Getting back to 2011, I have decided to highlight my travels, interesting projects and workshops I attended aswell as a bit about what was going on in my private life too.

• In January I attended the SWPP convention in london for 5 days. Every year I attend workshops from various photographers and find this a great way to learn from those who have been in the business a long time. It is also a great place to network and meet other photographers. I am happy that over the last 2 years I have built a network together with some amazing photographers and people, and with who I try to meet up with on a regular basis, sometimes shooting with one another in different places all over the world.

• In February myself and Pawel traveled to Cape Town for a holiday, and Pawel proposed to me by taking me on a helicopter ride over Cape Town. We had been talking about getting married for a while and Pawel found the perfect place to do it :) We had lunch in Franschoek followed by an engagement session with Sybrand Cillié.

• In March Heidi Morgan from the US came on one of her bi-yearly european visits and we shot some awesome winter weddings together up in the mountains.

• In April I travelled to London again to attend a workshop of Miss Aniela, who truly inspires me and is continuously pushing the creative boundaries. I plan to implement more of these ideas into my work and start on some personal projects.

We spent easter weekend in Prague:

• In May I started my driving lessons. Yes its never too late to learn! I finally passed in December.

• In June I traveled to Germany, Athens and Mallorca for destination weddings. Christine Meintjes and Iaan joined me in Mallorca and we had an awesome time shooting and hanging out. We also worked with one of the best wedding planners in Europe, Jeannette from Prime Moments.

Christine and Iaan also interviewed me for KIKI TV where I spoke about destination weddings. You can view the show here:

I also traveled to Munich and attended my first wedding meet-up. It was great to finally meet Carmen and Ingo for the first time after being in touch by email and facebook for so long. They are a photography lifestyle couple based in Munich and are building a great network for the wedding industry over there.

• In July I shot 8 weddings.

• In August we drove down to Krk island in Croatia for a mini-break with some friends. We had a blast just swimming and eating fresh fish.

• In September  Heidi Morgan traveled over to Europe again, this time with her sister-in-law in hand, and we photographed the most gorgeous wedding at Hluboka castle in the Czech Republic. We then immediately flew to Dubrovnik, Croatia for a workshop with David Backstead and Gordon Jovic. We met some really great photographers and made new friends including Andrea from Switzerland whose wedding brunch I recently just photographed.

• In October myself and Pawel departed for our big-year vacation and pre-honeymoon to South America. I was hired to shoot a wedding in Santiago, Chile and so we took the opportunity to take a much needed holiday too.  We started in Buenos Aires, then to the coast of Chile then onto the Atacama Desert, followed by Santiago to end off the trip for the wedding.

• We returned from Chile mid-November and 1 week later left to Munich to attend a workshop with Mike Larson.

• December got busy again, and with our wedding just a month away at this stage. I was happy to have my mother with me to help with all the last minute details. We spent Christmas in Poland and we got married on the 14th of January 2012.

And to all the beautiful couples I photographed throughout 2011, I would like to thank you for your trust in me as an artist, your support and for giving me the pleasure of allowing me to be a part of such a special day in your lives. Weddings are so special to me and I put all my heart into them.  In no particular order, I would like to thank:

Alexander & Melanie, for your heartfelt warmth and kindness ……

Alexandra and Karl, for being a cool couple and having an awesome wedding with an american twist …

Philippe and Alexandra from Australia, for having your trust in me and for a truly awesome winter wedding. And for inviting my mother along to your wedding!

Anna and Dmitry from Moscow, for showing me what Russian weddings are made of, for being so much fun and always staying in touch. Oh and for the most awesome first dance I have ever seen!

Bev and Ed from the UK, for allowing me to finally see Kitzbuhel in the summer!

Brigitte and Gerald from Australia, for great communication and giving me the opportunity to speak french again with your family!

Caroline and Alexander, for being so friendly and allowing us to experience a countryside wedding with a Canadian twist. And offering the most amazing view for that spectacular firework show!

