joe’s Downstairs bar (now closed for renovations) was the perfect setting for the canape’s and pre-drinks.  The formal dinner happened at Aqua, a very lavish restaurant with an electric vibe.  But more on the formal dinner will follow in Part 2 of this wedding.

Kalim Beach, at the foot of Joe’s bar was the perfect little intimate beach setting for a very emotional ceremony.   On arrival guests were treated to cocktails with custom made swivel sticks and Chinese fans to cool down on this sweltering day.  Cutomised shoe bags to keep the shoes safe while on the beach and orchid stems with flowers for confetti was some of the other clever details added by Didi and Herman.

After the ceremony the couple mingled with their guests on the perfect white balconies of Joe’s while sipping a variety of exotic cocktails;  the couple session was done on the beach and rocks with sunset.

See Part 2 (Reception @ Aqua) of this wedding.  Part 2 will features the formal dinner and decor at Aqua restaurant.

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]]> http://www.zara-zoo.com/blog/thailand-phuket-wedding-didi-couture/feed/ 5 http://www.zara-zoo.com/blog/destination-wedding-photo-nice-france/ http://www.zara-zoo.com/blog/destination-wedding-photo-nice-france/#comments Fri, 05 Jun 2009 03:00:27 +0000 Stefan http://www.zara-zoo.com/blog/?p=2645

Who can blame a 1-year old for looking bored when he has to sit through an hour long service; even worse, it was conducted in a foreign language!

Every year during the South African winter, Andre and myself head for Europe to shoot weddings – it’s summer there after all!

This year, we’re shooting no fewer than 10 weddings during July and August; also an e-session in Paris – so there will be plenty of good stuff coming on the blog.  Oh, by the way, I still have the 25th of July and the 8th of August open – if you’ re getting married in Europe.

So, to keep to the theme,  I’m posting a wedding I shot in Nice last year – before our blog was born…

Mary and Jerome flew me over to shoot their wedding in France – lucky me!  I loved the church – huge roman pillars – looks like it has a lot of history to it!  The couple shots were taken on the beach in Nice and the reception at a restaurant in the countryside – man, the French know how to live life!  Only after selecting the images, I realised that most of them were photo -journalistic shots also far more black and white photos than usual – enjoy!

If you are getting married in South Africa and live in the UK, why not arrange a meeting with us in London in July and August – We can fit in a free e-session as well if you are up to it!  Send us your details and we’ ll get back to you.

Follow ZaraZoo on Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/zarazoo (Stefan) & http://www.twitter.com/zarazoo2 (Andre)

Our next post will be on Monday – Freaky shots of the past year! -  Keep an eye on the blog, or subscribe to our RSS feed to be notified.

Photography by Stefan Steenkamp