Where do I start with this wedding? Well I guess we can go right back to the beginning.
In 2007, there was a French exchange student who was in Wollongong, Australia studying for his Masters in Medical Radiation Physics. I was doing my PhD at the time and because everyone I was studying with was pretty friendly, I ended up meeting this Frenchman whose name was Nicolas. Since we already had a friend called Nick, Nicolas became known as Nico, French Nick or the Cheese Eating Surrender Monkey Nick. He had a great sense of humour and warmth and we became friends. I looked through my archives and found these two photos of Nico and I think it was on the day these photos were taken that he said “Lucky, when I get married one day, I’m going to hire you to photograph it.” It doesn’t sound like a big deal considering I’m a wedding photographer now but you need to remember I’d owned a camera for about 6 months by this point and as these images show, I wasn’t really that good. But Nico apparently saw something in me that I didn’t.
Fast forward 5 years, Nico lives and works in Boston, USA with his partner Stephanie. We hadn’t spoken for 3 or 4 years and one day I receive an email from Nico saying, “Guess what? I’m getting married and I haven’t forgotten what I said to you.”
So that’s how I ended up in the middle of Texas photographing a wedding for a Frenchman and his beautiful southern American belle.
This was my 4th visit to the USA and probably the most eventful. Kristen and I were stranded in NYC after Hurricane Sandy and almost didn’t make it to Texas in time; La Guardia Airport’s runway was damaged from the hurricane storm surge and we desperately changed our flights to leave from Philadelphia (which included a very nervous 2 hours behind the wheel of a left hand drive rental Mustang – incidentally the only hire car that was available due to the exodus from NYC following the hurricane). But I admit we were better off than Nico and Steph who had driven 10 hours overnight from Boston to Cleveland to catch their rearranged flight. But thankfully, we all made it through.
We met up with Nico and Steph on the Saturday morning in the small town of Leander about an hour from Austin, it was rehearsal day. Even though Nico and I hadn’t seen each other for 5 years, the jokes flowed, the laughs were free, the funny face pulling was out in force and it was as if nothing had ever changed. And getting to know Steph was just like being with Nico, she’s just a quieter version. But the warmth and kindness was there to see and I could see so very easily why these two people loved each other. We enjoyed catching up during the wine tasting session that Nico and Steph had organised following the rehearsal and even though Texas wine makers probably have a little work to do, it was a great way to spend an afternoon with old and new friends.
This is a mammoth post of images but I feel like I need to tell the story properly. Nico and Steph poured their hearts and souls into organising this wedding on the other side of the country to where they lived and their families and friends came from all around the world to share in their celebration. A pair of excited photographers from Australia were allowed a glimpse into another life for just a few days and the adventure we shared in is worthy of telling the world about.
One Comment
A beautiful post Lucky, and a beautiful wedding. So much honesty in these images. Thanks for sharing.