Cathy and Mark from the US, for being so kind and welcoming us to your wedding party, for wearing the most amazing wedding gowns I have ever seen and allowing us the opportunity to shoot at the famous Hluboka Castle.

Cheryl and Hakan, for changing your wedding date to fit my schedule.

Diana and Thomas, for being the most organised bride ever!

Deniz and Karl, I loved your purple themed vintage wedding, I love that there is another south african nearby now and can’t wait to hang out more.

Erin and Brett from the US, for being the most aweseome couple to hang out with, for having fun and being you.

Eva and Dougal, for having the most amazing coloured roses I have ever seen ..

Elaine and Werner from China, for staying in touch all these years after our first engagement session 3 years ago and making sure I was available for your wedding day.

Gabor and Nina, for yet another awesome Jewish wedding. And to Nina for being so sweet.

Hoda and Helmut from Dubai, for your confidence and trust even though we only met for the first time on your wedding day.

Jenny and Dominic, for being the most awesome couple ever and for being our friends, for your love and support of my work to the extent you took me to Santiago, Chile just to photograph your wedding. I cannot thank you enough.

Jenny and Rohan from UK/Singapore, for a classic winter themed wedding and the most crazy disco I ever saw at a wedding!

Julia and Flo, just for being so outrageously cool!

Kat and John, for your trust and warmth and becoming cool friends.

Katja and Maik from Hamburg, for appreciating my creative side ….

Kelli and Markus, just for being such a great couple , you guys were made for one another.

Madelein and Aaron, for being so cool and collected, fun yet different and choosing the most alternative locations!

M & N, for being the most elegant bride and most romantic couple I ever photographed. I never saw so much love.

Manuela and Milivoj, for being so warm and open as the Styrian and Croatians are, for your appreciation of my work.

Maria and Timur, for your trust and confidence, for being so sweet and my first and only trachtenhochzeit of 2011.

Neil and Berni, for such a great appreciation of my work that you had me come to Germany and document your special day.

Olga and Sergey from Canada, for being so much fun and for being the happiest bride alive.

Ruslan and Ruslana from Ukraine, for appreciation of my work and allowing me to be part of your intimate wedding.

Ralph and Kara from the Isle of Man, for being my first winter wedding of 2011 and making a spectacular one at that. And for my first pair of Manolo Blahnik’s.

Sabine and Stathis, for flying us to Athens to experience a true greek wedding. Loved the outdoor setting.

Sabine and Tassilo, for having us come to Mallorca and document your dream wedding weekend, and for being such a fun and happy couple.

Sarah and Luke from the UK, for showing us what true love is.

Caroline and Russell from the UK, for giving us the first experience to photograph 2000m up in the slopes, experiencing a true winter outdoor wedding and shooting inside an igloo!

Stacy and Attila from Canada and Hungary, for your trust in my work and talent and for being such a fun cool couple, and having ‘my team’ join your wedding :)

Svetlana and Andrey from Moscow, for being the most elegant couple and creating such a fun wedding even though I could not understand anything. And then there was the rabbit ……

Christine and Martin, for being our first summer wedding and for an awesome outdoor portrait session

Agnes and Sebastian, for my first New Year day wedding.

And Adrian and Maria from Belguim, for having a fabulously long veil, to your family welcoming us so warmly, and for those awesome Danish kissing games.

I would also like to thank the awesome wedding planners I had the pleasure of working with (some for the first time) and for being so warm, friendly and co-operative: Jeannette from Prime Moments, Susanne from Hochzeitshummel, Alex and Melanie from Grenzenlos Events, Petra Majhold , Maryam from Yamyam Event Production,  Susanne Dangl and Natalie from White Agency Prague.

Also a big thank you my lovely assistants throughout 2011: Petsy Fink, Heidi Morgan, Thomas Steibl, Skye Kiss and Markus Schneeberger.

And to my partner in life and business, Pawel.

xoxo

They rented out a orchid glasshouse in the countryside, not far from Wettingen where they live near Zurich. Andrea went all out on decoration and I think she did an amazing job! She ordered lots of things from Etsy, which I think is a great resource for brides, and after seeing Protea’s for the first time in her life at a local flower shop (typical south african flower), fell in love with them and ordered some for each table.  She also had a photo frame displaying their Hawaiian love-story, and a large TV screen to play their wedding video. The seating plan was made out of orchid flowers and each person had a different orchid colour according to their relationship with Andrea and Adrian – family, friends, couple’s they have photographed etc..

There was a 75 year old chocolatier from Lindt there too making pralines, which was then beautifully packaged and laid out for the guests to take home!

We had a wonderful time and we cannot thank Andrea and Adrian enough for taking care of us all weekend and inviting me to be their photographer for the day. Thank you again and hope you enjoy the pictures!

Andrea’s Dress: Pronovias

Make-up: Andrea Knecht - Schminkperle

Venue: Triibhuus

Birch Sleeves and Calk boards: Morgan Hill designs via Etsy

Bride and Groom Signs: The Back Porch Shoppe via Etsy

Cupcakes, Wedding cake and biscuits: Melanie Demierre, The House of Cake

Vintage-style video:

Alexandra wore her Aunt’s lace wedding dress for the ceremony and portrait session, which I thought was a lovely tradition and it fitted her perfectly. In the evening she wore a Carla Zampatti dress, and with her Enzo Angiolini shoes and the orchid in her hair (that Philippe arranged specially for her),  Alex was a stunning bride.

Such a lovely idea … Erin had her friends and family write messages on the soles of her shoes  …

Erin used her Mother’s handbag and had a handkerchief from her Grandmother ….

Along with their wedding planner Melanie, they helped Brett pick out these awesome socks for the day. Erin also had a pair of matching plum boots to switch into between locations.

Erin did not realize that Melanie had stuck a 1c euro coin onto the back of her shoes for good luck …..

The civil ceremony took place at Schloss Mirabell

Afterwards we walked around the old town taking pictures before heading to Hellbrunn

In the afternoon they had a religious ceremony in a small chapel at Schloss Hellbrunn

We ended off with some more pictures around the Palace gardens …

I had such a lovely day with Erin and Brett and feel so lucky to have been part of such a special day for them. Thanks so much for having me and I hope we meet each other again some day!

Claire xoxo

Wedding planners:  Alex and Melanie from Grenzenlos Events

Erin’s shoes: Grazia

Maryam from YamYam Event Production did am amazing job of putting together the ambience and decoration for their day, I was absolutely amazed at how she transformed the rooms where their wedding took place – the white carpets, orchids, feathers, lighting and small details that she put together in such a short time was incredible. I believe she created the ambience and charm that Deniz had in mind, that fitted perfectly to her custom made dress, whose colour I can only describe as ‘ice-purple’.

Thanks so much for a super evening and look forward to future projects together!

Wonderfully organized and planned by: Hochzeitshummel

Wedding Planner: Susanne from Hochzeitshummel

Ruslana’s Shoes: Nursace

Dress: Custom made

Video: Hochzeitsmovie

Hair and make-up: Alice Retzel

Это был особый и элегантный свадьбу. Это был традиционный украинскийцеремонии, состоявшейся незадолго до Рождества, а затем старый трамвае по Вене, а затем красивым приемом во дворце Кобург.

Kate and Eugeny, I loved hanging out with you and really enjoyed the day, you were really fun to be around and hope our paths cross again one day!

Thanks to Alice Retzl for doing Kate’s hair and make-up and to Blumengestalten for the bouquet.

Кейт и Евгений поженились в Москве, затем поехал в Вену (мне сказали, что приняли 31 часов), чтобы начать свой ​​медовый месяц. Их план был покупать их обручальные кольца у Тиффани в Вене и фотосессиив то же время, наряду с их обожаемый лабрадор которые пришли вместе в пути. У нас был такой веселый день, прогуливаясь по паркам, выбирая кольца у Тиффани, с лошади и карета и наслаждаясь первымдегустатор опыт Рождественская ярмарка в Вене.